[ In the meanwhile,at one of the many woods connecting the sea and the vast land beyond the Bloodfang territories.]
The wind howled like a furious beast as Rory leaned low over the neck of the galloping mare. He was riding at a very high speed.He was riding one of the fastest mares in the Bloodfang pack! Those beautiful, majestic beasts.
The moonlight carved silver streaks along her muscular flanks. Hooves pounded the damp earth in a rhythm that matched the frantic beat of his heart. The lights coming from the wild Bloodfang party, shimmered behind him, blurred by distance. Laughter still echoed faintly across the trees. He knew the party was just beginning.
He knew should have been there.
He wanted to be there so bad.
Not for the music. Not for the celebration.
But to find Alpha Kieran.Finally have a word with him or pass on the message... that his mate was safe... she was there... she was pregnant!!!
Damn! He was finally about to have his chance.
Rory’s jaw tightened as he stole one last look over his shoulder. The glow of neon lights,beam lights, flash lights...so much extravaganza in one spot while the rest of the packs struggled for fuel and electricity.
Amongst the thrum of drums,somewhere in that crowd, there was Alpha Kieran, still unaware of the truth Rory had come so close to tell.
"She is alive, Alpha," Rory murmured under his breath.
But the words were swept away by the wind as the mare surged forward.
He had not even gotten the chance to see Kieran up close. No chance to speak. Just a shadow’s glimpse from across the terrace...one moment of hope before it all came crashing down.
[ Flashback : At the Bloodfang castle ]
Rory was urgently summoned right after he had caught a glimpse of Alpha Kieran.
Alpha Velor’s voice was calm.
"You want to stay with her?" he asked, fingers idly toying with a serpent shaped ring on his hand. "Then prove your worth."
It came out of nowhere.
Rory stood ramrod straight, his fingers curling into fists at his sides. "Haven’t I already proven it? I protected her. I..."
"You did nothing,dear boy! I rescued her. You were just...there...trying..." Velor cut in smoothly. " And you still need to prove your loyalty towards the Bloodfang pack."
" What?!" Rory snapped, before biting back the rest. His voice dropped. " Alpha, I don’t understand."
Velor stepped closer. The flickering lights painted his face in sharp shadows. "You don’t get to speak for her anymore. You are not her family. You are not her blood. And you sure as hell aren’t her mate.I let you stay by her, out of my own mercy! But everything comes with limits...my mercy as well. "
Rory’s breath hitched. The blow was clean, precise, and deliberate. He did not flinch...but the words sank in.
"What do you want from me?"
Velor’s smirk widened. "A mission. Simple. Quick. Maybe a tad bit dangerous. Succeed... and you stay. Fail...well. Let’s not get morbid."
From within his cloak, he pulled out a thin, silver bracelet. It shimmered unnaturally, like moonlight trapped in steel.
Rory eyed it warily. "What is that?"
Velor leaned in, voice low. "A temporary link to the hive consciousness of the Bloodfangs. While you wear it, we will know where you are. What you feel.What you do...whom you try to talk to or...mindlink! "
"You don’t trust me," Rory said bitterly.
"I don’t need to trust you," Velor replied, already clasping the bracelet around his wrist. "I just need you to do your job."
The metal hissed as it sealed. A rush of energy surged up Rory’s arm...alien, hot, alive. He gasped, staggering back.
A thousand flickers of emotion that weren’t his swarmed his senses....anger, hunger, laughter, lust, fury, sorrow. All in fragments. All alive.
Velor’s eyes gleamed. "Welcome to the pack."
( flashback continues but there is a shift in setting. Just before leaving at the Castle’s East Wing)
Rory’s hands trembled as he scribbled quickly in the corner of a tattered book cover, using the edge of a charcoal stick stolen from the kitchen hearth.
The note was no longer than a sentence. Written in a cipher. "The phoenix didn’t burn." He included a Curzon symbol hoping Kieran would understand!
He slipped the note between pages of an old hunting volume.The Beasts Beneath...which he knew Kieran often reread and presumed it was his favourite book. He had seen the worn out book on Kieran’s table while he waited at his study once ( when Autumn was at the infirmary).
Rory had even seen the doodles inside its margins, scribbled perhaps long ago. He remembered the wolf drawing on page 37.
Taking a deep breath, he placed the book back on the second shelf of the East Wing study. Third row from the bottom. Visible but out of sight. He placed Kieran’s favourite whisky bottle right in front of it.
Just as he turned to leave, a maid entered, carrying a tray.
He gave her a half smile. "Looking for Alpha Velor?"
"No," she replied with a glance. "Just placing these in the East Wing library." Her eyes darted to the books. "You shouldn’t be in here.The Alpha’s will be coming here to rest and talk. "
"I was just leaving," Rory muttered as he walked past.
"I shouldn’t have agreed," he muttered under his breath, the wind tugging at his hair, "but what choice did I have?"
The bracelet pulsed faintly on his wrist like a living brand. Already it had begun to itch beneath his sleeve, as if resenting his defiance.
He remembered the way Autumn had looked at him when he whispered goodbye in the corridor.
Her eyes were tired. Suspicious. Still healing.
He could still hear Velor’s parting words. "Don’t fail me, Curzon boy. And don’t even think of straying off course."
Rory clenched his jaw.
"I am not going to fail. I am going to finish this. And return! "
He looked up towards the faint outline of the mountains ahead. The stars flickered like ancient eyes.He heard the waves... could taste the ocean in the air.