For the second time this month, I am chained to silver again. My wrists ache, but my ankles fare better due to my pants. I attempt to pull at them but I struggle to shake the cuffs off me.

I look to my side to see Aiden is chained too. He is still unconscious. His head hangs to his left, facing me. He is chained at multiple places, too. I look around the room. It is dark, similar to the previous room when I was captured.

The only thing that is different is that I hear the sounds of birds chirping outside. I stretch my neck and look up. It has a thatched roof. So we must still be in the forest. I try to wake Aiden up.

Even though the birds chirp, I am sure members of the Blood Mafia must be near us. Keeping an eye on us. I look around the room again to see if there is any surveillance, but I find none.

"Aiden, Aiden, wake up." I whisper these words out so that we are not heard outside.

'You can just link me, Aurelia. No need to whisper,' Aidens says, through our mind link.

I am shocked at his response. That means he was awake this whole time and this dart does not prevent us from linking. I look at him and see him smirking at me. My eyes widen as he winks at me.

'You were awake the whole time!'

'Yes. When you know you are going to be kidnapped, you don't sleep, Aurelia.'

'What!!!!' That meant he knew what was going to happen, but he didn't tell me.

I glare at him and he just smirks. My eyes narrow more and he now sighs.

'It was a trap for them. I laid a trail for them. It was obvious that they wanted you so I thought, why not lead them to the lion's den?'

I scoff at him and for a change, my beast agrees with me. 'You could have told me.' I hiss through our link.

This time his face hardens as he looks me in the eye and growls out. ' I would have let my mate know of my plans. But she is a stubborn woman and does not accept me. So why would I?'

His words have caught me off guard. His words are like a blow to me, and they make me flinch. He has a point. It is me who has not accepted our bond. My beast is now annoyed at me.

Aiden's gaze is harsh on me as he looks down. I clench my eyes shut, trying to overcome the sting of his words.

The truth is bitter now rings true in my mind. I take a deep breath and try to focus. This is neither the time nor the place to discuss these things. I open my eyes slowly and gaze at him.

'Can we fight later? Can you please let me know about your plan now? Truce for now. Please?'

Aiden keeps gazing at me for a moment before letting out a defeated sigh and turning towards me.

'My men are stationed near, keeping an eye on things. We want to capture these bastards alive. They will rescue us as soon as I signal them. I am waiting for their move. To know their motive. So far, it is clear they want you. Let's see if they spill any beans in their arrogance. I'm sure they will try something.'

As soon as those words echo in our link, sound footsteps reach us, alerting us. We look toward the door in front of us as it opens slowly, the creeking of it's hinges is loud. The wind blows towards us, carrying the scent of the man in front of us. It's rustic. That means it's a vampire.

I am shocked at this. Usually vampires don't step out in the light of the day. As the door opens more, I see it is dark outside. 'How long has it been since I was unconscious?'

'Just two. Are you referring to the fact that it's the middle of the day and we are seeing a vampire?'

'Yes.' I say, my gaze fixed on the vampire approaching us.

'We must be in dense part of the forest.' He reasons.

The vampire in front of us is dark. Brown skin blends into the darkness around us and bright eyes stand out. They switch between Aiden and me before coming to rest on me. A smile overtakes the vampire's face. It is so wide that his fangs glint in the dark. My beast lets out a growl in my head.

The vampire is tall, almost as tall as me. He holds a small briefcase in his hands.I turn my face to look at Aiden and see him rumbling. His eyes are bright with his beast.

"Alpha King Wolfe.It's nice to make your acquaintance. Are the silver cuffs comfortable?" He asks, his grin widening more, almost reaching the ends of his ears.

Aiden let's out a roar at him and unleashes his reined power. I stiffen in response and I see the vampire stiffen too. But it does not affect him much.

"I know you are quite powerful, Wolfe King, but it is not just Aurelia with a supply of suppression shots. We have a few genome scientists at our end too. And they have made some incitement shots that increase the power of the supernatural."

"Let's see how powerful you are when I am out of these chains. Shall we?" Aiden rumbles out, his voice turning into a growl at the end.

