Survival Instincts

RHEA

The door to Jaden's study was suddenly pushed open and there stood Jaden. His expression was blank and his eyes were cold. 

"You're not supposed to be eavesdropping, Rhea" he stated and I stared at him, gobsmacked. I let out a bitter chuckle, unable to believe my ears. 

"I'm not supposed to be eavesdropping? Am I supposed to find out that I'm your mate this way? No, wait... were you ever going to tell me about it?" I questioned.

"Rhea" Jayden warned and I stared at him incredulously.

"So, what? Are you going to reject me? I didn't choose to be your mate!" I hissed.

He started to move towards me until he was right in front of me and despite the fact that my wolf was ranting about how gorgeous he was, I was annoyed. 

"If rejecting you will make things easier for us, then yes I will!" He growled and I clenched my fists, my temper flaring. 

"What are you going to do about it?" He demanded. It was clear that he didn't want me. Why would he? I was reminded of the horrible fact that I was alone and despite the fact that the Moon goddess had chosen me to be Jaden's mate, that fact still hadn't change. 

I took a step backwards, then another. Jaden's frown vanished and he parted his lips to say something. I held up a hand to silence him, and his eyes darkened. I had probably just bruised his alpha ego. Nevertheless, at this point, I was past caring. I rushed towards the front door, angry tears filling my eyes.

"Stop right there," came his cold voice and I froze, my fingers still wrapped around the door knob.

"You disgust me, Jaden. I don't want to be anywhere around you," I said and he growled low in his throat. I shivered involuntary. My wolf was probably willing to submit, but that was the last thing on my mind. 

"You have nowhere to go."

"I don't care," I responded, feeling the strong urge to run far away, to escape. I hated the feeling of total vulnerability and over my dead body, was I going to cry because Jaden had hurt my feelings. Without waiting to hear anything else from him, I opened the door and ran. 

I ran down the alley and into the streets. I couldn't care less about the stares people gave me. All I wanted to do was keep running until I was too tired to do so. My breathing had quickened and my heart was pounding hard in my chest. Sweat rolled down the sides of my face and my wolf whined. She didn't like the idea of running away from her mate. 

Who the hell did Jaden think he was? Just because he didn't want me, he was considering rejecting me?

I didn't know much about an alpha rejecting his mate, but I had a feeling it was going to hurt. I didn't want to feel that kind of pain. I'd gone through so much already, I believed I deserved a break.

I was so lost in my thoughts, I bumped into someone and almost fell. Whosoever he was, held my hand and steadied me. My heart sank when I saw his face. Staring right back at me with grey eyes that was so similar to Jayden's, was another werewolf. I could tell by his scent. He looked just like Jaden. The only difference was that, he wore his hair in a mohawk. There was an evil glint in his eyes that was absent in Jaden's eyes. His lips were curved into a smile when his piercing gaze met mine. "Easy, there. You should pay more attention to the road, miss" he said. His voice was husky but it also had a bit of a rasp. 

"I apologise," I said and he chuckled. "It's okay."

"I'll get going now," I said and started to move away. I could feel his gaze following me. It made me feel uncomfortable. 

Once I was sure I was out of his sight, I halted. Doubling over, I planted my hands on my thighs and dragged in lungfuls of air into my lungs, taking my time to catch my breath. 

I wondered who the man I'd bumped into, was. He looked so much like Jaden, it would be fair to say they were twins. 

Was he a jerk like his brother? The evil glint I'd seen in his eyes was probably a hint of the fact that he was way worse than his brother. That didn't matter now, I had made up my mind to steer clear of the Blackwoods.

Some minutes later, it started to rain. I was thirsty and I was tired as hell. I made my way to a park and sat down on the bench, ignoring the rain that was pouring down on me. I laid down on the bench and curled up. My stomach growled, reminding me of how ravenous I was. Honestly, a part of me regretted running away from Jaden.

Nevertheless, my pride was bigger. When I started to feel really cold, I started to draw a sigil on the floor, using the tip of my index finger. As soon as I was done, I muttered a spell. The rain ceased and the cold vanished. After a couple of minutes, I gave in to my exhaustion and fell asleep. 

I was awoken by the sound of footsteps on the grass. It was probably as a result of the presence of my wolf. My hearing had magnified by a thousand fold. 

"She's asleep. Tread carefully."

My eyes shot open at the sound of the familiar voice I'd just heard. The werewolves who had burnt down my house had finally traced me to the park. Night had fallen and the crescent moon had taken it's place in the night sky. I rose to my feet and the werewolves rushed at me with insane werewolf speed. Still, I wasn't willing to go down without a fight. I had to try to escape or die trying. The first werewolf had claws and his eyes were the color of sunset. He attacked me and his claws made contact with the side of my face. I felt it sting badly and I started to get really annoyed. No one leaves a mark on my face and goes free. I mumbled a spell that created illusions of fifteen women that looked exactly like me. The werewolves halted. They were confused. Using this to my advantage, I poked my fingers in the eyes of the werewolf who had left three claw marks on my face and kicked him in the groin hard enough for him to feel the pain all the way to his brain. He let out a cry of pain and doubled over. 

"She's a witch! Find the original! It's an illusion! Don't let her escape!" One of the five werewolves yelled.

I took off running and they went after me, growling menacingly. So, I did what I do best. I kept running.

....

JADEN

I regretted everything I'd said to Rhea. I'd panicked and had said the wrong things, thinking it would fix everything. But, I was wrong, I'd worsened the situation. Rhea had been hurt by my statement, I'd seen it in her eyes. But, my pride made me let her walk out the door. I punched the wall of my office, my frustration growing. There was a knock on the door and I threw a book at the door. "What part of I want to be alone, don't you understand?!" I yelled. 

The knocking ceased and I continued to pace back and forth, restlessly.

'Are you going to continue to pace, and do nothing about it. Or, are you going to fix the mess you have created?' Tarus questioned in my head and I let out a sigh as I facepalmed. 

"How do I fix this? It's my fault she ran away" I thought. 

'Find her, Jaden. Find her before someone else finds her' Tarus urged.