"I still don't get it." Hunter said, cocking his head to the side.
Both Jesse and Liam sighed. "Is he always like this?" Jesse asked. Liam shrugged, not really in the position to answer since he didn't even know what Hunter was like.
The three boys, (mostly Liam and Jesse), were discussing how and what to do next. Liam had this huge explanation to give about why the man, Mr. Adams, was after Liam. Apparently, Liam was the heir to a very wealthy family. Unfortunately, the head, Liam's father, and his mother died in a car accident two years ago. Liam was their only child and since he was already 15 at the time, most people assumed him as the rightful heir to the Myrone estate. But Liam couldn't officially take the inheritance until he was 18. So until then, if anyone else can persuade Liam to switch the inheritance to them, then they would get it. Mr. Adams was a good friend of Liam's father so if anything were to happen to Liam, he would get the full inheritance. Jesse explained it very slowly to Hunter, who nodded in confirmation.
Jesse sighed. "Finally." he said. "God, how do people deal with you?"
"I find that offensive, you know?" Hunter muttered back.
"Whatever." Jesse scoffed. Also, because of his mind reading powers, he knew about Hunter being a werewolf and about his and Liam's circumstances. Although, Liam wasn't sure whether he could trust Jesse or not. But, Liam thought, since he had saved his life, he couldn't be all that bad of a guy.
Jesse was very surprised that both Liam and Hunter were welcoming to him. I mean, it had been a huge shock to find out that he had just met a werewolf, but he had a special power on his own, so it wasn't that much of a surprise. Plus, Jesse had gotten used to the saying, 'you never know'.
There was another thing. Liam explained why he first came to this town to find a book that his grandmother left behind at their old home. Jesse agreed to help Liam and Hunter retrieve it on one condition. That later, they would take Jesse with them to find Dezmin and Rou again.
So, later that night, when Liam and Jesse were asleep, Hunter got up and out of bed and sneaked out of the house carefully as to not wake the other two up. When he was at a considerable distance, he pulled out his cell and dialled.
"Hello?" Hunter called softly.
"Hunter? Is that you?" the older man's voice asked.
"Yes, dad. Its me." Hunter replied.
"Oh, god, you're okay?!" his father exclaimed, relieved. But Hunter knew he was faking it.
"I'm not gonna kill him." Hunter said with a grim tone.
"What?" his father asked.
"I'm not," He repeated. "Going to kill Liam. Or anyone else of Dezmin's friends."
There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Why not?" the voice was more demanding and angry than faking any kind of other emotion.
"Because," Hunter replied. "Liam is my mate."
Hunter didn't know where that kind of confidence came from to speak like that to the Alpha of the pack. Hunter's father was a ruthless ruler. He was so much of a dictator than anything else, but he was insanely powerful. Dezmin had gone against his father once and he had gotten beaten to the brink of death. That's why. No one dares to defy the Alpha. Well, no one but the Luna, of course.
"He," The Alpha spoke with so much spite in his voice. "Is your mate?!" Hunter could tell he was keeping his anger back. "That's, well, isn't that wonderful?!"
Hunter was a bit taken aback by his father's statement, but then he realized, Oh. Mother must be in the room.
"Give the phone to Mother." he said to his father who grunted. There were a few shuffling noises and a door slamming shut before a feminine voice spoke into the cell.
"Hunter?"
Hunter smiled. "Hi, mom. Its me."
"Oh, my love!" she said. "Are you alright? You're not hurt are you?"
"I'm fine." he replied. "No need to worry."
"That's good. But what did your father tell you to do?"
As usual, it seemed the Alpha hadn't told her about his plan to kill her son. Hunter sighed. His mother had so much to bear already. He can't let another sad and heavy burden be dropped onto her shoulders. "Nothing." Hunter replied. "But I've got good news."
"Really? What is it?"
"I found my mate." he replied with a half hearted smile.
"Really? What's she like?"
"Um, he is not a she."
"Your mate is a boy?"
"Yeah. He's a good guy though. Don't worry."
"Really? If you say so. Can I know his name?"
"Liam."
"Liam," she pondered. "That's such a peaceful name. Take good care of him, love."
"Yeah. I'll try my best. I love you, mom. Bye."
"I love you too, my Hunter. Bye." With that, they ended the call.
Hunter put his cell away and sighed, looking at the starry, moonless sky. It was the night of the New Moon. So it won't be long now.
