Chapter 25

"Of course, Alpha King. But what about the ring?"




"We will make plans about it later. Gather the Enforcers for a meeting in the evening. They need to know what is going on." His eyes remained closed as he issued these commands.




"I will do as you wish." He inclined his eyes and faced the door.




"Degar?" His tone was low. Too low.




The quiet tone told Degar how badly he was hurt. How terribly he is losing blood. How urgently he needs to start healing.




"Yes, Alpha King?" He answered.




"When you are done with your duties, check on the female. You or Eline can take her around town later, so she can familiarize herself with this place. But stick to the Werewolf Clan and the Cougar Clan." He paused, "Inquire about her illness and meds from her, so you can arrange for getting the new meds she can live on."




"Of course. As you wish."




"Don't forget to send a message to Cronus, Josiah, and all Changelings out there about the resurfacing of the Wolfhunters." Just the thought of it made his tone harden. "They need to be careful." 













After what happened eighteen years ago, the Wolfhunters had gone into hiding. They'd laid so low, it was almost like they went extinct. Until last night.













Long after Degar left, as his blood dripped from the clawing on his body, hate boiled through his veins at the thought of humans and the pain they have caused him. The pain they caused Nalaila.













But even as he sat there with those open wounds both on his body and in his enraged heart, his head was filled with the thoughts of a particular sassy woman, with a sinful body, a smart-ass mouth...and the hand of a thieving tom.




The thought only made him scowl harder.




*********

.Flaora got up from the floor with the fluidity of a cat and stretched languidly, "Are you sure you don't want to be...uhm...intimate?" Her voice was hoarse, her eyes tinged with regret.




Wolfariane tugged his half-hard erection back into his pants, and shook his head, "No, this will do." She'd given him heads, "Now, I need to get some sleep."




Her eyes racked his body hungrily but worried at the same time. "Those wounds are too fetal, they will not heal just by sleeping. And I heard you ran all night last night, it is not an option now." She paused, "Are you sure you don't need me to—"




"I'm sure. Go away." He snapped, the wolf growling through his mouth.




Her eyes widened. He has never snapped at her before. "O-Oh, okay. I'm s-sorry, I d-didn't—"




"No," his eyes closed and he took a deep breath, "No, I apologize for snapping at you, Flaora, it is not your fault, you were only trying to help." He's frustrated and angry at the same time. "Just go away, okay?"




"Okay, Alpha King." She inclined her head, licking her lips again to get every taste of him lingering on her tongue.




After she left, Wolfariane walked into one of the adjourning rooms—the bathroom and took his shower. Later, he stared at the large mirror dominating half of the bathroom walls.




He was angry at himself. Not the wolf, this time around, or even the mountain lion. His eyes scanned the bruises on him through the mirror, the bloody gashes on his cheek. 




All it will take is a good séx and a better sleep, and these bruises will heal before the day after tomorrow. It's not the first time he'd given himself to Nalaila to save her from going more insane, but it is the first time his wolf had clawed at him in rage from the inside when he tried to 'heal' himself through a female.




This time around, the wolf doesn't want just any woman. It wants one woman in particular. It was frustrating, but that isn't all.




What is worse is that the man wants her too. Badly. Hungrily.




He'd put his hands on Flaora, but all he could see is a beautiful blond human with big brown eyes and a tempting smile. 




And even when he'd settled for the blows just to keep his head clear enough and let the healing process begin no matter how slowly it does, all that filled his head was Ismena's achy moans as he'd pushed her up against that wall in her bathroom and devoured her lips.




The remembered scent of her arousal wasped through his nose, messing with his senses, hardening his côck, and had his teeth sharpening hungrily for that sensitive vein of her neck that begs to be licked and bitten.




It only made him angrier at himself than he already is. With so much anger, he was in a black mood as he lay on his bed and closed his eyes to sleep.




He is not taking a human to his bed.

He is not mating with one either.




***********




Alphose was waiting for Ismena when she woke up from the five hours of sleep she'd taken. It was early afternoon.




She walked fuzzily into the kitchen when the sitting room appeared empty, and she heard voices from there. Eline offered her coffee when she lowered herself to a stool beside the kitchen table.




"Yes, please. Thank you." She responded foggily, rubbing her eyes to clear the rest of the sleep away, "Can't believe I slept for that long."




"I can. You were pretty tired. I don't blame you for it at all." Eline commented, stirring some kind of liquid on a stove.




"I don't sleep well because of some persistent aches in my chest these past few days." A reminder that she has less than eight weeks to live, and she's in a strange world without her meds.




"Alphose told me about your bad heart. I'm sorry about that."




The woman's voice rang with sincerity, Ismena found herself nodding her hair, "Thank you."




"It must be shitty living with the knowledge that you will die very soon." She handed her a cup of coffee.




"Oh, it's very shitty alright." Shitty is actually an understatement.




"Speaking of your condition. Can you write down all the meds you need?" Alphose spoke for the first time.




His tone was just as deep as she remembered it to be and just as dangerous, but surprisingly, his doesn't scare her as it did before. Ismena turned towards him at the opposite side of the kitchen, "All my meds?




"Yes, all of them."




What will he use it for? 

Doesn't matter. She shrugged it away from her mind. "Okay, I will do that."




"What do you say I take you around town?" Eline offered with a warm smile. 




"I will love to so much!" Already, she was feeling excited about it. "Can't wait to see all of this place. Naturiah."




Eline snorted out laughter, "If you do nothing but walk around for seven days in a row, you wouldn't be able to see all of Naturiah."




"Really?" Brown eyes widened fascinatingly, "It's that big here?"




A nod from Eline. "We have about thirty-six clans here and two general dwellings."




"Clans? Dwellings? you have lost me." 




Eline smiled at her confusion. "I heard you saw Degar change into his other half, the Leopard?" At Ismena's nod, she continued, "The home for all leopards is their clan—The Leopard Clan, with the strongest Alpha as a leader. Degar is the strongest of his kind and the leader of the leopard clan."




Strong. Powerful. A conqueror. She remembered Wolfariane's words about the man. "I understand now. Although so many things are still unclear."




"Oh, don't worry about it. You will become very familiar with us in no time." She paused, "At least until the Alpha King retrieves his ring, and you leave us."




"I'm really sorry about his ring. You must have heard what happened..." Her cheeks flushed with guilt, "I put you all in danger."




"It's okay, don't sweat it." Eline waved her off, "We can take care of ourselves. Also, the ring will be retrieved, so you needn't worry yourself to death."