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This chapter is unedited so please excuse the grammatical errors. Enjoy!

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Zuerien's POV

John, are you absolutely certain about this?

I'm afraid so, Alpha. There's no denying it. This is paranormal hypnotism.

My jaw clenched in anger and I could feel the rage flooding my veins as I walked down the corridor towards the elevator. Everything made sense now.

Apparently the human air-hosts and hostesses who had been spying on John and the others on the plane were radiating a faint aura of supernatural energy.

Someone had used magic on them- hypnotic magic- in order to get them to spy on us.

Earlier when John and the General had mind-linked me about the human stewards on the plane spying on them and reporting their activities via transmitter to someone on the ground, it had immediately struck me as odd and rather disturbing.

Yes it was true that using humans to spy on Supernaturals was smart idea considering us Supernaturals wouldn't easily suspect humans. But it was also an extremely risky and unnecessary feat. Even our enemies knew that.

Involving humans only made things worse, creating a mess that none of us Supernaturals wanted to be responsible for cleaning up.

Even the Shadow People, despite how crazy they could get and how low they could sink, would not willingly involve humans in our Supernatural affairs. It was far too troublesome for them. And as far as I remembered, they weren't the biggest fans of humans, ever.

But if what John had just told me was true, then it made perfect sense. If they had used hypnotic magic on these humans then when the magic wore off, the humans wouldn't even remember having done the things that they did. Our Supernatural goings-on would be perfect secrets and they would still conveniently get their job of spying on us done.

So those humans have been hypnotized by the means of magic, I growled out.

Not magic, Alpha, John corrected, Sorcery

Shadow Sorcerers, I grit out.

I believe so

I closed my eyes, taking deep breaths to calm my anger. It didn't work very well though, as a second later I heard a sickening crack only to open my eyes and find that I had destroyed the elevator call button. I clenched my fists, feeling molten fire blazing through my veins.

Shadow Sorcerers

Probably the only supernatural beings who could be considered worse than the Shadow People, because not only were they Shadowers, they were Shadowers who had learnt to tap into the realm of magic using paranormal methods.

In other words, they were Sorcerers. Shadow Sorcerers.

As the elevator doors slid open, I glanced down the corridor I had just come from, my thoughts immediately drifting to my mate.

Suzzanah...

I had told Rino to go to Suzzanah's room and ensure that she was taken care of while I was gone, but now, knowing that sorcerers were involved, I didn't feel comfortable leaving her there without my protection.

Not one bit.

As I stepped into the elevator and pressed the button to the Ground floor lobby, all I could think of was getting back to my mate as soon as I could. The sooner I took care of this mess, the sooner she would be with me again, in my arms.

Safe.

Maybe I should have stayed with her till Rino got to our room...

My thoughts were already turning more and more apprehensive and I cursed myself for having taken the bloody elevator. The stairs would have been much faster.

Damn, why did it have to be sorcerers...

Sorcerers weren't like the other species that could wield magic. They were different, in the sense that they weren't essentially a part of the the magic community at all.

Magic was not a rare trait in the supernatural world, but it was however, a fairly demanding one. Being a fundamental part of the wielder's existence, magic was something that was woven into a person's soul. It coursed through the wielder's lungs like breath, ran through their veins like blood.

Magic wasn't something all supernaturals could command at will. Only those who had been born with magical properties attributed to their souls could possess it.

Even the Fae, who could not essentially create magic by themselves, still had magical properties bestowed upon their souls because of which they could still command the magic created by other magicians and wield it as their own.

But sorcerers...were different.

When the elevator doors finally slid open on the ground floor I found myself rushing out and making my way towards the main entrance of the hotel where Alpha Ashford and Beta Darren were already waiting for me.

As I walked, I involuntarily began to assess the company around me, my eyes, ears and all other senses immediately identifying and classifying the plethora of different auras around me, searching for one that was hardest to find.

The aura of a sorcerer.

Sorcerers were beings who were not born with even an ounce of magic in their blood, but were still able to reach into the realm of magic by the use of certain elements that already contained magic.

The easiest method of all for them to be able to tap into pre-existing magic was by virtue of something almost everyone could and did use in daily life.

Words

Words, when spoken in certain particular languages, in certain special sequences and under certain specific circumstances gave rise to sentences which held the power to tap into the magic that already existed in the universe.

