— Elaeya —

Mother would be able to track me with my blood, no matter how far I’d be. My parents could track his phone, it should be safe.

Yet, these facts didn’t lessen the tension in my body. I had never willingly stayed away from my family for more than a day. I knew of no safer place.

Yet I was throwing myself into the abyss of the unknown.

We walked for a while, he took the lead after a little while as I obviously had no idea where we were going.

After maybe thirty minutes of walking, he took his phone out to make a call.

“Yes,” answered a tensed female voice from the other end of his phone.

“I’m calling to ask for a favour,” he said.

“Whatever you need,” the woman said.

“A few days at your pack”

“I can’t feed all your men.”

“No, I’m sending everyone back. Just me and a few others.”

“How many?”

“No more than five.”

“Okay, I’ll organize accommodations.”

“Thank you,” he said and hung up without even saying goodbye.

He called another number.

“Yes,” said a male voice this time.

“Is the plane ready for take-off?” Kaden asked.

“Within the hour.”

“Okay, I’m staying back, tell Sam to get me a vehicle, I’m sending you my position.”

He took the phone from his ear and stopped walking for a moment, texting his location.

“Why, where are you?” asked the man.

Kaden took the phone back to his ear. “It doesn’t concern you, I’ll be here for a few more days, I have something to take care of. Jayson will be in charge of the return home. Mariqueen has already been informed. Minimum security, Sam, and you can get one more.”

“Ylva?” the man asked.

“Ylva is injured, she’s getting back home. Find someone else. Then you can give the okay for take-off.” He hung up again, without even ending the conversation, then put the phone back in his pocket.

Well, I suppose pleasantries and politeness are not part of his habits.

We walked for another hour at least. I was really hungry now. I hadn’t eaten for at least twelve maybe fourteen hours. I could obviously go for longer without food, but it didn’t make it easier. I was tired and out of energy. Kaden seemed to suffer from the same, but he said nothing.

His phone rang.

“I’m nearly there, five hundred meters, nine o’clock, I can’t get in deeper,” said a third voice on the phone, male.

“On my way,” Kaden said, hung up, and changed a bit his direction. I followed.

We reached a military hummer painted dark green, with large off-road wheels. A man walked around it to meet us. He was massive and tall. He slowed his pace as his gaze fell on me.

“Mam,” he told me.

I inclined my head politely.

“My name is Sam, I’ll drive you to Monaweard,” he told me, opening the right back door for me. Kaden went on the other side and slid into the backseat, so I complied.

“What is Monaweard?” I asked as Sam took his seat behind the wheel.

“The pack of an ally,” said Kaden to me. “We will stay there for a few days. It’s not far from here.”

I nodded.

The drive was difficult, slow, and bumpy, but within five minutes, Kaden was asleep next to me. I was a little bewildered at this, but before another ten minutes went by, I found myself falling asleep too.

I felt a gentle pressure on my shoulder, and I woke up groggily.

Kaden was the one waking me.

“We’re here,” he said softly.

I wiped at my face and nodded at him. Then got out of the car.

We were parked in front of a beautiful little cottage. It had thick white cob walls and a green roof. The windows had square panes with big planters underneath.

Two men came out of the house, and another circled it from behind to join us.

Further, on the little dirt road that slithered in front of the cottage, another car, compact and lime green came to join us.

I tugged nervously at my hood, drawing it a little further over my face.

Kaden’s clothes were different from the one he had worn when I first met him. He had dark blue jeans and a black t-shirt on. He was the most casually dressed of the man. Sam, our driver, and two of the other men wore similar clothes to the ones Kaden wore last night. Black fatigues, steel-toed boots and they had bulletproof vests on top of their shirts. The last man was a lot less muscular than them and came out of the house wearing the remnant of a suit and a smart tablet in his hand. They all looked like they hadn’t slept in a while.

“What’s the situation?” asked the man in the suit.

“I’ll stay here for a few days,” said Kaden as the compact car parked beside the Hummer and a beautiful Asian woman came out.

I felt a few eyes on me, and tugged at the hood once more.

“As something happened?” asked the woman coming towards us, before any of the men had had time to ask further questions.

“Nothing serious, don’t worry,” he told her.

The man in the suit took to his tablet. “There will be a lot of readjustment,” he said. “What is the cause?”

“I found my mate,” said Kaden.

All eyes turned to me. I tried not to act too nervously, but I lowered my head some. I didn’t know any of them. I was taking great risks. Could I even let them see me? What would happen then?

“At the battlefield?” asked the man in a suit, bewildered.

Kaden glared at him.

“Nearby,” explained Sam.

“You come from a pack nearby?” the woman asked me gently.

“No,” I answered.

“Rogue?” asked the man in the suit.

“Brandon, how about you go back in and take care of that schedule.” Kaden’s voice was rough and severe.

“No,” I said. Better get this out of the way now. “I’m a stray.”

There were a few seconds of silence, and Brandon went back in. From what I know strays are not that common.

“Where is your luggage?” asked the woman.

“I don’t have any,” I said.

“I’ll take care of this,” she said in Kaden and I’s general direction then left to make a call. “Go take a shower sweetie,” she told me, raising her voice. “I’ll get you a change of clothes.”

“You don’t need to,” I said, but she didn’t listen and continued talking on the phone.

“Come,” said Kaden. He went in and I followed.

He moved a bit around, clearly not knowing where everything was, but we landed on the upper floor where there were two bedrooms. Once inside one, he went to the door at the back of the bedroom, opened it, and verified it was a bathroom.

