My feet are stuck in place. My heartbeat is fast. But not because I am scared. I... am happy. There's a certain dizziness that envelopes me whole, heightening my senses. I can feel everything. I can hear everything. My wolf is at the surface. I only feel excitment even though death is directly knocking at my door now. My wolf howls in delight.
I feel heavy. Almost as if something is pulling me.
"Where are they?" Rey asks.
"They are at the embassy," Haze replies. The wave of relief that washes over me and Rey is shared. But then he adds, "however, the head of delegation, along with ten others is here. He is in an audience with the elders right now."
Rey swears under his breath. "The meeting is in a week. What is their purpose of coming a week prior"
"Due to serious threats to the delegation, there was a sudden change in plans as a security precaution. The Union has decided for the meeting to take place tomorrow. We have just been notified."
"Security? The precautions aren't in place right now. Are they out of their minds? The delegation has been selected by the King of Utrif, personally. If we get attacked and any one of the delegation members is even hurt, what do they think would happen?"
Haze nods. "I will request immediate assistance from neighbouring packs." He hurriedly excuses himself and paces out.
Rey gets up. "Leave," he says to me. "Right this instant. Do not stop for anything or anyone. Take the elevator, go straight down. I will send your luggage before the flight takes off. Right now, just leave fast."
I don't speak. I just nod and run out of his office and down to the elevator. I have to leave. Now. There's a weird tension in the air. Everyone is in a hurry. The elevator is filled with people. It goes down slowly. The feeling grows. My palms are sweaty and my vision white.
I close my eyes shut tightly, taking deep breaths. My wolf is at bay. She is begging to be let out and I have no idea why. I need to leave.
Someone screams. Which is followed by the louder bang. A deafening noise. An explosion. The elevator stops with a loud screech. Everyone around me is suddenly screaming and crying and shouting.
Panic thickens the air. People fidget around in the tight space. The crying continues. The crowd keeps pressing buttons in panic. Some start to bang their fists against the doors. Some try to open the door with pens and rods and whatever they can find.
Another explosion. This one is louder.
I blink, look down at my hands and up. Everything around me is slow. Voices muffled. It's as if someone is holding me underwater.
The lights go down. In the darkness even more panic is created. Someone steps on my toe. Someone screams in my ear. A child is crying among them. Most of them are humans, too scared for their mortal lives.
I put my palms over my head, tightly shutting my eyes. She's close. My wolf. Please stay in. I beg to myself. And then as if the heavens heard me there's a metallic clank and the elevator door is broken down. A werewolf, dressed in all black from outside grabs the remaining elevator door and pulls it off like it's nothing but paper.
"Get out!" he hollers. And people obey, hurriedly sprinting out the elevator.
I am the last person in there. The guy grabs my arm and pulls me out. A second later I hear the bang of elevator falling and blink. Frozen in shock, I don't look back at what could have been my death. The werewolf in black along with many others just like him ushers everyone in the direction of the ballroom. I am on the sixth floor. Just a few more and I'll be down.
The whole place smells like smoke and sweat and blood. And... rogue. I pick up the dark and bitter scent and stop. We're under attack. By rogues.
I turn back. My pack mates are here. My friends are here. Do not stop for anything and anyone. I shake my head. I have to stop. Someone grabs my arm. A man also dressed in black. But his scent is a familiar one. "Miss Austel?" he says.
"Haze."
His eyes are ablaze. His claws out. "The car is waiting for you. Take the left exit stairs please. Go down. It will be at the end of the basement." He turns me back to safer side and nudges me forward.
I don't move. "We are under attack. Let me—"
He isn't surprised by my words. "You will do no good by being here. The best thing you can do for anyone right now is leave," he whispers in the mayhem. When I frown at him he shakes his head. "The Alpha asked me to tell you this." He nudges me forward again. "Run."
He turns and sprints across the other side. I hear roars and claws scratching against each other. Leave.
