Zanian POV
I’ve been pacing my office up and down since this morning. I swear you can see dents in the floor. It’s been two weeks since I found Deliah. “ Why would Deliah be this side of the woods? Its hours away from my old pack and no one knows about this place.” Is the same thing that has been running through my head ever since I found her in the woods, “and she shifted. Shows you just how much I have missed out on.”
When we were little we always said that we would be there together when we first sift and we would always be best friends, even if we find our mates. But I guess that fate dealt us a cruel hand because I haven’t seen her ever since I was thrown out of the pack.
*remember what I have told you. Only a wolf knows and she shifted Zanian. So that is how she knows.*
“But then everyone should know who has shifted Blaze. So that means anyone can come here.”
*no they cannot, because a wolf can choose what or what not to share with his or her human. We have a mind of our own so we can hide things from humans. Besides, not every wolf wants the human to know about this place. And we are safe here as long as we just follow the rules and not do anything stupid.*
Zanian stood looking out of his office window at the home he had built and the good of it. Thinking about what Blaze had said, something just clicked in his mind. “ That is why you blocked me out. Because you didn’t want me to see the path?”
* Yes, and no Z. Besides, you know the path like the back of your hand now. I knew you would try and stop me if I told you where we were going*
“ What the hell aren’t you telling me, Blaze?”
*we ran past your old pack. The back of it, anyway, and I didn’t want you to see how I killed them if they spotted us or started chasing us.*
I was quiet after that. So my old pack is not that far from here.
There was a knock on the door and Zane stepped inside. “Sorry to bother you, but Jeff said you’d wanted to know that the girl was awake.”
I ran out of the room. It’s time to get some answers finally.
Deliah POV.
The last thing I remember is running away from my pack and then my wolf cut me off. I slowly opened my eyes and closed them because of the light. I tried again and blinked my eyes rapidly. Finally being able to see, I looked around me and saw that I was hooked up to a machine and a heart monitor. I have no idea where I am. Just then, the door opened and a tall handsome man came in. He had wavy black hair not too long, he has green eyes and he looked well built. Guess he is a healer not a fighter by the looks of his coat and clean hands. “I wonder what his hands would feel like and if they are as soft as they look.” “what the hell Deliah. Why am I thinking like this about a total stranger no less?” I felt my cheeks heat up and saw him smiling at me, and took a step closer. I’m pretty sure I heard him growl at me before he said “Mate.” He walked over to me and touched my cheek and it felt like a thousand butterflies kissing me as tiny sparks erupted under my skin. “Why can I not smell him?”
My heart started racing and he jumped back, looking at the machines and at me.
“ You have to calm down, your body and wolf aren’t healed fully, so please calm down.” I looked at him and calmed down a bit, then asked, “ Where am I and how did I get here?”
The room door burst open and the frame was filled with Zanian’s body. I was so happy to see him that a tear slipped from my eyes and I whispered, “Zanian?”
He gave me that slow sad smile and walked closer to me. He took my hand, which caused the other guy to growl a bit. Zanian looked at him and he was staring at our hands. ‘You have got to be kidding me Jeff.” Zanian said and started laughing.
Jeff turned red as he blushed. “I didn’t mean to Z. It just sort of slipped out.” “Its fine, but I do have to speak to your mate for a second please and then she is all yours.”
Jeff looked at us and then left the room. As soon as he was gone, I lifted myself up, ignoring the protest from my body. I threw my arms around his neck and started crying. “I thought you were dead”, I said, and he rubbed my back in slow circles.
Zanian POV.
“I thought you were dead.” I ignored that statement and just rubbed her back.
When she was calm enough, I unhooked her arms from my neck and laid her back down, taking her hands in mine and squeezing them lightly. Seeing her face scrunch up from the pain, my heart broke even further. She looked at me and her once sparkling green eyes looked so dull and empty.
I couldn’t stop myself. “ What happened to you Deliah? She looked away from me and then when she looked back all traces of her tears were gone and her eyes looked hard and cold. A look I know all too well. It almost made me shiver. She took a deep breath, “your brother became Alpha when he turned 18 and everything in the pack changed, and I mean everything. He brought in more rules and a curfew, saying no wolf is allowed out after eleven o’ clock at night except for border Patrols and Warriors. At first, no one understood why until we heard the news that some she wolves has gone missing from the packs around us. We were attacked by an army of rogues that killed almost half the pack. They were like super wolves or something. Your father went to find out what they want and they are looking for a girl and you.”
I looked at her shocked, “why in the hell would rogues be looking for me?”
“ We don’t know what they want with you or the girl they are looking for. I think they said her name was Crystalia, but they made the message quite clear. They killed your mother and father and left Zack with a few scars.”
“I have no idea who that is Deliah, I’ve never even heard of that name.”
“ No, but you knew Leila. And I found something that I wish I hadn’t.”