These unique and powerful sentences were what had- on rare occasions- even allowed humans to tap into the realm of magic and have a brief glimpse of the paranormal world. They were the reason why some humans actually believed in the supernatural.

They were special sentences.

Sentences called spells.

Spells were the most primary level of sorcery, the origin of it. And when the right spells were chanted by the right persons, the outcome was much the same as what a wizard or witch could accomplish using their thoughts and a snap of their fingers.

Magic.

Sorcery was borrowed magic. Or better put, stolen magic.

And by the use of spells, in this case- hypnotic spells, the Shadow sorcerers had managed to hypnotize the human air-stewards, commanding them to spy on us, using them to do their dirty work.

My lips curled into a sneer, my blood boiling in fury. I should have anticipated this, I should have known that Shadow People would call upon their Sorcerers to try and sabotage our journey, even if they didn't really know about our plans.

But it was too late to brood about those things now. We had a problem in our hands and we needed to concentrate on solving it.

Are there any Shadow sorcerers on board the plane? I asked turning a corner, silently glaring at everyone who was bowing to me and drawing me unnecessary attention.

No Alpha, of course not, John replied, If there were Shadowers on board we would know

And what about generic sorcerers? I asked, Can you tell if they could be present on the flight? Can you sense any of them at all?

I'm afraid not, Alpha, John said, I don't think there are any Generic Sorcerers on this flight, but I can't be sure. Generic sorcerers are one of the hardest to identify after all

I bit back a growl of frustration, knowing that he was right. That was the very reason why I was uneasy about leaving Suzzanah after becoming aware of the involvement of Sorcerers.

It wasn't because sorcerers were too powerful, unstoppable or indestructible, no.

It was because sorcerers were unidentifiable.

Sorcerers as a whole were a very diminutive community. There were only about a few hundred sorcerers in the entire world, most of whom were Supernatural Sorcerers- Sorcerers who were already some or the other breed of Supernatural beings, like the Shadow Sorcerers were Shadowers before they were Sorcerers.

Generic sorcerers however were not supernaturals. No, they were humans. Humans who had somehow managed to pick up the art of sorcery.

They were the rarest of all the different types of sorcerers in the world, and also the hardest to identify. Supernatural Sorcerers could at least be identified based on their paranormal lineage, but Generic sorcerers couldn't, because they had almost no detectable aura of magic at all.

Only the most powerful magicians- witches and wizards- could detect Generic sorcerers and their nearly imperceptible auras.

Alpha, please don't worry, John's calm voice filled my head once more, just as I walked out the door, We had background checks done of all the passengers on the two planes we were to travel in, remember? All results came out clean.

I hummed in acknowledgment and he continued, Even if we can't identify generic sorcerers by their auras, their histories are bound to give away clues, but none came up, he told me, I'm quite certain that there are no sorcerers on this plane at this moment. And the hypnotic sorcery on the stewards on this plane was most likely done in Dublin, where the Shadow People had access to them. Not in the States.

Is there any way to break the hypnotic spell on them?

Of course there is, John replied, But there isn't anyone skilled enough in the arts of magic on this plane who would be able to break the spell

He paused before adding, And well...although Prophecy has the power to be able to do it, we all know that she lacks control...even more so in...delicate circumstances like she is in now

I sighed, briefly closing my eyes, How is she?

She's hanging in there

I felt my gut wrench, wishing we didn't have to put Prophecy through this journey. Regrettably, Prophecy got heavily airplane sick. Not air-sick, but airplane sick. She had apparently had this problem ever since she was a kid, she would end up continuously vomiting throughout the journey by airplane, and would get better as soon as she got off the plane.

As bizarre as it was, unfortunately she was a victim to it and it was why she hated traveling by flight and avoided it like the plague.

But in events when she absolutely had to, she would always make sure she slept through the entire journey- from take-off to landing. I had no idea how she did it, but then again it was Prophecy we were talking about. Sleeping was her forte!

And not just when she was teleporting either. She could sleep anywhere and anytime, instantly. It was like a magic trick in itself.

We had expected her to sleep through most of the flight this time too, especially because she had teleported just a short while before the travel, but strangely enough, she was wide awake.

Had we known it would be this bad I would have certainly arranged for private jet travel for her. Prophecy was much like a little sister to me too and I hated to put her through this.

