Chapter 2

It was a normal Friday and I was working at the cafe as a waitress. The day was rather slow and as I was cleaning the front window glass, I let my mind mull over what had happened for the last two months. To be fair, there had been tons of things. Two months ago I’d gone to a wedding with my boyfriend at that time only to have the groom, Ryker, turned to me and claimed me to be his soulmate and the love of his life. I’d gotten dumped by my boyfriend right at the spot and a few days later, I’d learned that there were creatures other than humans living on Earth and Ryker being one of them. Werewolves, witches, warlocks, and god knows what else truly existed and were hidden in the shadows. Then to take it up on a higher level of shock, I’d found out that my own father and my best friend were also werewolves. My father was a rogue, kicked out of his pack after killing his mate, my mother. Eros was actually sent by their alpha to monitor my dad’s progress because he couldn’t remember a damn thing the night my mother had been brutally murdered. 

There was a man with his kid daughter crossing the street, his hand was holding hers tightly. A tear pricked my eyes. My father had abandoned me two months ago, and two weeks ago so had my mate. I knew Dmitry, Eros, and my friends kept on reassuring me that they were all here for me and that it wasn’t my fault that two of my most important people in this world had left me but sometimes I couldn’t help but wonder if they were wrong. 

I quickly pulled that thought out of my head before something bad happened. The last time I’d been feeling upset, all the light bulbs in the entire house exploded. I couldn’t let any peculiar thing happen, especially here in the Center. This was the humans’ territory although they didn’t exactly know that the land was already divided into four regions. North was occupied by our pack, the Ethereal, South was Eros’s pack The Erebus’s territory — used to be my dad’s too. The Night Walkers owned the West while witches and other magical beings lived in the East. 

“Xyrra, I’m pretty positive that glass is pristine now,” I heard a male voice from behind me and quickly turned around to face Lukas, my boss. “You can clean that table instead.” He pointed at a table with two cups and plates but no occupants. “The couple has left about half an hour ago,” he explained. Then he narrowed his eyes, a frown nestled on his forehead. “Is everything alright? Are you okay?” 

No. “Yes.” I gave him what I hoped was a reassuring smile and moved past him to the table he’d referred to earlier. “I’ll get that table cleaned up right away.” 

Right after I finished cleaning that table, I went behind the counter and learned how to make latte art from the on-duty barista. Lukas let me learn in my free time since the cafe only had two baristas now and both were part-time and had unreliable hours, especially during exams. On the other hand, I worked full day from morning till closing night on weekends. 

“Xy,” I heard another male voice calling me, and without even looking I knew that it was Eros Adler, my best friend. 

And without him even asking, I already said, “I’m fine, Er. You don’t need to check up on me every day.” 

Lukas who was standing behind the register said, “Long black with no sugar, right?” Eros had indeed been coming here so often that my boss knew his order. 

Eros gave him a small nod of confirmation and Lukas’s eyes were once again on me. “You could join him, Xy, it’s close to your break anyway.” 

It was still an hour before my actual break. Clearly, my smile wasn’t that convincing if my boss was still worried. I wanted to tell him that I was good but seeing the obvious concern in his eyes, I knew I wouldn’t hear the end of this if I didn’t sit with Eros so I nodded and muttered a small thanks before following Eros to the far end table by the window. 

I placed Eros’s drink on the table in front of him then sat opposite of him. “Seriously, Er, I’m fine.”

“It’s only been two weeks since—” He didn’t finish his sentence. He didn’t have to. 

I took a sharp breath and said for the hundredth time, “Still, you don’t need to babysit me.” 

“I’m not,” he denied. “I just come for my daily dose of caffeine.” 

I rolled my eyes, not convinced by his reasoning at all. “Yeah, right. And you have to get it all the way here at District 8 and not from a nearby coffee shop around your area?” 

“The coffee around my place tastes bad. Lukas got some good beans,” he insisted. 

I was still not convinced at all. I appreciated my friends’ concerns and being all caring but they could be too much sometimes. Visiting me at work every single day was on the list of being too much. 