As soon as she mentioned that name my whole body went still and my heart started racing. I couldn’t even form a single word, I just looked at her.
Deliah POV
I looked at Zanian, taking a deep breath before I said, “Leila knew you were her mate even before you knew. She was a silver wolf so she could hide her scent. She thought that it might save your life. But the day of your banishment, Zack told her to go to your father and he would let her leave with you. Zack sent her to her death knowing your father would never allow a traitor in the pack.”
I saw Zanian’s expression change from shock to anger and then all I could see on his face was hatred and pain.
He got up from the bed and left the room, ignoring my cries.
If he is smart, he will let this go for now, but knowing him, he will never let it go. I never found my mate in my pack and I remember how much it hurt to be alone and not have a mate. I cannot imagine what Zanian is going through. Watching your mate die for no apparent reason can make any wolf crazy, and just before Zanian slaughtered every last member in that pack, he was shot with wolfsbane and taken away. I thought I would never have a chance to see my friend again. And now I don’t know for how long I’ll be seeing him.
Zanian POV
As soon as I got outside, I shifted and ran. And I didn’t stop running.
*They will pay for what they have done, and you are either helping me or you will wake up when all of this is over.*
“ What do you mean, Blaze?”
*I am going to kill every last person who was involved in everything. Zack will be the first. He is the reason our fu**ing mate is dead Zanian.*
“ We need to think this through Blaze. If we start a war, then we need to be sure. But what has that girl have to do with any of this? Have you ever heard that name before?”
* No I have not. Why would rogues be looking for us and her? We don’t even know each other*
“I don’t know Blaze.”
We’ve been running for almost three hours and I could never get that name out of my head. Why is that name stuck in my head and why do I even care?
We stopped at a small pond to take a break and to give my thoughts a rest.
I am happy to see Deliah again, but I wish she had never come here. I don’t want her to see me like that or what I can do. I have grown cold and I can be heartless at times. I almost killed a she wolf for leading me on and trying to touch me for God’s sake.”
*because she was not our mate.*
“I don’t even think we have a second mate, Blaze, and do you really want to die alone?”
*I will wait for her, Zanian, and if you cannot wait, then I will never come out again.*
Zane POV.
Zanian has been having mood swings for the last three days, so I just left him alone and went over to Kyle and Lilly. It is so unfair because he found his mate and I’m starting to think that I will never find mine. Even Jeff found his mate delivered to him on a hospital bed. And now he is so protective over her that almost no one can come close to her. They have marked each other but haven’t mated yet. She is still too weak. We found out that she is Zanian’s best friend and they come from the same pack. I tried asking her about Zanian but all she said was that he would tell his story when he is ready. So I just dropped the whole thing.
She looks more affected by Zanian’s mood swings than the rest of us. “I bet it’s because she knows what it is about.”
Zanian has never been this bad and this closed off. I mean he is a very scary Alpha and I don’t ever want to be on his bad side. I hope that whatever is bothering him will change now that his friend is here.
I was sitting and playing cards with Lilly, Kyle, Jeff and Deliah when I heard Zanian shouting for me and he sounded impatient. I jumped up and I left.
I found Zanian in his office staring out the window with a glass of whiskey in his hand. He looked so far away that, for the first time, I took note of how tired and worn out he looked.
I cleared my throat and he looked at me.
He looked at me and said, “ You know I would make you Beta if I could, right?”
I looked at him startled and shocked because he never spoke to me like that.
I shook my head yes and said, “I know. And I am your Beta Zanian. We chose you as our Alpha and the rules apply to you too. Together we stand and together we fight.”
He looked at me and smiled. He downed the last of his whiskey and said, “Well then it is time that I started trusting you, isn’t it? Go and find Kyle and come back here.”
I never expected to hear those words from Zanian, but I did as he asked and left his office.
Unknown POV.
Finding them was easier said than done. I found Zanian and I found Crystalia a month ago wandering the woods feeling lost and alone. She couldn’t remember where she was or how she got there. I took one look at her and my heart broke into a million pieces when I realized what they did with her. I took her by the arms and told her to follow me. I healed most of her wounds but some of the scars will never go away. They must have injected her with silver and she died before she could heal and with the silver in her body she will never heal completely.
I worked with her and slowly brought back her memories of her previous life and what had happened to her. At first she didn’t believe it, because if you die, you die, there is no coming back. A few days later, she turned twenty years old and shifted. Only then could I tell her about who she was.
But I didn’t tell her everything.
I did the same with Zanian. I planted the story of Odin in his mind but a different version of the story to the one he was told as a kid.
My job was to find them and make sure they found each other. Their strength together will be worth more than a thousand rogues put together.
When she was healed and ready to leave, I told her what to do and where to go from there. I also told her that she would see me again and to always be careful.
I walked her back to her back borders and left her there. What she does from there on is up to her and her alone.