Till the night of the Full Moon.
***
"And I'd never have imagined! The Charmer has made friends with the Snow Wolf."
Dezmin immediately went to stand over me protectively while the lady sneered.
"You're that lady from before!" I spoke up.
"Yes." the white haired lady said. "I met a boy with green eyes that turn to gold. So I thought, who else could it be but the Charmer?"
"Aria." Dezmin said quietly. "What're you doing here?"
The lady-Aria- smiled. "Don't be mad. I was just taking a little vacation. Don't worry, the pack nor the Alpha knows that you're here now."
Dezmin cringed. "Then what do you want with us?"
Aria smiled and felt that chill enveloping me again. Suddenly, someone from the back gagged me and I felt myself getting sleepy. The last thing I heard before blacking out was Dezmin's cry.
"Rou!"
*
I opened my eyes to be met with dark blue orbs staring straight into me. I gasped and immediately moves away, pushing the person back. I landed on the wall and muttered a curse. I opened my eyes to see my kidnapper and my eyes widened.
"Dayna?!" I furrowed my eyebrows and rubbed my eyes to make sure that she was real.
She smiled her huge grin at me. "Hi-hi, Rou!"
"Wha-what are you doing here?" I asked, confused out of my mind.
A soft smile came onto her face. "Why, I just wanted to see you again, Rou." she whispered, seductively.
I grabbed her arm that was lining up to my chest and showed her a look of utter disgust. "What," I said to her. "Do you think you're doing?"
"Rou!" she cried. "You're hurting me!" she said gesturing to her hand that I had in my grasp. "Why are you being so mean?"
"Because you have a boyfriend." I replied. "You can't cheat on him with his best friend!"
Her smile faded and she snatched her hand away. "Oh, screw this." she said. "I'm sick and tired of pretending."
"What do you mean?" I asked her.
"That loser of your best friend?" she said, utter hatred in her voice. "I only dated him because my life depended on it." she said, flipping her long brown hair in a cocky manner. "Since you already know about the werewolf thing, I don't have to explain. Put it simply, I'm a werewolf who's part of the Tushara werewolf tribe."
"The Tushara tribe?" I asked, now getting a little but scared. "You mean, you're a werewolf?!"
"Simply put, yes." she replied. "I'm a werewolf from the same pack as Dezmin."
I stepped back. I knew that if I met someone that's part of that pack, they're most likely going to be an enemy. "So why were you calling Jason a loser? What do you mean your life depended on it?!"
She smirked. "Well, I never loved Jason in any way. I was told to spy on a certain someone. When I refused, my life was threatened. And I realized, as the years past, that they best way to get info on that person, was to get close to Jason. The fool thought I actually loved him. He was a good play toy though." she giggled and I held in my urge to slap her. How dare she talk about my friend that way!
I took a deep breath to calm myself. "Who is this person you have to spy on?"
"At first, there was only one." she said. "Later, my orders changed to two people. One of them, is standing in front of me."
My eyes widened. "You were spying on me?"
Another giggle escaped her lips. "The other one was Harry."
"Harry?" I asked. "What's he got to do with this?"
A smirk lined up Dayna's mouth. "Now that, is something you'll have to find out for yourself."
I felt the anger inside of me rise. Harry was in danger. Dayna put Harry in danger. She made a mockery of Jason. How dare she play with his heart like this?!
I got up, and pulled one of her arms up. She yelped in surprise and I threw her against the door of the room. The room shook and I realized that we were still on the train.
I glared at Dayna one more time. "I won't let you hurt my friends. Never."
A grin crept up into her face as she got up and limped towards me. I opened the door beside me and my eyes widened. The door didn't lead to another room. It led straight out! And on a speeding train, this is a hell of a trap I've gotten myself into.
She crept up closer to me to me and grinned. "I'm sorry. I don't think you nor I, can assure that."
She pushed me and suddenly, she had a lot more strength than before. Crap, I forgot that she was a werewolf!
Before I knew it, she had pushed me off of the railing and I felt the wind rush completely through me. Everything had become blurry and I kept on falling and falling, wondering when I'd hit the ground.
"Rou!"
My eyes widened as I felt arms envelope me and shield me as the two of us fell from the speeding train. The ground was rugged, but thankfully we were going through a plain like place meaning neither of us got hurt too much.
