Chapter Eight

When Alexia woke up, she had a pounding headache. She tried to lift her hand to massage her temples, but she found out that she couldn’t.

Her hands were tied at her back together with someone else’s hands, and both of them were propped in a sitting position. Warmth emanated from the other person, and their frame was larger than hers. Her memory was a little foggy.

She wondered about the person she was trapped with. How did they end up in this situation, she thought? Slowly, the previous events started to come back to her. She was in a fight with some people, together with…with…Wolfie Boy, Hayden!

She jabbed him with her elbows until he regained consciousness.

“What happened? Why is everywhere so dark?” he asked groggily.

“Snap out of it, Wolfie Boy,” she whispered furiously, “We’ve been kidnapped by the people who attacked us on the hill. The half moon situation?”

“Oh, yes. I remember now. My hands are tied. With yours. How do we cut loose?”

“Figure it out, genius!” she seethed, “I don’t have any of my weapons with me. Can you do a partial shift? Just until your claws come out?”

“My wolf cannot be released right now. The proximity to you is intoxicating. I wouldn’t be able to stop him from…doing…things to you,” Hayden explained softly.

Alexia blushed, grateful for the darkness.

“Well control him! This is a life-and-death situation, dammit!!” she snarled at him.

Hayden grinned, although she could not see it, “Feisty. I like it.”

Alexia was infuriated, “Damn you, Wolfie Boy! Would you stop flirting for a minute and help us out of these bonds?!”

“Okay, okay…jeez!” He sighed, exasperated.

Hayden managed to keep his wolf under control as he allowed the change of nails to claws. Slowly, he shredded the rope fibres with his claws.

“Ow!” muttered Alexia. He stopped immediately, concerned.

“Did I hurt you? Should I stop?”

“Stop, Alpha Smarty-pants, and we’ll never leave this place!” she snapped.

Quietly, he continued to shred the rope until they snapped and freed their hands. Alexia rubbed her wrists, moaning with relief. They turned around to face each other, although they could barely see each other. A shaft of moonlight streamed in through a tiny window placed in the room they were trapped in.

Hayden almost choked on his air, “Please, for the love of all things good, Alex, don’t make that sound, not if you don’t want me to claim you right here, right now,” he pleaded.

Alexia rolled her eyes, “Keep it in your pants, Alpha,” she said.

Hayden tried to stand up, but he bumped his head on a roof. He stretched out his hand, trying to feel around when one of his hands landed on Alexia’s face, and the other on the bars of the cage they were in.

“Shit!” he cursed and pulled back both hands, “The cage is made of silver. It burnt me.”

Alexia grabbed the burnt hand without thinking, and ran her fingers across it in a soothing manner, “Does it hurt that bad?” she asked softly.

“It doesn’t hurt as much when you’re doing that,” Hayden confessed and moved closer to her.

“W…w…what are you doing?” she asked shakily, shifting back. Hayden drew closer still.

“G…get back”, she fired but her words held no effect.

“No,” replied Hayden, and he drew even closer, “Why aren’t you moving back anymore?”

“C…c…cos the…bras…the bars are silver and they hurt you…your hand, I mean,” she stammered.

Hayden was so close, that she could feel his warm breaths on her face. Her hand dropped down to the space between them, but he grabbed one of her hands and interlocked it with his, and he brought the second hand up to caress her face. He brushed away the few strands that escaped her ponytail, then he yanked out the hair tie, letting her hair loose.

“You look so uptight in a high ponytail. Loosen up,” he breathed, and ran his free hand through her tresses.

Alexia sat there, taking it all, enjoying all the feelings and sensations his voice and soft touches were evoking. It was becoming harder to ignore the pull that she felt towards Hayden.

Suddenly, Alexia was no longer seated on the floor, but on Hayden’s laps as he cradled her, and moved their intertwined hands to her waist, holding her firmly in place. She was given no room for complaint as it was undeniable that she enjoyed the embrace. She gave a small sigh of contentment.

Hayden took in a deep breath, trying to draw in more of her scent.

“Why are you trying so hard to deny whatever this is?” he suddenly asked.