I hesitate, almsot running after him. I want to help. I can help. But I turn, bitting the inside of my cheek. I turn and I run. The whole crowd empties into the ballroom. The staircase is on the end of the ballroom. I start towards it. Everything will be fine—
My feet stop moving. I am still in place. I can't move. I am not being let move.
Everything melts away all of a sudden. Everything but a presence. A presence I have not seen yet but only feel. And goddess I have never felt such power in my life. So raw, so effortless, as if the holder simply exists for power to ignite. My wolf is at bay. I feel the green of my eyes fade into darkness. I knew something was wrong.
I turn.
There is a dark shadow looming over me. I swallow a nonexistent slump down my throat. The music quietens around. My ears thrum with a muffled, dim version of my heart beat.
The shadow moves closer to me. The specks of light sneaking in through the half closed shutters fall on the shadow's face. It's covered, hidden underneath a black mask. But before I feel disappointed, I am met with the most bizarre set of blue eyes. Everything loses sense all of a sudden, as if nothing in my life ever mattered as long as I met him. Everything I went through, every spar, every scar, every Navoi. Nothing matters if I met the man in front of me.
I blink.
He blinks.
I try and make sense of what is happening. Maybe the air is drugged. Maybe I am having hallucinations. But all explanations lead to one logical answer. Light in dark. Shelter in a storm. A safe haven.
My mate.
It all makes sense now. I thought something was pulling me towards it, calling out my wolf. Now I know it wasn't something but someone.
And I am moving away from that someone with every tick of time.
"Mate," he says, his voice a silent thunder, a command. As if, he knows who I am, he is just making sure everyone else does either. I have heard stories about this. How you just know. A blessing. No matter who you are, how you are, what kind you are, a blessing for all. But somehow I led myself to believe I was an exception. I have never been so happy to be proven wrong. I raise my hand. He can't be real. I breathe in. I have a mate. I breathe out. My palm touches the fabric of his cursed mask and everything falls into place. I sigh, a wave of gratification rendering me breathless for a whole minute. He's real. "Mine," I gasp, more shocked than joyful. My mate likes that. The slight crinkles under his eyes show that. His eyes are sharp, sweeping through every inch, every corner of me. I do the same. Though, there is not much to find. A dark cloack, a dark mask and a dark cap. All I can see is his eyes. A part of me screams to rip the cloth off his face
Fate plays with you in funny ways. A single look, a single moment, that was all my luck could give me with my mate. I start towards the end of the basement, where Haze mentioned the car would be. Its not there so I wait. The basement is empty. No one in sight. Only their cars. I catch my breath for a second. In just a few hours I will be in Utrif. A place of death for rogues. It doesn't leave me. The reminder that my home is no longer my home. I never belonged anywhere. I had a home. It went away. I found my mate. And I had to walk away. Everything I get, I only get so I can see it being taken away. Pain swirls up my palm. I loosen my nails from there and only then realize the crescent moons reddened in my palm. Within seconds they start to subtly stitch themselves up. Tissues connect slowly. The red dissolves into pink and then finally into its pale tone. But it is for the better— I stand. Scents, bitter and wrong surround me. Rogues. They're here. But I am not sca
Valis lunges forward in less than a moment. I sidestep, movement fluid and precise, and dodge him with no effort. I may have been resting here for seven years but that does not mean I would let the torturous training I endured go to waste. Valis barely has time to react before my fist connects with his jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground. I spin on my heel, my movements a blur, and deliver a swift kick to the other rogue's midsection. He doubles over, gasping for air. Valis lunges again, his claws extended. I dodge, feeling the rush of air as his claws slice through the space where my head had previously been. I counter with a powerful punch to his ribs, the impact reverberating through my arm. Valis staggers but remains standing, his eyes blazing with fury. "You'll pay for that," he snarls, spitting blood on the rough pavement. I aim a kick at his knee but Valis catches my leg, wrenching me off balance. I twist in mid-air, landing awkwardly but on my feet. Pain flar
