Chapter 28

Sunlight flooded in through the sheer curtains as I sat on the edge of the bed, my phone against my ear, nearly dropping over my shoulder as I spoke to my mother. It had been two weeks since I had left her home and I missed her more than anything else.

"Is everything working well there?" I asked her, concern still in my voice even after so many days had passed by. "If there's something you need, please let me know."

"Everything's fine, Viv. I only miss you, nothing else."

My head met with the headboard of the bed, and I sighed in relief. She had always been my first and last worry. After everything that happened last year, I couldn't risk letting anyone hurt her, even if it was some random stranger on the street. She had enough pain for a lifetime.

"Tell me about yourself. When do you plan to visit me? It's been forever since I haven't seen your face." She said, sounding sad and down over the fact that I had been gone.

"Hopefully by the end of this week. I just have some things to sort before the week ends, but after that, I'll stay with you for a few nights." I promised her.

So much had happened in these days I had spent here, from losing my virginity to taking two men at one night—it was overwhelming, extreme. Just the thought of them both made my insides tingle and flutter in desires.

I had stayed sore for days and days after the night spent in the forest. But the morning after it, I felt different after taking energy from the dead witches they had killed. It surely made an effect on me. It broadened my knowledge itself, forced me to practice more and more to the point where I was brewing magic in the fours walls of my room with no one's knowledge.

How was it even possible?

The call with my mom ended soon as she had to rush to the door to pick some mails. By the beginning of next month, she was starting a nursing job at the local hospital. It was going to distract her and set her intentions elsewhere. The house was becoming a bit too lonely for her, especially with me gone.

Midday, Dion invited me to a run with him in the woods nearby the court and while he walked shirtless, I only stared at his perfectly shaped muscles than anything else.

"The Silverstream Pack wolves can get vicious sometimes," he said, showing the scars on his body that he had received from other wolves. "But the duels are an enjoyment for everyone. I haven't lost a single duel till date." He grinned with pride before buttoning up a shirt.

I barely held my gaze back.

"How often do you have these duels?" I asked him, curious to see one.

Shirtless men fighting one and another was going to be a wonderful scene. A perfect distraction for me.

"Every week—Sunday's. There's one this week. You can come if you'd like."

My smile turned into a frown when I realized my father's family was surely going to be there. "Maybe. I'll see if I'm in a mood to see men fight like animals." I whispered while racing my hand down his bulging arm.

"We are animals," He said, his eyes growing dark. "These duels are a way of life for us. It's how we prove ourselves, how we gain respect and honor in our world. It's how we become men." His arm stretched, hand going to the back of my head before he pulled me closer.

A part of me agreed with him. Their wolves demanded for violence. But I remained unsure if it was best to go into my father's pack and come in the public's eye. There were a couple of days for me to decide.

As the skies grew darker, the clouds thickened and swirled overhead, blocking out the sun and casting a gloomy shadow over the land. The air felt heavy and damp, and a light breeze carried the scent of rain on its wings.

We began with our stroll back to the court before the promising rainfall.

"Is anybody from the Silverstream Pack in the court?" I asked Dion out of curiosity.

His attention clicked to me, "Claudia. She's a female wolf. You haven't met her yet?" He seemed surprised.

I shook my head, unaware of any woman named Claudia. "I haven't."

"Oh, that's unusual. She's a Hart, probably your great aunt or something. You must know her!" Dion said, a worried look on his face now to why I didn't know my own family.

Only if he knew.

My frown deepened. Hart. I tried to recall anyone named Claudia, but truly nothing came to my memory. But again, there weren't many family members I knew from my father's side. He never took us to them and there was always a distance after he married my mother, a witch.

"I think I know her," I lied, quickly covering up my intentions. "It's been a very long time." My fingers ran through my hair as I brushed it off.

Dion didn't know my intentions, and he didn't know I had killed my father. Callan knew, and his suspicions were over the roof. He had an idea what I was doing here, but even then I resisted the urge to spill it all out, even after what I had seen them do with the witches earlier.

The queen's orders.

Whoever was in court was here for a purpose, whether it was finding secrets, killing someone or maintaining peace. It was all Alexandria's plan. And I was in her plan—being used.

A chill crawled down my spine as I returned to court.

It was now dark inside as the heavy clouds hovered over us.

"Do you not have a mate?" I asked Dion as he walked me back to my room. "Every werewolf has one, doesn't he?"

"I've had plenty over the hundred years I have lived." A smile stretched over his mouth. "But I've outlived them all. A werewolf can't live for as long as I have."

"Oh, that must be terrible..."

"Not as much as you think. At least I didn't have to spend a century committed to someone." His eyes darkened and his smile widened.

I shook my head in defeat and unlocked my room with the keys I had received when I first came here. My back turned against the door while my eyes lingered over him.

"You should come inside." I whispered, my heart racing.

I stepped backward, into the room and waited for him to come inside. But he didn't. His hands raised, elbows resting on either side of the door as he waited behind.

"You're inviting an animal inside. There are consequences to it." He said, a warning in his tone.

"I think I'll be fine with them."

He suppressed back a growl and gave his head a shake. "If I'm inside you again, there'll be a mark on your neck, Vivian. And you don't want that."

I sighed in defeat and nodded my head, letting him go today while the pulsating sensation remained between my legs, a reminder of the desire that he had sparked within me after that one night.

I tried to push it aside, telling myself that it was nothing, that it would go away with time. But deep down, I knew that this was only the beginning of a long and difficult battle against my own desires with these men, who had showed me what it meant to be touched.

As he walked across the hall, I closed the door before turning around.

I had left the windows open, letting the wind carry away any of the smell of witchcraft, but as soon as I realized there was a storm heading in this way, I closed them but before I did, I grabbed the bottle I had placed outside and bought it back in.

Just as my fingers went around it, my head became hot and heavy and my chest tight.

I felt a sudden wave of dizziness wash over me, and my vision swam. My fingers felt heavy and clumsy as I tried to grip the bottle, and I realized soon I was having some sort of attack. My chest felt tight and constricted, and I struggled to catch my breath.

It was only a few moments later I was on the floor with blood pouring out of my throat.

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