Chapter 6

Zezi hid behind another tree, her senses alert. She was listening attentively for any movement.

It had been two days or maybe even more she couldn't really tell. She was running out of supplies and she had left behind her weapons at the tent when she fled.

Her eyes ached from lack of sleep and she was sure she must stink. It had been a while since she had a bath and she hadn't come across any river yet, nor had it rained. She couldn't waste the water she had with her on her body, she was reserving that for her thirst.

She ran to the next tree and laid her back flatly against it. She bit her lips to stop herself from crying. She felt so cold and alone. She missed her daughter and her husband, yet she knew she couldn't go back. If she did, she wouldn't be able to stay. He would take her away, she would be forced to leave with the enemy.

She was certain that with the Alpha, knowing everything now, he would have drawn up another bargain that involved her.

But could she blame him? It was just her, a pack member, against the whole pack. Any Alpha would do it.

She came across another werewolf who attacked her yet again. This time, it took a little longer to bring him down. He had shifted into his wolf midair and her steps had flattered a little.

She had snapped too, shifting into her wolf. A huge silver wolf that made the other cower. Her wolf had blue eyes, just as she did. Her wolf was angry and desperate. She growled in warning to her opponent, a brown wolf that obviously stood no chance. But the wolf didn't listen and he had charged at her instead.

She tried hard not to kill him but this wolf was determined to do otherwise. Whatever madness had set in his brains. So when he sank his canines into her arm, past her fur, she didn't hesitate to draw her claws sharply against his neck, rippling his lungs open.

The wolf fell with a thud, lifeless. Some distance away, she could hear a wolf howling in pain.

They were here.

With her bag in her mouth, her wound healing fast, yet her fur stained with her blood, she ran.

When she finally changed back to her human form, it was at night. She was so thankful that she had packed some extra clothing or else she would have to be scrolling along this forest naked.

She was hungry, tired, and afraid. Changing to her wolf had made her use up all her strength and she had now ran out of food. She fell to the floor exhausted.

How long exactly could she run? Where was she running to?

Away, her mind answered.

But where was "away"? Was what she was doing right? Was it wise?

She couldn't think for long because soon, the sleep that she had been trying so hard to avoid for a while now tackled her and overcame her.

She found herself falling into a nightmare of what had happened the night she became rogue. The night the vampires came into their pack and killed them all.

She could feel it all again, the fear that rushed into her veins as she discovered that her parents were gone. She could hear the screaming, she could feel the fire burning, her legs aching from running too much.

It all happened when she was eight. They had attacked them and her pack had not been ready. It was an ambush, one that happened in the dead of the night.

While she ran aimlessly with tears running down her face, someone had pulled her aside quickly. Before she could even scream, a hand was over her mouth while the person pulled her along into a dark passageway.

The voice she had heard made her cease her struggling. It was a voice she knew all too well. It was George, the Alpha's son.

"Run and don't look back. Run, Zezi. I will be right here by your side, we do this together."

That was the night her hatred for Vampires began. Up until then, it had just been tales of their cruelty but that night, she experienced it and lost everything.

Except George.

He had lost everything too, yet he stayed with her and they did it together.

She started shivering as she laid on the cold floor. Tears running down her eyes, the images still playing in her mind, the voices still loud in her ears.

When she woke up again, she was standing face to face with a warrior. His eyes became wide with discovery. Immediately, he realized who she was, but before he could say anything, she had already tackled him to the ground and left him unconscious.

She packed up her bags quickly, pushing the hunger away.

They were here already?! How long had she slept?!

The sun peeking through the trees answered her question and she gnashed her teeth.

It was daylight!

She knew she shouldn't have fallen asleep! Now what was she going to do?

Before she made it far though, she heard a silver chain swinging swiftly across the air. With her accelerated hearing, she knew where it was going to land. She jumped off the ground at that instant; the chain that was supposed to have her legs in bondage held thin air.

She looked back at her attacker and that was when she made a mistake. There her husband was, behind her, his eyes holding pain that seemed suffocating.

Silver chains wrapped firmly around her legs then, altering her balance and ripping her harshly from her thoughts. She fell with a thud. She reached down quickly to loosen the chains, but it burnt her hands, and she cried out in pain.

"George..." She called out in a painful whisper. He walked closer, next to her attacker; his eyes still hadn't stopped holding all that pain.

"The Alpha wants no harm upon you." He said when he finally got in front of her.

"George...?"

"I advise you come with us quietly."

His words hurt. She understood that he could be mad at her for leaving without an explanation but he should know why.

This was just plain hurtful. How could he turn against her like this? Out of everyone, he should understand!

