Chapter 4: The Wrong Girl

The door opened.

It didn't really open slowly but it opened carefully.

It opened inward like the person didn't have patience for locks, secrets, or manners.

Immediately the door opened, cold air entered into the room. 

Raya turned, her heart beating so fast. She wasn't on footwear, and that made it seem like her feet was frozen to the floor. One moment she wanted to say a word but the next she just kept quiet. Confusion was all over the room for a second.

The man who stood by the door wasn’t Drail.

It was a guard. One of  the men that moved everywhere with Drail.

His eyes opened so wide the moment he looked into the room where he had entered.

The fire.

The half-naked Luna that was standing in between two identical Alphas flanking her like predators.

He opened his mouth.

Jax moved first and he did it as fast as he could.

It happened so fast that Raya couldn't even scream. Within a couple of seconds, the guard was standing. The next, he was on the floor, his body hitting the carpet with a sharp sound as if a bone got cracked. Jax’s hand was around his throat, he twisted at an angle that made Raya’s very scared.

There was a crack.

Then the whole room went silent.

Raya then pressed a hand over her mouth.

Derek didn’t look like he was shocked. He looked furious as if he wanted to even do more.

“Drail must have sent him here,” Derek said.“He’s testing how close he can get with all this situation.”

Jax stood up, cleaning his hand on the dead man’s jacket like it was a normal thing that he used to do. Like life was that cheap.

“He already knows that she’s here,” Jax said. “And he knows it’s her. Not the second one.”

Raya’s head spun.

The second one.

“My twin,” she whispered.

She couldn't even say the words very well. It was as if she would cause more trouble if she said it out loud.

Jax turned to face her, his eyes was cutting deep into her eyes. “Yes, cara. Your twin.”

Derek then moved closer to her. He moved so close that his presence pressed into her skin, into her thoughts. She could feel him everywhere. 

“She looks just like you,” Derek said.

Raya nodded her head. “No. That doesn’t make any sense to me. I would know if that was the case and I would definitely feel her.”

Jax laughed just once and he stopped. No humor in it at all. 

“You didn’t,” he said. “It’s because she was hidden and broken down. She was even fed with all kinds of lies.”

Raya didn't know what to respond with again.

Drail didn’t just betray or reject her.

He also replaced her.

“He rejected me… because he thought I was dead.”

“Yes,” Derek said. “And because the Council already told him that the ‘TRUE’ Tyndall girl was already chosen.”

Raya looked at both of them and asked. “Chosen for what?”

None of them answered immediately. They looked at eachother then they turned to her again.

That scared her even more than the dead body that was still on the floor.

Finally, Jax spoke.

“War.”

The word got to her. “War?” She said.

Raya moved back until her legs hit the bed that was at her back. She sat on the bed gently and with her hands shaking.

“So, you mean that my sister is with him,” she said.

“Yes,” Derek said.

“And he wants her,” Raya whispered. 

“But he still needs me too.”

“Yes.”

Jax walked to meet her where she was. He stood in front of her and said as he lowered his voice. “He needs your blood to wake her power up. And once that happens, once she breaks… once she’s empty…”

Raya closed her eyes tight. She couldn't even imagine it.

“She’ll be useless.”

Jax nodded.

“That is why you are not leaving this room tonight.”

Raya laughed. It came out the wrong way. Almost hysterical.

“You just killed a man in my presence,” she said. “And you even think a locked door will stop Drail?”

Derek bent down, holding her by her chin gently but firmly. “No,” he said. “But we will.”

His touch made her feel a little bit comfortable.

Her wolf stirred. Not because she was afraid but because she was hungry for more of that touch.

Jax then started moving to her. She felt him there without even looking towards that side. 

“You feel it now, don’t you?” Jax murmured. 

“The pull. It's getting stronger than before.”

She did and it actually made her scared.

Her body moved toward Derek like she wanted to rest on his body but on the other side, her body also answered Jax.

She hated herself for it but she could still feel a pull. 

“I won’t be a weapon,” she said softly. “Not for you and also not for him.”

Derek’s eyes looked calm for a second. “You already are,” he said in response to what she said. “The difference will be who holds the blade.”

They began to hear footsteps coming towards them again.

It was many this time around.

“The Council,” Derek muttered.

Jax smiled. “Good.”

Derek stood up, authority going straight into place like an armour. “Jax. Hide.”

Jax didn’t argue or say a word. He vanished into the shadows like he had never been there.

Derek then turned to Raya immediately. He lifted her dress, fastening it quickly with his hands. It was as if he had rehearsed that moment before.

“Listen to me,” he said. “Whatever they say to you. Or whatever they accuse you of, you must say nothing.”

The door opened again.

This time, it was more polite.

Elder Tate entered, followed by the other three Council members. Their eyes went straight to the body that was still on the floor.

Derek didn’t move or even say a word.

“This man broke into my private apartment,” he said after some minutes. “He was armed with a weapon.”

Tate swallowed. “The Council has sensed a rupture in the bond.”

Raya’s heart beated faster after that statement.

A woman stepped forward.

“The Luna that is standing before us,” she said this slowly, “She is not the girl that Drail rejected.”

Raya felt naked all over again, she felt confused but she could not say anything.

“She carries two different bonds,” the woman continued. “One is actually crowned and the second is feral.”

Derek’s hand got tight around Raya’s hand.

“And with that,” the woman said, smiling , “It is forbidden.”

Raya lifted her head up.

“What does that mean?” she asked.

The woman’s smiled.

“It means that by dawn, the Council will have to decide whether you are crowned… or you will be executed.”

The doors shut behind them.

The lock clicked.

And somewhere deep inside Raya, her wolf bared her teeth.