I am a fast runner. But the kalhyi are faster. I don't count how many of them are there. But they are a big number. And all of them catch up to me in no time. One of them lands a slight blow to my leg. I don't falter. Show pain and you're as good as dead. With a swift, decisive motion, I drive my elbow into its throat. It falls back, immediately going still. I don't stop to monitor its ability to move again and bolt through the endless rows of cars. That's when it happens. Something rakes across my front, sharp and swift. Claws. A loud roar renders the place silent and only when my legs buckle and I come face to face with the ground do I realise it was my roar. Heavy weight pushes me further into the ground. My vision swims with stars. With a single thundering growl, I heave out my claw from under me and dig it into the weight's side with all my might. An even more tremendous wail is let loose at my gesture. I hoist myself up from t
"Let me see your face." His voice sounds like safety. Powerful. I shake my head. My wolf is a slobbering mess, screaming in true delight at the sound of our mate out loud. We stay still for a few minutes. "Are you alright?" he asks in a whisper. The three straight cuts throb, reminding me I am not. I finally pull back, looking up. His face is still covered under the strange looking mask I couldn't decipher in the darkness of the ballroom. But now, in the dim basement lights, I see it and instantly a chill runs down my body. It's an eerie black skull, gleaming ominously with shadowed eye sockets and delicate silver-highlighted cracks. Sharp cheekbones, a jagged nasal cavity and a chillingly realistic grin of teeth enhance its lifelike, unsettling texture. Only the azure of his eyes pokes out. "Take off your mask," I say so, so softly that even I am surprised at my tone. He gives me a half smile. And then one of the men behind him takes a careful step forward. His eyes g
The moon grows distant with every lingering moment I sneak glances at my mate. He catches me at my twenty-seventh try and I not-so-subtly turn to the window. The abruptness of the movement causes an agonising shiver to run down my back. I grit my teeth to not hiss. The world rotates a little faster for me, my vision a little dim and my body a little numb. I clench and unclench my fists, willing control in my cold body as I watch trees fade into the misty night. We're driving through the outskirts of the city, into the forest. If it were anyone other than my mate, I would have jumped out of the car by now. With him. . . I feel trust. It scares me. "Are you okay?" my wearisome mate asks for the hundredth time. "Yes," I lie for the hundredth time. I don't get why he is asking me this time and time again. I am hurt, yes. But it is not that serious. The cuts weren't
As I near the plane I only have one question. Who is Noah Silverton? He was present at the pack house which means he was part of a delegation. He is from Utrif, as he said. An envoy, for sure. He is of high ranking, I can tell by the aura he carries alone, and well, the private jets. Alphas and Betas do not leave their packs unless it's for grave matters. Rarely deltas are sent out for work like this as well. Gammas are sent mostly. And for a gamma to emit such waves of authority means the rank of his pack is high as well. The higher the rank of a pack the more they are involved with the country. And the King. The thought disappoints me. I can not stay with him if he's that close to an Alpha who could causally ask for rogue hunters to check in on his Gamma's mysterious mate. Then not only will I die but my mate would get into trouble as well. Helping a rogue in Utrif, for whatever reason it may be, is punishable. Helping a rogue inside Utrif. . . I start to chart my plan of es
A green field. A shining sun. A laughing family. This again. Someone is calling my name. Again and again and again. Leona. Leona. "Leona!" My eyes burst open. All I see is white. A bright light. I blink a few times. The brightness is subdued. Everything is hazy and fast and a blur of red and black. Someone is screaming. Screaming so loud and painfully that it scares me of the reason. The sound is raw and desperate, echoing around me like a wounded animal. What is happening? I try to move. To help. And then it hits me. Pain—searing, unrelenting pain—tears through my very being. I try to scream, only to find out I already am. "Leona," I hear it again, through all the chaos and confusion and pain. Like a thunder bolt in a war. My eyes are wet and blurry but through the haze, I see Noah. His darned mask is finally off but I can't make out his face. His hair is ruffled. His eyes are full of rage. His hands are around me. His mouth is moving. He is saying so