SIERRA

"Why are you leaving early? The full moon's tomorrow." Tatiana asks nervously as we stand at the gates to bid farewell to Caliana and Lycidas.

Instead of a car, Lycidas has a motorcycle. I never would have thought that the quiet and brooding Lycidas owns a motorcycle and surprisingly is quite fond of it. He straddles the monstrous vehicle and waits patiently for Caliana who is lecturing me about how I have just healed and shouldn't participate in anymore duels. I nod innocently and try to control the urge to roll my eyes at her motherly affection.

"Baby?" Lycidas calls her and I breathe a sigh of relief as he comes to my rescue. Caliana turns to look, no, glare at him for disturbing her rant and I wave my hands for him to take her away before she decides to give me anymore of her stifling lectures. Tatiana just chuckles watching the drama but I ignore her.

"In a minute! I am doing something important here!" exclaims Caliana pointing at me.

"And what would that be?" Lycidas asks cheekily earning an eye roll from his mate.

"She tends to get into trouble. I need to warn her since I won't be here to patch her up and then Fenris will scold me later when he finds out," she says shaking her head. I pale at the mention of Fenris.

"What did he say about me?" I ask quietly.

"It is nothing sweetie. He just told us to look after you." Caliana walks closer to me and takes my hand, squeezing it.

"Well, if he was so worried about my wellbeing then he shouldn't have drugged me," I say bitterly remembering Tatiana's confession about scenting drugs on me the night of the claiming ceremony. Caliana wisely keeps her mouth shut, moving back a little and I sigh. I don't want to make her sad. She's going to suffer anyway through her heat.

"Come on. Please go and lecture Lycidas not me. I'll be fine. Tatiana is here with me and don't worry, I will look after her," I boast making her laugh and Tatiana to scowl playfully.

"You take care of our friend." I wave my finger at Lycidas who playfully salutes me, lending a hand to Caliana as she climbs on behind him. She waves at us and then they both zoom past us towards their pack.

I hear a huge sad sigh from beside me and turn to look at my roommate. She looks pale and so sad I totally understand how she feels right now.

"I miss Zion. I feel left out here but on the other hand, I don't want my first time with my mate to be during the mating heat. How bizarre is that?" asks Tatiana.

"Hey, don't worry. I am going to be here and if you really want to go to Zion now, then you should go. I know that you feel that he might be obligated to make you feel better during the heat and then later his bond towards you will dampen. But that's your insecurity speaking. Where is my level-headed friend?" I ask to lighten up her mood. She shudders as she hears me talking about the heat and I know that I've hit the right spot. I hug her. She looks so lost, so unlike the rock-solid personality of Tatiana Lupe.

