Hey guys!

 I'm not one who does author notes often. Yet, here is one. Raging Fire is still in a very rough first draft. A.K.A, I write a chapter and upload it here. That means that once I'll get to editing, chapters might move around and/or be removed altogether. This is one of those chapters I'm not sure about. There are some nice bits and pieces in, but I'm not sure about the placement. Who knows what the future will bring!

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"You need to stay away from Nora!" Floyd was fuming.

Even though he had dragged Azura away from the others, she knew everyone could hear them. It was just a single wall separating them from the rest. Well, maybe Nora would not hear as she had walked away after Professor Sloan had enlightened them about their blood bond.

"Have you not heard what the professor said?!" She retorted. "We have a blood bond! There's nothing we can do about it and it will only draw us together more and more. I can't stay away even if I wanted to!"

Azura threw her arms up in frustration at the guy before her. He had no idea. All he cared about was staying together with Nora. He never considered what it was like for her, for Nora. That itchy feeling when they were apart and yet so close. That pull, to go to each other whenever they were further away from each other. It was like a constant nagging in their minds.

She experienced it more than Nora. That much she knew from the talks she had with her close friend. Maybe it was because Nora had also built a mate bond with Floyd over the years. Her friend was always conflicted, torn between two people she loved and cared about. Azura might have had the harder pull from the bond but Nora was the one struggling the most. And now that it had a name, that it was clear what was going on, it was definite. No way around it while they did not even know what exactly it enthralled.

"I don't care! From the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were trouble. You're not a werewolf, stay the fuck away from our pack, from me, from Nora." Floyd sneered while keeping his voice intentionally low.

"I never asked for this, you know." Before Azura could continue, the alpha stepped insight and interrupted them.

"Nobody has asked for this but it's something we got to deal with. More importantly, we need to find out why and how it got started. The professor would like to continue with explaining as he was far from done."

Andreas pushed the werecat shifter back in but stopped Floyd from following. "What do you think you're doing?! Nora needed you just now and you decide it would be a better idea to threaten Azura? Keep your emotions in check!"

The young werewolf lowered his head at his alpha's scolding. Soon after, Andreas gestured for the young man to follow him into the small conference room in the packhouse.

Nora was already seated with Azura next to her holding her hand. Sloan was grabbing some other papers from his bag as Floyd hesitated on where to sit. Nora shot an empty look at her boyfriend but did not dismiss him when he finally opted to sit on the other side of her. Azura avoided his gaze entirely and just focused on where her hand was touching that of her friend. It was warm and familiar, calming, while there developed an extra layer of warmth.

"I've done some research on blood bonds. It's an ancient ritual performed by two people who want to seal something for later generations. A promise for example. It is then passed down generation to generation until the time comes that promise needs to be fulfilled." Ignoring the obvious tension in the room, Professor Sloan started explaining what he knew to them.

"Obviously, in the past, your ancestors must have met and have been through something so big that they decided to create a blood bond. It's not something that can easily be done. Only when the need is high can such a commitment be created. It's a form of magic that hangs strongly together with the essence of life and the core of the planet. It's deeper than two people sharing their blood and saying a promise. It's an urge, a primitive feeling to adhere to. Whenever a blood bond is formed, it actually isn't the choice of the people themselves, but rather fate, or destiny, if you will."

"What a bunch of mumbo jumbo! Come on! Fate? Destiny? Ever heard of free will?" Floyd spat. Andreas just groaned at the impatience of the werewolf, realizing he had much to learn still. "What can we do to break it? The sooner this ends the better, in my opinion."

"The only way to break it is by fulfilling whatever it is that their ancestors swore upon," Sloan answered.

Nora was squeezing Azura's hand hard by now. Normally the roles would be reversed with Nora being the calm and sensible one but the girl had a hard time composing herself.

"And by the look on your face you have an idea of what that might be?" the black-haired woman asked before Floyd could interrupt..

"I might have some leads. One is very promising but it's hard to verify because not much is known about your heritage. A blue-eyed snow leopard shifter is not something you come by every day as you've noticed yourself as well. There are no reports anywhere on the whereabouts, let alone the bloodlines. Even if I managed to track some down, It would be very hard to determine your heritage. So in order to find more information, I just had to focus on Nora."

"Oh come on! This is all a load of bull and you all know it! I highly doubt that there's a blood bond between the two of them! A frigging werewolf and a snow leopard shifter?! You expect those to have crossed paths before?! It's something-"

"FLOYD!" All four people in the room flinched as Andreas's power oozed out of him.

Floyd was practically crawling on the floor as Andreas stared him down. The Alpha snarled at the unruly man and in response, Floyd bared his neck in submission. Even as a human, wolf instincts still ran deep within them. Nora let go of Azura and sat down next to her mate with her back to her Alpha. It was a bold move, breaking eye contact between the leader and pack member.