Tell me honestly, is she very sick? I asked John.

There was a short pause before he replied, She is quite nauseous but nothing like how she's usually throwing up continuously or turning blue from breathlessness. Actually she is faring much better than I expected her to, health wise anyway

Really? I wanted to feel relieved but something about the way John had said that was keeping me from doing so.

What do you mean by 'health wise anyway'? I asked, taking the last turn down the hallway that led to the main entrance, Is something else the matter with her?

Well...

Well? I growled out impatiently.

When he didn't reply immediately I scowled, JOHN-

King?

My eyes widened at the sound of that familiar voice, Prophecy?

King! She exclaimed before her groans filled my head and I frowned.

Prophecy, are you alright?

She sneezed loudly making me cringe.

I'm fantastic! When can I get off this plane? She cried out and I sighed.

There is still time for that

Time. Sometimes I really hate that word Time, she said.

Says the Luna of Time, Kai stated and I mentally nodded at his statement. It was rare for Prophecy to be able to use mind-link so consistently, I had to say I was rather surprised.

Prophecy, I'll do my best to have you back on the ground, preferably in Dublin, at the earliest. I'm going to speak with the air-traffic control as well as a few members of the League of Magic who are currently in Dublin. We'll have the problem with your flight route sorted asap.

Thank you but I have a better idea! she exclaimed.

My frown deepened at her claim while I simultaneously wondered why John had suddenly cut off mind-link.

What?

Let me try and teleport the four of us out of this flight and into Dublin!

Prophecy's statement had me so shocked that I froze and stopped walking in the middle of the lobby.

WHAT?! PROPHECY NO!

Please King! I know I can do this!

And I know I'll regret letting her try.

Alpha?

John's voice filled my head once more in a separate mind-link.

John!

Are you speaking to Prophecy right now?

I-

Prophecy's sneeze filled my head once more cutting me off. I tsked in irritation.

John-

So can I?

Prophecy's question filled my head and I scowled, finding two separate simultaneous mind-links with John and Prophecy terribly distracting and irksome.

Prophecy, don't. That's an order.

What? What is she asking for? John asked hurriedly and I realized that I had transmitted the earlier statement to both of them.

Please King, I'm feeling really sick, she said before sneezing loudly again, AH! I think I'm allergic to something in here! I need to get off this plane!

NO, I told her firmly before returning to the other mind-link, John, where the hell are you? Talk to Prophecy and convince her to not do anything stupid

What does she want to do?

She wants to teleport the four of your out of the plane and into Dublin

WHAT?!

This time there was a third voice that filled my mind which was also in on the mind-link via which I was communicating with John. It was Marco.

In front of me, about a hundred meters away from where I stood, were the large glass doors of the main entrance, outside which I could see Alpha Ashford, Beta Darren and Delta Neil standing by the car, waiting.

Marco was there too, looking thunderstruck.

King, pleeaaase

NO Prophecy. Its too dangerous! You of all people should know that!

I started walking again, my pace even faster than before.

But-

Pro, are you insane?!

Marco's voice now sounded through the mind-link I was having with Prophecy.

Prophecy sneezed, Brother you-

Use your freaking head Prophecy! Marco shouted, You know better than anyone how unstable your teleportations can be, and do you have any idea how much magic and energy it will take to teleport four people from one country to another?! Why the hell would you suggest something like this? Are you trying to kill yourself?!

Can't you at least let me try, o-o-once? She sneezed out.

Out of the question, I replied, now almost at the main entrance, You won't be able to manage that kind of magic overload, especially since you've never tried it before.

I have! It just didn't work out very well

PROPHECY! Marco shouted in exasperation, looking about ready to kill someone.

Please Marco, King, she begged, I know you wont believe me but my powers suddenly feel stronger. I mean I can even use mind-link perfectly this time!

Prophecy

I swear I should have thought of this idea earlier, she said, almost sounding as though she were speaking to herself now, That way I could have tried and teleported you, the Queen, Marco and Rino to Dublin without having you waste time on the air-travel. You'd just have to think about where you wanted to go and I'd teleport you there!

Where I wanted to go right now was to where Prophecy was, so that I could shake her out of her insane ideas!

And then I'd teleport General Reginald, Alpha Penson, myself and Cole there too! she continued, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if I could pull it off. Its really weird but all of a sudden my powers feel like they're brimming to the surface! I can almost feel them flowing out of me right now!

