NATALIE.
"I am bored," I whine to my wolf."Why? You are in our mate's pack, we are safe, and you are seeing different people for the first time. Why would you be bored?""The only thing we have been seeing for the past four hours is just these walls. It is boring," I snap.Just then the door swings open and in comes the first female I have seen apart from the witch.She is beautiful."And strong," my wolf adds."How do you know that?" I ask."I can sense it. She has a powerful wolf."The woman in question just stands there, staring at me. Her face is blank and emotionless and if it was not for the blood adding color to her skin and the clothes she is wearing, I would think she was a statue."So, you are Natalie," she says.She speaks ladies and gentlemen."Yes, I am. Who are you?""Maya."Maya. Maya?! The one everyone thinks is Damien's mate? That Maya?"You have heard of me," she says, cocking her head."Hm. You could say that. What do you want?" I ask."What do you know of me?" she asks instead, ignoring my question."That you are one of the respected warriors," I say in a quizzical tone.Like hell, I am going to mention that I know about her being a chosen mate."Is that all?""Was there more?" I retort."Hmm," she says with a smirk. "I have questions, you will answer them.""She is very rude," a remark from my wolf."Oh, you are just noticing that now, huh?""I don't know why I should," I say to her, for all I know, you might be working for the witch, trying to get me back or kill me."I don't work for anyone," she snarls. "And if I wanted to kill you, darling, you would be dead.""You could certainly try," I growl out.At the corner of my eyes, I see strands of light beginning to pull from the walls. They only happen when I am enraged or feeling a particular high tension, or emotion."You need to calm down," my wolf cautions. "We don't want to start making enemies now, do we?"She is right. I close my eyes and pull in a deep breath, entering and calming myself.By the time I open my eyes, the lights have faded."What was that?" Maya demands, looking spooked."What was what?" I ask confused.Did she see the lights?Impossible.Not even the witch could see it, even when I did lose my temper."Your eyes. They glowed.""Did they?"That is strange."Yes, they did.'" I wouldn't know. You are the one looking at them. What did you want to ask?'She stares at me intently for a few seconds before resuming that blank sure of hers."The witch who kidnapped you, she was the same one who cursed Damien, right?""Yes.""What does she look like? Can you draw her?""Yes, I suppose I can.""Good. Since you escaped from her, that means you know where she is. You can lead us there.""Ehn, no.""No?""No.""Why the hell not?""She is a witch. A witch who has enemies. She is not stupid, she has spent upon spells weaved together to hide her location.""But you escaped from her.""Yes, I did. But understand, I have been let in that cottage all my life, I had never seen anything past the woods. When I escaped, I didn't recognize anything, no landmarks, no trees, no signs. I wouldn't know how to lead you back there.'"Dammit," she curses."And besides, I doubt she will still be there," I add."What do you mean? Why wouldn't she be there?""Again, she is not stupid. All my life, she has been taunting me about my mate, about what she did to him, the curse she placed on him. She must figure that now that I have escaped, it would be to him I would head for. She knows that the Varin pack has been searching for her. With my arrival, don't you think she knows what your next plan of action would be?""To search for her," she answers."Correct. She will not wait for you there," I tell her."What do you suggest then? Ask other witches?""No. From what I remember of her rantings, most witches hate her. Mainly because of the fact that her actions caused a widespread hunt for them. No, I don't think she has any witches as friends. But…""But what?!""Didn't snap at me! I don't like it," I growl."But. What."I stare at her in defiance to which she responds with an equally defiant stare.She is good, but I am not giving in. If I am going to become the Lyna of this pack, I can't afford to give in. I have come too far now to falter at a stare.She must have recognized my stubbornness because she likes her eyes in a sigh."Fine. My apologies. Now, but what?""I remember her talking to someone on the phone. A powerful person with resources.""Resources? What kind?""Strange archaic plants. Rare kinds. Ones you will need a lot of money to get.""So she has a contact on the outside.""A wolf contact.""What?!""Her contact is a wolf. An Alpha, to be exact.'"How do you know this?""I heard her calling him that on the phone. It's my turn now," I say."Your turn? For what?""To ask my questions."She scoffs before nodding."Go ahead.*"Why are you curious about the witch?""What do you mean why am I curious? I am going to kill her.""But why? Damien and I have already found each other. Her curse has failed.""Oh, you don't know," she says, her tone going soft, which instantly sets me on alert."Know what?" I demand."The curse didn't fail. In fact, she has a fail-safe for this exact scenario.""Which is?""Damien has until all the petals have faced to find and kill her, if not, both of you die."DAMIEN.This is useless.I drip the last file on the desk and recline back on the chair.Nothing.No new avenue.Nothing that we haven't searched over and over again. Hopefully, with some luck, Lucas and Maya would have found something.A knock on the door interrupts my train of thought."Enter," I order.Maya walks in with her battle face on.Oh, great. What now?"Maya," I start. "Any luck on your side?""If you are talking about those files then no. But I talked to Natalie-""Natalie? Who is that?"She looks at me in confusion before answering."Your… the woman who claims to be your mate."Ah.Natalie.Nice name."Wait! What?! You talked to Natalie?!" I demand, finally understanding her words."Yes, I did. She is our only viable source of information on finding the witch. For the life of me, I can't understand why you and Lycas are so averse to the idea.""Because…""Because… what? See, even you don't know why you are behaving like this.""Fine. What did she say? Can we find her? Th