"Don't even think I've been lying to you, Floyd" She spoke, her voice more resilient than expected. "I can feel it in my body. Everything the professor has told us is right. It's the only thing that makes sense. I need to hear this. If you can't believe this, just get out. I'll fill you in later."

She placed a small kiss on his forehead before getting up. Andreas did not need to say anything else as Floyd got up and headed out on his own. As soon as the door closed behind him, Nora set herself down on the seat her mate had just vacated. When Azura reached out, she just shook her head dismissing anyone from touching her.

"Can I continue?" Sloan asked, slightly annoyed by the drama going on. When no one answered out loud he just grabbed his next paper and started talking again. "Nora, you were easy to trace. Both your mother's and father's side originated from this region. Though your family is big I managed to weed out the unimportant people from the interesting ones quite fast. For a blood bond to be formed, something huge must have occurred and no doubt, there would have been something written about it. I cross-referenced any big occurrences and your ancestors and mostly came up short. Not many big things have happened in your family. I had to admit, I was close on giving up but then I decided to make a trip to the druid archives."

"The what? That's a thing?" Azura asked.

Though he was interrupted again, Sloan did not seem to be that bothered by it now. "Ever heard of the great library of Alexandria?"

Azura's eyes widened and her mouth fell open in shock. "That's the druid archives?!"

"No." Sloan actually laughed a bit at seeing her surprise. "But it's comparable, might even be bigger. Plus, it never burned down."

"Can we visit?! I'd love to see it." Not just to see it but to find out more about her own species as well. The look Sloan gave her told her he knew exactly what she was fishing for.

"It's not accessible for any other race than us Druids. And even then we can't just freely go. We must have a legitimate and strong reason to visit. But back to the subject at hand."

The druid did not leave any time for Azura or anyone else to speak again.

"There is information in the archives which is not widely known. We druids live for a long time; our job is to gather and write down the world's history and present. They let me in, recognizing the importance of the blood-bond and what it can mean. From there, I've been searching, reading paper after paper, until I stumbled upon something deeply hidden away. Even in the archives, it was just a small document but I feel there is much more than that. Some things from the past are hidden and I think it might have been deliberately at the time."

"Enough beating around the bush, Sloan," Andreas growled. The Alpha was clearly growing impatient.

"Werewolves... always known for their lack of temper when it comes to certain topics." the Professor jested against his old friend. "Yet, they have nothing on the blue-eyed snow leopards," he spoke as he winked at Azura.

Azura rolled her eyes at the gesture but decided to let it slide. It was easy to prove it but not worth it. When it became clear she was not taking the bait, the Druid spoke up again.

"What I discovered was that around three hundred years ago, one of Nora's ancestors was involved in a strange disaster. Now, the reports I could find were scarce and incomplete but they spoke of something even I had a hard time believing. They spoke of the rebirth and death of a Phoenix and everything in between. Disaster, destruction, and possibly what could have been the end of the world. They spoke of two men who did the impossible and killed the creature of flames. One of which is traceable to you, Nora while the other..."

"Is most likely mine." Azura breathed out.

"Yes. I like facts and don't generally assume things but in this case, everything points to that. The only logical explanation for your bond is that those two men created one after, or before defeating a Phoenix. There was writing, a different one than the rest of the paper, stating how this rising would be the last one. That it had been different and that for the first time in history, mortals killed the Phoenix. It is implied that a Phoenix has risen before and before and before but that the cycle should've ended then." Sloan paused, adjusting his glasses and silky vest before looking at each of the girls separately. "What do you know about Phoenixes?"

Nora was staring at the slender man before her with her mouth agape. She swallowed and lowered her gaze to the table.

"Mythical creatures. Not believed to be real but to be created by the fantasy of regular humans. Birds of eternal flame. In some cultures, it is believed to be a beacon of hope and rebirth while in others it means destruction and death. The strange part is that even though there was no contact between one side of the planet and the other in the old times, they all have legends about the bird of fire."

"How the fuck do you know all this?!" Azura exclaimed.

Nora just smiled looking at her close friend as she took her hand into her own. "I had a big interest in mythical things when I was young. Read a lot of human fantasy novels, did some research... To be honest, the mythical Phoenix always intrigued me."

Sparks flew where they touched. Even more so than normal. Azura had no doubt in her mind that Sloan was right. It was as if her body was reacting to it and just the feeling of Nora's dark skin against her own was magical.

"You are quite right, Nora. A phoenix has been seen as a good thing and bad. The problem we are facing is that, unfortunately, I have my suspicions it is not a good thing. A Phoenix is about to rise and it is not something to look forward to."