Unedited.

Chapter fourteen – A Mark against Your Name.

"Bluetail"

In front of the King's own soldiers, stood a wanted criminal. One of the Rainier thieves singled out for her attack on towns holding illegal slaves. A criminal who was both deplorable and vengeful, who scorned the state and at the same time, wanted to save it.

No wonder I was so angry all the time.

I knew there was no hope in running. By the time I turned to scale that wall, they would be upon me and grabbing at my legs. They watched me like I was dangerous, which was reasonable as I had beaten a woman's skull in and she lay behind me, her boot seeping into my boots.

There was a bruise blooming across my face, a flower of violence unfurling in hues of purple and black. My ribs ached, most likely bruised too and my shoulder ached. These were feelings that grounded me, kept me alive when it felt like my mind was going to wonder away.

"Now you know." There was no point in denying it either.

Ailbrich's eyes were shining in victory, thick arms crossed as if he had known all along and was just waiting for me to slip. And yet, the rest of his face was impassive. Set in stone, uncaring and bored already by what was going on.

He would have been a perfect member of the Rainier thieves. A slave freed; dark and tortured. Sage would love him.

"Lilia..." My attention cut to Luca. The woman whose skull was currently bashed in had scored him across his torso, a shallow wound but one that would hurt.

Arms crossing, I simply raised my brows and waited for him to speak.

"You're Bluetail?"

I scoffed. "I think that's been established."

His lips twisted, an expression I didn't understand crossing his face. I wondered what they thought of now? Of the stories that the Rainier thieves had created, how we held an iron tight hold on the criminal underworld. My name was feared, but the thought of the Sage sent chills down the spines of our people, our enemies. I was a grunt really, but he was a spider, controlling a web spun across an entire Kingdom, holding as much power as the King himself in the world beneath wealth and riches.

Would they torture me to find him? Pull out my finger-nails and flay me alive? Set a rat in a bucket against my stomach and heat it, leaving the rat to eat me alive?

Five years of loyalty and protection. I loved them as viciously as a person could – I'd rather go back to Bashkar and his knife, or to a dank dungeon cell to rot before I would ever turn my back on them and what they had done for me.

There had been one man who had turned on Sage, a brother by the name of Greene. I remembered Greene vaguely, a short little thing with sharp eyes and quick wit. I always felt uncomfortable around him and how he watched me. I had been an easy target at the beginning, but I had been accepted into the family, so I was under their protection.

Greene didn't think so.

He had begun the Dissenters while still among us, but his lies only came out when I mistakenly read a letter addressed to him. He had grown cocky, because Beryl wasn't great at reading and Red hated it with a passion and left his correspondence out. He had seen me reading it and attacked me – I wasn't as experienced as Greene but the thought of being at the mercy of another person over-rode everything.

My brothers had returned from the river where they were bathing at the sounds of my screams and arrived just in time to see me driving a knife up between Greene's legs. The letters were exposed, and Greene's body was thrown into the river.

Seren, who had been out hunting, returned quickly. She was still tiny then, and I was only glad that she hadn't been there. She couldn't have been hurt trying to protect me.

I continued to survey the people in front of me, watching them as they watched me. "Am I to be thrown in the dungeons to rot now? Just know that I would die before giving up Sage and my brothers."

Luca flinched at that, his cheeks colouring in shame. I paid it no attention - watching the Lycan assessing me. He seemed to different from the male earlier, his expression stern and thoughtful.

"No one in this group will harm you, Lilia." The Lycan pressed deeply into his voice, making it a rough grumble that I could barely hear.

My eyes narrowed. "Why not?"

His head titled to the side. "Do you want to be arrested, little thief?"

I shrugged a shoulder. "I do quite enjoy breaking out of jails."

The Lycan just smiled, a slow curl to his mouth that made my toes curl in my boots. Sighing, Dara stepped forward. Her eyes were flashing, her wide mouth pursed tightly. "As much as we love to see you two flirting macabrely, we should leave. There are dead bodies, and we cannot afford to be arrested for this at the moment."

"Surely the King's soldiers would get a pass?" I taunted.

"Our presence is to go un-noticed." Dara told me. "So, flaunting our position would lead to rumours and rumours would lead to attention."

