YOU ARE EVERYTHING

ZARA

I ran, as fast as my feet could carry me. I knew I didn't have to run, not too far from the river bank were the hills and mountains, the neutral grounds. There, a werewolf and lycan could pass each other without having to fight or kill each other. Only rogues broke this law because they did not answer to any packs.

However, I was running for an entirely different reason. For the first time in my life, I was not in control. I've always known what I wanted and fought for it but this was different, my heart was involved and Viola was excited in a way I had never experienced.

I was used to her being silent. She barely spoke to me or tried to influence my decisions but this time, she kept begging me to stay back and get closer to the lycan. This was why I had to run. I ignored her displeasure and could tell that she had shrunk back into her usual shell.

It took about four hours to move from the neutral grounds to my pack. With my speed, I was able to reduce it to three but the rapid beating of my heart wasn't because I'd been running.

When I got closer to my pack gate, I decided to stop and collect my emotions together. I began to wonder, did the lycan also feel the mate bond? Earlier, he seemed determined to rip my head off. His extremely long claws told me that much but when he began coming closer to me, his expression had softened and the emotions in his eyes were different.

But being that close to the enemy while thinking of something other than killing him was dangerous. What was I supposed to do now? I had looked forward to meeting my mate for a long time but I had been thoroughly disappointed. Even if he was strong and all, he wasn't an option, an enemy could never be.

Now, I had no choice but to consent to my marriage to Brandon. It was a life I had hoped to escape but in the end, Brandon was a better option than the lycan. Even if I wasn't sure of anything else, I knew Brandon would stand by my side to fight the enemy, something I was convinced the lycan could never give me.

I suddenly had no desire to go through my pack's gate. What was the point? It was better for me to go back to what I loved doing, which was protecting the boundary.

Just as I turned and began going back, more than ten warriors came out from the bushes, Brandon led them and they were all very happy to see me. Relief washed over Brandon's face and before I could ask what had happened, he pulled me closer to his body and enveloped me in an embrace.

However, I felt very much uncomfortable and pulled away from his hold. He smiled, to hide the embarrassment he felt and said, "I'm so happy that you are alive. I was already prepared to go to war with the lycans when I thought they had killed you, but are you okay? You look really pale."

I ignored his question about my well-being as I was more focused on the fact that he thought I was dead and wanted to take the warriors to war.

"Why did you come to the conclusion that I was dead," I asked him.

"Let's all go in through the gate first," he replied, "and I will tell you everything."

He noticed the worry on my face and assured me, "our boundary is not unprotected. There are about six warriors there."

After hearing this, I relaxed and we all went in through the gate. It seemed word had already spread that I had been killed since almost all the werewolves in my pack were gathered in front of my father's house when we arrived.

They seemed surprised to see me as well and my dad was no exception. He tapped me affectionately on the head before taking his seat while Brandon and another beta, took their places besides my father.

I asked Brandon once again to tell me what was going on and he began to explain, "the first three warriors who went to the boundary a few hours ago could not find you and that was surprising because we all know that you never leave the boundary before other warriors show up.

They quickly alerted me and I took a few more warriors and began a search for you. Your scent led me to the boundary river and I found one of your arrows floating atop it, what was I supposed to think?

We all know you will never cross over to the lycan territory because you are wise so the only conclusion we could arrive at was that you had been killed by a lycan. What made it more convincing was that two lycans showed up around that same time and were ready to fight us.

They were outmatched and ended up running away with our arrows embedded in their bodies. We were on our way back to prepare for war to avenge you when we saw you."

My dad asked me what happened and I sighed. How could I possibly tell them about my newfound mate? I couldn't keep quiet though so, I explained how I ended up plunging into the big river with the lycan but I told them all that he was killed by the crocodiles while I fought them when they came for me.

I stayed at the bank of the river and healed and when I felt much better, I passed through the neutral grounds and was on my way back to the boundary when I met Brandon and the rest.

My dad congratulated me, "you are everything, my Zara, and I know that if anyone can survive being attacked by crocodiles, it is you. You look pale though so you are not allowed to work for the rest of the day. Go inside and get enough rest. You can resume your duties, first thing in the morning."

I thanked my dad, said goodbye to everyone, and passed my step mum who had a frown on her face. I knew the news about my death must have made her so excited but I was more than happy to disappoint her.

Once I got into my room, I threw myself on my bed and closed my eyes. I did need the rest, however, there was no moment of rest for me as all I could see was the face of a particularly handsome and sexy lycan.