/ don't put me in the basement / when I want the penthouse of your heart /
EROS
The second my phone made that loud annoying noise, I knew Xyrra had texted me. I purposely changed her ringtone so I could hear it even when I was on the pack run. 'I need to go back,' I told Young Seb through the mind link.
Seb's wolf turned to me and shook its head. 'Again?' He had been like that for the last couple of hours and, to be honest, I couldn't really blame him. If we had been on a patrol and he kept shifting back to his human form just to check his phone every now and then, I would be pretty annoyed at him too.
'Shut up,' I replied then quickly ran back to where I had placed my phone along with my clothes. I shifted back to human form once I was close enough. Sure enough, it was a text from Xyrra.
'I did but I'm fine. Er, do you remember that key with G.A. engraved on its stem?'
I growled in annoyance. How could she reply to me this easily? How could she even think of that stupid key when she was going through so much danger here? I speedily typed my reply and hit the send button. 'You nearly drove me crazy. And yeah, I remember. What's up?'
More than remember, without even checking my pants which lay on the ground, I knew the key was there. I sorta touched it when I was pulling my phone out of the pocket of my jeans. I continued to stare at my screen, waiting for her reply. Just like me, she probably was staring at her phone screen too. Her reply came soon after.
'I am sorry. The key is not in the drawer. It's missing. Do you know where it is?'
I stared at Xyrra's text and fought the urge to call her and explain to her to a great length how crazy she had made me feel. I couldn't even focus this whole day when she hadn't replied to any of my texts. I nearly had gotten beat up by Evan. Evan out of all people, for god's sake!
Letting out a deep breath, I tried to calm myself down. I always knew she would go to the East region and I knew she would bring someone with her in order to not break her promise to me. And I could guess who she would bring. It was a toss between the Russian Warlord Beta and the Russian Warlord Beta's cousin. Depending on which one was easier to be persuaded. My wager would be on Russian Warlord Beta's cousin. Alpha Ryker was obviously out of the question considering he would never condone this kind of behavior. If any of those Easterners got angry, they could bring trouble to the North. There was no way Ryker Cromwell as an Alpha would let that happen, he would not risk it. He would never risk his pack.
I tossed my phone on top of the pile of clothes and shifted back. I didn't even bother replying to her because I was enraged and I knew if I typed my response now, I would be telling her about all kinds of things that I might regret later. No, right now, I needed to get some air. I needed to run freely without thinking about Xyrra or any of this.
'Just let me out,' said Ares, and I did. I shifted into a wolf again and let my mind drift off along with wherever Ares decided to take me.
I could hear Young Seb calling me in the back of my mind but I blocked him out, not wanting to talk to anyone right now. My mind was filled with chaotic thoughts. A part of me was calling myself a coward for not being brave enough to admit to Xyrra that I'd stolen her mother's key. Another part of me argued that I was doing a good thing by stealing that key and getting it far away from her because I was just protecting her from the magical things. Then another part vouched for that previous one, saying that if I told Xy, she would feel betrayed. I let my thoughts battle with one another.
About half an hour later, I came forward and Ares let me. I shifted back to human form and picked up my clothes off the ground. I was putting on my shirt when I heard Young Seb approaching. Judging from his grunt and sigh, I could tell that he was pissed at me. We were supposed to do a patrol together and yet I had kept on coming back to check my phone every now and then, and then I had abandoned him altogether. I had muted him and had not given him a chance to speak.
Seb's clothes were next to mine and he put them on quietly. He didn't even bother sparing a look at me.
I took a deep breath and breathed out, "I'm sorry." The last thing I wanted was to fight with Seb. He was one of a few good friends that I had here. He only glanced briefly at me before looking away. I knew I had to try harder. "Look, Seb, I really am. It's just I've been worrying sick about Xyrra."
Two seconds passed before Seb finally responded, "Well, that explains."
I frowned. "Explain what?"
Young Seb rolled his eyes and at last, he truly looked at me when he spoke. "Explains what happened to you this whole day. You seem agitated and you can't focus at all. Look at the mirror, man, you're lucky your face doesn't look like crap when you got beaten up. If Griffin wasn't there to stop Evan, I was pretty sure you'd be beaten to a pulp by now." He shook his head and leaned against the tree. He had that look her always had to tell me that he was ready to hear my rant. "So what happens to Xyrra?"
I could tell that Young Seb was actually curious and tried my best not to smile. "Do you actually want to listen or are you just being my therapist and giving me space to vent out?"
