.27. And now we wait.

*"The funny thing about life is that it's so unpredictable. One day you might be the black sheep of the pack, and another day you can stand so high- everyone would bow down in front of you. The pack is important; it'll always be in the first place no matter how good or bad you are. That's life, you know. And it's hard, I get it, but you still have a chance to turn around and go back. You hold the luxury of choice. You rule over whatever turn your life takes in the first place."* Eden's voice was calm and monotone, the wolf, was way too tired to think or speak. Their little anger outburst took a lot of energy from the beast. Despite that, she kept fighting off her tiredness and stay aware of their surroundings, just in case, if Camilla needed her.

*"I understand that, but I'm not the one who holds all power. Just think of this- I decide what to do and how to do this thing, but the consequences are ones I'll just have to deal with. Are you implying that I'm making the wrong decision? If that's so, you should have said that earlier, I don't think this is the time when we can back out. We have been following his footsteps for a couple of hours, getting back would take forever."* Camilla shivered, wrapping her arms around her torso, attempting to warm herself up. Usually, shifters were pretty immune to cold weather, but not her.

Old legends and myths told that The Blood Warriors were closer to nature, with an unbreakable bond to the Devil. They were like snakes- cold-blooded murders; therefore, most of the pack was located in places with a tropical climate. Camilla was one of the few left in the pack- carrying the gene which would make her children unbeatable. They would be another generation of nature made assassins, even if she mated with someone mixed. The young woman held a lot of pride in the strength of her wolf but never showed it off.

*"I don't trust him and you shouldn't either. If he is trying to harm you in any way, I will tear him apart. Call me psycho, but I do love the stench of dried blood in my fur. Makes me look a little more fashionable, don't you think?"* Eden laughed, making Camilla smile. She always adored the mix of positivity and anger in her beast. She was a whole lot of work, but there were a lot of surprises along their way together.

"What's so funny? Is she talking to you?" Kaiden raised an eyebrow, smirking at Camilla. Since the moment when he explained his plan, both haven't talked much, just walked in silence. The young woman noticed that the packs new Beta wasn't as bad as had seemed to be at first. He was fun and kind, but only whenever Zane wasn't around. The male explained Camilla how he wasn't ready for the amount of responsibility he had to take over so suddenly. All he truly wanted was to enjoy his early teens, but apparently, his family had decided that it won't happen.

"Yeah, she is. Is that a surprise, isn't your wolf talking to you?" Camilla replied with a question on her own.

She knew the answer, but for her own entertainment, she decided to ask it. During her time in the Alphas mansion, the young woman noticed how rarely eyes of other shifters changed colors. A lot of wolves visited them, but even during the time of awful aggression, it was too rare to see how human was trying to calm down their beast. In Camillas eyes, the whole thing seemed weird. Eden spoke to her each day, whenever they were on their own, enjoying discussions about everything and nothing.

"No, he..." Beta scratched the back of his neck and sighed. "My wolf isn't quite talkative and if he is- it takes a lot of energy from him. It's not a bowl of sugar to be a mixed shifter coming from The Blood Warriors. Most of the pack members have issues contacting their wolves or controlling them. Haven't you noticed how rarely they shift? Especially now, after having a new Alpha. All of the pack members have to accept their Alpha, and so does their wolves. Some aren't very fond of Zane and his way of leading. They want to see their Alpha among them, especially during dinner time. Young wolves need to know the example their leader can show. I know dinner sounds stupid, but he has to interact with pack members and make a point in how important one's punctuality can be. But instead of that- he's locked inside his cabinet, dealing with loads of paperwork and fighting off all those groupies trying to get in his bed. And since he rejected you, Zane became even weirder. It's not just locking himself up; it's literally living in the damn cabinet. The guy won't go out of there unless something extraordinary happens, just like today. He fought off the rogues and ran to your house. That's when I understood that you're his mate. All I needed was a couple of details to make sure that he did what I thought he did. Poor dude even argued with your boyfriend before sending everyone around to look for you. Because he, and I quote, had to make sure that you're alright. His behaviour means only one thing- you didn't accept the rejection, did you?" Kaiden slid hands into his jeans pockets and smiled.  He tended to talk like a child, saying whatever was on his mind, without thinking did his words even made any sense.

"Yeah, he did reject me, but who could blame him? Let's be real; he did tell me that if I, by any means, would end up as his mate- he would reject me on the spot. And he did. I don't hate him for his choice, is that's what you're worried for. He's an Alpha, and I am Omega, we don't mix there. Truthfully, I had no idea that I'm supposed to accept his rejection. Kind of said okay and left the club. That's how it all ended. Listen, he's your best friend and leader, it's natural; you're on his side and doing your best for him. But there's no need to act as if you're my friend. Because you're not. I don't understand why you're trying to help me in the first place. I'm your Alpha's rejected mate, a rogue, at that. I don't belong here, and I shouldn't stay around this territory either. How about we change your plan a little and you show me the nearest border? I won't wait for the stupid paperwork and some imaginary power to grant me permission in changing packs. I'll just go rogue, pretty sure I can handle the lifestyle." Camilla grinned the thought. The idea of freedom made her rather happy. No more borders, no more rules or obeying every other asshole around the pack. She and Eden could easily pull off the rogue life; everything seemed way too tempting to stay in the pack. Sooner or later her mate would find his perfect Luna, each time when they'd have any intimacy Camilla would feel it. She, and her wolf, didn't want to live like that. Both of them knew that they deserve much better.