"That I can understand." I stepped forward, only for the Lycan to raise his hand. The other three cast him worried looks, before slipping back into the alleyway. Ailbrich paused for a moment, but the Lycan let out a snarl that caused an instinctual part of me to scream 'RUN' but I stayed my ground as the shadowed giant slipped away.

I swallowed, my eyes riveted on the Lycan as those cyan eyes seemed to gleam, a tension in his shoulders that made the cocky part of me shrivel, the base human instinct inside of me crying out to bow my head and plead forgiveness.

"I guess this is where we part our ways," I said evenly as the Lycan approached me noiselessly.

Keeping still, I let him brush his fingers against the bruise on my cheek. The stain of violence that seemed to enrage him, those eyes gleaming so bright that he appeared all Lycan and no man.

"I don't think so." He snarled.

That hand delved into my hair, his heavy body pressing me back so that I felt the wall against my back. Panic shot through me, wild and unbidden; like a rabbit spotting a fox, a deer spotting the wolves prowling closer in the forest. An instinct to bolt, far and fast.

"Are you going to rip out my throat, Lycan?" My voice was weaker that it should have been, my scalp tingling as he pulled my head back by my hair, exposing my throat and the jumping pulse.

"Not exactly." There was no man in that voice, just the rough garble of a beast holding the reins.

There was no hesitation, no mercy as I felt fangs sink into my throat. My body jerked as white-hot pain coursed through me, my legs spasming as it ripped through me. The pain was all-consuming, agony pulsating through from the fangs securing my throat. He held me firmly, and dimly through the pain, I wondered why he wasn't tearing my throat out.

Why there was no death incoming; instead there was a tendril of warmth amongst the agony, slithering into my system like an unbidden parasite. A whisper of something all too familiar; a bond between my soul and another.

"No."

And then the full force of the pain hit me again, and my consciousness crumbled in nothingness, my body sagging into the very beast who was trying to tear out my throat.

∦

I woke up in a tent.

Wincing as I came around, my consciousness lighting up slowly, I tried to take in my surroundings. My limbs were stiff and heavy, my neck pulsating with every minuet movement of my head. Above me, rain pattered against the fabric of the tent, a comforting lullaby that helped to soothe my confusion.

Then, I became aware of the temperature of my body. I was swaddled tight like I was a new-born and as I turned my head gently, I spotted a bowl of what looked like a dark green paste.

"Shite." I thought.

I knew enough to keep quiet, inching out of the blankets gently. They were so tight, I would have had an easier time breaking out of a damned cell. My arms came out first, shaking as they propped up my body. My legs were still encased in blankets, as a hand rose to my neck. The source of the pain was bandaged, and I assumed that paste was lathered underneath it.

Fecking Lycan.

A snarl curled at my lips, rage sweeping through me as I remembered how he had tried to tear out my throat. How he had failed to do that, I didn't know. Maybe he wanted to teach me a lesson.

But I remembered that fleeting feeling before I went under - a brush of him pulsating from the fangs in my throat. It hurt to think about it, and my stomach felt weak. As if at any moment I was going to vomit all over myself. A sheen of sweat covered my forehead, and my chest rattled as if an illness was coming over me.

I wanted something – Seren.

Not only here – I wanted water. Not to drink, but to be around. Coursing streams, great voluminous lakes and my ultimate dream. To view the great water, what they called the Sea.

Shakily, I wriggled out of the confines of my swaddling as shouting began outside the tent. I shimmied to the entrance of the tent, wary of the snarling voices and the palpable anger in the air.

"You damn animal!" I heard Luca's voice, the rage so evident in it. "You could have killed her!"

"Luca..." The Lycan's voice was gentle, heavy with guilt? "I did not mean to be so violent."

"You nearly tore out her throat, Aden." Ailbrich's voice was calm, and almost cold as he addressed his leader. "You took away her choice, scarred her in your beast's violence. What would your father say?"

A snarl rasped from outside, nearly muffled by the pattering of the rain. A hand still cupped my neck, but my curiosity was over-coming my rage, a natural instinct to know overcoming me.

"I shouldn't have done it that way." The Lycan's voice was glum, but as those words came from outside, I felt the weight of his guilt inside me, a faint imprint of it running through me.