NATALIE."Damien has until all the petals have faced to find and kill her, if not, both of you die.""That which!" I snarl as I pace around the room. "That rotten, old, frigid, good for nothing evil, bitch! Aaargh."How dare she?! How dare she do something like that?! It was bad enough that she stopped us from meeting for so long, but now she wants to kill us. What is wrong with her?!" I roar."You need to calm down before someone hears you and comes in," my wolf says."How can I calm down?" I snap out loud. "Didn't you hear her? After all, we went through to find our mate, I find out that we are on a clock. To death?! Oh, come on, how is this fair?""I don't think she was thinking about being fair when she kidnapped you as a baby, or when she cursed him, or when-""Okay! I get it. She is a bitch."I stop pacing and sit back on the bed."What do we do now?" I ask out loud, both to myself and my wolf."We do our best to help them find the witch, at least until…" her voice fades."Hell
MAYA.I dump the red overcoat I was contemplating packing in exchange for the black one.I am going for a stealth mission, not a fashion show."It is very noble what you are doing," Eira, my wolf, says.It was a wonderful feeling, finally having her name revealed to me after I had found my mate, only for me to lose him months later.Small mercies, I suppose."Nobility has nothing to do with this," I reply."You are going on what could be a suicidal mission or a complete utter waste of time in order to save the man you were about to be mated to and his mate. That's pretty noble in my book," she retorts."You know that is not the only reason why I am doing this," I tell her.I know how it looks. Poor Maya. Self-sacrificing Maya.Doing her very best to ensure that her Alpha is happy and safe.I want Damien happy.Just with me.Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Natalie, but she doesn't know Damien like I do.We grew up together, fought, played, dried together.After my mate, h
NATALIE.Willow.How could I have forgotten her name?Though I am not even sure that it is her real name.I climb back into the bed and hide my head in the blankets.I am so tired.Both physically and mentally.Nothing, literally nothing happened the way I thought it was going to happen.Instead of being delighted at finally finding his mate, Damien is resentful and reluctant.Did he blame me? For finding him and messing up his life?I have been trying to stay strong for so long and I am just exhausted now. I am just so tired.I can't stop the tears from falling out, it pours like rain, and for the first time since I got here, I am glad that I am alone.Nobody to see me like this.And before long, the darkness takes me away in a somewhat peaceful sleep.It has been a long day. ***************I am awoken by hands, gently shaking me. The tears of last night had dried on my lashes and I had to slowly pry them open, before pulling down the blanket.I blear
NATALIE.The walk to the pack was frigid with silence.There was nothing I wanted to say to him and I am pretty sure he didn't want to speak to me.So, why pray tell, does he keep sneaking glances at me?It is infuriating.“If you have something to say, just say it!’ I snap.“What?” “You keep sneaking looks at me. I can see them, so what is it?’“I was… curious.”I wait a few seconds for him to continue but he doesn't.“Curious?”“About where you came from.”“What about it?”“How were your living conditions?” he asks.“You ask that like you think I was suffering,” I reply.“You didn't know what a shower head was,” he retorts.“Doesn't mean I was suffering.”“How was it?”“It was okay, as far as I was concerned.”“You said you had an outhouse for a bath.”“Yes.”“How was the place?”“The outhouse?” I ask, perplexed by the question.“No. The… the building, the place you lived.”“Oh. It was okay.”“Can you describe it?”I stare at him in silence before asking.“Why?”“Maya has gone out
NATALIE.“Um, good morning,” I say into the intimidating silence. “I uh, I came to return the plates.”Nobody says anything in response to that. Even the man who had brought me in had abandoned me.Great. Just great.I stand there, fidgeting on my own, feeling the hostile stares burrowing deep into my skin for what feels like hours until someone, blessedly signals to me.“Over here,” a woman calls from the far back.I hurry over to her, plates outstretched when I suddenly crash to the floor, the tray falling with me and causing the ceramic plates to crash.I was tripped.I look over to see a group of people, three girls, and four boys, giggling at my debacle.“Oh, I am so sorry,” one of the boys speaks up. “I really didn't see you there.”The statement causes the entire group to break up into raucous laughter.What the hell is so funny about this? I am confused now, he did apologize but from their behavior, it seems intentional. What… What is going on?Damn that witch.I have had no
DAMIEN.My paws slam against the ground, going full speed like there is no tomorrow. I'm gasping for air and my heart is racing like it is in a sprint of its own. Everything is a crazy mix of green and brown as the trees fly by, a wild blur that doesn't make any sense. I'm just hauling it, not really taking in anything, caught up in this whirlwind of pure gut feeling, not seeing anything.Only her.“...why do you even care?... It's not like you are happy with me being here…”How could she ask that?I am her mate.Why wouldn't I care?”“Maybe you could start by showing it,” my wolf scoffs.“What do you even mean by that? I care,” I snarl at him.“I am an animal and even I would not be receptive to you if you treated me the way you have been treating her.”“And how am I treating her?!” I snarl at him again as we take a sharp curve around a bend.“She is our mate. The one we have been searching for for years. And not once have you told her you are happy to see her. That you would prot
NATALIE.Knock knock.The sound is so firm and forceful, I instinctively know it is Damien.What does he want now?“Come in,” I call as I get off from the window pane.What? I already said I was going to leave.I hurry over to the bed and drop into it, just in time as his head appears in the frame of the door before his whole body enters.“Hi,” he says.“Hello.”“I was wondering how you were settling in?” he asks.I give him a wry smirk before answering.“As well as you can imagine. How do you think a person kept against their will and being ridiculed at every turn she takes would feel?” I ask.“Right, I heard about Pan. I am sorry about that, he will be punished.”“And you? Who would punish you?” He sighs before taking a step towards and then stopping. “Natalie… I know we got off on the wrong foot, that is mainly my fault. I apologize. How can I make it up to you?” he asks. “And please, don't tell me to let you go. I don't think I am physically capable of doing that or being able t