"I can't let you leave if I want to live, sorry Cam." The Beta shrugged his shoulders, looking more unbothered than ever.

"And why is that so? I won't ask about the stupid nickname though, makes me feel like a damn man. I am a woman if you didn't notice that. Guess having breasts doesn't make me look feminine enough." Camilla giggled, thinking how silly she actually sounded. Why was she talking about breasts with Kaiden? This was literally the first time they had spoken like proper people.

"Because Zane is looking for you. He knows your scent if I go back and tell him that I lost you, knowing that you left- he will kill me. If I go back and say to him that I caught it in the last place, I saw you, at least I'll stay alive. Easy as that. When we reach our destination, I'll gather some branches, and you'll sit on them. I'll take those back, closer to your house and drop them off. You'll have to punch me, though." The more Kaiden spoke, the more confused he made Camilla feel. She tried to take in any information the male would give her, but as far he didn't make much sense.

"Okay, just stop there and explain. I know you have this brilliant idea hidden deep inside your mind, but if you speak about some specific details, it doesn't make any sense. So far I know something your best friend keeps on doing, a little part of your plan, some stupid idea about branches I have to sit on, and that I have to punch you. Not complaining about the punch part though, Eden seems rather happy with the idea. Could you put two and two together, given this much information? I don't think so. Now, please, tell me more- as many details as you can. And hold onto the topic about your plan, I don't want to know anything aside from that." Camilla groaned, trying to move faster to walk next to Kaiden. The male smiled and winked at her, pointing his finger at the direction to their right and instantly putting a finger over his mouth. The young woman nodded, catching up on what he was trying to show. Someone was near them, Eden was way too tired to catch on scents or sounds around them.

"Someone's watching us?" Camilla whispered as quiet as she could. She hoped that whoever was near couldn't hear her.

"Not watching, following and about five miles to North, moving really fast. Now, I'll need you to take a deep breath and run. Hold your breath for as long as you can, believe me, or not- a panting werewolf is easy to be heard. Be as quiet as you can be and run. Follow me; we're around ten miles away from our goal. If we get there in time, even Zane won't find us, if he's the one who's following us. And I'm pretty sure that it's him. Ready?" Kaiden answered in the same whisper as Camilla spoke before. Her eyes widened, and mind raced, wondering why the man who rejected her was trying to find her now. Instead of asking millions of new questions, Camilla nodded eagerly.

"Ready, set, go!" Kaiden whisper helped and ran off. Camilla took a deep breath, just as he instructed her to do earlier, and followed his lead.

Even without proper training, it was easy for her to follow in his footsteps. The only difference between them was that Camilla managed to move quieter than Kaiden did. While he was incredibly fast, she managed to run on her tippy toes, as if she was sneaking to the kitchen in the middle of the night. Her senses were on high alert as soon as Eden understood that they were running from someone. Unlike other wolves, she wasn't crazy about her mate's wolf side. In her opinion, the beast was abusive and rather rude- the type of men she hated from the bottom of her heart. Eden knew that if the creature had managed to take over control, he might try to mark them forcefully, a thing she would never forgive. Not him, not herself for letting the beast do something like that to her human side. Eden loved Camilla more than anything; she would gladly spend the rest of her days as an outcast, a rogue, rather than living under someone's manipulative ways.
Eden forced her attention on the strength they needed to run and catch up with Kaiden. None noticed how fast they finally reached the small forest cabin the male mentioned before.
Quickly, he unlocked the door and pushed Camilla in, locking the door closed as soon as they entered it. He lead her to the back of the house and lifted a dusty carpet to reveal a vast hidden door which was locked the same as the cabin. The male found another key and unlocked it, letting Camilla go in first. Kaiden grabbed a string which was attached to the side of the carpet, making Camilla wonder how she didn't notice it before. She watched how male joined her in the enormous hidden hole and pulled on the string as soon as he closed the door. The carpet slid back in its place as if no one had touched it. Kaiden locked the hidden door and sat on the ground, next to Camilla.

"And now we wait." He whispered, letting out a deep breath. Camilla wanted to question him, but the male spoke up first: "I'm getting my ass in a huge mess because of you. Let's stay here for a while and see if he followed us here. This cabin is bewitched or whatever they do- all scent, within two miles radius disappears, and technically no one should know about this place. My aunt was a which, but my mom wouldn't allow her to meet me since she isn't a shifter. This was our special place, a hideout for us to spend some time together. After she died I got the cabin, but I couldn't come back here because of how painful it is. You kind of helped me to get over my fear. Thank you." Kaiden half-smiled at her. Camilla wanted to answer, to say anything at all, but before her mouth opened, the hidden door was ripped out of its place and a very pissed off male stood above them.

"You're trying to fucking take her away from me! Motherfucking traitor, she's MINE!"