My muscles tensed as I felt it, the touch of the beast as if was inside me. Aden. Not Lycan; my mind had warmed to that name, giving it a little nestling place inside of me.

"We need to get her back to the castle." Dara said quietly. "It won't be safe for her now. Any Lycan who knows the scent will know what she is."

What I was?

"They won't touch her." Aden snarled viciously. I could imagine the posture of his shoulders, the tension in that powerful and lean body. "She is my mate and I will keep her safe."

"You've done a terrible job so far, Aden." Ailbrich pointed out.

I sat back, my mind numb. Mate. Mate – as in the moon-bound of a Lycan, the woman meant to stand at his side. I rejected the thought instantly. I already had a creature sharing my soul, a bond so tight and pure it would not be tainted by some man I barely knew.

I didn't think as I pushed out of the tent, my limbs singing their protest at the moment. Instantly the deluge of rain soaked me through, my bare feet sinking into the icy mud. There were other tents set out under the copse of trees, but the centre of the camp was open to the elements.

"I am not your mate." I snarled.

Cyan eyes flashed to me, glowing in the dimness of the evening. A wolf in a man's skin. He watched me carefully, his mouth pressed into a thin line as he looked over me. "Yes, you are Lilia."

Wrong. He was wrong. I couldn't have two soul-mates – it wasn't possible.

"How long have you known then?" I asked, crossing my arms. The other three watched us but Luca and Ailbrich shifted so that their backs were more to me; like they were protecting me?

"Since the moment I saw you in that alley. Your scent was..." A shudder skipped over his skin, his tone melancholic. "A Lycan knows when their mate is before them."

"I felt nothing." I told him. "I feel none of this bond."

The corners of his mouth tightened as if he was amused by my denial. He stayed silent, using it as a tactic to make me speak. I stared back, my anger sparking, fuelling into something unstoppable. How dare he?

"You are not my mate. I already have a soul-bound."

The tension that pulsated through the air in that moment was powerful. Dara's body twisted away instinctually, a whimper falling from her mouth as her gaze dropped to the ground. Even Luca flinched, his chest heavy as the mere aura of the Lycan pressed down on them. I felt it too, a weight on my neck that made it ache, instinct screaming to bare my neck, or bow my head.

Only Ailbrich remained impassive, his stance straight and strong.

"Who is he?" Aden snarled at me, taking a single predatory step towards me. "Who is this pretender?"

"She is no pretender." I snapped. "She and I are bound. There is no room for you."

"She?" Dara questioned.

Ailbrich gave me a sweeping look. "That would explain much. "

"Excuse you, Ailbrich. I have enough anger for every single one of you."

The man whose face seemed shadowed in the dimness of the evening just smiled at me. "You have been sleeping on and off for nearly five days now. You are in no shape to fight us, Bluetail."

He faced me completely, thick arms crossed. "A member of the Rainier thieves. A criminal whose head would fetch a pretty price. A member of the group that we suspect, holds this Dragon Rider."

Panic swept through me, too quick for me to muffle it. The Lycan scented it, inching closer to me. I was aware of him, like a heated brush against my skin and that panic rose, choking me and numbing all rational thought.

"You are my moon-bound, Lilia. Know that I would not harm your friend or his dragon."

Bile rose on my tongue, thundering panic inside me now. I couldn't have two soul-mates. What if this meant that Seren was no longer bound to me.

No. I would rather die.

My gaze flickered over all of them, my chest heaving as my usually quick mind failed to think of anything to do or say. A deep, buried instinct rose and before I could think on it, I pivoted on my heel and took off through the trees.

Never run from a wolf.

A howl pierced the evening from behind me as I cut through the trees, teeth gritting as the quick movement caused my neck to throb and my vision to shake. I heard the distant sound of a beast snarling and snapping as he tried to manoeuvre through the copse of interwoven branches, the narrow spaces that only smaller species could move through.

Heels slammed into muddied ground, a yelp escaping me as I caught sight of the drop in the gloom before I tumbling over it. My palms thumped into the muddied earth, my head hanging over the edge of the ravine where I could hear the river churning distantly below.

