Walking through the small patch of woods that are known as the Blue Moon pack's mini-forest, I try to clear my mind.

The Dark Woods is much denser and as the name goes, dark. There is no sunlight in the Dark Woods yet I felt safe there. I feel good here, too but it lacks the homey feel.

A movement somewhere behind me alerts me of someone's presence but I do not turn back. I keep walking deeper into the forest, trying to think and somehow trace that small trail that I recognised when I stepped out of Dominic's jet.

I know now that the trail must be Sascha's life essence. It hit my senses hard and I instantly recognised it because we are twins. The doubt of it being Wulfric is no longer valid. Especially from the incident with Catrina and her healer touch.

Moreover, from what I have learnt from Catrina regarding the twin bond, it is a sacred one. The distance cannot dull the senses of this bond.

A twin will always know the other twin's mental state.

Does this mean that Sascha has been feeling the raging emotions that I am going through? If yes, then it must be a torturous experience for her. To feel that something is out of place but not knowing how to really put it all together, must be frustrating.

Now that I know that Sascha is probably here in this place somewhere, I want to go out to the human town and search for her. I am confident that her blood will call to me. It has been constantly with me, telling me that my sister is alive and well.

It can be possible that she has felt my blood call out to her as well.

I am so engrossed in my own thoughts that I am startled when Dominic lands in front of me. He bounces a little to show off but I roll my eyes at his antics. His 'friendly' aura doesn't hide the deadly aspect of his nature.

He is a killer even when he appears friendly. I have known it but seeing Connor's wariness at Dominic's presence has made me think of the vampire in a different light. That Alpha Wolf doesn't like Dominic but tolerates him because he is Catrina's Godfather.

"Going somewhere, witch?" he asks and I raise my brow at him. He has never called me a witch before.

"Just a walk," I reply and shrug. Without waiting for his reply, I take a step forward making him step away from my path. I expect him to ask questions but he doesn't.

Instead, he matches my slow pace and starts walking beside me, giving me enough silence that I go back to my wandering thoughts.

How do I go into the town and search for Sascha?

At the same time, I feel Dominic brushing against my mind, wanting inside. I sigh and then think of something. Should I ask him?

Not bothering about anything else, I let him enter my mind and keep walking.

"What are you thinking?" he asks and I silently smile. He's curious. Maybe he will help me.

"I want to visit the town," I whisper softly and hear Dominic's sharp intake of breath. Frowning at his reaction, I look at him from the corner of my eyes and watch as his eyes got darker, all red.

"It's dangerous!" his sharp rebuke has me stopping in my tracks. For the first time ever, fear creeps into my mind at his tone. He isn't the friendly Dominic at this moment. No, he is the vampire beast who can tear into a person and feast on his blood draining him of his life essence.

Looking into his eyes as I turn my head sideways, I observe the red orbs. They are bright and glowing. Fenris's eyes glow like that when his wolf is close.

And it seems Dominic also has his beastly vampire side that's at the surface at this moment and it is scaring me a bit.

Taking a deep breath, I go on alert and observe him for any sudden movements. If he hurts me, I can save myself but then I won't ever be able to trust Dominic again. And that thought makes my heart pump wildly inside my chest.

It scares me and it also hurts me somewhere. If Dominic hurts me today, I will lose a friend and the thought of that loss somehow feels more devastating than anything else.

I gasp at the pain that runs through my chest and watches as Dominic goes still before closing his eyes. Slowly, his fangs retreat, and his face loses those harsh lines of aggression. Slowly, his breathing goes back to normal and he unclenches his fists.

My heartbeat also goes back to normal, as I sense that I am not in danger anymore from Dominic's beast.

"I am sorry, love," he whispers and then opens his eyes to look at me with sorrow shining in them.

More than the sorrow, his endearment surprises me. It instigates this foreign emotion inside me. A feeling which makes me feel overwhelmed, perhaps, I am not quite sure.

Dominic takes a step toward me, giving me plenty of space and time to stop his movement but I am frozen in place, unable to break eye contact with him.

Slowly, he reaches me where our chests touch when we inhale. And when I do, my breasts touch his hard chest, making an overwhelming surge of heat travel down my body and into my lower belly. It churns and then I feel something foreign happening to me.