Again, that earned another eye roll from Seb. "Both but do it quickly before the next pair comes."
"In short, Xyrra went to the East in order to find this witch who apparently knows something about her past or what happened to her mum." Seb was about to open his mouth to comment when I quickly added, "And I stole her mum's key."
Young Seb gave me a pointed look. "That is it or do you want to add more?"
"Nope." I shrugged. "That's it, mate. Go ahead with the lecture."
"Okay." Young Seb dramatically cracked his knuckles and this time, I was the one rolling my eyes at him. "Now I have questions for you. Why didn't you accompany her to the East region?"
The thirty minutes walk really did help calm my mood. It truly did. I was back in a semi-okay mood. But right now, having my dearest friend ask me the stupidest, most ridiculous question ever, I wanted to snap at him. "Are you crazy?" I shouted at him but my friend did not even flinch. It seemed that he had anticipated that I would be angry. "Do you not hear what Nik told us last time?" Nikolaos, known as Nik, was our mid-rank warrior, and one of the few people who had actually been to the East region. "Those witches are crazy and not just them, those elves, or faes, or whatever, are a bunch of people who should be put in a loony bin. Well, creatures. Not people. Do you not remember what they did to Daphne, Leon's sister? We have our treaty and it's there for a reason, Seb!"
"I know and I'm not suggesting that you should run along with her to the East but I was just asking why you didn't do it, that's all. Don't get all pissy on me." Young Seb crossed his arms in front of his chest but he was not angry at me. If anything, he looked amused.
Fuck! I was the dancing monkey right now.
I brushed off a lock of my hair that fell on my forehead and raked my fingers through my hair. I closed my eyes for a brief second before I turned to Seb and looked him in the eye. "Why do you think I would?" When he did not respond, I asked again, "What makes you think that I would join her?"
Young Seb shrugged one shoulder. "Because you love her."
"Love doesn't exactly make people go and do crazy things." I laughed harshly. Young Seb was clearly too young to understand this. He was still too naive that he actually believed that love could make people do the impossible. "Maybe sometimes, but not when it would risk a lot. Not when I could risk my whole family here, including you. I won't put anyone here in danger just for love."
Even though I had told Xyrra in one of my text messages that if she was in danger, I would cross the border and rescue her, I was hoping that the thought of me breaching the treaty would be enough to stop her from going there. I loved Xyrra but I was not crazy enough to risk everyone here, I would not put any Southerners in danger.
"Hmm," was all his response.
Which got me curious. "Hmm?" I asked, hoping he would spill the beans already.
"Nothing," he finally said. "Next question then. Why did you steal Xy's mum's key? Is it for yourself or for her sake?"
"For her," I answered without needing to think twice. "Remember those stories I told you before, Seb?"
"Which story? You talked a lot."
I ignored the sarcasm dripping in his voice and continued, "The story about Gaia and Thanos."
This time, Young Seb blinked. "Don't tell me you actually believe what Thanos said!" He gasped in shock. His jaw was hanging open as he shook his head. "That's crazy talk, Er. Don't believe a word of a man who is insane enough to torture his own wolf."
'He does have a point,' said Ares, my wolf, warning me.
"He is not crazy, Seb, he is just —" I took a pause to find the right word to describe Xyrra's father and crazy was definitely not the right word. "Warped, he is just twisted but he is not insane. He knows things about his wife and about the Easterners more than any of us."
Young Seb heaved a small sigh. "Okay, let's just say that he is not as crazy as we think and that he's actually right. So what?"
I wanted to correct him by telling him that Thanos, or what I usually called by his fake name Rob, was not crazy but in the end, I decided against it and simply continued with what I had been wanting to say. "So that book does exist." I took a sharp breath and I could swear the wind blew a bit stronger when I said, "The Book of The Damned. It does exist. And according to Thanos, Gaia's key is the key to unleash its power."
"Bloody hell." Young Seb shook his head and looked at me as if I grew a horn in the middle of my forehead or that I had gone mental. "You actually believe that Gaia Ashcroft is not a human. That she is a sorceress."
"She is." Then I recalled what Thanos had once drunkenly said to me. "One of the strongest too."
Young Seb walked over towards me and then put his hand on my shoulder. "Oh, I wish you didn't say that, my child."
"My what—" Before I knew it, something hit the side of my head and knocked me out cold.
And everything was dark.
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Dundundundun~ well, Dear Readers, I do hope you're entertained! ;) any thoughts on what was actually happening?