Kaison let me go, and I stumbled back, nearly tripping over my ripped dress.
Running through the forest wearing an almost skintight dress wasn't the best idea. I had grabbed hold of the bottom and torn a slit nearly reaching my thigh. I had also gotten a couple of splinters from branches tearing into my skin and I absentmindedly put a hand on one of them now. The pain was a nice distraction.
Kaison wasn't looking at me when he said, "Go back to the castle." He growled. I was honestly done with his whole broody demeanor, and was about to argue when he hunched over and began to transform.
I'd never seen it this up close, always confined to windows when I would look down and see members of the pack transforming. But Kaison's was different. I heard bones snapping and new ones forming, hair sprouting out from where there wasn't any hair.
It looked painful and terrifying, and in seconds the huge black wolf I had seen earlier stood before me. I held my breath as he transfered those dark eyes on me, that was Kaison even though I couldn't recognize the rest of him.
I shivered not out of cold, and the ache in my chest grew. I felt hot and cold at the same time and an unspoken need blossomed in my chest.
He gave me one last look and huffed, his expression turning pained for one second before he turned on his heel and ran into the forest.
"Thanks for leaving me out here all alone!" I yelled in the direction he tore of in, when the power of speech returned to me. I touched my chest, where my heart was beating like a maraca. The whole day was strange, and it was a cold bucket of water to the head. I wasn't going back. At least not easily, I didn't doubt that Kaison would definitely keep to his word. He didn't seem like the kind of person to make empty promises.
Except he's also the same person who left me alone in this stinking forest. I could easily make a run for it, I guess he was counting on the fact that I didn't know my way around. Or back to the castle, for that matter of fact.
Walk until I find civilization, that was my plan. Then hit the jerk who left me here. I'd hit him in front of all his snobby pack members who thought I was beneath them. That would show them.
I wasn't sure whether I was getting closer or farther away from the party, but I was certain now that I could hear whispers. Or talking. I wasn't sure and I looked in the direction of where the whispers were coming from and I didn't see anything. Odd.
When I turned back again, there was a figure right in front of me. My heart jumped and despite myself, I squealed and was immediately frightened. I didn't even hear him walk up and now he was right in my face. I stumbled back automatically, my hand clutching my neck nervously.
He was wearing a dark cloak that covered everything but his eyes. His eyes that made me want to crawl out of my body. They were pitch black, almost obsidian, but it wasn't the color that frightened me. It was their emptiness. I instantly knew I wasn't leaving this place alive.
For the first time since that day started, I couldn't feel the thrumming ache that reminded me of Kaison. Whatever this thing was had severed our mate connection. I didn't know whether to be thrilled or terrified.
I couldn't see anything else but that. It was like looking in the face of an actual monster. He breathed on my face and I tried hard not to flinch. I didn't know why I wasn't as scared as I should be.
I wasn't scared of death like I should have been. My head was telling me to run, but my feet were frozen to the floor. Probably because I had known this was coming since Dawn had told me how Kaison's mother died. I wasn't scared of death because I had no one to live for anymore.
I met the figure's eyes again and this time I could see he wasn't really a man, more like a shadow flickering in and out of existence. He looked like smoke and had the intoxicating smell of rotting flesh. But when I met its gaze head on, a flash of confusion ran through those eyes. It was confused by my lack of fear.
I heard a twig snap behind me and I turned around to see what caused it. It was Elion, grumbling about something and pushing off branches with his hands. I almost sobbed in relief and looked back where the monster was standing. The space was empty and all that was left was dead leaves and the lingering smell of ash.
"Stupid splinters." Elion murmured. "I wonder how you humans manage being so vulnerable all the time."
I couldn't stop thinking about what I had just saw. What I had been close to experiencing. That thing wasn't human, neither was it werewolf and it had wanted to kill me. Why me? Why was it that everyone I met seemed to want me eradicated from the face of the earth? It was hard being this unpopular, that was for sure.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Elion's hands gripped my shoulders, almost painfully as if to snap me back into reality. He lowered his head so he was eye level with me and there was mild concern in his expression. "You look deathly pale."
