Lion's Den

JADEN

It wasn't so hard to trace Rhea through her scent, especially after shifting. I had switched to invisible form in order to avoid revealing myself to a human. I wasn't like most werewolves. Since I was a demon wolf, I was larger than an average wolf. My fur was the color of the night and had a few silver stripes. My senses were several times heightened, compared to that of an average alpha and I was much faster. 

'We can smell her. She's close by' Klaus said through the mindlink. I'd asked Klaus and Darryl to join me. Trisha was to look after the park while I was out. I had a feeling that Rhea had landed herself in trouble. 

While I strode down the alley, a couple of wolves suddenly began to run towards me. I knew they couldn't see me, but their movements made me curious. I growled when I got a whiff of their scents. I was quite familiar with those scents. They had once been a part of my father's pack. But, they had joined my brother's pack. I had the strong urge to rip them apart. But, I figured that doing that wouldn't help matters. Besides, I had to find Rhea. I halted when I started to strongly perceive her scent. She had to be somewhere close by.

My ears perked up at the sound of a woman's scream. The voice was unmistakably Rhea's. Realizing this, I took off, following the sound of her scream. I arrived just in time to see Rhea pinned under the weight of a werewolf who had his jaws closing around her wrist.

I was seeing red at this point. Still in invisible form, I rushed at him and pushed him off her. My Beta and Gamma soon emerged from the opposite alley and attacked the rest of the wolves. I was so mad, all I wanted to do was rip apart, the werewolf who had dared to hurt Rhea.

My claws sank into fur and tore flesh. I broke his spine in the most vicious way possible, forgetting that Rhea was still right there watching what was happening right in front of her. I turned away from the battered werewolf and started to move towards Rhea. 

Her gaze lingered on the dying wolf and I realized that she couldn't see me because I was still invisible. I didn't want to scare her because she already looked so shaken up as she sat on the ground, clutching her injured hand. Her grey eyes were wide with terror and her face had no color. Her ponytail had come loose.

Rhea's long black hair which had a purple streak in it messily framed her face with a black rubber band entangled at the ends of a few strands of her hair. Her hoodie was ripped at the elbow, revealing the bruise on her skin and she had another bruise on her forehead. The sight of these infuriated me.

'Should we kill them all?' Darryl questioned mentally. 

I stared at Rhea, not liking how scared she was looking. She'd always seemed so confident and carefree. Maybe it was all a facade. Now, it only made me feel terrible about the way I'd spoken to her. 

I considered killing the werewolves, but I also knew that their alpha would come looking for a war. I wasn't afraid of starting a war, my brother was no match for me. Still, I had the thought of revenge in my heart. I just didn't want to execute it yet. 

'Spare their lives, but teach them a lesson' I said through the mindlink. 

I halted right in front of Rhea who continued to stare at the dead werewolf's broken body. Just before I could slip into visible mode, Rhea let out a strangled gasp. She was staring right at me. 

'She can see me?' I thought, surprised. 

'She's our mate, you idiot. Of course, she can see us' Tarus commented. 

She hesitantly reached out and touched my jaw with her uninjured hand. 

"Boy, you are huge" she breathed, gazing at me with fascination. I wondered if she knew it was me. She scoffed and drew back her hand. "Of course, I know it's you, Jaden. You're the only wolf I've seen with glowing red eyes" she responded with her nose scrunched up. 

She rose to her feet, still cradling her injured hand. 

"Why did you follow me? I was doing perfectly fine on my own" she said with a slight frown on her face. 

'Yeah, right. You were doing just fine' I thought. 

She cleared her throat and started to walk away. I followed after her and she scowled at me and turned to look at Darryl and Klaus who had knocked out the rest of the wolves. They were walking towards us, still in their wolf forms. 

"Hey, Klaus. Hey, Darryl. You guys didn't have to bother yourselves," she said and continued to walk down the alley. 

'Boys, go home. I need to talk to Rhea' I said. 

'Yes, Alpha'

....

RHEA

"Why are you following me? I'm not going anywhere with you. So, leave me alone," I said to Jaden who was still in his wolf form. If I wasn't his mate, I would be so afraid to be anywhere close to him. Everything about his wolf, screamed lethal. I was afraid he was going to use his alpha command to make me go with him. So, I quickened my pace. It was no use, Jaden was too fast for his own good. Despite this, I decided not to go down without putting up a good fight. 

I ran off, not stopping to catch my breath. When I thought I'd covered a good distance, I turned round the corner and there sat the big black wolf with his tail thumping on the ground, impatiently. His crimson gaze was pinned on me, it made me realize that there was no way I could run because he would certainly catch me. I scowled and folded my arms across my chest. "What do you want?" I demanded.

He moved closer to me and sniffed me. Then, he went back to sitting on the ground. 

'We need to talk' I heard him say, in my head. I took a step backwards, shocked. 

"What was that?" I breathed.

'Get used to that. You involved yourself with me. It's only fair if I do the same' he said and I glared at him.

"I'm not interested in having anything to do with you, Jerk. Fuck off!"

He rose to his feet and started to stalk me with all four legs, his alpha aura in full display. 

'You can't say no to me, either. I won't accept it' he stated and I shivered involuntary. 

"You don't want me. So, what are you trying to do?" I retorted. 

'I still don't want you. But, I feel guilty knowing that you're roaming the streets, homeless'

I clenched my fists, anger simmering inside of me. 

"I don't need your pity! I don't want it! I'm not some helpless damsel in distress that you can look down on! I don't want to be your mate, either! I'm not going to beg you for anything! I've been living all on my own for the past few years and I'd been doing just fine until I met you! Meeting you ruined my life! Just leave me alone!" I raged. 

His wolf stared at me for a moment, then he started to retreat. In a blink of an eye, he'd vanished from sight.

Exhausted from all of today's ordeal, my knees gave out, and I sank to the ground, defeated. This wasn't what I wanted. All along, I'd dreamt of someone who would love and respect me. I know I'm a thief. I've done a lot of things that I'm not proud of, but I'd hoped that whosoever was responsible for providing soulmates would cut me some slack. 

I buried my face in my hands, squeezing my eyes shut. I wanted to cry. But, the tears wouldn't come.

I stiffened when I felt a hand touch my shoulder from behind. My wolf stirred and I knew at once who it was. 

"I thought I asked you to leave me alone? Why did you come back?" I hissed. 

"I don't care if you're upset or not. I'm still not going to leave you out here in the streets."

"Then, close your eyes and pretend that I don't exist" I frowned.

"I won't do that" he said and pulled me to my feet. He turned me around to face him. His hazel eyes were darker than ever and I could see the turmoil in his eyes. 

"You're coming with me, Rhea and you can't say no" he rasped.

"I hate people who think they can control others to get what they want," I spat as he grabbed my hand and started to drag me along. 

He looked at me, swept me off my feet and placed me over his shoulder, like a bag of potatoes. 

"I don't care. Hate me all you like, Rhea. It changes nothing."

"Fine. If it's war you want, I'll bring it to you in full force."

He laughed darkly and the hair on the back of my neck stood stiff. 

"Bring it on, Rhea. I'll be waiting for it" he stated. His statement sounded more of a threat than a promise. I cursed under my breath, squeezing my eyes shut. I was about to enter the Lion's den, would I make it out sane and alive? There was only one way to find out.