Can't Let Go (Published, Preview Only)

Chapter 2

As the sun dipped in the west, Aria morosely slipped on the shirt of her pale blue scrubs. No miracle happened in last seven days and here they all were, getting ready for the battle with Midnight Warriors. The pack of those demons had arrived a day before, and had put up their tents at the edge of the clearing in the forest up north of their establishment, which had been finalized as the battle ground. It would be quick, she was told. Werewolf battles don't linger on for days. They were decided fast, sometimes in a matter of an hour. Only the ones fighting were to be tackled. Others, mainly women, children and elderly from the losing pack, would come to no harm. It was an unsaid understanding. Werewolves didn't plunder the loot of the war like humans. Midnight Warriors, however, didn't have to worry about even that, having come only with their warring soldiers and healers. And they were all beefed up males in their prime ready to eat up the opposition alive.

Though females are kept out of such fights, Aria had opted to assist her father in the provisional medical infirmary he had set up in a tent near the battle ground to attend to the wounded soldiers of their pack on the spot. Or at least treat them enough so they can survive till they could be transported to the main hospital building where they can get proper medical attention.

Aria's father had reluctantly chosen her for two reasons. One, she will not be on the actual battle ground, and two, she was the only available option who had some experience assisting him. With such grave situation presenting itself for the first time, Aria's father had no time to prepare someone else for the job and she already had the basic nursing training under him. In spite of her mother's vehement opposition, Aria had agreed because that was the least she could do for her family and her pack. Shikhar and Rajit both were at the fore-front of this mess, and Dahlia, she was in an absolute state of panic in her delicate state. A wave of hatred once more hit Aria's heart at these bullies who have taken away the calm and peace of their lives. Now they were here to take away their actual lives as well.

Amid the heaviness and dread which were a permanent ingredient in the air of their pack since the last one week, Aria had spent as much time with Rajit as he could spare. And he did spare a lot considering how busy he was; attending council meetings, strategizing war tactics with Alpha Shikhar and also training other pack members in the art of combat. The looming clouds of inevitable had brought them very close emotionally. The thought of losing him had made Aria value him for his true worth. Fate chosen or not, he was her mate now. Not that he had marked her or they'd mated, but her heart had finally accepted him whole heartedly. She prayed to the Fates day and night to keep him safe, cooked him his favorite food in the beta-house where he lived alone. His parents lived in their own house. They regularly talked late into the night, where he smiled and assured her of his safety and that of Alpha Shikhar's. But by now, Aria knew he was just trying to keep her spirits up. Thus her heart stayed restless.

Since the time Midnight Warriors pack had descended, in all its reality, on their territory, she was experiencing restlessness of highest magnitude. Her wolf was going crazy inside her. The kind of crazy everyone says when your fate-chosen mate is somewhere nearby and the mating bond pulls at your wolf. And had she not known better, she would have thought that some demon from the newly arrived Midnight Warriors is whom Fates have chosen as her mate. But thankfully, that was impossible owing to the fact that she had not stepped anywhere near their temporary establishment which was quite a few kilometers away and there was no way, even in their world, for someone's presence to be so strong to be felt from such afar. So she was sure it was the anxiety that was taking its toll on her and her wolf. She had on many occasions been accused of being overly sensitive. And the scenario here was such that there was a good chance that she will lose her mate while her sister will lose the father of her unborn child. Must be fear, it has to be fear, she told herself. There could be no other reason for this acute restlessness in her heart.