Chapter 6

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 flares in my ankle, but I ignore it, focusing on the immediate threat.

The third rogue just observes as I fight the two others, visibly having one over both of them.

As I watch him both his accomplice charge at me. I duck under Valis's wild swing, driving my elbow into his jaw with bone-crunching force. I spin a second later, catching the other rogue's wrist mid-swipe and twisting it, forcing him to his knees. As he struggles, I execute a seamless backflip to evade the Valis's renewed attack, landing with feline precision.

They are nowhere near stopping. They charge at the same time. Coming at me from all directions. I deliver a rapid series of strikes—an upward knee to the rogue's face as he tries to rise, followed by a spinning roundhouse kick to the Valis's head.

The third rogue finally moves, his eyes glowing with a predatory light.

Valis is up again. This makes me grin.

He never really knew when to give up.

"We were told you were smart," the rogue says, raising a hand that immediately makes Valis halt and the first rogue, still on the ground, to stiffen. He steps forward, into the blinking light. He's someone important, I deduce. He is a tall, broad and really muscular man, with eyes as red as a human's blood, gaze determined and unnerving. He exudes a sense of power and dominance—though nowhere in comparison to my mate. But it's there.

I feel a sharp pang in my heart at the thought of my mate. I have to leave before he follows my scent among the hundreds of others. I have to leave before my plane does and I am stuck here. I look at the entrance again. Still no sign of the car Haze mentioned Rey has ready for me.

I have to stall some more, just as I have the thought the hum of an engine greets us, loud and clear in the empty and eerily quiet parking.

I grin. "And I can see you are not," I finally answer, looking at the car halting right behind them. I look at the number plate to make sure. They're here. "You know me and yet you came to my territory to get me?"

The doors open and boots thump down on hard pavement.

My grin widens. "Quite foolish of—"

I freeze, going completely numb as the four men that come out are four with lifeless, colourless eyes.

Kalhyis.

The rogue laughs, heartily, so enamoured by the look of apparent shock on my face. Valis and the other one join him.

I stand still and silenced by the cold realisation.

There is no car waiting to take me to the airport. Just one full of my potential murderers.

The screeching, hurtful spit of betrayal is like acid. Burning and clawing at me from inside. How could he? My breathing quickens. "How could he?" My voice breaks. I find myself hardly being able to breathe, each intake of air feeling like a dagger to my chest. I never really thought of Rey as my brother. And I certainly never would have guessed the pain of his betrayal would cut deeper than any wound. But... how could he? Rey did not like me. I knew as much. But we were never enemies. He said he would not have my blood at pack land. He said—

“Fuck," I whisper so, so low that even I don't hear myself say it.

But the rogue does. And he enjoys it so much. A cruel smile plays across his lips.

"Will you still refuse?" the rogue asks.

My heart aches with a mixture of sorrow and fury. I mask it, schooling my face back to nothing, wiping the look of aching betrayal off. "As much as I would like to kick all your asses," I say, ever so calmly. I just need to get out of this basement. Then I'll figure out if the plane ticket was untrue as well. "I have somewhere to be. So, if you will excuse me."

I turn. And I run.

Again.