“Here,” he told me. “You can take a shower, take a nap, I’ll be in the other room,” he said gesturing to the only other bedroom on this floor.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to eat something,” I told him.

He nodded. “I’ll ask for us to get some food ready. You can come down once you’re done,” he said, then left without looking at me any further. He closed the door behind him, leaving me alone.

The room was pretty, in shades of white and pastels. In the bathroom, there was fluffy towels, shampoo, soap, I found new toothbrushes still in their packages behind the vanity mirror. I decided that if I was to have to wait, I might as well wash off.

There was hot water and it was glorious. I left the water wash over my skin, working at the tension, it took me a little while before I began the washing process, just enjoying this luxury to its fullest, but I accelerated as I realized that spending over an hour in the shower might not be the best form, at someone else’s house. Especially if there was food that would wait for me.

There were a few knocks on the bedroom door as I was finishing rinsing.

It took me a little while to finish up and dry myself before I could answer, but I could hear that someone had let themselves in the bedroom.

“Who is it?” I asked with my hand on the doorknob.

“Mariqueen,” said the same woman I had seen before. “I brought you clothes and cosmetics and everything you might need.”

I opened slowly. “It was not necessary,” I said unsure of how to deal with this.

She came to open the door wider then pulled on my arm so that I would follow her in the bedroom. She looked me up and down, then grabbed a few pieces of clothing that were now strewn all over the bed and raised them to my chest, gaging the look, then switching to the next one.

“Consider this a favour. Most men don’t realize how difficult the whole mate thing can be for a woman, and it’s only worst when the mate is an Alpha. Everyone is gonna expect things from you. Take these tips from someone who knows, power in a woman always translates to looks, one way or another. If you don’t look the part, it’s gonna reflect back on you. What do you know so far?” she asked me.

“About what?” I asked, holding to my towel wrapped around my chest.

“About Alpha Devon?” she asked, nodded at a white dress, put it aside and picked white underwear, then gave them to me.

“His name is Kaden Devon, he’s an Alpha and his pack is far from here.”

“And?” she asked. I went back into the bathroom to put the clothes on.

“He fought a battle to help allies. I think that’s it.” He’s also pretty rude when he talks on the phone, but I don’t know what that woman is to him, so I didn’t elaborate on my opinion of him.

“He said nothing else?” she slid the dress through the crack in the door to me, I put it on.

“No.”

She sighed. “I don’t think he’s a big talker, but he should have told you more.”

“Like what?” I asked.

“His pack is Blakemore. It’s a big one. It’s also a strong one. People call him the Hellhound. I don’t know exactly where this name came from, but he’s pretty infamous. I’m the Alpha who called for help. He’s not the most polite man I’ve ever seen, I can tell you that. But I also know that he has principles and he follows them. He also keeps his word, and he probably saved our collective asses.”

I stepped out of the bathroom.

“Are your eyes pink?” she asked me.

“Mmmh,” I said in non-commitment. I folded my clothes on a commode.

“I’ll have this washed.” She told me, then gave me a hairdryer. I think I haven’t used one of those in over a decade.

I turned it on and took care of my wet hair.

She brought some creams and makeup to the small table next to me. Raised a palette next to my face to see which colour fitted, then took away what didn’t work.

“You have some strange hair,” she told me. “Want type of hybrid are you?”

“Is it important?” I asked her.

“Not to me,” she said truthfully.

Once I was done with my hair, I took the make-up.

She extended a hairbrush at me.

“I don’t need it,” I said.

She frowned and got up. She glided the brush through my hair once, then her finger.

“No knots,” she noted.

I shook my head. I didn’t put in foundation, I didn’t need any, and she probably had nothing that would look natural on me either. I used mostly neutral colours, a bit more on the eyes and lips. I haven’t used makeup often. I know how to do it, it’s just that I don’t have access to cosmetics often.

“Never?” she asked about my hair.

“It never knots.”

“This is the most impressive superpower I’ve ever seen,” she said shaking her head. She flicked some of my hair up and looked at it fall down in fascination.

“Are you a real stray or you just said that to shut them up?” she asked sitting on the bed.

“I’ve never been part of any pack,” I said.

She nodded. “Your parents are rogues or lone wolf?”

“They’re not rogues, so I suppose they qualify as lone wolves.”

“Why never in a pack?”

I shrugged. I put everything down and got up. I waved my arms at her asking ‘is this decent?’ About my looks.

“You’re gonna blow everyone’s mind. White really suits you. It’s probably because of the hair.”

I felt exposed. The dress was light and sleeveless, at least it covered my legs.

“There are not many women Alpha, aren’t there?” I asked.

“No. Technically, the couples are supposed to be both Alpha, but for some reason, women are called Luna and treated differently. Beta couples are both called Betas, I don’t see why the distinction with women Alphas. It’s probably a power thing.” She selected some clothes and but them in a drawer for me, I helped her folding them. “That why I made sure no one would take that title from me,” she told me.

“How?” I asked her.

“I made my mate Beta,” she said with a smile.

“I don’t believe that’s very conventional.”

“It isn’t, but my pack is really small. It’s a bit pointless to have a bunch of rank members. So my husband and I are it. But I’m in charge.”

I smiled at her.

“Whatever happens down there, don’t let them walk all over you,” she told me.

“Don’t worry, it’s harder to do that one would think.”

“Good.”