Chapter 8

Initially, upon her entry into the maze, Suki’s sight was consumed by complete darkness. Before her werewolf powers were able to adjust her sight and allow her to see in the dark, a singular rose began to glow a lilac hue.

Amazed, she slowly paced over to the flower to admire its beauty, and when she was close enough, even more flowers quickly followed to show off their glow too.

Suki gently tapped on one of the rose petals to see if it would stop glowing, but instead, she witnessed that even the pollen glowed as it departed the flower and blew away with the wind.

Following down the path, flowers continued to glow, or even grow right in front of her and branches of bushes and trees would wave at her, welcoming her into the mystery of the maze, just as Erin had described to her.

It was more than just beautiful; it was majestic.

The maze felt larger being inside of it rather than looking at it from the outside. She wondered whether that was due to the witch’s magic or if it was due to the extensive amount of time she had spent trying to get out of there.

Left turn, right turn, left turn, another left turn, walking straight for a while…

Yes, she was definitely lost.

“Damn it,” she huffed. “Maybe if I just retrace my steps—” The snapping of a twig startled her to turn towards where it came from. “Is someone there?”

Only the whistling of the air around her responded.

She frowned. The witch’s magic was creating a beautiful illusion, but the illusion was messing with her natural senses, power and instincts—instincts that were telling her to be careful.

“Lost, love?” A familiar voice echoed around her.

A chill ran down her spine, recognising the voice instantly. Suki turned to the sound, but no one was there. She kept searching her surroundings but couldn’t see him. It was like he was part of the shadows.

Where are you? She sternly pushed down the bond, realising seconds later that they had no chance of hearing each other with the telepathy blocking spell in place, especially with an incomplete bond—it made the chances of them being able to break through that spell even harder. “Where are you?” she repeated aloud.

“I’m close enough to smell that delectable scent of yours.”

“Stop playing games and show yourself,” she huffed in annoyance. “You’re always taunting and teasing me like I’m some kind of—” she gasped as a sudden presence appeared behind her.

Gently tracing his fingers along her waist. “Like you’re what, love?” Brendan hummed.

Suki’s breathing hitched and shuddered until her voice was all but a whisper, “Like I’m some kind of prey.”

Brendan brushed his mouth against her ear and chuckled lightly, “Maybe I am preying on you, that’s what’s expected of me as a ‘filthy rogue’, is it not?”

She swallowed thickly, knowing he was quoting Reynard.

“Does it disgust you that you’ve bonded with a Rogue?” He gripped her waist. “Do you hate it, or do you enjoy that essence of chaos in your life?” His whispering sent a fizzle through her nerves. “Does it secretly excite you knowing that there is a rebellious side of you, one that craves me?”

She crooned as Brendan dragged his hand across her stomach and lowered towards her centre, stopping and teasing her pubic area, right above her clit.

He growled, “Something tells me it’s the latter.”

“Please… Not here. We’ll get caught.”

“Isn’t that the fun of it, love?” He cooed in her ear, “The risk of being caught while I make you feel so, so good.” Over Suki’s dress, Brendan softly traced his finger around her clit, knowing he was touching the right spot as Suki moaned and leaned into him for more.

Biting down on her lip, “Please,” she said, “I… I can’t think straight.”

She truly couldn’t, after her moment with Rey earlier in the day, and the present moment with Brendan, Suki realised how heated she truly was. Still being new to gaining her wolf, she was still adjusting to the heightened senses, emotions and desires. There were only so many times she could fight her urges, and she feared she was running short of saying no to what her body craved.

To her surprise, Brendan didn’t taunt her more; instead, he released his hold and stepped back. “Go ahead,” he said monotonously, “find your way out of here.”

Suki turned around to face him. Her brows lowered in confusion.

“I’ll give you 20 minutes to find your way to the exit.”

“And if I don’t find it in 20 minutes?”

Brendan stepped closer, standing over her and scanning her face slowly, stopping at her lips briefly before meeting her eyes once more, “I’ll help you get out.”

A brow jerked up, “Is that all? You’re not going to try anything?”

He held her chin as a smug smile grew on his face, “Would you like me to try something? Hunt you down, pin you to the ground and claim what’s rightfully mine. Is that what you mean?”

She inhaled sharply, lost for words.

“Contrary to what everyone else thinks, I’m not some rabid animal who can’t control themself. If you don’t want me to touch you, I won’t.”

“I didn’t mean it like that—” She cleared her throat before she went on a tangent, “I just mean, if you know how to get out of here, why not help me now?”

He smirked, “Now where’s the fun in that?”

“Fine, whatever.” She rolled her eyes and continued down the path she had originally taken.

“I’ll give you a hint,” he called out to her, “nature isn’t your friend here.”

Suki frowned, narrowing her eyes at the path she was taking as she distanced herself further from Brendan.

✧ ✧ ✧

It felt like hours had passed, but alas, it was only 15 minutes, and Suki was no closer to finding her way out. All she knew for certain was that Erin would be coming to find her soon. Rey would’ve likely finished his showcase of the upcoming warriors of the pack and was on his way to meet her.

Though she knew she was meeting Rey shortly, she couldn’t help but still feel tingles on her skin where Brendan touched her, oh so gently. That, in combination with how much Rey had fired her up, was driving her insane. Both of them were driving her insane.

Focus. I need to get out of here.

Scanning her surroundings, Suki exhaled in agitation, not knowing what it was she was doing wrong. She had no idea what Brendan was talking about; nature wasn’t even guiding her—

Crap.

The glowing flowers—she was following them, subconsciously thinking that they were lighting her path as she tried to work out how to get out. When, in reality, they were distracting her, leading her deeper into the maze.

“Clever,” she hummed, smiling at the detailed work her friend and other trainee witches put in to make this a challenge.

Suki checked her watch; she had exactly 3 minutes to get out of the maze before Brendan would come after her again. She began to make haste through the maze, ignoring the glowing flowers, allowing her wolf sight to kick in at last as darkness emerged once again.

There were still elements of nature trying to deceive her. The waving branches began to point in the opposite direction to where she was going. Was it a trick? She wasn’t entirely sure, but her gut told her to keep listening to Brendan’s advice, so she moved forward the opposite way.

A glow of pride hit her face as she could begin to hear the outside of the maze once again, and smell the delicious food being served too. This mini adventure had worked up a big appetite for Suki.

Rushing closer to the exit at first, but then Suki came to a sudden stop. The closer she got to the exit, the more she was able to feel the pull of her bond again, and her mind fogged with the thought of him finding her.

The scenario he mentioned to her—hunting her, pinning her down… He was only messing with her, but curiosity lingered in the back of her mind, wondering how far he would really go if he found her again.

She glanced down at her watch again. 30 seconds. Would he be prompt to find her? Maybe he’s already left.

The exit was in her line of sight, but instead, her legs moved without her thinking and went in the opposite direction, following the glowing flowers once again to become lost once more.

Chewing on her lip, she continued down a long and dark pathway of the maze. Slowly approaching a wooden bench against a stone wall covered in stunning, small blue flowers. She felt like a moron doing what she just did, just for the possibility that he might find her again.

How? He was nowhere to be seen. What was she even doing here? What did she want?

Another look at her watch: 10 seconds.

What the hell am I doing?

Five…

Four…

Three…

Two…

…One.