"I'll think about it. I just need some time to think, you know. Will see you later?" she asks, her voice thick with unshed tears and I nod watching her leave.

~~~~~~~~~

A slight rustling startles me from my train of thoughts. I look around to see a blond wolf and from the scent of it, a female one, walking towards me. She looks strangely like the one I encountered on the day of the claiming ceremony. I completely forgot about my first kill until this moment where the exact replica of that she-wolf stands a few feet away from me. Taking a deep breath and cancelling out the background smell, I focus on the wolf in front of me, realising that she strangely smells familiar. My doubt is confirmed when the wolf shifts into Amora and the fact that she is completely clothed. An unexpected growl slips from my lips and I watch in fascination as she curls her upper lip in resentment at my threat. Fascinated that she looks slightly different from the other day. Her eye colour is black, completely black not even a hint of her irises which is quite different from the previous green which confirms that she isn't a werewolf like me, she is something else. Maybe her irises are black but then Fenris's eyes also turn black sometimes. Is it because some wolves tend to have such a trait? But Fenris is a werewolf, he's my mate, he shifts into a naked werewolf, not a clothed one, right? She starts walking in my direction and I prepare myself to dodge whatever spell she throws at me.

"My dear Sierra, mate to Prince Fenris, the last-born royal heir. Isn't she beautiful? Poor girl cannot handle the separation from her mate," mocks the witch as she stops right in front of me. I gasp at the way she addresses me and Fenris, involuntarily taking a step back, not knowing what else to do.

"How did you know?" I ask hopelessly and she laughs cruelly.

"Oh, come on, aren't you even a little bit intelligent?" she shrugs carelessly. "You are the only she-wolf who is in pain. The pain of being separated from her mate. The pain wafts from you as if you are dying. My doubts were confirmed when you were constantly watched by at least one of the elders," she tells me, not even the least bit scared that someone might hear her or that she can be caught. Her confidence rattles me but I control my trembling knees and manage to stand and put on a brave face.

"I am confident enough to confront you because you foolishly gave yourself away when you were talking to your friend and her mate. The blatant envy and the longing in your gaze along with the pain when she talked about your mate, confirmed my suspicions." She cackles in glee as she rubs her palms, sending a shiver of cold fear down my spine.

"You... you cannot come near me. There must be some elder around so you better stay away," I threaten meekly but she just laughs, showing off her unnaturally white teeth. She walks closer and yanks on my hair, tilting my head at an uncomfortable angle. I scream loud enough for someone to hear me but she just shakes her head and chuckles.

"Oh, my dear girl, the elders are busy with yet another dead body which I planted in the school kitchen. Nobody will hear you. They don't know that I am here with you and your body will be next," she speaks in an icy cold voice.

I don't know what to do but I know that she's going to either kill me here itself or she's going to take me somewhere, probably to the rogue who appointed her. My body quivers in fear as I recall my previous experience with the rogues. I start screaming as I feel her hands creep to the back of my neck to expose my mark. It throbs violently and I jerk...

Blinking open my eyes, I sit up in my bed, shivering in cold sweat as I look around for any signs of the witch. The nightmare felt quite real. It is dark outside. The sky is covered with dark clouds obscuring the view of the full moon. Those dark clouds feel like the Amora's hold on me. Is that even her real name? Imagining about her real form, I struggle to breathe. Turning towards her bed, I see Tatiana sleeping with a frown on her face, probably suffering due to the separation from her mate. I don't want to wake her up, it would only add in to her already stressed mind.

The bed feels cold and I shiver at a particularly cold wind. The leaves on the trees outside are still then why is there a cold wind in my room? Suddenly, it feels as if I am being watched. I get out of the bed as if on instincts to get away from the cold and frigid air in the room. I clutch onto Fenris's shirt, the one he put on me after rescuing me from the rogue. Sleeping in Fenris's shirt and has become a habit for me. Pulling on my underwear and some yoga pants, I wear my bra before wearing Fenris's shirt again. I wear my shoes before sneaking out of the room, in the effort of not waking up my roommate.

I look around me to make sure that there's no one around and start walking out of the dormitory. Not knowing where to go, I just walk in the direction of elder Raoul's office but then halt in my tracks realising that the man wouldn't be sleeping in his office. Feeling foolish and slightly nervous, I turn around and walk towards the meeting hall. Coming to a standstill in the middle of the big hall, I think. I do not want to go in my room, it spooked me with all that cool and frigid air. Out of their own accord, my feet start moving towards the direction of the woods. I don't stop to think about it and just walk. The woods feel safer at this moment knowing that, the spy fucking witch, is inside the school and is somehow responsible for my room being creepy. She must have cast a spell on my bed. I shudder at the thought and start walking into the cold night. Being a werewolf here has its perks, I don't need a sweater. It isn't snowing but there is a small layer of snow on the ground, making it a little difficult for me to run, so I settle for a walk.

I walk and walk and walk going farther away from the school building, so much that the trees now completely block my view of the school building. Still, I don't feel like turning back to the school. There is something pulling at me to walk towards the river. I know there is a river here as I studied the maps about it in the school. The river flows in between the school and those mountain ranges and towards the right, that is towards the Mystic Shadow pack.

I shortly reach the borders of the school territory, somewhere near the place from where I was kidnapped but I walk opposite, towards the right, towards the direction of the river. My wolf silently supports me, she is quiet and determined.

A slight rustling makes me stop in my tracks and I look around. This time, unlike my earlier nightmare, I see another being of my nightmare standing there. The rogue who kidnapped me, the blond one who slapped me while his friend was groping on my body. His attention is towards the river, away from me and the scream dies down in my throat, I don't want to alert him. He starts walking away from me and as silently as possible, I turn to walk back towards the school, praying to the Goddess that the rogue doesn't see me but a voice stops me.

Not just any voice, my mate's voice. I turn around in the direction of the voice and start walking blindly. I don't need to run now as I know Fenris would protect me from that rogue. The school is anyway farther than Fenris. In fact, I am probably walking in the right direction as I can hear his voice becoming louder with another voice. It seems as if he's talking to someone.

I walk and walk in the direction, my instincts drive me in, my wolf now eager like me to meet our mate. The river comes into view first, its frozen.

Turning towards Fenris's voice, I take a few steps before coming to a halt. There he is, talking to a familiar man. I focus on the man and recognise him almost immediately. He is the one who kidnapped me and questioned me about the royal uniform and a royal army.

What is he doing here? Why is Fenris talking to him? What is Fenris doing here? Didn't he go back to his pack? Oh Goddess! What a mess!

Not wanting to disturb them, you know my instincts are now haywire, telling me that me being there would cause more problems. I move quickly behind the heavy foliage as discreetly as possible.

I turn my head to see the rogue who had hit me, walk towards the other rogue. He stops just beside him and whispers something in his ears, pointing at the foliage in which I am hiding. I shiver when the man's eyes land on me as if he can see me. I move behind to hide but instead walk into something. Turning my head to look at it, I barely stifle a gasp when I look directly into the black eyes of none other than Amora.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kiitos!

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