Collecting the Pieces of the Shandhi Sword (Book 2 of Mark Series)

Chapter 1

There was this area between wakefulness and darkness that I hated more than anything else in the world. It was this place where you thought you were awake, being able to feel the area around you, but you couldn't communicate nor see what was going on. You tried to push yourself towards the area of the living, but it didn't work. Nothing did, and you were stuck in a comatose state that could happen for what could be years but only a matter of days.

"Why isn't she waking?" someone said, their growling letting me gain some consciousness. The person stirred me awake as if I had to be awake to make sure that this person was all right and what not. "It has been two weeks since she was knocked out by something you had given her!"

"That is because we keep her knocked out until we know what she is and if she is the one that we were waiting for. She is an Alpha and very protective of her pack and what not. We don't want her to hurt us, you know," someone else hummed. "We'll let her come through soon, Son."

"Do not call me, son," the other person growled. There was an animal like sound in that growl, wanting me to growl out at this person's distress. "I am not your son." The person spat the name as if it was some disease.

The other person, whom I concluded was male, chuckled darkly. "You have no idea indeed, Son."

And with that, darkness took over again, and I was left in a dreamless sleep with nothing to amuse me but my thoughts.

And boy, did I miss my pack at that moment.

***

Something was different when I started to gain consciousness. The first thing that I noticed was that I was lying on something really cold and very uncomfortable to sleep on. The second thing that I noticed was that I was still in a bit of a daze from whatever was given to me and that I was in Wolf form. And, last but not least, I was not alone.

There was shuffling in front of me, and my ear flickered into that direction. The person chuckled when I grunted and tried to open my eyes, wanting to know who the hell had thought that it was appropriate to kidnap my pack member and me. "You can open your eyes, Alpha," he said. "But, you might want to take it easy right now." His voice was... soothing, even though I wouldn't admit that to anyone. "That was some strong drugs that were given to you."

I growled out a warning, not wanting to show weakness to a man that had probably placed me under like some sort of dog. My ears flickered to the back of my head while I tried to open my eyes. I was not one to show defeat, my Alpha upbringing giving me more respect than that.

The person chuckled again while I opened my eyes. There was a small smile on his face and something that I couldn't decipher in his eyes. It was as if he was glad to see that I was a fighter, knowing that I would be able to lead my pack or something.

I couldn't help but just scoff and roll my eyes before rolling to get my feet underneath me. A growl escaped my lips when he moved closer to the cage, feeling protective of the lack of space that I was given. I had no idea where I was, nor could I contact any of my pack members, which led me to believe that something bad had happened to them.

"Don't try to shift," the male warned, his green eyes filled with pain when he heard my whine of pain. "There is magic in the bars, letting those that have a different form be in that form and not the one they hide in."

I scoffed and concentrated on shifting back into my human form. My whole body and mind were feeling as if it had been split into two, and I couldn't help but let out another whine of pain. This was more painful than the first time I had shifted, but I knew that I had to push on, not only for my sake but for my pack's as well.

And so, after what felt like an hour trying to shift, I was in my human form in a tattered wedding dress. I knew that I was looking a bit crazy, but I didn't care as I leaned on my back and started to kick at the gate in front of me, glad of the strength that I had seemed to keep.

"What are you doing?" the male asked, slightly panicked. He backed up a bit but didn't move out of the room. "You are going to hurt yourself."

I just grunted and gave one more powerful kick for the gate to break and fly towards the door before leaping up and out of the now broken cage. I stalked towards the male, feeling like a predator stalking its prey. My whole body hummed in the pretense of a fight, knowing that I would be able to take him.

"Jaz, calm-"

I didn't let him finish as I grabbed him by the throat and held him above my head. My eyes were shining a lighter green, and I knew that I was more in control of the animal side of me than not. "Where. Is. My. Pack? What. Did. You. Do. To. Me?" I all but growled out.