That's because they are!

John's statement instantly made the hair at the back on my neck stand on end while I saw Marco freeze some distance away from me.

I don't know how but its like my sickness made my powers stronger or something, Prophecy continued, not having heard what John had told me and Marco through the other mink-link.

They haven't grown stronger, they're malfunctioning again! John said, his voice sounding urgent, Prophecy, cut off the mind-link and sit down right now!

His voice was now a part of our unified mindlink.

Alpha Penson, what's wrong? Prophecy asked and I realized that she must have been speaking her mind-link out loud.

Cut off the mind-link Prophecy, you need to stop!

What?

Do it now! He told her before addressing me, Alpha! You need to get in touch with the air-traffic control in Dublin immediately!

John, what's happened?! I cried out but I didn't receive a reply.

The mind-link felt completely chaotic as I covered the final distance between me and the others waiting by the car. I could feel tension seeping into my veins, apprehension flooding my body again with a vengeance.

Alpha Penson, wha-

NOW Prophecy! John told her.

But the teleportation-

Don't think about the teleportation! John told her hurriedly, Your powers are flowing out of you without your notice because you're sick! If you keep thinking about teleporting then it really will happ-

Before he could finish his sentence Prophecy's loud sneeze filled our heads once more and before it even happened, I knew things had gone wrong.

In a split second, right before my eyes, the faces of Ashford, Marco, Darren and Neil blurred into wild splatters of colors. A gust of wind surrounded me before making me feel completely weightless, as though I were floating in outer-space. My breath caught in my throat and my senses shot to high alert.

But before I could even react, I felt gravity descend on me like a ton of bricks and my feet hit the ground once more.

Only this time, the ground was much softer than it had been a second ago.

The blurred splotches of color realigned themselves into their rightful compartments once more and when I finally had a chance to blink, I realized that I was still staring at the same face, only in a totally different location.

Marco's wide blue eyes stared back at me in horror, his lips parted in silent shock.

Darren, Neil and Ashford were nowhere for miles.

It took me less than a second to scan our surroundings and figure out that we were far away from Ashford Hotel Enterprises, somewhere in the middle of the woods.

Woods that we were not familiar with.

"Shit", Marco breathed out the exact words that I had been thinking, "We teleported"

He was right, but the real question was, to where?!

Alpha Zuerien! Marco! John's voice filled my head the very next second, Prophecy's magic went haywire again. I have been teleported out of the plane!

To where?! Both I and Marco asked simultaneously.

To Dublin, he replied tensely, I'm in the air-traffic control room. But the others aren't with me!

What?!

Alpha?! Cole's confused voice filled my head as soon as John had said the ealier sentence.

Cole! Where are you?! I demanded urgently.

I have no idea! he said, sounding flabbergasted, What the heck happened? Just a second ago I was speaking to one of the stewards in the plane asking for some anti-emetics and now suddenly I'm standing in the middle of some random street, outside a medical store

Is the General with you?

No

My jaw clenched, And what about Prophecy? I asked hurriedly and his reply made my spirits sink to the pit of my stomach.

No she isn't!

Goddammit!

"Try and mind-link Prophecy!" I told Marco immediately but before he could even nod in understanding, a shrill female scream sounded from somewhere above us.

A familiar female scream.

In a flash both our heads shot up to the heavens above us, and we sucked in sharp breaths at the sight our eyes were met with. Suspended over fifty feet off the ground, were two bodies I knew all too well- one dressed in a dark jacket and jeans while the other was a blinding blob of floating colors.

Ashford and Prophecy

"OH SHIT!" Marco shouted, looking absolutely panicked while a million thoughts raced through my head at the speed of light.

Prophecy...was here.

And so were I and Marco.

John was in the air-traffic control center of the Dublin airport.

The General's whereabouts were still unknown.

And Cole was in God knows which country on some damned street outside a medical store.

But why?!

"Your powers are flowing out of you without your notice because you're sick! If you keep thinking about teleporting then it really will happ-"

Happen. It really will happen. That's what John had been saying just before we all got randomly teleported.

Prophecy had been thinking about teleporting and that's what happened. They got teleported.

But why was I teleported? And why was Marco? We hadn't been on the plane with her-

My eyes went wide in horror as I put two and two together. She had mentioned all of , individually. Prophecy had said either our names or titles out loud when she had been speaking about teleporting.

