7.

~Xyana~

"You're winning," Oona says grumpily.

I wasn't so eager to play chess with a pup her age, but her Nanny reassured me that Oona always plays and is good.

"She's good at the game," Declan says from the door.

"She truly is," I reply to him.

I may be winning the game, but Oona isn't making it easy for me either. He walks into Oona's game room and takes a seat, all smiles.

"I've been meaning to spend quality time with you, Pretty. But the pack is preparing for the annual mating ceremony which happens yearly for us. So, we're working harder on getting more warrior recruits to toughen security." He explains.

"An annual mating ceremony? When will that be?"

"You would be surprised, because it's still a few months away. About three months and a couple of days."

"And the warriors are already taking their training seriously?" I ask him.

"Yeah. Can't remember that stuff they say about powerful preparation." He winks at me as Oona packs up the chess board.

She walks past me with the board and slipped a handmade tiny book with a few pages into my right palm. "You can read it now." She says, "Bones won't tell on me."

I smile at her and look at the piece of paper. The cover has a gymnast with long hair. It has a title written in capital letters; "HOW TO GET MY SWEET CHUBBY CHEEKS XYANA TO CONVINCE MY DAD TO BUILD A GYMNASIUM FOR THE PACK."

I grin at the carefully written title, ignoring Declan's warning growl as he turns to me. "She's going to make you do stuff you would never be caught doing. Don't let her do that to you."

"Does she do that to you?"

He chuckles and nods, "that one," he points to Oona who is now pushing the chess board into the game storage shelf. "She has a specialty in bringing men to their knees. I would avoid her if I were you."

"Yeah, if she could do that to Bones, that only means I'll be so easy for her."

"Now you get it." He smiles triumphantly.

Opening the book, my heart grows warmer by the drawings on each page, with an explanation of the benefits of having a gymnasium in the pack written beside each drawing.

Smirking, Oona walks over and punches Declan on the arm. "I wasn't planning to eat your wife, Bones. We were just playing chess."

"I can see that."

"I know you won't leave. So, I'll just leave you adults to do your thing. Do not mess up my game room please." Oona warns.

"We won't," I assure her.

She leaves the room. My eyes were still glued on Oona's tiny book when I felt Declan beside me. "Do I get to see Oona's note too?"

I shake my head giggling. "It's meant for just me."

"That hurts" He scowls, rubbing his hand over his face, while trying to see the contents of the book I'm holding.

"Your eyes and smile are perfect." Declan suddenly says. "Damn, it's going to be a tough competition between my brothers and I over you." He sighs.

"Of course not." I rushed in.

"You don't plan on making us go against each other?"

His question surprised me. I stare at him in confusion, "I don't even have the power to do that."

"Except you do." He replies, "We're grown men, but believe me, Pretty, we'll do whatever you want without questions. None of us want to lose you." He shocks me with the revelation.

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. Then I shake my head, "I have such power over you and your brothers?" I find myself asking him as my doubtful mind overflows.

"You do." He nods.

Stretching out his arm, he traces his fingers on mine in a gentle rhythmic pattern. "I would never come in between you and your brothers," I swear to him.

Our gaze meets, and his smile is so beautiful that I feel fulfilled that I can make him smile so sweet. My crazy mind got back to reality when I realized he'd snapped the little book Oona gave me.

"Bones, that's mine," I called after him as he rushed off to an extreme part of the room, pausing briefly to read the contents of the book.

I'm on him in a minute, pulling and tugging his arms to get the book from him. Our laughter resounds within the walls of the room.

When he finally surrenders and turns to hand the book back to me, our gaze meets, with our lips just a few inches away from each other.

"Back away from her, Declan." Dion's voice distracts us.

Declan's arm goes around my waist, but he moves his lips away from mine. "Hello, Diony." He calls his brother.

"What do you think you're doing?" Dion shots at him.

"Spending time with my mate," Declan answers casually.

"What is wrong with you?" I hear Clifton ask from behind Dion.

'When did he get here?'

When I turn to look at him, he's glaring at me already. That means his question is directed at me.

I hiss and tip my face at him, querying him. "Do you have a problem with me?"

"Yes!" He snaps. "Are you Wolfless?"

The room falls into complete silence. Declan stares at Clifton, his hand becoming a bit tighter on my waist with rage pouring off his body.

"You fucker!" Dion yells at Clifton. "Her wolf is right there. All we have to do is prove ourselves worthy of her for crying out loud. Why do you keep messing things up? If you keep doing this, she's going to reject us. Can't you stop for a moment and think? If you don't want her, I do! I want her like the fuckin air I breathe."

"I'm not Wolfless," I stated, cutting Dion off and correcting Clifton's upstart notion.

Clifton's gaze moves from Dion to me; "then I want to feel your fucking Wolf." He says to me.

Juno snorts and says from inside my head, 'You will never feel me, you bloody Abomination of a man.'

Clifton freezes and stares at me wide-eyed. "What did you just say to me?" He asks. "What did you just call me?" He turns to his brothers, simultaneously. "Did you hear that?"

"What?" Dion asked.

"You didn't hear her," Clif says more to himself, shaking his head. "Did you hear what she called me, Declan?"

"Xyana hasn't called you anything since you got here." Declan snaps.

"No, no, no. She called me a fuckin Abomination of a man!"

'How did he hear Juno? None of us can hear each other's Wolf. It's not possible, it's against nature's dynamic. How could he do that?'

He's raging at this point. So I slip away from Declan's hold and start hurriedly for the door. But Clifton is faster. He grabs me from behind, flips me over his shoulder, and starts to march out of the room.

One moment, we're in the hallway heading to 'goddess knows where' with Dion and Declan rushing behind us to stop Clifton.

The next minute, we vanish and appear in an unfamiliar room. My head is foggy, my eyes are spinning, and confusion is almost ruining my mind.

'What just happened? Is my mind playing tricks on me?'

Clifton drops me on a bed in an unfamiliar room, flips the door bolts and the windows shut. Then he turns to me with an evil smirk on his lips.

"I'm going to show you what an 'Abomination' can do to you."