She blinked the tears that refused to stop rolling down her cheeks away and smiled painfully.

"Or what? You will kill me?"

"Zeta Zezi...."

"Whatever, Beta." She glared down at the chains still wrapped around her legs before looking up at them.

"You definitely won't be taking me alive. I will make sure of that."

George's jaw tightened, and then suddenly, a smile crossed his lips. Zezi's confidence washed over with confusion.

Did he, perhaps, want her dead?

George turned around swiftly, hitting the warrior next to him on his neck. The warrior fell unconscious, and then he pressed his thumb on his forehead. His eyes rolled back for a while before they retained their normal position, and he tossed the warrior aside.

Then he winked at her.

"I was hoping you would say that."

Relief washed over her and amidst the pain, she found herself smiling back at him.

This was the George she knew. The one that was with her all those years while they were rogues, the one that was always willing to take any risk for her. The one that decided to accept her proposal for them to be chosen mates when they discovered that she would never have one. Although now, she really didn't know how she felt about that but it was reassuring to have George with her. Reassuring to have him here with her again, like every other time he never left.

He pulled out thick gloves from his pocket and undid the chains. He brought her up, carrying her in his arms because she wouldn't be able to walk for a while till the wound healed. Which was going to take quite a while considering it was silver.

George had an ability passed down to him from his generation. He could make people forget things if he wanted to. Just like what he had done to the warrior, he would forget ever seeing Zezi or who attacked him. It was mostly a game of luck with the power because sometimes it would work and other times it wouldn't. This was just one of those few lucky times that it did.

He brought them to a river, where she was able to have her bath and change her clothes. Throughout the journey, they both kept quiet.

When they finally got to somewhere they could rest, George tended to her wounds. She was healing at a rather fast rate but she would still need a while to stay off her feet.

She leaned against the tree where she sat, tired. She gulped down the bottle of water George had given her while she stared down at the empty food wrapper. It was so good to have her belly full again.

"I'm sorry." She finally mustered the courage to face what she had been avoiding. He looked at her from where he sat some distance away then looked away.

When did he become so hard to read? So distant. It felt like whoever he was while saving her a while ago had completely been replaced.

The King's Move

"How is Mira?"

"She is fine. Aunt Alice is doing a great job."

"I--I had no choice. I had to leave."

It was quiet, like he wouldn't say anything in return. It got to a point that she was starting to doubt if he had even heard her.

"You should have told me."

"I just..."

"I know we are not true mates but we love each other, don't we?"

Zezi furrowed her eyebrows at that question, "Where is this coming from? This thing about not being true mates? We chose each other, George. Of course, we love each other."

He stood up then, pacing in front of her before he stopped abruptly.

"Is it true? I have to hear it from you. I don't care how it must seem to everyone else, if you just say it isn't, then I will discard all the thoughts I have been coming up with. We will go back there right now and tell them that the Vampire King is nuts."

His eyes looked like they carried weights of sadness. The way his shoulders slumped showed how hard it was for him to keep up with all of these. He pushed his hair back and she could see how tired he was. He looked drained, worse than the night at the house.

"It is true, George."

"But--but you are a lone wolf! Have you forgotten that, Zezi? Back when we were on the run and we met this witch while we were looking for your mate, she said you were a lone wolf. Have you forgotten?"

"I know," the sadness she felt was starting to choke her.

"I remember but it is true. I don't know how it happened but it is true."

She so badly wanted to stand, to go to him, but she couldn't. The pain was still there, burning.

He started pacing around again while mumbling denial to himself.

"No, I came all the way here for you to tell me that it is not true. Your words were my last hope. Your words, my love. Just a 'no' would have done it."

"George..." She called out to him, scared that he would do something bad to himself but he kept mumbling while he drove his hands crazily through his hair.

"Just your words...your words..."

"George!" She finally snapped and it was like he was hearing her call him for the first time. He turned to her abruptly.

"It doesn't mean anything. If it did, I won't be here running away."

His tensed shoulders slumped then, his lips parted and it was like a sudden realization dawned on him.

He felt stupid for a moment. Then he came to her, a knee on the floor while he looked directly at her. He watched her for a while, a tear ran down his face. She reached up to him, weep the tears away. She cupped his face between her hands and smiled reassuringly at him.

"It means nothing." She kissed him then, a passionate kiss that filled with a sort of underlying promise. He kissed her back, just as passionate, just as needy.

When they drew apart, he bent to her neck, drew her up in his arms so that she was pressed against him. He spoke against his marked etched into her skin while he allowed himself to be engulfed in her scent.