Dominic inhales and I think I hear a growl from him. Well, that's new because I have never heard Dominic growl like that. It does something to me. But what?

"Love, your scent is testing my patience," he whispers in my ear while licking my earlobe. A shiver runs down my spine at his choice of endearment and his tongue. I should stop him, especially when I sense his lust but it doesn't scare me.

It is new to me. To not be scared of a lustful man.

I gasp in surprise when he kisses behind my ear and then trails a few kisses down the column of my neck. Heat surges through my body and I forget everything else around me. My hands move on their own and travel up to Dominic's chest. To push or to pull, I am not sure anymore.

"It's Desire."

Those words pierce through the haze in my mind and I realise that he is answering my unasked question. The emotion that I am feeling, the heat that's travelling through my body and dulling my senses is Desire.

It's something new.

I have never felt Desire before and it is certainly a very foreign emotion.

"What?"

My words don't sound my own, as I ask him about it.

Dominic takes a step back and then leans away to look down at me. His fangs have descended now and his eyes are glowing but this time, it feels a lot more different than before. He is not scary anymore. He looks fierce in his lust as if he's trying to control himself.

And his control calms me. It soothes me, assures me that I am not in danger. That he will never hurt me.

"I am sorry," he whispers and then closes his eyes once. He takes a deep breath and then he moves back, letting me support myself once more.

I am confused now as he walks back and then shakes his head. More than confused, his actions pierce through my chest and I feel a little stab of pain. Is this hurt?

"Nikita, I apologise for my misbehaviour," he whispers. His actions make me feel rejected somehow. I do not know why but I do.

The haze of Desire clears, allowing me to think a little bit clearer. Shaking my head, I try to understand his words and his actions. Wasn't he the one who came closer, trying to kiss me a few minutes ago?

What changed?

"I presume you wanted to visit the town before I lost control of rationality. I apologise for it. It was my mistake. Please do not think about it," he whispers.

His words make my breath catch and I stifle the gasp of pain. His words hurt me I realize but I do not let the emotions show. He's an empath. It would be embarrassing if he knew that his words have hurt me. I do not want his pity.

Especially after being a person grown in captivity, I am tired of being the subject of everyone else's pity. But pity from Dominic is not what I want.

I need something else from Dominic and it's clear now that it's desire and lust. However, if he feels that it was a mistake, then I wouldn't try to convince him otherwise.

I have another agenda on my hands. Exploring these new emotions with Dominic would be a betrayal to my sister and my parents. I have to avenge myself first and then think about exploring this new emotion called Desire.

Nodding my head at Dominic, I take a deep breath and relax a bit. Pushing the dejected feeling aside, I turn around and start walking towards the packhouse silently answering his question about visiting the town.