Fingers clenched onto the ground tight, my muscles locking as I realised how close I had coming to falling into that darkness where that water spit and churned below. Slowly, so achingly slow I turned back to the trees. There was something wrong here, a part of me screaming not to 'move' or shift my weight.

A figure appeared in the tree-line. The Lycan had shifted back, tattered clothing clinging to his muscular body. He had a hand out-stretched to me as the others appeared. "Lilia, I am sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you."

Frantically, I scoured the path from him to me. "Don't move."

He slowed. "What do you me—?"

Then, realization set in and he crouched low, a hand pressed to the muddied soil. The ground wasn't stable, whether by the rain or by nature's design but I could feel it tilting slightly where I was crouched.

My fingers were splayed into the mud, digging into the wet, slippy soil. Rain thundered down from above, plastering my hair to my skull.

The Lycan outstretched his hand to me, the scarred palms open for me to take. Shaking, I raised one arm, my throat closing over as I felt the weight of my body tilt to one side. I dropped my hand again, trying to appear that I wasn't panicking.

A wry, weak smile stretched across my face. "I don't want to die, really. Not like this."

Cyan eyes held mine unwavering, and through the bond forged through momentary anger and teeth I felt his panic, his need to get me to safety.

"I know."

I know – too many people saw my bravado, my need to throw myself into danger because I hated the world, sometimes hated myself so much that reckless abandonment was the only thing that helped dampen it. He saw the change in my expression and his hand stretched out further.

I had been the first person to fly dragon-back, had thrown myself in front of a blade to save a slave and for my brothers but in that moment, the hardest thing to do was to stretch out my hand to brush my finger-tips against his.

He curled his fingers up, locking mine into his. I leaned forward as his other hand reached to grab my wrist.

Then, there was nothingness beneath me.

There was no time to scream, no time to call out as my body swung, slamming against the mud and stone of the side of the ravine. Only the grip on my wrist kept me from plunging into the water below.

"Shit." The Lycan's body was outstretched and he tried to keep his bodyweight up as the ledge he was resting on was still an overhang of softening soil, roots sticking outwards from the trees beyond.

His grip was slipping on my mud-coated hands. He tried to swing his body down to grip my arm with his other hand, but his little ledge was crumbling, and his body was going to follow mine down into the icy waters, and rocks below.

Ailbrich appeared, gripping Aden's free wrist. An understanding passed between them – though I wish they could work a little faster because my arm was burning, the skin of the unwanted mark pulling uncomfortably.

"Please," Aden shifted slightly. "Lilia, please just hold on."

Trying to drive my bare feet into any gap in the rock and mud at the side of the ravine, I could only flash him a scowl. "I'll try my best."

A deluge was pushing down on me, rainwater and mud slipping down the ravine. I glanced downwards, wincing as I spotted the rocks jutting out from the side, the water that I couldn't see in the dimness but could hear thrashing below me.

"If we lose her, we lose our only lead to the Rider." Ailbrich called to Aden.

"I love you too, Ailbrich."  My fingers were slowly slipping, that panic inside me dimming at the realisation that I was going to fall and Seren wasn't there to catch me. No one was there to catch me – not this time. 

Aden's body jolted as the mud gave away under him. Luca grabbed Ailbrich's wrist and both of them jerked back at the same time. Aden's body was hauled back suddenly and violently, the movement causing my hand to slip from his. The world fell away in dizzying darkness, a roar chasing my descent, full of anguish.

Then I hit the back, the blow a punch to my ribs and icy water closed over my head.

∦

I think we've all realized that I struggle to end a chapter without a cliff-hanger. Literally this time, it seems.  

Tell me what you thought, and give me your conspiracy theories if you so wish. I am trying to create a tough character, but with that it is so hard to balance a tough character with someone who is human - even tough people are afraid, and they make mistakes. 'Bad-ass' characters as some have described her aren't always infallible. 

If that makes sense. 

I don't want to write a character who is so tough that she never cries, never feels normal emotions because that isn't a person. Its an unattainable attribute. 

Also, to all those who read my notes and wait patiently for my updates, I am so grateful for you. I can't tell you how many rude messages I get for people demanding that I update faster, or who ask why I bother writing when I can't update fast enough to keep people interested. 

*sighs deeply* 

My mini rant is over. 

Until next time- Saoigreen.