As everything quieted down and I heard the sound of the train disappear into the distance, I got up, rubbing my eyes to get rid of the dust and blurs. I slowly pushed off the person's arms as I leaned over and saw who he was.
I smiled and leaned down, slowly stroking Dezmin's hair out of his face and I watched his eyelashes stir.
I inwardly gasped and pulled my hand away. God, I'm acting such a girl.
Shaking my head, I looked towards our surroundings. It was pretty much like a field of grass, but it was like we were in the middle of nowhere. Sighing to myself, I shook Dezmin gently.
"Hey, Dezmin." I called, softly. "Wake up."
He stirred and swatted my hand away. "Go away." he mumbled. "Gimme five more minutes."
I frowned and lightly slapped. "Yo, dude, we're in the middle of nowhere! I don't think that now is the time to be taking a nap!" I whisper yelled to him.
He shot up and growled at me, making me glare at him. After a few minutes of having a staring contest, (more like a glaring contest) we decided to get up and actually start moving.
"Do you have any idea where we are?" I asked Dezmin. "Because I don't seem to be familiar with this area."
He shook his head. "But we ought to keep moving. Staying in one place is never good."
"Why not?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Because our scents will linger in a place depending on how long we've been there." he replied. "Staying in one place is will give our enemy a very good lead on our location. And you know how good wolves' noses are."
I nodded and continued following him as he grabbed a bag discarded on the ground. "Was that yours?" I asked.
"Yeah." he complied. "I was wearing it before I jumped off."
My eyes widened. "Oh," I stuttered. "About that, um,"
"What?" he asked.
"Thank you!" I blurted out.
He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "What for?" he asked.
"Well, you saved my life." i told him, smiling. I was right. He did save my life. This was twice now and i was truly grateful.
Dezmin just smiled. "Don't worry. It was just instinct." He brushed the dust and sand off of the bag and opened it to examine its contents. "Huh?" he made a puzzled face while looking into the bag.
"What's wrong?" I asked, walking over to him.
"There's something in here." he reached in and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. He pulled the bag over his shoulder and unfolded the paper. His eyes wandered over the page and his face turned into one of confusion. "What does it say?" I asked.
He looked at me and handed it to me.
"Those that care.... be wary of the boy who caresses danger and despair. That they love should be felt and seen. That it should be taken. Be wary of that which shall fall upon you, though 'tis what you shall make it the determines both the boy's and your future."
***
"Where were you last night?"
Hunter flinched at Jesse's question.
"What do you mean?" he replied, drinking his milk in a bowl with a spoon.
Jesse stared at Hunter suspiciously as he continued to sip his milk like he had been doing for the past 20 minutes. Jesse sighed. He could read minds but he stopped himself or else he'd go crazy with all of the thoughts. Although, he could tell that something was wrong. Hunter had been in a grim mood ever since last night and Jesse, not having known Hunter before, was quite worried. Liam didn't think much of it. But he did tell Hunter to behave since they were still considerable enemies. Well, both had saved each others lives before, so they both owe each other. At least, that was their logic. Whether it made sense or not, didn't really matter to the two of them.
"When are you going to finish, Hunter?" Liam asked as he was washing the dishes that were used for breakfast.
Hunter huffed and threw his spoon at Liam, which he subsequently caught. Hunter gulped down all his milk and then threw the bowl at Liam, which, he that as well, but making Liam scowl at him.
"Stop throwing them!" Liam yelled like he was chastising a small child.
Hunter huffed once more and walked over to the couch and turned the TV on. Jesse smirked. "Looks like you have a lot to deal with, eh?"
"You don't know the half of it." Liam replied with a grunt, scrubbing the dishes with more force.
"Hey, by the way, I've been meaning to ask you something." Jesse asked, as he leaned on one of his hands rested on the kitchen table.
"Shoot." Liam complied.
"What's this book you want to get back?"
Liam paused. He sighed and finished rinsing the dishes and put them in the rack before drying his hands. He then took a seat in front of Jesse. "I knew that question was coming."
"So are you going to tell me?" Jesse questioned.
"Well, how should I put it? Its somewhat a diary of sorts." he said, running his hands through his hair.
"A diary? Is it important?"
"Very. Its practically a treasure trove. For a selective group of people."
"Group of people as in...?"
"Werewolves." Liam replied in a hushed tone. "Specifically, Jackie Harrison."
"Who's that?" Jesse asked.