I wait for Dominic to call me or at least accompany me back to the packhouse but he doesn't. Instead, I feel him speed into the forest, away from me. Perhaps for the best.

~~~~

I spot Fenris pacing in front of the porch of the small cottage-like house. I assume that's the guest house allotted to him and Sierra. I walk toward him, cleansing myself of any foreign emotions and scents, not wanting to make my older brother wary of me.

I owe him my life and I would rather tell him the truth instead of him knowing it from someone else. And I know it's not long before Fenris realizes that I have been hiding something from him.

I however am not sure about the number of things that I have been hiding from Fenris, lately. As I am deciding about which news to disclose to Fenris, he looks up at me and stops with the pacing.

When he sees that I am fine, he breathes a sigh of relief and then moves to walk over to me. Just then Sierra walks out of the house as well, making him stop and then together they wait for me to reach the porch.

"See, I told you that she would be fine," says Sierra and I feel a burst of anger run through Fenris. Getting ready for my bother's words of chastity, I am shocked when he turns towards his mate and growls at her.

Sierra is equally shocked at Fenris's growl. I watch as the Queen takes a step back while looking into the King's rage-filled eyes. A cluster of emotions is what I sense in Sierra but the most prominent is the pain.

She is not scared of Fenris while I am, but perhaps because he is her mate, she is not scared of him. She's hurt at his behaviour.

"Perhaps if you had been with Nikita instead of gossiping with the females, I wouldn't have been afraid for her safety."

Fenris's words cause Sierra to gasp in shock and hurt. She looks at me and then back towards Fenris, who is still glaring at her. Emotions play on her face, ranging from hurt to guilt and I feel really bad for being the cause of Fenris's strict behaviour with her.

He's being too hard on her. He shouldn't be especially when Sierra has cared for me as a mother would. The Queen has always looked out for me. It is me who runs away from her caring presence because I do not want to be dependent on her. I need to learn to be independent and being with Sierra will not make me that.

She is a loving person and will continue to provide for me and I can't misuse her help especially when I know I can do it on my own.

Before I can stop Fenris from saying anything else, Sierra beats me to it. Her eyes water and her breathing become a little laboured. Her heart's beating frantically in her chest. She's hurt and she feels humiliated.

"I am sorry, Fenris. I was just giving your sister some space. I will try to shadow here henceforth."

With those formal words, I watch as Sierra nods at me once while whispering a quiet apology and then looking at Fenris once before wishing me goodnight and walking back into the house.

"What did you do!" I whisper, anger bursting through me at my brother's behaviour.

"What? She is so careless. I have to put a leash on it now. Otherwise, she might end up endangering you or Selene," whispers Fenris, frustration pouring out of him making me frown.

"What do you mean by careless?" and leash? I really don't understand the reason behind Fenris thinking about his mate as a careless person. She is so far the most responsible person I have ever met.

"She can't see Selene when Selene goes invisible. That's the reason why I have started training Sierra so that she learns to be more alert and vigilant. However, Sierra's failing miserably. She's perhaps not strong enough to handle a witch child."

Hearing Fenris's words, I am rendered speechless. That's his explanation. He thinks that Sierra is incapable of caring for their daughter.

I am starting to think that perhaps the royal business is taking a toll on Fenris. He's spouting nonsense!

Before I go to drill some sense into my brother's mind, he growls and then shifts into his wolf. He motions for me to go inside my cottage and then runs into the forest leaving me baffled at my brother's thoughts.

When Fenris's wolf disappears into the forest, I turn towards the guest cottage that was allotted to me and catch Sierra standing in the window of her and Fenris's house. She has Selene in her arms, sleeping probably while tears run down her cheeks.

She's however not looking at me. She's looking into the forest, towards the direction where Fenris ran. She stands there for a minute and then shakes her head before closing the windows and curtains.

I want to go console her, tell her that Fenris is not thinking rationally. He was angry. His words might be a reaction but not the truth. It's definitely not the truth.

However, I also recognise her need to be alone. Deciding to speak with her in the morning, I make my way towards the cottage allotted to me and Mila, thinking about how males think the most stupid things that could ever exist.

First Dominic saying that crap and then Fenris spouting shit about his mate.

These males need to learn to think before speaking. Or maybe, not react if they are going to regret it later.

As I take a step into the cottage, I spot Cayden and Mila sitting on the couch discussing something. The moment I enter, Cayden stops and then stands up.

"Hey, I was waiting for you to come. Didn't want to leave her alone," he whispers and I watch Mila rolling her eyes behind Cayden.

Well, at least one of these males is a bit calm headed.

"Oh, I just went for a stroll in the woods," I whisper and watch as Mila smiles at me. She has a twinkle in her eyes which tells me that she's teasing me or perhaps it's my brain that's thinking weird.

"Good. You should explore the woods and perhaps we can go to town tomorrow. Mila wants to go sightseeing," he says and this time he rolls his eyes.

"I want to go too," I say immediately. There's nothing wrong with wanting to explore. Perhaps Cayden is also like Fenris and Dominic. Stupid!

"Fine, fine," he says while raising his hands up in surrender. "I will take you both. Now go. Sleep," he orders and then bends to kiss Mila on the head. he then walks toward me and then squeezes my shoulder once before walking out.

After he walks out, I turn to look at Mila and nearly laugh out loud when I see the look of shock on her face.

She's shocked that Cayden kissed her on the head or perhaps because she wanted him to kiss her lips? I have lately observed Mila secretly daydreaming making me conclude that she wants Cayden too. 

I am not so sure but I do give in to my urge to laugh at my new friend's expense. It helps my mind to drift away from Dominic's rejection and Sierra's tears. 

~~~~

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