***

All the injured warriors laid in the sickbay, receiving one type of treatment or the other, either from pack doctors or from witches and wizards.

There were several people around two beds, all discussing in frantic tones.

“So, none of you can mindlink him?” Malfoy asked Henry and Ace who were on the sickbeds.

Both of them replied weakly, “Yes, Malfoy. We couldn’t mindlink him.”

“Maybe his mental wall is up,” Henry suggested.

“Or, he’s trapped in a silver cage. Just saying,” Ace said, jumping to the worst possible conclusion.

Arthur folded his arms, “Or…maybe, maybe…he put up his mental wall, because he is having a good time with my daughter,” he rushed out, slightly panicked.

Thaddius and Malfoy rolled their eyes.

“Alexia literally hate – or hates – Hayden’s guts, mainly because he is a werewolf. How the hell are they going to be having a good time so quickly? It has been barely 12 hours, Arthur,” Malfoy analysed drily.

Arthur whipped out a dagger from his boot and held it to Malfoy’s neck, “Watch it, blood sucker. This dagger is made of silver and treated under UV light. I slice your jugular with it, you’ll keep bleeding until you die. You don’t know how I feel right now. My daughter is out there, and I don’t f**king know whether she’s alive or dead. I’m anxious, and I have a wife who’s breaking into tears every five minutes. Don’t bullshit me, Malfoy!” he bellowed.

Malfoy blanched, looking paler than normal. Everyone looked on with apprehension, before Thaddius finally spoke, “Drop the dagger, Arthur. Please.”

With a final glare, Arthur slid the dagger back into its sheath in its boots.

“Everyone is still healing. We cannot allow anybody to go out on a risky mission, so late in the night, especially during the half-moon. We have to wait at least a day
before we can take any action,” Henry stated regretfully.

“Damn it!” Arthur growled and punched a hole through the wall before storming out of the sick bay.

***

“Why are you trying so hard to deny whatever this is?” Hayden asked Alexia as he caressed her hair.

She stiffened at the question and tried to pull away, but Hayden held her tight, “I am not going to let you go. Not until you answer my question”.

“What if I don’t want to answer your question?” she asked.

“Well, I still won’t let you go either way, so…” Hayden trailed off.

“So, I’m stuck with you?”

“Quite literally, Alex”, he said.

Alexia sighed heavily, “I am conflicted. And scared. You’re a werewolf, and I’m a huntress. Generally, I kill your kind, with no remorse. We’re mortal enemies. How would that work? And then there’s this prophecy thing about having to save the Supernaturals. It’s too much for me.”

“First, I am more or less forced to develop romantic and sexual feelings for someone who’s my enemy. I have to save the four clans from elimination by the forces of Darkness or there will be drastic consequences, et cetera, et cetera.”

“And the more I push you away, the more I run away from you, the harder I’m drawn back to you. I simply cannot cope with this. I can’t”, she finished.

Hayden chuckled mirthlessly, “You are not the only conflicted one, Alex. I had someone I was supposed to pick as Luna after my mate died, but then you happened, and I just want you. I feel torn about the other girl, and yeah, the issue of the pack, whether you’d be accepted, and the prophecy too, saying we have to make this work. I am scared, Alex. But what I know I want right now, is for you to assure me that we’ll do this together.”

“Acknowledge me as your mate. Accept the mate bond and let us begin this journey together. Please,” Hayden pleaded.

Alexia sighed yet again, and peeled herself away from Hayden. Then she took both of his hands in hers and stared into his eyes, “I, Alexia Luther, accept that I am the second-chance mate of Alpha Hayden Lockwood, and I accept the mate bond,” she said softly.

A shiver of electric sensations travelled from their joined hands up and down her spine and throughout her whole body. She could feel everything he felt at that moment, attraction, fear, confusion, anxiety, worry and determination.

When the sensation died out, she tried to snatch her hands away, but he held them tight. He stared into her eyes, showing her his unguarded feelings.

“Did you feel that, Alex? That was us,” he said tenderly.

Both of them jumped slightly when they heard voices just outside the room they were imprisoned in.