Flora’s P.O.V
“This way.”
I followed the guards in silence as they led me down another corridor, another long hallway. The wolf capital of Lindersay was a spiralling maze and I had a suspicion that it was same for most of the shifter towers that made up the sprawling city. However, I had no doubt in my mind that each tower would be different, their planning made in such a fashion that one race couldn’t intrude on the other, couldn’t spy on them through any angle. And with all the hallways? I was sure that only the permanent residents of the tower ever came close to remembering them.
We turned another corner and followed another hallway, and instantly I could tell that these were residential quarters. There were several rooms on either side of the hallway but the space didn’t feel as distant as the rest of the hallways I’d travelled. There was a brightness here that I hadn’t felt elsewhere, even though I couldn’t tell the difference on the surface level, all doors bearing the same mark.
“We’re here.” One of the soldiers spoke as we finally came to the end of the hallway. The door this time was made of reinforced metal. It was huge, almost reaching the ceiling and there were intricate details carved into the iron that would’ve fascinated me had my mind been in the right place.
The soldier who had spoken knocked in a certain pattern on the iron and even though I hadn’t heard anyone speak, he nodded at the second soldier and both of them pushed the doors open, keeping only enough space that nothing could get in after letting me pass through.
I squared my shoulders and walked inside the room. The door clicked shut behind me.
For an instant, my mind filled with panic at being trapped inside an unknown room, in an unknown place, without any hope of escaping. But then I felt a presence behind me, far inside the room, and a calm voice broke the silence of the dimly lit room, making me turn instinctive towards them.
“Do not worry, healer, Lindersay is a sanctuary, not a prison.”
It took a few minutes for me to get adjusted to the light of the room and when I did, I noticed the lone male figure sitting behind a desk at the farthest corner of the room. There was a huge wall to ceiling window at his back and the light of the moon coming in through the windows threw shadows on his features, but as if he sensed my discomfort at not being able to see his face, he rose from the chair he was sitting on and came around the desk so the light could hit his face and parts of his body.
I sucked in a shocked breath.
If Clay was beautiful in his unique masculinity, then this man was devastating. His hair was pure white, the light glinting off it almost making it shimmer. His facial features were all sharp angles and hard lines, his nose straight and his chin perfectly angular. His eyes were a startling blue so pure, I had never seen such eyes on anyone. It was the blue of the sky on a perfectly cloudless day. His skin was porcelain and the deep blue jacket that he wore over dark blue jeans and a black tee underneath, threw his skin into stark contrast. His legs were covered in knee high boots and he carried a gun in a holster around his waist in open view. I knew it wouldn’t hurt a wolf until the bullets in them were silver, but as I’d come to realize as soon as I’d stepped inside Lindersay, weapons were more than a style statement, they were a symbol of power. And then I shifted my eyes to his lips. They were the only soft features in his body, soft and plump and delicately pink and I saw them tilt upward at the ends as he caught me checking him out.
“Skin is the first line of defence...or offence, depending on how you plan to use that weapon.” The man tilted his head to one side, making the silken white strands slide over his forehead in a lover’s caress, his lips still tiled in a smile. “It gives you time to run if you’re a submissive and it give you time to attack if you’re a dominant.”
“Sounds logical,” I told the man, my voice sounding a bit breathy. But it had nothing to do with charm. Whoever this man was, he was a power. And the intensity of that power was shoving at me with all its might. “But I don’t fall in either category. I’m a healer.”
“Yes, you’re right.” His smile widened and I felt the shove of power reduce to a mere hum against my sentence. It shocked me anew that he could do that, reduce his power to such a potential that he appeared almost harmless.
“Oh, where are my manners?” He chided himself as he came forward and extended his hand, the smile he gave me this time appearing genuine. “I’m Malachi Andrews, but people call me Kai for short. I’m the Alpha of Lindersay’s wolf pack.”
An alpha? Now his power made perfect sense. But under the power, there was also a sense of age that only intensified when I placed my hand in his. Instead of shaking my hand, he brought it to his lips and placed a soft kiss to the back of my hand. And even though Malachi seemed charming enough to make any woman fall into his bed, it didn’t affect me in the least. There was only one name etched into my heart.
“You’re old.” I told him, making sure I didn’t make it sound rude or insulting.
“I am old,” Malachi smiled that devastatingly beautiful smile, taking no insult at my statement. “In fact, I’m almost four hundred.”
My eyes widened in surprise, but I shouldn’t have been. He did appear to be in his early thirties, which was what wolves in their late hundreds or early two hundreds looked like, but as his earlier statement had proved, he had used his beauty to his advantage.
“Now tell me, little healer.” Malachi let go of my hand and stepped back to give me some space. “What is your purpose of visiting Lindersay? I’m assuming you aren’t here on a vacation.”
His words weren’t insulting or threatening, just merely curious. But to me, it was about to change the entire concept of my life from here onwards.
“No.” I took a deep breath before answering him. “I’m here to look for a sanctuary. I’m here to become a Lunar Maiden.”