She had mentioned...all of us

No...

"PROPHECYYY!" Marco shouted at the top of his lungs as he stared up at the sky in disbelief.

But there was only one name that I could think of, one that my entire being was screaming again and again in absolute frenzy right then.

Suzzanah...!

****

Suzzanah's POV

Stay calm. Just. Stay. CALM.

I repeated those words to myself over and over again as I stood hyperventilating in the middle of some random wilderness.

Its okay. Everything's okay. Just stay calm!

I could have fainted right then.

"What the heck happened?!" I breathed out, my eyes drinking in my new surroundings over and over again, still in denial.

Of course my question remained unanswered and I felt sweat sliding down the side of my face. Wiping it off with the back of my hand, I took deep breaths, reminding myself yet again to stay calm.

The woods around me were so thick that their canopies completely blocked out the sun's rays. And although I stood in what looked like somewhat of a meagre clearing, as I looked down the long rows of haphazardly arranged trees around me, all I could see was pitch black darkness.

And the morning sun that had been so bright and warm just a few minutes ago had also suddenly disappeared behind abruptly appearing clouds, making my current predicament seem all the more omninous.

After searching the thick dark woods for several more seconds, and finding that there was not even a trace of some sort of path leading anywhere and that everything looked the same in every direction I turned, I finally, finally came to terms with my new-sprung habitat.

"Okay", I said to myself, "So...something happened, and I'm not sure if I'm responsible for that something or not, but...I'm obviously lost. In the woods. Again"

Some bird on a distant branch cawed in agreement and scowled in its direction before staring at the trees ahead of me.

"So...what should I do now?" I found myself asking out loud.

Funnily enough, once I had come to terms with the fact that I was in fact lost once again, I didn't feel panicked at all. This kind of thing had happened to me so many times by now that I was just sort of...used to it!

Looking around, I stood on my tip toes and tried to see if there was any kind of civilization nearby, anywhere I could go to ask for directions because if I left it to myself, I would probably end up spending the rest of my life wandering these woods like a travelling hermit.

When I had strained my eyes to the point that they started to hurt, I sighed heavily and scratched my head.

"This isn't looking too good", I said, having realized that there was nothing but woods for atleast a couple miles in every direction from where I was, "Man, Zuerien is going be so mad-"

Zuerien!

"OH SHOOT!" I cried out loud, both my hands coming up to cover my gaping mouth in horror, "ZUERIEN!"

The thought of my mate immediately made panic surge through my body like a tornado. If Zuerien found out that I was lost in the middle of some god forsaken jungle, he would go bat-shit crazy!

I could almost see it already, the newspaper headlines reading something like the following:

CATASTROPHIC DISASTER STRIKES THE CITY OF DUBLIN!

Following a series of several spontaneous and violent explosions- the source of which still remains unidentified- the city of Dublin has now been reduced to a pile of charred ruins. The casualty count is rising every second, even faster than the temperatures, which are insane! The only plausible reason for this calamity is that of a stealthy nuclear attack. And until further investigation has been carried out on the matter, the city has been deemed unfit for human habitation, indefinitely.

Was I exaggerating? Of course!

Was I blowing things out of proportion? Absolutely!

Was Zuerien capable of doing such damage? I'd bet my life on it!

GAAAAAHHHH!

"Oh God! What do I do?!" I asked myself, pulling at my hair hysterically, "I need to get in touch with Zuerien before he finds out on his own and loses his mind!"

Mind...

That one word immediately triggered my brain and I instantly knew what I needed to do, something I should have thought of a long time ago.

MIND-LINK!

"YES!" I cried out gleefully, feeling like I had just won a war or something, "That's what I'll do! I'll mind-link Zuerien!"

The minute I had said that sentence out loud, its adverse consequences started shooting at me like an onslaught.

I'd mindlink Zuerien...and then what? I'd tell him that I suddenly disappeared from our room in the hotel and was currently lost in the woods of God knows which country.

And he'll destroy half the world before I can even get to the next line about me being perfectly alright.

"ARGH! This is a disaster!" I cried out loud, holding my head in my hands.

But then...he was bound to find out one way or the other right?

As my gaze lifted to the darkening sky above me, I instantly knew that I was right.

Rino.

