Yil

The constant hammering of my heart roared loudly in my ears. My veins were alive with the rush of blood owing to the shot of adrenaline that breathed fire into my whole being. My nostrils burned from my rapid intakes of breath and with every flex of my muscle I felt their resistance against my will power to continue. I was intent on wearing myself out till I could do no more than sleep. A deep sleep that I would gladly embrace.

I continued to deliver punches to the punch bag in rapid processions trying to get rid of the tension in my body. The sounds of my heavy breathing filled the training grounds for I had stayed behind after practice as the need to continually hit something overwhelmed me.

The sting of my bracelet momentarily deterred my punches and I rubbed over the affected area in an attempt to soothe the pain. The bracelet was emitting a fiery red colour. An indication that I was venturing closer to rage.

This cursed mate bond was tugging at my heart strings, demanding that I go back to my mate. It was driving me insane. As my strong headedness and the electrifying bond faced each other in a standoff.

They were equally strong and there was no telling what would win.

I moved to sit on one of the benches to gather my strength while I downed the cold cup of water next to me. If I could still feel the effects of the mate bond then I wasn't done yet. The punch bag continued to swing back and forth untouched and each squeak was a countdown to the number of seconds it would take for me to rise up and continue my relentless assault on its body. I chose Rae no other but him and that was final. 

I got up from my seated position and stretched, ready to take on another hour of punching when I caught sight of a pair of large, glistening, red wings.

"Sheesh, the heat in this place could kill," Lira commented as she waved off the non-existent steam. "For a dainty lady like yourself you do throw in a deadly punch," she smirked, eyeing my physique. 

"Hi Queen Lira. What brings you here?" I asked, stopping to bow.

"It's Lira to you," she scowled and moved to the bench to sit down.

For some reason she never liked it when I addressed her as Queen. Even in public.

Her long, fiery, red hair was braided into a bun and pinned at the side with a jewel encrusted hair pin and this exposed her slender neck. On her feet were a pair of air slippers, as she called them, made with cloud-like material and she was dressed in her signature short gown, interwoven with vine plants. Only this time, the gown was midnight blue.

"Relationship problems?" She asked, ignoring my question. "Tell me all about so I can set him straight," her indigo-coloured eyes flashed and she tempered it with a cool smile.

"I'm not in a relationship, remember?" I replied, chuckling. "I still haven't found my mate," I muttered, looking away from her to stare at the punch bag. I needed it now.

"Maybe not in public," she suggested. "But this is definitely not a fling issue," I turned towards her, perplexed and found her scrutinizing the punch bag then my facial expression. Almost as if she was trying to read me. 

Nobody really knew the extent of a faeries power but if she was a white-wolf she'd definitely be a seer.

"I'm not going through any issues," I shrugged, trying to hide my underlying feelings. "I'm just practicing, no big deal," I dismissed. "So why are you here?" I asked, attempting to steer the conversation away from me.

"The force with which you used to hit that bag was an attempt to rid yourself of your stormy feelings," she pointed out, gesturing to the still swinging bag. "And why would you be enraged if it was only practice?" She asked, looking at the bracelet which had dimed to a weakly pulsing red.

"Since when have you been standing there? And is this bracelet some kind of monitoring equipment?" I asked, waving my wrists. Why did she have to enquire into my own personal matters. What was her deal?

"I wasn't watching you," she assured me. "The bags' swinging and slight tear is enough testament to the force with which it was being hit with," she tilted her head and gestured to my back and when I turned I noticed that the bag had some burns where the foam was beginning to come out. "And it's no rocket science that red signifies danger," she added, chuckling.

"What's rocket science?" I turned to ask. And how does it relate to my bracelet or it's colour?

"Nothing to worry yourself about," she dismissed with a wave of her hand. "So is it Rae?" She asked, staring at me coolly.

I silently gasped at her unexpected question and I felt a slight dread crawl up my spine. I decided to deny her accusations and play it off as wishful thinking but one look at her face told me she knew what she was talking about. Furthermore, Lira always knew more than she let on and it would be a waste of time trying to steer her off a course she was determined to stay on.

"How did you know?" I asked, defeatedly as I moved to sit beside her.

This was it. The tiredness I was praying for.

"I'm not blind," she scoffed, genuinely offended that I would ask such a question. "It's as plain as day," she declared with a roll of her eyes. "The tree house, the longing looks, the possessiveness. I could go on and on," she said, moving to cross her legs. "Because unlike your parents who are blinded by the need to find your mate I'm more perceptive," she added, winking.

Of course, nothing could ever get past her. I should have known when she whispered to me at the mate ball, that I would be irresistible to a certain male. She was referring to Rae.

"So you two broke up again?" She faced palmed before groaning.

"You knew about that as well?" I asked, shocked. She nodded her head impatiently and motioned for me to continue. Well I'd be damned. "No we didn't," I added, still in disbelief.

"So what's the problem?" She faced me and smiled. "Your mate, right?" She continued, not waiting for an answer. 

Okay, I was full on sweating now as I felt my internal heat rise up a notch. How on this orb did she know that I had seen my mate or that we had portalled out of the pack? 

"Or the fact that he's a lone wolf?" Her voice broke through my troubled thoughts and I faced her stunned.

"L-l-let's do this," I croaked out, finally finding my voice. "How about you tell me all you know so that I can save myself the possibility of a heart attack as it becomes more apparent that you know more than I do," I negotiated.