"I don't want to lose you, Zezi. I don't ever want to ever lose you."

With her fingers, she brushed against her mark on his neck lightly before leaning into him.

"And you won't."

As much as he wanted this moment to last for them, he knew he didn't have enough time.

"We have to leave."

"I have been thinking about that. Where? There is no "where" out here."

"There is and we can leave right now."

A smile played on Zezi's but it faded away almost immediately.

"Mira."

"I have plans for that too." He pulled away from her then sat by her side.

"I went to see Aunt Alice before I left."

Aunt Alice was someone that Zezi considered as a mother. When Zezi had just gotten to the pack, Aunt Alice was dealing with the grief of losing her daughter. It was so painful for her because she had to deal with the pain alone, her mate had died some years ago before it happened.

Aunt Alice had taken her in and ever since then they were family. Aunt Alice loved Zezi so much that she was willingly to lay down her life for her.

"I told her to tell the Alpha that she would be leaving with Mira to another pack in our Alpha's territory, so that when everything comes down it won't affect Mira's health."

"So...?"

"Well by now she must have gotten the pass from the Alpha to leave. The thing is that she is not going to another pack. She will be waiting for us somewhere around the border."

He watched her for a while trying to see if she would connect all the dots together but he couldn't wait anymore and he said out in excitement.

"We are flying out of Teeland, my love! Aunt Alice, Mira, you and I, we will all disappear."

He chuckled and pulled her into an embrace. She smiled too, happiness rushing fast through her veins. But something flashed into her mind and a coldness immediately creeped over her.

It was like she was in the hall again and his hand was brushing lightly against hers. She gulped, it was suddenly hard to breath.

Then the King's eyes flashed into her mind and her heart raced. Those dark eyes that seemed to trap her in.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that he was someone who wouldn't easily let something that he believed was his go.

George's voice snapped her out of her daze and she sucked in a deep breath.

"...their car will be waiting for us. All we have to do, is get there."

How long had he been talking? She couldn't remember.

He stood up, packed up their bags, strapped it to his back and bent to carry her.

"George, I am worried, I think..." She stopped when she noticed his arms go stiff around her. She looked up at him to see that his eyes had been rolled back. He stood like that for a while before his eyes retained their normal position and a glare crossed his face.

"I hate when he does that." He said then continued walking.

"Alpha Gery? When did he start using the mind link again."

"Well, since yesterday."

It was quiet for a while as George tried to maneuver their way through the forest.

"What did he say?"

"That they saw a warrior unconscious and they believe it was you." A sly grin appeared on George's face.

"He also asked if I had seen you. Well I said no but I think I might soon."

"You know something about you, George?" Her voice sounded teasing and a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes. It had been quite a while since they ever had time for each other.

"What?

"You are such a selfish man." She drawled and he chuckled lightly.

"Selfish when it comes to you, Zezi. Gladly, truly and wholeheartedly selfish."

"We will be there soon. By tomorrow all these will be behind us. It will all be over."

George said when he finished building up the tent they could rest in for the night. The fire burnt softly at one side, while Zezi stared blankly into it. She still couldn't help feeling uneasy and no matter what she did, she couldn't stop remembering his cold hand brushing lightly against hers nor could she forget his eyes.

There was something dark, dangerous and compelling about his eyes.

"Are you listening?" George said next to her and she jumped in her own skin. Looking back at him, startled.

"I said it time for us to go to sleep." George arched an eyebrow at her.

"What were you thinking about?"

Her mouth felt dry and her heart clenched with disappointment and annoyance.

Him...

She had been thinking about him but how could she say that? Although her thoughts had been channeled towards other intentions, it pissed her off that she even thought about him to begin with.

"Nothing important. Just worried, that it is all."

He held her hand reassuringly and smiled.

"It will soon be over, my love. I promise you that."

She nodded. She sure hope it did. She honestly couldn't wait.

When she left, he followed after her but his steps stilled all of a sudden. She hadn't noticed though, so she made her way into the tent.

Alpha Gery's voice rang in his mind then.

"The warrior you knocked out cold is recovering."

"Figured that out, didn't you, Alpha Gery?"

"I Know you are with her."

His reply was abrupt, blunt and sounded unwavering.

"Then you must know that I am not coming back."

"I understand you, Beta, but it is no longer the pack against you anymore."

"Your tactics won't work on me."

His mind was quiet before Alpha Gery's voice rang in his mind again and he could have sworn that he sensed pity and sadness in it.

"The Vampire king has your daughter."

Whatever resistance George had in him, at that moment, instantly came crumbling down.