“Xy,” said Eros after taking a sip of his black coffee, “I’ve been thinking. You know, even though it was impossible at that time but you managed to cure me. You actually brought me back so I think you can fix Ryker too.” 

“It’s a different thing, Er.” I swallowed a big lump in my throat. I wasn’t making excuses, I’d read about the Mad Wolf disease and asked around. There wasn’t much one could do. Not even a powerful sorceress could fix it and I’d only been a sorceress for a month. “You were hexed by a witch and that witch told me how to fix you. Ryker was struck by an ancient sword and there is no way I could go knocking on the West and ask one of the Night Walkers to tell me how to cure him. They hate my guts.” 

“They hate your father for killing their alpha once upon a time,” corrected Eros. “Not you.” 

“Fine but did they go after him? No, they went after me. Me. Didn’t you hear what they said after they struck him?” I could feel my breathing getting heavier and my chest hurting but I didn’t pay any heed.“Fleur Ashcroft, now you know how it feels to lose the one you love.”

We stayed silent for a few minutes, both were on our own thoughts. I knew that Eros could no longer argue with me once I’d laid all the facts on the table.

“I will find him for you, Xy,” he vowed all of a sudden, his blue-green eyes were holding mine.  Eros had a central Heterochromia. It was a condition that caused his eyes to have two colors: light blue and deep green. The one around his iris was light blue, just like the morning sky in the summer, while the rest was deep, moss green, like the dampened grass after the rain. His eyes were beautiful and made me jealous sometimes. “Once I have my hands on that bastard, I will bring him home so you could try to do some magic on him. I am sure it would work. It worked on mine,” he still insisted. 

In the end, I thanked him, and shortly after, he left. Time passed quicker when one was not paying attention and before I realized it, it was already nine in the evening. After clocking out, I bid my goodbye to Lukas then walked out of the back door. There was a small alley there where I parked my motorcycle whenever I worked in order to avoid paying the parking fee. My boss was okay with it too. 

I was approaching my bike when I heard the storm and looked up at the sky. “Shite!” I cursed under my breath. Here was not London but Great Britain’s sky still loved a little thunder and rainstorm. I ducked my head and raced towards where I’d parked but before I managed to reach there, I heard a loud bang as if something was hitting a metal surface and the next thing I knew a big, strong arm grabbed me around the waist, turning me around, and in a matter of seconds, warm, hungry lips clashed with mine in a passionate but punishing kiss. I fought like a madwoman, kicking and throwing my fists, for two seconds before realization kicked in and I twirled my wrist, ready to summon some magic, and kicked my assailant’s arse yet something stopped me and I stayed perfectly still. Only for a split second before my body swayed and I found myself kissing him back because I knew exactly whose lips were pressed against mine, whose tongue was caressing the inner, most sensitive part of my mouth. 

Ryker. 

No, not just him. There was Khrysaor, his wolf, in this kiss too. Ryker was a sweet, passionate lover, but there was something dominant, rough about this kiss, something that was more on Khrysaor’s nature than Ryker’s. 

My back was pushed against the side of the building, he had one hand on my thigh while the other was on my waist, keeping me upright as if he knew that I would melt into a puddle without his hold. The hand that was softly caressing and squeezing my thigh surely belonged to Ryker but the other one, roughly fondling my breast and pinching my nipple, was without a doubt belonged to Khrysaor. 

Just when I thought we would be getting down and dirty in the alley with the rain pouring on our hot, sweaty bodies and the thunder muting our scream of passion, he detached himself away from me. For a split moment, before he bolted out of the alley in lightning speed, I caught sight of his eyes flickering from silver to black to silver as if both Ryker and Khrysaor were fighting over control. I didn’t see his face, I didn’t even have a chance to see him properly but I knew that it was him. I could feel it in his kiss, his touch, and in his presence. I also knew that not a damn soul would believe about this rather odd encounter and that I had to live with a possibility that I could be mad and this all was nothing but my own hallucination. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time in the last two weeks that I’d imagined him being with me, feeling things that weren’t present.