She laughed hard at my request before she answered. "A lone wolf is not hard to spot out," she choked out in between her laughter. "Why do you think I've been after that stubborn-headed, rigid-spined, book loving wolf?" she spat out, her earlier jovial nature was quickly replaced by annoyance. "Argh I hate his perfect imperfections," she added. 

Okay, that escalated quite fast.

"But anyway," she brightened up, switching from her scowl. "I'll ask again," she started. "Is the possibility of finding your mate endearing to you because you'll have to choose between them when the time comes?" she finished. 

So she didn't know I had seen him yet.

"I haven't found him for the past four years. Maybe I'm also a lone wolf," I lied, hoping to end this conversation.

"If you were so convinced that, that was the case then you wouldn't be punching fire holes into the punch bag," she reasoned.

Why did she have to be so perceptive? Why?

"Have you considered the fact that you might be wrong and I'm just training like I have been saying?" I shrugged and rose up from the bench ready to finally have a go at the bag. "Also Rae and I have decided to mark each other. Tonight I'll tell my parents," I plastered on my best imitation of a smile and turned to face her. "We can finally set off the lanterns," I added with glee.

She looked at me for a long time and I felt my smile falter under her intense stare. 

"Yil!?" Zena's shrill voice called out. "Where the hell is she?" she muttered before stopping by the open door of the training centre. "There you are!" She said, when she sighted me. "I've been looking all over for you. I finally found the use of the box," she admitted, hurriedly.

Lira is here, I mind-linked, cutting her off before she said another word. I was certain Lira did not know that I had found my mate, yet.

"Ahm Good day Queen Lira," she greeted turning around a couple of times before she sighted Lira perched enchantingly on the side bench. "I'm sorry I didn't see you there," she apologised, bashfully.

"That's no problem," Lira chuckled softly. "I was about to take my leave when you came in," she said, righting herself onto her feet. Finally. "I guess my congratulations are in order," she let her gaze fall on me and smiled. 

What congratulations? Zena asked confused but she still maintained her passive face on the outside.

"Well, thanks I guess," I returned the smile. 

She walked closer to me and touched my cheek tenderly. "He's so lucky to have someone who loves him," she acknowledged as she continued to stroke my cheek. "I just hope you both can hold unto that forever," she added with a sad smile. 

I couldn't read her emotions and I had a feeling she knew more than she was letting on but before I could question her further, she retracted her hand from my cheek and strolled out of the centre. Leaving me with my confused thoughts.

"What was she going on about?" Zena asked.

"Rae and I have decided to mark each other and I'm telling my parents tonight," I replied, simply, not wanting to beat about the bush.

"What!?" She asked, alarmed. "Before you take any irrational decisions why don't you think this through," she reasoned. "I'm not for your outsider mate but that's just me," she pointed out. "And maybe the whole pack," she added as an afterthought. "But he's still your mate Yil and it's unfair to mislead Rae, your parents…"

"You know what's unfair," I snapped, cutting her off. "Telling Rae I have a mate when I was the one begging him to take me back despite his legitimate reasons," I spat out, angry at myself and at the Sky Lordians. Zena tried to talk but I continued. "He's a lone wolf Zena," I cried, all my pent up emotions flowed uninhibited down my cheeks. "And I love him, I can't do that to him," my voice cracked under the immense pain I was feeling and I clutched my chest before I collapsed unto my knees. "But the mate bond is pulling at me as well. I'm torn between Rae and my mate," I bowed my head and started to weep silently. 

The last thing I wanted was to call the attention of my hypersensitive guards who were not far off. Zena knelt down in front of me and she held me in a hug while I cried my heart out. When all that filled the centre was the sounds of my sniffle, she gently raised my chin.

"I can't imagine what you are going through," she said and I saw the traces of tears on her face. "I mean you look like a chipmunk and on the scale of your sad face that's a major," she commented, referring to my puffy red eyes and swollen lips and this earned a snort from me and a giggle from her.

"So you choose Rae?" She asked, staring into my eyes. 

"Yes," I replied as I had no doubt in my mind that I wanted to be with Rae. Ava would have to forgive me for denying her our mate but I wasn't too sad about that. Ava could be quite possessive over Rae sometimes and I was sure she would come to love and cherish him as much as I did.

Zena avioded my gaze and bent to look at the floor. It was something she did when she was trying to muster up the courage to tell me something.

"What's wrong?" I asked with a furrow of my eyebrows.

"I sincerely hate to be the bearer of bad news," she said, twisting her fingers. "And with all you've said I wish I had never opened up that portal. No one would have to get hurt," she lamented. I felt even greater guilt overwhelm my senses as I knew that all this was my fault. My great love for adventure and disobedience was going to cost me a lot. I didn't just know the price I would have to pay for this.

"Aryn will not rest until he finds you and now it will be much easier," she said, looking at me. 

"Aryn?" I asked, scrunching up my face in confusion.

"It's the name of the Alpha. The beta told me he wouldn't hurt me if I followed him," she explained. 

"But how will he find me?" I asked, disregarding that piece of information.

"He has the ancient white-wolf power box," she whispered, deathly silent as she looked around to make sure nobody was listening.

"You're lying," I gasped, raising my hand to cover my mouth.

"I wish I was," she cried. "But it's true. I caught a glimpse of it before his beta ran the other way," she added. "He can find you now," she whined, distressed and flopped unto the floor. 

Her uneasiness wafted off her in waves and combined with mine they mingled together to form a suspended mist of invisible dread above us. 

"Not only me," I whispered as the reality of it all started to sink in. We were in very big trouble. "But all of us," I added. "The whole white-wolf clan,"
-
-
-

Please do not forget to vote. Thanks ☘︎