Chapter 75

“You don’t even know me,” I said.
“Doesn’t matter,” he replied promptly. “Come here.”
I sighed. This new life was filled with more sex than I’d had in my other life. I’m not even sure if that’s a good thing at this point but I could tell that it was purely a physical thing for me at this point.
“What a stubborn fellow,” I grumbled under my breath.
“I heard that,” he said. “Don’t worry, I’ll make this worth your while.”
“Whatever…” I mumbled. An image of Hazim fucking Sasha on her kitchen cabinet flashed through my mind and I nearly gagged. Yikes!
“Why do you look like a lamb approaching the slaughterhouse?” He asked me with a chuckle. “You’re not afraid of me, are you?”
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
“I don’t want to have sex with you.”
“Oh.” He looked disappointed. “Well, you don’t have to.”
I stared at him. “Then how do I get my necklace from you?”
He threw it at me and it hit me in the face. That reminded me of that nightmare I had in my other life where Dominic threw the necklace at me.
“You can have it if it means that much to you. There’s really nothing special about it anyway.”
I picked it up from the ground and tucked it between my boobs under my blouse.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Whatever,” he replied dismissively. “It’s not having sex with a woman who’s not attracted to me anyway. It would be like sleeping with a dead fish.”
“Wow. I’ve never met anyone who has had sex with a dead fish.”
“Very funny,” he said dryly. “So, what’s next for you now?”
“I’m heading south to look for a Moon Pack seer who will destroy this necklace for me.”
He snorted. “You’re so full shit to believe in all this woo-woo stuff.”
“What do you believe in?”
“Survival. That’s what life is all about.”
“There’s more to life than just surviving.”
“Says the woman who has been running for her life all morning.”
“Are you always this sarcastic?”
“Yeah. It’s one of my charms.”
“Stop it. It’s not nice.”
“Who cares about being nice? People take advantage of nice people. That’s not for me.”
His words reminded me of Rowan. Oh, my dear, sweet Rowan. Where was he now? What was he doing? Was he thinking about me?
“You know what, I change my mind. I’m going to the Highlands,” I said.
“Why?”
“Because there’s someone there I’d love to see.”
“I hope it’s not that bully called Alpha Jaxon. I hate that guy.”
“He’s still alive?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Oh…”
“What?”
“Maybe I shouldn’t go there just yet. Maybe I should stick to my original plan and track down that Moon Pack seer.”
“Whatever. I’m going to head to the southern village and find me a sweet she-wolf and get laid.”
“Aren’t you coming with me?”
“Why would I?”
“What if the Alphas come after me again?”
“What’s that got to do with me? I’m not getting into another fight with those lunatics again for your sake. We didn’t even fuck, so why should I risk my safety for you?”
“But you turned me down.”
“Because you looked miserable. I don’t grind hips with miserable chicks. I’m allergic to bad vibes.”
My mood sank lower. Without Hazim to protect me, I was fair game to Dominic and Damian. Perhaps I wasn’t meant to live long in this new life.
“Don’t look so hopeless,” said Hazim. “You know what, I’ll go to the south with you but once we get there, we’ll go our separate ways. I’m not very good at babysitting.”
“That’s fair enough,” I said with relief. “Let’s go.”
I didn’t realize how stressful it was to travel with a Lycan. We’d agreed to make the trip in our werewolf forms and once he transformed into a giant humanoid wolf, I could barely catch up with him.
We arrived at our destination in the evening. The south was warm and welcoming just as I remembered.
“So long, Jade,” said Hazim. He was back to his human self and as cocky as ever.
“Thank you for escorting me here, Hazim. That was very kind of you.”
“Sure,” he said and left.
Alone, I walked through the streets asking anyone I saw if they knew a Moon Pack seer called Freya. They all said no and I was getting desperate.
As nighttime slowly crept in, I finally met an old man who pointed me to a small shack nestled in the woods near a creek.
The door was opened swiftly on my second knock. Freya showed up, looking dishevelled and staring at me with angry eyes.
“Who are you?” She snarled.
I was taken aback by her tone. “It’s me, Jade.”
“Am I supposed to know you? What do you want?”
“I – uh… I need your help,” I stuttered.
“Now’s a bad time. Come back tomorrow.”
She slammed the door in my face and I just stood there staring at it. This was definitely not the Freya I knew.
I had nowhere else to go, so I sat on the steps in front of her tiny porch. The wind was getting chilly as the night got darker.
I heard noises coming from inside as if Freya was wrestling with someone and I figured it out. She was inside with someone, maybe Gerald.
“There you are…” A male voice growled in the dark.
I saw his glowing eyes a few feet away from me and the hairs on the back of my neck rose. Dominic was in wolf form and poised to attack me if I so much as moved a muscle.
“Don’t hurt me, please,” I begged with a shaky voice. “I had nothing to do with Antonio and my uncle trying to kill you and your brothers.”
“Tell that to Darius when you meet him in the afterlife!”
He came for me at the speed of light. I was frozen on the spot and couldn’t defend myself when he landed on me with sharp claws and fangs sinking into my skin.
Freya’s door opened and I heard her gasp. “What the – “
“What’s going on?” A male voice asked.
Both of them came to my rescue, tackling Dominic and pushing him off me. He went after the male wolf first, wrestling with him viciously.
“Quick, come inside!” Said Freya.
I followed her into the tiny house and brought the necklace from my bosom.
“Take this. I need you to destroy it right now!”
“What’s this?” She asked with a frown.
“It’s a mate necklace given to me by my first mates. That’s one of them outside fighting with Gerald.”
Her eyes rounded. “How did you know his name?”
“That’s not important now. You have to destroy this necklace quickly before Dominic kills Gerald.”
“This is confusing,” she mumbled.
I grabbed her shoulders and shook her to get her attention.
“Focus, Freya! Focus! We need to destroy the necklace!”
She took it from me and stared at it. We could hear the two male wolves outside still fighting with each other but we ignored them.
“I don’t even have a cauldron or the right potion to destroy this kind of thing,” she said. “We need something strong enough to melt it.”
“Where can we get it?” I asked desperately. Fear was making my voice shake.
“There is another seer in the Highlands. You have to take it to her. She has everything you need to destroy this thing.”
“The Highlands?”
Gerald howled in pain. We looked towards the front door at the same time knowing that Domini would burst through it any second now.
“You have to leave now if you want to survive this night,” said Freya while her eyes were still pinned on the door.
“Let’s go together. If you stay here, Dominic will kill you.”
She looked me dead in the eyes and said, “He already did.”
Chills ran down my body. “What?”
“Go to the Highlands, Jade. That’s where this all ends.”
As I continued to look into her eyes, I could swear that she recognized me. This was the real Freya, the one I met on my way to the east in the other life who tried to help me destroy the necklace.
“Freya, what is this place?”
“Go now!”
She wore the necklace on my neck and pushed me towards the back of her house.
“Follow the back door,” she said. “If you’re fast enough, you’ll get to the Highlands before the brothers find you again. I’ll distract Dominic. Go!”
Just then, we heard a loud crash. It was the front door landing on the ground after being kicked in by Dominic. I hurried out of the house through the back door.
I was only a short distance away from the house when I heard Freya screaming. Adrenaline pumped through my veins and I ran faster.
“I have to get to the Highlands! I have to get to the Highlands!”
I kept chanting those words over and over again as I ran for my dear life.