The vampire lets out a loud laugh that resonates throughout the room. His shoulders shake with laughter as he says, "You have a nice sense of humor, Alpha King."

How can they develop incitement shots? I keep this piece of information tucked away for later. May be this is a clue. He did say there were some genome scientists on their side.

The vampire stops his chuckles and then looks me in the eye. "Well, I think it is better if I start working on my work." He opens the briefcase and takes out a big syringe.

Aiden keeps glaring at him but links me. 'My men are going to be here in T minus ten seconds, Aurelia.'

Just as those words ring in my mind, I hear voices shouting outside. The vampire is in the process of inserting the needle into the syringe but stops hearing those voices. His eyes go out of focus before he snarls at us.

Aiden smirks at him. "It looks like you're the one who's trapped."

The vampire crouches, his claws elongating in anger, getting ready to pounce on Aiden as the door behind him crashes open. Henry is at the door, letting out a loud growl. He is partially shifted.

The vampire now focuses his attention on Henry and attacks him. But Henry is too fast for him. Henry steps to the side at the last moment and spins around, steps such that he is behind the vampire and then brings his arms around the vampire's neck, squeezing.

The vampire tries to claw at Henry's hands that are on his neck but soon a few weres move forward and catch his arms, imprisoning him.

The vampire thrashes around trying to free himself but another Were walks forward with a syringe in his hand and presses it to the vein on the vampire's arm.

The vampire's struggle weakens gradually as he loses consciousness, his head lolling to his side on Henry's arm.

Henry let's go of the vampire and the vampire slumps down as a heap on the ground. the other Weres then started to bind him.

A few more Weres step in and rush towards us with keys in their hands. Their hands are gloved, no doubt, to avoid touching the silver with their hands.

Soon, the shackles are released and I rub my wrists to reduce their aching.

My skin is an angry red on my wrists, oozing drops of blood. My focus shifts to Aiden and I watch him rubbing his wrists too. I go towards him and take his hands in mine, examining his wrists but he jerks my hands off.

His face is a mask of stone, betraying no emotion, and I step back, hurt by his behaviour. But then, his words echo in my mind. It is I who is the problem. He does not react and strides forward, out the door.

I understand his frustration, but his shift in tone from caring to cold is like a lash against my skin. Add to that the fact that my beast is on his side, which aggravates my injuries. Henry walks ahead and grins at me in assurance.

I purse my lips and nod at him, while some other Weres bring antiseptics to clean my wounds.

"We are leaving for the castle tomorrow morning. Our plan has worked." Henry says to me.

"I wish I knew of the plan." I reply.

"King has his reasons for hiding it from you." His gaze is full of sympathy and I hate it.

Anger bubbles up inside me and I realise I need an outlet. I take deep breaths and look at Henry. "Which way to the cottage?"

Henry stiffens at my words. He must feel my anger rolling off me. The other Weres step back in caution. I have not taken my supression shot for a few days.

All of my strength and power is back to almost normal and they must be feeling it.

I look at my wrists and see them wrapped in bandages. "Thank you." My tone is stiff as I thank them and I look towards Henry. He is assessing me.

He then waves his hand and one of the Weres steps forward. "This is Bill. He will lead you to the cottage. He is one of our fastest gammas. He will take you to the cottage as fast as he can without shifting."

I nod at him in acknowledgement and manage to say, "Hello, Bill."

He dips his head in acknowledgement and says, "Ma'am. This way."

He starts walking out the door and I follow him. Outside, I see it is almost dark. I look up to see that the leaves are thick and the branches of many trees mingle with each other, forming a dense canopy. So this is why the vampire was able to get out.

I look around to see Aiden talking with a few Weres. As soon as my gaze hits him, he turns to glance at me for a second before narrowing his eyes at me. He stares at me for a moment before continuing his discussion with the Weres.

I huff at him and turn to see Bill waiting a few feet away from me. I nod at him and he starts running. I follow him, letting my beast free as much as I can when I am in my human form. She howls inside my mind.

Word Count: 1834