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47

47 - Forest Fires

ZARA

         The warm rays of the afternoon sun bathed Luca's house in a golden glow as I lounged on the porch, trying to find solace amidst the chaos that surrounded us. The past few days have been nothing but torment, trying to wrestle with the underlying need to defend.

Someone as kindhearted as Natalia didn't deserve to be treated the way Greyson had been treating her, Alpha or not. So, in an effort to calm my nerves, I decided to take a morning run and somehow found my way to my brother's porch.

Luca, seated across from me, vented his frustration about the increased security measures enforced by Haden.

"It feels more like a prison than a pack," he grumbled.

"We talked about this Luca," I started, not bothering to look in his direction. "With all this chaos from the Rogue King, it's necessary to protect the pack."

"We can protect ourselves," he continued to complain.

"Stop whining like a five-year-old and deal with it," I said.

"Says the one who was whining like a five-year-old just minutes earlier," he exclaimed, "Oh, the big bad Alpha marked my friend! I'm so sad, I'm so mad, I'm sad-mad," he added in a high-pitched voice.

I playfully glared at him. "I sound nothing like that."

Max chimed in with his experience. "I walked up to that mysterious blue line, and nothing happened. I don't get why they're so afraid of it."

"No one's afraid of anything, they just want to make sure it's safe," I told him.

"Yeah, but we shouldn't have to be trapped here too! Why the fuss?"

I sighed and let my eyes venture out to the wolves doing their patrol. "Look, he's just being careful. They haven't encountered anything like this before so they're not taking any chances. Better safe than sorry."

"You know," I heard Ana's voice as she made her way out to the porch, leaning against the doorframe, "there was something just like it in the Sahara Desert. I hadn't seen it but there have been tales about the flaming hot circle buried in the red sands."

"Yeah I heard about that," Luca nodded thoughtfully, "wasn't it some golden line that nobody could cross?"

My curiosity peaked, and I pressed for more information, "They couldn't walk across?"

Ana simply shrugged and her eyes looked out to the wolves as I did before. The mention of a similar occurrence only left me with more questions than answers. All these mystical sitings that Haden's told me about just make everything worse. No one has seen anything like this, and the ones that have only go by half-truths and gossip.

What was the real story? Who could –

My thoughts were interrupted by a sizzle in the air, a feeling I knew all too well. I could feel his presence before my eyes landed on him, the mating bond igniting within me.

This man really was sexier than sin.

My eyes instantly locked on his as he emerged from the trees, wearing only cargo shorts that hung on his hips. My wolf was panting, the lust-driven witch that she was, and I was forced to maintain my composure as he strolled across the open land to where we sat.

What I would give to run my hands down those abs, my wolf groaned.

Behave! I scolded, and you have paws, not hands.