013~ NO ONE IS WAITING

Vaelra

I have been in the blood moon pack for a day, and I've learned a few things.

Their alpha is a lunatic, his estate has way too many fucking doors that seem to lead somewhere completely useless, and oh, have I mentioned that their Alpha is a lunatic?

I haven't seen him all morning, and I hope it remains that way for the rest of the day or even until I leave this place.

I turn the corner and nearly walk straight into someone.

"Miss. Howler."

London. Just the man I was looking for.

I force a polite smile. "Good morning, London."

His eyebrows lift slightly at my sudden sweetness.

"Good morning," he replies, sounding wary.

I glance past him before looking back, then step closer. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Does the estate have a library?"

"A library?"

"One with books, anything about the pack's history, maps."

Maps especially.

His eyes narrow.

I laugh awkwardly. "I was thinking since I'm stuck here, I should get to know the pack if I'm to become Luna."

He doesn't seem to buy it, but he answers anyway.

"There is one on the east wing."

Nice.

"Would you mind showing me?"

"Not at all."

He turns and leads me through a maze of corridors until we finally reach a set of enormous wooden doors.

When he pushes them open, my jaw almost drops.

What the—

Shelves cover the walls from floor to ceiling, packed with leather bound books, and a large table sits in the centre of the room, covered with old papers and scrolls.

"This is reserved only for the Alpha and Luna and whoever they permit. Although it's smaller than the general library found in the pack village."

Way to rub it in, London.

"The pack records are mostly in that section," he informs me, gesturing toward the shelves at our left.

I'm already moving in the opposite direction of them.

"Is there anything specific you're looking for? I could help you find it?"

I stop and turn to him with another fake smile. "You've helped me plenty already."

Please leave.

"Very well," he says after a moment, then gives me one last assessing look before turning and leaving.

The moment the doors close behind him, my smile disappears, and I rush deeper into the library, scanning the shelves.

Maybe I should have specifically asked him which shelves the maps are on before he left.

How the hell am I going to find a map in this place?

I move to another section, checking the shelves more carefully.

There has to be a map somewhere.

My attention shifts to the large table in the centre of the room.

I remember seeing our territory map on the table in the Alpha's office back home.

I move quickly toward it and start clearing away the scattered papers and scrolls until I see a corner of the parchment.

Finally.

Disposing the rest of the papers covering it, I reveal a big map spread across nearly the entire table.

It wasn't just Blood Moon on the map. Every pack territory is drawn on it.

I lean over it, searching for Crescent Moon.

Our territory looks ridiculously small compared to some of the others.

Tracing my fingers along the markings, I follow the distance between Crescent moon and Blood moon.

I will have to go through four large packs to get home.

"How long would it even take to get there?"

"Almost three days for a wolf running at full speed," Raze says behind me.

"Oh." I nod absently then freeze.

I turn around quickly, and my lips brush against his by mistake.

My heart does a fucking backflip, and my brain seems to forget how to function as I just stand still.

His gaze drops to my lips and stays there.

There is a sheen of sweat across his face, and the earthy scent of it reaches me, mixing with his faint scent until my stomach twists strangely.

I hate that my nose thinks it's a nice smell.

"It'll take you a week or more," he murmurs, his voice lower than before.

I blink, snapping out of the haze and leaning away from him. "What?"

"To get there." His eyes finally lift to mine. "It will take you a week. That's if the vampire slave traders or rogues don't get to you first."

Vampires?

He leans closer, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.

"You can't shift, Wildfire. To them you're no different from a human." His eyes drifts to my neck as he continues, "and humans fetch a good price in the vampire blood markets."

I fight the urge to cover my neck from the half vampire looking at me like I'm his next meal.

"You don't need to worry about me, Alpha Raze," I say as I try to shove at his chest.

My palms meet warm, bare skin and a solid wall of sweaty muscles.

I jerk my hands back, curling my fingers into fists as irritation bubbles inside me.

Does he have to stand so fucking close? And why the hell is he shirtless in this cold?

"Do you mind giving me some space? You're sweaty and—" My eyes betray me, trailing down to his broad, stupidly sculpted chest.

"And what?" he asks, a hint of amusement creeping into his voice.

"It's disgusting," I finish, turning my attention back on the map.

A low dark, deep chuckle escapes him and sends goosebumps skittering across my skin.

I ignore him, pretending I am understanding anything on the map.

After a few seconds of just standing behind me and burning holes into my back, he finally moves.

I glance over my shoulder as he circles the table, his steps unhurried.

My gaze unconsciously wanders down his back, settling somewhere it has absolutely no business being.

"Enjoying the view, Wildfire?"

I whip my attention back to the map, hoping to hide my flushed face.

Fuck my life.

He comes to a stop on the opposite side of the table, resting his hands on its surface as his gaze moves over the map.

"I assumed killing me came before escaping."

"Who says I can't do both?"

I feel his eyes on me for a moment before he speaks again.

"Your lover is dead."

The image of Zane's headless body flashes through my mind, and bile rises in my throat.

My body trembles with anger as I lift my head.

Raze watches me, his mismatched eyes utterly devoid of remorse.

"Tell me, Wildfire," he continues, as though he hasn't just reminded me of the man he murmured. "What exactly are you so desperate to return to?"

He doesn't wait for an answer.

"Your pack despises you. Your father abandoned you—"

"Shut the fuck up!" I choke out, my fingers digging into the edge of the table.

But he doesn't stop.

"And your mother?" His gaze doesn't waver from mine. "She stood there and watched me take you away."

Something twists painfully in my chest.

"That's a lie."

"She didn't beg me to leave you. Didn't even ask where I was taking you."

"Stop."

"Do you know what she said to me?"

I shake my head.

I don't want to hear it. Whatever it is, I don't want to hear it.

"Make sure she doesn't leave your pack when she wakes up."

The words hit me so hard the tears I've been fighting spill down my cheeks.

She wouldn't. Mama wwould've never let him take me.

"You're lying." My voice cracks. "You're a fucking liar."

Raze doesn't deny it. Instead, he reaches into his pocket and places something directly on the map of Crescent Moon.

My heart shatters.

No. Not that necklace.

She never took it off her neck, when she slept or bathed, or even when her Alpha abandoned her.

My trembling fingers reach for it. "Where did you get this?" I whisper, terrified of the answer.

"Your mother gave it to me."

I stare at it, desperately wishing he'd take those words back.

"She asked me to give it to you."

A sob tears from my throat as I press the necklace against my chest,

How could you do this to me, Mama?