Liam sighed and bit his lip. "Hunter's father."
Jesse's eyes widened and his face showed a look of shock. He turned to look towards the wolf boy in the other room, who was laughing and criticising the cartoon animals that came on. "His father?" Jesse whispered so that Hunter couldn't hear. "Why would he want that book?"
"Jackie is sort of eccentric." Liam explained. "As I said before that book has a lot of secrets embedded in it. And they're kept secrets for a reason."
"Do you know what's in that book?"
Liam shook his head. "No. Only my grandmother knew. She was the one who wrote it."
"Where's she now?" Jesse asked.
Liam shrugged. "I don't know. She likes to travel a lot and last I heard from her, a few months ago, she was in the States."
"That's not too far from here, is it?"
"Nope. Its quite close considering the fact that she's travelled to each continent."
"Whoa. How old is this lady?"
"70."
"Wow. She's got spunk."
"Tell me about it."
"Anyway," Jesse continued. "We're heading towards your house today, right?"
Liam nodded. "Yeah. So get ready and be prepared for anything. You'd best be worth bringing along."
"Don't worry." Jesse smirked. "I'll prove my worth to you soon enough."
They both got up and while Jesse went to get ready, Liam dragged Hunter away from the TV and explained everything to him again, making sure that he won't mess up. The plan was to slip into the house through this passage that Liam knew, and then get to the second floor to the library where the book is kept. It was pretty simple but they had to be careful and prepared for anything. And by anything, Liam meant anything.
Hunter kept on glaring at Liam's back when they had headed out, his face kneaded into one of disgust and disappointment. Hunter had been treated like a child by both Jesse and Liam. When Jesse did it, it didn't really bother Hunter, but when Liam did it, it made Hunter feel like Liam was disappointed and that he thought low of him. So naturally, Hunter had his own personal mission to make his mate proud.
His mate.
Now that was a word Hunter will never get used to. He had found out that Liam was his mate when he had brought him to Jesse's house. There, for the two days that Liam had been out, Hunter felt a strange sort of attraction to Liam. His scent suddenly felt intoxicating, his body seemed utterly irresistible and his voice seemed to charm Hunter all the way. He also wanted Liam to pet him and scratch his ears once more like he had when he was in his wolf form. Hunter sighed. This was no time to be thinking of such intimate thoughts when they were on an important mission. Well, another reason he didn't want to think about that kind of things because if he continued, he'd let out an involuntary moan, and well, it would be quite embarrassing.
Hunter was brought back to earth by a glaring Jesse, very close to his face. Thank god it wasn't Liam or else he'd be a walking tomato. Once Hunter regained himself, Liam led the two to the back of the huge mansion. Both Jesse and Hunter were gaping at the architectural beauty of the house. Liam sighed and dragged them along to the garden of exotic flowers at the back. He then squatted down and lifted a veil of vines and pulled out a piece of wood. It revealed a square puzzle type on thing will sliding tiles with flowers on top of them. There were six tiles, and the squares were arranged in the shape of the letter 'I'. Two spaces at the top, two at the bottom and two connecting the ones at the top a d bottom.
"What's that?" Jesse asked, his voice barely a whisper.
"Its a passageway that leads inside. I built it when I was seven." Liam replied.
"How do you get in?" Hunter question.
"There's a code." Liam grazed his fingers over the tiles. "I'm trying to remember what it is." He then silently gasped.
"Do you remember?" both Jesse and Hunter asked.
Liam nodded. He put the two rose tiles in the middle line of the I and put the marigold one in the first space on the top line. The second space belonged to the lotus. The first space on the bottom line, had the daisy in it and the the last remaining one had the lily.
Something from the inside clicked and the space opened, revealing a door. Liam instructed the two behind him to get in and when the did, he followed suit, and shut the door behind him. He turned around, but was bumped into the backs of the two in front of him. Before Liam had any chance to comprehend what was going on, Hunter turned around and shielded his eyes and picked him up and started running in the other direction.
Liam was kicking and pounding against Hunter's chest as he ran but Hunter wasn't budging as he kept Liam buried in his broad chest so that he wouldn't be able to see anything. Hunter's hands were holding Liam's shoulders and from the back of his knees, ignoring every protest that left Liam's mouth and every movement thrashing against his own body. Hunter's face was molded into one of confusion, regret and sadness. He leaned down to Liam's ear and whispered something.
"I'm so sorry."