I had heard Rino's voice just a second before I had appeared here. He must have seen me disappear. It was only a matter of seconds before he contacted Zuerien and all hell broke loose.

Judging by the sudden weather conundrum, Rino was definitely not in the highest of spirits right now. He must be really worried. In such a state of mind, whatever report he conveyed to Zuerien would most certainly be a little...chaotic...

No! Since I couldn't get in touch with Rino as I had very conviniently left my phone in my hotel room, it was best I contacted Zuerien immediately. If Zuerien was going to find out anyway, the best person to tell him would be me. At least he'd know that I was alright.

That is...if he could manage to not go crazy the second I told him.

Doubtful...but worth a shot.

The only shot I had.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, before deciding to try and initiate the mindlink. Honestly, I couldn't remember if I had ever started a mind-link before. It was always Zuerien who'd begin them, slipping into my mind like the sneaky little canine he was.

But somehow I had no doubt that I'd be able to reach him. I knew I would, I was a hundred percent certain.

Because I could feel his mark on my neck tingling just at the thought of him.

Ever since he had marked me, my bond with Zuerien seemed to have strenghthened a hundredfold. I wouldn't be surprised if he already had an idea of what had happened with me, but then again if he did, I was bound to have felt his panic.

"Let's do this", I whispered to myself before channelling my thoughts towards my mate.

The second I thought of him, his handsome face appeared in my mind. It was the clearest picture I had ever witnessed in my entire life and it instantly made my heart warm. Exhaling slowly, I began.

Zue-

The sharp sound of a twig breaking some distance behind me abruptly filled the air, sounding so loud in the silent surroundings that it nearly made me jump out of my skin.

My eyes shot open and my body whipped around to stare down the row of trees from where I had heard that sound.

What was that?!

My hand immediately pressed over my chest, against which my heart was hammering thunderously. Although I couldn't see anything emerging out of the rows of thick trees around me, the more I paid attention, the more it became clear.

A sound!

An intermittent yet persistent sound, similar to that of heavy log being lifted and pounded into the ground over and over again. And I gasped when I realized the worst part.

It was getting closer with every passing second.

Oh no!

My eyes immediately scanned my whereabouts, desperately seeking some sort of refuge. Adrenaline flooded my body as my brain frantically switched between two options- staying put or runninng away screaming.

These woods were unfamiliar to me. I didn't even know what country I was in for crying out loud! Who knew what kind of colossal creature was going to emerge from those woods. Judging by the weight of that constant pummeling noise, whatever it was would definitely be...heavy...

Before I came face to face with some ancient violent monstrosity, I decided that running was the best option after all. I needed to find cover, and I needed to do it fast!

I dashed to the nearest bush, diving behind it as hurriedly as I could. Ignoring the pain that shot through my body due to my lack of athletic finesse, especially when it came to landings, I slowly peeked out from on top of the bush just in time to see a golden-yellow glow suddenly appear in the midst of the misty darkness between two rows of thick trees.

I stilled in shock, unable to move at the sight of the dim light growing brighter and brighter at an alarmingly fast pace.

Panic flooded my veins and my blood ran cold, making my skin prickle and the hair on my neck stand on end.

With every thump into the ground, the golden glow grew clearer and stronger, and before I knew it, it was but a few meters away from where I had previously been standing.

My mind had blanked, unable to form any semblance of reasonable thoughts. So, paralysed in fear, I stood unbreathing and unmoving as the source of the heavy pounding and golden glow finally emerged from under the canopy of the thick trees. And my heart nearly stopped beating when I saw it.

A tall, heavy and pitch black...lamp post.

WHAAATTT??

My jaw dropped, face scrunching up in thunderstruck disbelief as the glowing lamp post bounced its way out into the clearing, its metal stump digging heavily into the ground as it hopped on.

What the heck is going on here?!

A strangled sound escaped my lips but I managed to muffle it by clamping both my hands over my gaping mouth. As I watched the lamp post happily bob down the clearing, only two words were running through my mind at that second.

Its alive!

This lamp post is freaking alive!

I could feel the scream threatening to tear out of my gawking mouth, but I held it back, not wanting to give away my presence. As far as I could tell, the possessed lamp post hadn't noticed that I was there yet.

Despite the shocking circumstances and my obvious lack of knowledge, I couldn't help but feel rather stupid for hiding from a runaway street lamp.