I almost laughed at the comparison. He definitely didn't see it, or maybe I was hallucinating? Stress could sometimes do that. "I'm fine." I shook my head, schooling my expression into one to resemble mild irritation. "Did Kaison ask you to come find me?"
Elion nodded. I could tell he didn't believe me when I said I was fine but he didn't say anything about it again. "He said I shouldn't transform so as not to 'freak you out'". He did quotation marks around the last phrase.
I nodded and began walking, basically sprinting in the direction Elion had come from. I wasn't in a rush for that ghost thing to come back, especially now that I was with Elion. Maybe I was a little scared of dying, after all.
"Hey, wait up!" Elion hurried to catch up to me. "You seem excited."
"Nope. Just trying to get out of this creepy forest as fast as I can." I didn't tell him the real reason because I wasn't sure what I saw actually was real. I hadn't read anything about whatever that was in all the history books the library had to offer.
"As you wish, my lady." Elion said and within a few minutes we were back at the castle, a huge fire roaring in the middle. It seemed like every pack member shoed up for the festivities. There was music and dancing and howling. Even if they weren't exactly thrilled I was their Luna, these wolves sure knew how to party.
The thrumming in my chest was back, but it wasn't as insistent as it was before. That meant Kaison wasn't here.
"Dance with me." Elion nudged my shoulder and before I could speak, he was twirling me around and into the crowd of dancing bodies.
I couldn't help but laugh at the euphoric feeling. It was the first time in days, that I felt I could let go of everything and just be normal. Dancing with a friend.
When my breaths started coming out in spurts, I begged off the dancing to go sit on the side. Elion released me and grabbed another woman from the throng and off they went, the woman giggling with joy.
There was an easy smile on my face as I watched the dancing.
"Congratulations." An icy voice said to my left. I turned, my smile still on my face which easily diminished when I saw it was Clarisse and her sharp green eyes. "Seeing as it's your wedding day, a congratulations is in order."
I consciously put several feet of space between us. She could easily stab me and slip away into the crowd and no one would even notice until I was dead. She was smiling now, but I still didn't trust her. After all she was smiling that day in the library too. "Thanks."
Clarisse smiled even wider in response. She was painfully gorgeous, but she was definitely like one of those pretty poisonous frogs no one knew was poisonous until they got close. I wonder what Kaison saw in her. I mean sure, she's drop dead gorgeous but didn't personality matter these days?
Men.
"I've known Kaison since we were babies." Clarisse started, like she read my mind. "He was a year older than me, he used to protect me. Never let me get into trouble. I hated him for it however."
That sounded like my own relationship with Kaison. Except he wasn't protecting me and it seemed like I only got in trouble when he was around. I tried to focus on the bluish fire in front of us and the people dancing around it.
I didn't want to give Clarisse attention but trust that my ears were peeled awaiting information about the elusive Kaison.
"But I grew to love him. It's easy to love someone who's always there, I guess. This," she gestures to the dancing. "Was supposed to be mine. I was supposed to be his Luna. But you managed to swoop in and take everything, didn't you?"
"I'm sorry, Clarisse." I was sorry, even if I hated her. Lord knew I didn't even want this. I was basically stealing her life. "If I could physically give it you, I would. But Kaison —" won't let me go.
She tilted her head, looking down on me like I was a small child who needed reprimanding. "You must have everyone bending over with that innocent act. Let me give you a piece of advice, Amara. You're not safe here and I pity you if you think Kaison is going to protect you from everything."
She walked away, her dress swishing in her wake. I had a feeling she was a part of the everything. I wasn't a violent person by nature but in that moment all I wanted to do was just kill everyone who threatened me. For once, I wanted not to be seen as a fragile girl who was this close to death. I wanted to be seen as terrifying and I wanted to be feared.