Forever Entranced ~Book Two Of The Soul Bound Series

Chapter Thirteen ~ Reap What You Sow

"The one and only," He paused, holding up a finger, "Except they don't sparkle like on mortal television, aren't brooding and mysterious and they absolutely do not look like some pristinely beautiful gods. Also," He made a really disgusted face, "They really could care less about romance."

I frowned, "Well that's disappointing."

Illius looked back at me, a teasing smirk on his face, "What, you mean to tell me that you would really trade me for a rotting corpse that doesn't even have a heartbeat if they did happen to be brooding, incredibly handsome, and deeply into some dark romance?" West cast him an angry glare and I blushed. Illius turned around to face me and continued walking backwards, he put a hand over his heart and tried to look deeply wounded, "Now that hurts."  

"Turn around and walk the right way before you run into something," West growled, glancing at his brother in annoyance.

Illius' face fell and he wacked West on the arm as he spun around, "Why are you always such a fun killer?" The street of dirt turned into steps of stone and my eyes fled up, standing in front of us was a giant, dark grey, stone building. Hanging from the highest wall where it arched up into the final rooftop, draped a light blue banner with a huge paw print and claw marks running across it in black.

Two more guards stood at the door and they swung it open as we approached, nodding respectfully to their alpha who nodded back in acknowledgment. The packed guided us into a grand hall. Pillars stood on the corners, covered in claw marks. The walls were made of the same dark, grey stone as the outside of the building and the floor resembled it, only polished. The floor of the hall dipped down in a circle of stairs in the center of the room, leading to a lower fourth of a floor where a paw print resembling the one on the banner outside with the scratches dashing through the middle, sat painted. Across the room, allowing a flood of colorful light to stream down and into the grand hall were windows of stained glass that depicted on one side an army of vicious, snarling wolves that dashed towards the monsters on the other side. They had sharp canines, with claws for fingernails and pale, pasty skin. Most were bald, their eyes sunken in as they seemed to shriek at the wolves, charging towards them. Below the stained glass painting sat a circular stone table with a drapery of red fabric running the length of it and nine wooden seats positioned around it. 

The group of wolves moved out from around us as the door to the grand hall closed with a bang that echoed throughout the mostly empty room. They moved before us and the alpha looked back, making eye contact with Killian before they branched off through the doors on either side of the grand hall. I frowned, "Where are they going?"

"To change," Killian explained and when he saw that I still had a confused look on my face, he rolled his eyes and adjusted his black cloak, "They don't come out of wolf form completely clothed Ava! Think about it!" He exclaimed and my mouth formed into an 'o', my cheeks beginning to burn with heat, "Now unless you'd like to see a bunch of nude werewolves standing in front of you, it's best they change in separate rooms."

Illius let out a laugh he had been holding in and stepped away from me as I shot him an embarrassed glare, "I'm sorry," He chuckled, not at all looking sorry, "Your face was just too priceless."

West shook his head displeasingly and leaned against one of the pillars, his eyes falling on me, "It's nothing to be embarrassed about," He gave me a comforting smile.

It took several minutes before one of the doors on the side opened and a man wearing a fur-lined coat with matching boots and brown pants stepped out. He strode towards us, his hazel eyes landing on me and his lips curling into a fond smile as he extended his hand out towards me. I warily took it, "I am Nigel Oren, alpha of the Artic Warriors pack and it is my absolutely delighted pleasure to make your acquaintance, Soul Bound." He raised my hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on the back of it, his lips lingering on my skin for a moment while his hazel eyes held me in place. He had a growth of stubble that brushed against my skin as he softly released my hand and hair the color of hazelnut. He was ruggedly handsome in a rough sort of way, but I still found my eyes drawing towards Illius who was looking at Nigel like he wanted to rip him to pieces. Nigel reached out, picking up a strand of my long hair that he allowed to run smoothly over his fingers, "Lovely hair," He complimented, his voice holding a northern accent, "Have you ever thought about cutting it?"