Chapter 2

RYDEN

 I just received a call from my delta, the head of my enforcers, Trent, that we had werewolf visitors. It didn’t happen often without a formal appointment in advance unless it was an emergency, or what we considered as threats.

 I saw a truck parked at the pack house which didn’t belong to any of my pack members. 

The moment I got out of my car, I instantly felt my heart pound hard which didn’t happen often. I couldn’t sense any threats in the air, but the faint of familiar scents, which was a good sign.

 But nothing was a good sign with that scent that still caught up in the air— the same dazzling fruity scents of raspberry overdose with a hint of lychee and citrus, and a vivid fusion of woodsy and rose sensation before it faded. 

The last time I smelled this scent was two years, one month, and three days ago, yet it was still fresh in my head.

 Fuck.

 I drew a deep breath as I entered the house. “What the fuck is going on?”

 Trent met me halfway. “The girl. I thought she’s dead.” Everyone thought she was dead, except for me and her family.

 “Where is she?” I still carried that extreme guilt until now, even after my death, but it had to be done.

 “With her brother. She has companions. A white-haired Japanese guy and a Latina.”

 I stared at him for a moment not to overthink what he said, but she had the right to move on. One thing I wasn’t sure was my message would reach her. Zarah, the witch was right.

 I went to the infirmary, and her scent was getting stronger, it quickly messed up with my head. I breathed deeply before I pushed the door open.

 She almost knocked me on my ass. I wasn’t expecting to see Amelia today, or not in my lifetime, after what I did to her. Since that night, I accepted fate and ought to live alone for the rest of my life. Apparently, the universe had its way of making a sick cosmic joke on me. On us.

 Seeing her before me caught me off guard. She had changed a lot, not the same girl who walked out of this pack house two years ago.

 Amelia wasn’t the same Amelia anymore. She was still beautiful, though— beautiful didn’t even cut it. I’d met a thousand women, but she was more stunning— striking. She even changed her hair color to fiery red— auburn, and it suited her pale skin perfectly.

 She looked fierce, not the soft innocent naive skinny girl I used to bully. Her brows shot up, her jaw set tight the moment our gazes locked. Her autumn green eyes slightly narrowed.

 “Amelia.” Even her name felt strange coming from my mouth. As much as I’d like to indulge myself in her beauty. She didn’t come here for me. That was the fact.

 “Alpha Ryden.” At least she still acknowledged me as the alpha. “I’m here to see my brother.”

 “I see, you receive my message.”

 “Your message?” She stole a glance at the white-haired guy.

 “Yeah. I don’t know how else to reach you, and your brother is not getting any better.”

 She seemingly shook off what I said. “Thank you. I’d like to be alone with my brother if you don’t mind.”

 “I actually do. I’m not leaving my beta alone with strangers.”

 “It’s a family matter, Alpha Ryden, and these two, my people are not strangers. They are family.” When she said her people, it was clear to me that she was in good hands.

 “He’s my family, too, Amelia, but I don’t know them.” I eyed at the two who were intensely staring at me as if I had stolen their bunnies before, and they just marked me their enemy.

 “Theia and I will be waiting in the car. Make it quick.” The Japanese guy gripped her wrist.

 “I have to do it, Ren,” she whispered to him.

 The Ren guy nodded. “Do what’s necessary. We’ll be outside. You know what to do.”

 She nodded at the guy and smiled at the Latina who was around her age, but shorter.

 When her friends left, Zeph cleared his throat. “When you two are done, I need to rest.”

 “Hey.” I went to his bed. “How are you feeling?”

 “Same as an hour ago and yesterday, and the day after,” he said with a weak smile. “Scratch that. I’m getting worse, and you know that.”

 “What exactly happened to him?”

 I lifted off Zeph’s shirt and showed Amelia the bite mark on the side of his abdomen. “It’s more than just a wolf bite. It’s infected with something. Your mom tried her best to treat him with everything medically possible, but he’s not improving. In fact, the infected area was spreading. I also called a witch and the healer.”

 “Shadow Hawks?”

 I looked at her, surprised that she knew about the lycan princess who was also a healer. “Yes. How do you know her?”

 “Words go around.”

 “I lost all options.”

 “Where did he get bitten?”

 “Nevada. He’s attending a wedding at one of my allies.”

 “Did the person responsible for this get caught?”

 “No. No one saw it,” her brother replied. “I could barely remember what happened. It was fast. I must have passed out, and I woke up in the hospital. They transferred me here two days ago.”

 “This happened five days ago. And he’s not healing.”

 She grabbed the sword— a Katana, that I didn’t know was there beside the bed. It looked amazing, like done by a craftsman from centuries ago. Its scabbard looked customized and decorated with flames design in gold carvings. Even the hilt was a little rounder than the usual sword.

 “Easy. Do you even know how to use that?”

 She replied to me with a glare. “What’s gonna happen here is just between the three of us.”

 “Why?” I looked at her, and she returned it back with such intensity that our bond started to boil up from the surface, just waiting to crackle up. 

It amazed me that it didn’t disappear. It didn’t die down. It just bottled up ready to explode and light up into a huge fire with a little spark.

 She began twisting off the pommel of her sword and pulled out a small bottle from the inside.

 “What’s that?”

 “An elixir that I promised someone to use it when necessary.”

 “I can’t take that, Amelia.” Zeph coughed. He could barely speak but he tried harder to be strong in front of his sister. “I’ve accepted my fate. I’m dying. That elixir wherever you got that from doesn’t deserve me. I heard what you and your friend talked about. I’m fine. I’m just glad to see you before I go.” He dragged out his breath as he was done talking.

 Exhaling, her eyes were thoughtful as she whispered, “You’re not dying today, brother. And we still have a lot to talk about, remember?”

 A light smile spread across his pale lips. “First thing, you have to tell me why did you leave, little sister.”

 Shit.

 Amelia opened the lid of the small bottle. “Lift the bed, please?”

 I did as she asked since she asked me nicely.

 “You’ll take a drop of this, okay, Zeph?”

 “If you say so.”

 “Open your mouth.” She tipped down a single drop into Zeph’s mouth and sealed it tightly, putting it back inside the sword handle. and stuffed her sword into the sling on her back. She looked badass, though, and sexy as fuck.

 “What kind of elixir is that exactly? And where did you get it?”

 “It doesn’t matter.” She barely finished her words when Zeph screamed out loud. His body went rigid and turned blue for seconds which stunned me. Amelia remained the same without any reactions as if she knew what would happen.

 “Zeph!” Before I could hold him, Amelia gripped my arm.

 “Don’t. He’s gonna be fine.” She then let me go.

 “What the fuck is that?” I stared at her. Before I could grab the sword behind her, she blocked me quickly. It surprised me and intrigued me at the same time.

 “You can’t touch my sword.” It was a warning.

 “Or what? It will burn me?”

 When she chose not to answer, I turned to look at Zeph, and he looked peacefully sleeping.

 “Is he okay?”

 “He will be.”

 “We need to talk, Amelia.”

 She glanced at her brother for a moment before she turned to me. “We have nothing to talk about. I will see my parents and Zeph one last time, and then I will be out of your hair, Alpha.”

 “No.”

 “No?” She arched her eyebrows.

 I clenched my jaw. Through gritted teeth, I said, “You’re not going anywhere.”

 She snorted. “How do you suppose to stop me?”

“Is that a challenge?”