Chapter three

Xeros POV

I stopped in my tracks as I took a moment to survey the open space in the forest. I had lost track of Ryan, the traitor who belonged to the enemy’s pack. He had come into my pack pretending to be an ally but thank goodness for my experience and expertise, I was able to see beneath his covering. 

I had been hot on his trail for the past hour and just when I was about to catch up to him, he sped up and took a turn. It was at that moment I lost him. I had my guard up, holding my weapons closely while I surveyed the space. He had to be around here. There was nowhere else he could go, right in front of me was a cliff and it would be a stupid decision to jump down that cliff. 

He just had to be somewhere around. 

I heard a rustle behind me and prepared my weapon for an attack. I surveyed my surroundings once again but there was no one in sight. After a few minutes, I heard the rustling sound again. I backed the cliff and remained at high alert. 

“I know you are here! Show yourself!” I ordered boldly, moving closer, following the rustling sound. Soon, a figure came out of the forest and lunged at me, knocking my sword out of my grip. 

I recognized him to be a member of the enemy’s pack but not the traitor I was after, which meant there were more of them in this forest. I recognized it to be a trap by them to lure me into the forest. 

Another person came from the forest and another and soon enough I was surrounded by members of the enemy’s pack. 

They closed in on me, and I knew I had to think of a way to escape. I swiftly picked up my sword and coupled with some martial art, I was able to escape from the circle they formed around me. I ran towards the edge of the cliff and tried to maneuver my way to the other side of the forest. 

Just when I thought I had succeeded in escaping, I felt a sharp pain on my rib and I looked down and saw a silver dagger sticking out from my rib, it was poisoned with wolfsbane. In a few seconds, I felt the effect of the wolfsbane and coupled with the pain, I lost my balance and fell off the cliff. 

I groaned as I landed with a thud. 

*************

I felt her before I saw her, I knew it had to be her. My mate, the one I had been waiting for. My eyelids fluttered open and I caught sight of the blood seeping out of her shoulder, staining her shirt a bright shade of red. 

I couldn’t help but chuckle when I saw the expression on her face. She was marveled by my handsomeness and she didn’t even try to hide it, “if we met in other conditions, I would have advised you to take a picture as it would last longer” I said, then groaned as I felt the pain coarse through me again.

She gasped and her eyes met mine, “Nice to meet you too. You really need to take care of yourself” she said calmly, then rose up and turned to leave. I was taken aback by the way she was acting. 

She stopped in her tracks and turned to face him, “I am Aria. I’m a doctor and I work at a nearby university hospital” she introduced herself. 

She sounded so confident, that I found it difficult doubting the authenticity of her words. But what could a doctor be doing in this part of the town, especially at this time. 

“I’m Xeros” I said. 

“You wouldn’t mind if I took a look at your injury, would you?” She asked me.

“I won't,” I assured her. I also wanted her to take a look at it. Anything to make her stay longer. 

She walked towards me and crouched in front of me then examined the bleeding on the spot where she earlier pulled out the dagger from. She made sure I was comfortable throughout the examination and kept me from falling asleep. 

“We need to get the contaminated blood out of you” she said, returning her gaze to me. 

“Then do that” I said, giving her the go ahead. 

“I must warn, it is going to be a painful process” 

“Painful?” I asked, as if I wasn’t already going through enough pain. 

“Let me explain the process, I’m going to get a sharp piece of branch and make the cut deeper to aid more blood loss. This would help in flushing out the contaminated blood” 

I nodded, it made more sense with her explanation. “Alright. I have no problem with that” 

“Yes, so I would quickly get that” she said, still fixing her attention on the injury. 

From the side of my eye I spotted a shining blade positioned in front of Aria’s neck, I looked up and spotted my brother, Alexander, hovering above me.