Was this thing really a supernatural creature? Was it some bizarre species that Zuerien and the others had forgotten to tell me about? Some sort of were-lamppost?

I didn't even have time to laugh at my own imbecility when out of the blue, a dark creature suddenly walked out of the exact same spot in the woods from where the demon lamp post had emerged a few seconds ago.

My breath immediately caught in my throat at the sight of the caped figure that was now making its way across the clearing, following closely behind the glowing lamp post.

A human figure.

The shout that I had managed to swallow earlier threatened to tear out of my mouth once more and I clamped my hands down harder over my mouth, forcing it back.

My heart was pounding at a thousand beats per minute, ready to crack my ribcage any moment, and I desperately prayed that whatever creature was hiding under that cloak did not have the heightened hearing that werewolves possessed, or I was a goner for certain.

The sky had now turned stormy grey, making the mysterious figure walking through the woods look even more menacing. A chilly breeze blew through the thick dark woods, displacing the dark cloak for a short moment allowing me to get a glimpse what was under it.

The first thing I saw was the long brown garment that reached down to the person's feet. In one hand the person carried a basket, I noticed. I couldn't tell what was in the basket, but I wasn't sure I wanted to find out either.

The figure's other hand abruptly lifted up to its face, grabbing the hood of the cloak, keeping it from falling back from the wind and revealing its face, but I didn't miss how a few locks of long blond hair flew up to its face before the figure tucked them back into the cloak.

A woman?

I didn't have much time to ponder my conclusion as it didn't take long for the two mystical creatures to cross the short clearing. Soon enough they had walked back into a different row of trees, gradually starting to disappear into the darkness once more.

Slowly yet shakily, I rose up higher, releasing the breath I hadn't realized I had been holding in. I felt disoriented, like I had just witnessed something unearthly, but then again, I suppose I had.

I could see the light from the demon lamp post growing dimmer and dimmer with each passing second and just as I was about to step out of my hiding place, my mind suddenly blanked and two familiar voices filled my head.

SUZZANAH!

The sudden mind-link took me completely off guard, the simultaneous shouts of Zuerien and Alpha Penson making me lose my balance and trip over the bush in front of me, landing hard on the ground before me.

An involuntary groan of pain escaped my lips before I grit my teeth and opened my eyes. My palms, knees were burning from the impact while other parts of body stung from where the shrub's short, sharp thorns and twigs had dug into my skin.

Suzzanah! Heart! Are you alright?!

Zuerien

I tried as hard as I could to keep the pain out of my mental voice as I picked myself off the wet undergrowth.

My body was immediately flooded with an immense sense of panic and worry and I immediately recognized Zuerien's emotions flowing through me. It was obvious that he had found out what had happened and my poor mate was worried sick.

I-I'm okay, I replied, Absolutely fine. Y-you just startled me, that's all. Alpha Penson, are you there?

I am, Alpha Penson's voice replied, I'm so relieved to hear your voice, dear one

Where are you?! They both asked together and I immediately cringed, this time, not from the pain.

Oh man...what was I supposed to tell them?!

I...

As I tried to come up with some sort of reasonable reply for their question, my gaze involuntarily shot back to where I had seen the were-post and cloaked figure disappear just a few seconds ago.

And I froze.

The golden glow from the lamp post that had been about to disappear into the mist had suddenly come to halt at a distance, somewhere in the midst of the trees.

And there it stayed, motionless, like a firefly suspended mid-air, its state of paralysis somehow far more foreboding than its locomotion.

It didn't last long though, as the very next second the golden light started moving once again, the thumping sound from its stump hitting the ground hard resounding through the silent woods.

And I stared at it in utmost horror as I realized, that now, it was coming back.

And it was coming right at me.

****

A/N

Hey guys!

I know, I'm a terrible human being for having made you guys wait so long for this chapter but I do hope it was worth it.

You guys are honestly the best readers ever! Thank you so much for being so patient darlings.

Also, I'm so glad you guys like the new cover :D It took me a while to make it.

So how did you like the chapter? Lots of chaotic thrill no?

More will be explained on the concept of all the new Supernaturals being introduced in the first few chapters of book 2 later in the story, so no worries if you're a little confused right now.

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter.

If you did, please do remember to VOTE, COMMENT and SHARE!

Until next time,

All my love,

Angel