3: Scent of a mate

Being a veil keeper, she knew the ways of the universe. There was no way that she just found herself into all of this without a reason, be it minor or otherwise. 

There had to be some connection to what she was searching for. The locator and portal couldn't be both wrong.

Crouching down, she held one of the bodies by the neck and checked his upper back.

“No rune symbol”, she murmured before she moved to the next.

She was not going to take any chances, especially when her time was límited.

Gory scenes didn't affect her as she was a shifter herself and had seen worse.

Selly sighed, grateful to the universe that her mate wasn't among the dead.

For what she could deduce of the situation ,there seemed to be a conflict or worse war. To think that she left her kingdom on the verge of one only to end up in another felt surreal.

To go or not to?, she pondered.

 

Well, if I don't find anything of tangible value to my mission then I would just continue searching, she thought and took off in the direction of the many footprints. 

Heading deeper into the forest, she found herself in what looked like a village but without… people?

A moment later, the siren rang again and this time she heard it more loudly, irritating even due to her sensory sensitivity.

Aah!

She heard someone scream as she closed in. 

Plunged into the middle of an all out fight with many fallen bodies of shifters, people who either lay dead or severely injured and at least a couple dozen more fighting, her former faith wavered.

This is not good, she thought.

Seeing how dangerous and fatal the men were going against each other, she changed her mind. 

Turning to where she came from, she only took a few steps when a massive black werewolf stood in front of her, gnarling and baring its fangs at her and her stomach churned.

She had heard of some few and lesser shifters existing beyond Agal but seeing one was different especially during full moons when their urges were enhanced.

The bloodthirst was clear in its dark pupils and for a second she felt scared.

The black werewolf didn't let her mind wander for long, he charged at her and she had no way but to protect herself.

Her hand crumpled on the backpack hard as she ran for her life aiming at the far end of the building where the fight was not as intense aiming to disappear from the scene. 

As she got closer to the grand off-white house where men fought with everything to stop the other group from advancing, her nose picked it.

The scent of her mate.

Simultaneously, she felt her rune burn and she knew for a fact that she was at the right place.

The werewolf who had been pursuing her seemed to have hand-picked her. At this point, it was either him or her.

Her nails swiftly elongated into laser sharp claws and she assumed a defense position. The wolf attacked her with full force, seeing that she was the only one in human form and assumed she was a weaker wolf.

Selly evaded his attacks and when she stopped just two steps past him, she turned to see the wolf had stopped in his tracks too. 

His face was too stunned to process what just happened to him. 

The ground beneath him was instantly painted crimson as his intestines hang loose outside of his body and with a whimper, he fell.

The alpha sparingly spotted her when she fought the wolf with ease, having retained her human form and only shifted from her wrist down.

A werewolf with partial shifting abilities? 

That was strange, he thought. But for now, his priority was to stop the intruders from getting inside where his mate was. 

Anything else could wait. 

At the moment, he couldn't just decide whether the strange young woman was a friend or foe. Who even stood by and watched people killing each other with such calmness? 

The scent is becoming stronger, Selly  thought.

By now her heart was pounding inside her ribcage like a pendulum. She didn't know what to expect as her eyes searched for him. 

She stood at a sideline with eyes that moved like a wiper blade while everybody else was busy clawing one another.

There was a commotion behind her and  she turned to see a man making his way out of the house carrying a baby wrapped in a shawl in his arm.

A woman, seemingly weak, jumped at him, trying to stop him from taking the baby away but with a single forceful push her back collided with a wall, making her hold her stomach only for her hand to turn red with blood.

For some reason, the scent seemed to have intensified. Was the man holding the baby…her mate?

 

“Please, don't take him away.?” The woman pleaded with teary eyes, too wounded to move.

The man smirked. Clearly too amused to see the Luna of the infamous Westhund pack begging. It was a rare sight if not impossible.

That bastard seemed proud of having caused pain to the bleeding woman.

 

Selly’s hand balled into fists and without second thoughts she went after them, the scent growing even stronger with each step.

Whether he was her mate or not, that would be dealt with later. A man hitting a woman, especially one who just gave birth, deserved a lesson.

At that time all she could think of was the safety of the baby. Clearly, he was trying to separate the baby from its mother and she couldn't just be a bystander anymore. Not under her watch.

With clenched jaws, she muttered, “Of all men, I can't believe I am mated to a moron.”

From the looks of it, he must be a rogue werewolf. This was kidnapping, she concluded

The man had not noticed someone watching his exchange with the Luna,  just as he turned to leave,

Punch!

Selly  hit him square on the face so hard that he staggered backwards as the baby slipped from his arms.

“Nooo!”

Her scream alerted the fight-worn alpha and warriors but the opponents seized the opportunity by ganging up on him and beta Grigor, making it hard for them to leave.

They were purposely buying time for their comrade to make an escape. The sooner he left with the baby the better because the fight had taken longer than they had anticipated. They, too, had underestimated Alpha Lewis’ defence.

The Luna’s eyes threatened to get out of their socket. Her fragile baby was going to get badly injured or worse die.

Just in time, before the baby could hit the hard floor, Selly catched him and she froze.

What in the Goddess name was happening?