Beep... Beep... Beep....

I groan and slap the little brown alarm clock that sits on the floor beside my bed.

Bed ha, I use that term lightly. It is more like a nest you would expect to see in a den of a pack rat or other small rodent. It consisted of anything I could gather that wasn't too destroyed or ruined. There was a thin mattress from a couch bed, random pillows and blankets pack members had thrown out, and a few couch cushions I had swiped from the couches at the packs dumping spot.

I felt like I had just laid down; in reality, there had been a party the night before, and it was my job to clean and cater to the guests. At least since I had been working the party, the Alpha had told the men to leave me alone. I knew I wouldn't be so lucky tonight.

A commotion from upstairs brought me to my feet. If they caught me still lying down after 4 am I would be punished for sure.

The door swung open, and four guards pilled in, wrestling another man down the stairs. His arms and legs were chained together with what I assumed were silver chains since he hadn't broken free yet. You would think seeing this would shock me, but things like this often happened here. My room was nothing more than a cell in the holding area in the basement of the Alphas office building. Usually, the cell door to my room was chained open, but they would lock me in there often. It seemed to give the guard great joy to find every little reason to punish me and lock the door.

As they came down the stairs, the head guard growled at me*, "out of the way, mutt" The others just laughed, and the last guard kicked at me on the way past. They threw the man in the cell next to mine, great just what I needed. I wanted to run back into my room and pull everything away from the bars, so this prisoner wouldn't be able to drag my stuff through bars and destroy it like the one before him. But I knew I didn't have time. When the stairway was clear, I hurried up and to the packhouse. I would be late if I didn't rush, and being late always caused terrible consequences.

It was only about a ¼ mile from the Alphas office building to the packhouse. Once there, I quickly started preparing breakfast; thankfully, I had most of the food ready, and it only needed to be heated. I was only responsible for feeding the unmated Pack members that lived at the packhouse.

All mated couples and children had their own houses and prepared their meals. But there were still around 115 that may or may not show up to any given meal. Meals were always stressful for me; if I didn't prepare enough, I would be punished for starving the pack. If I prepared too much and there became food waste, I was punished for wasting the pack's money. After breakfast, I cleaned the dishes, kitchen, and dining hall. Then it was off to the upper levels to collect laundry. Once the laundry was going, I had to come back to the kitchen and prepare snacks and lunch. After lunch, I had to clean the pack house top to bottom.

Thankfully I had cleaned most of the common areas after the party at 2 am. this morning, so I was done a lot faster than normal. After Supper, I cleaned up and checked my list of inmates at the Alphas office, and They were usually allowed one meal a day. I had five; they never wrote their names down, just their cell number. My heart sank when I saw cell number 2 and remembered there had been someone in the cell next to mine all day. As soon as they locked him in, I am sure he destroyed anything he could get his hands on. I mean, I don't blame him, especially if he let his wolf out. It was already dark when I left to head back.

There was another gathering at a neighboring pack, so I knew there wouldn't be many others around, just a few guards. When I got inside, I could see two guards. One guard I didn't know well as he was mated and kept to himself; mostly his mate would come to visit sometimes and she was nice to me. They weren't originally from this pack and only recently joined. From what I heard, they didn't have a choice; it was join or die. My uncle had attacked their pack and killed their Alpha.

The other one was named Carl, and I knew him all too well.

"Hey, hot stuff," he said when I walked. I tried to ignore him. That was the wrong thing to do. He jumped up and was in front of me in a flash. "Hey, bitch I was talking to you. Don't you dare ignore me" He went to slap me.

I braced for the impact, but it never came. When I opened my eyes, I could see the other guard holding Carl's arm.

"Let her finish her job before you mess with her." Carl was about to argue with him, but he cut him off. I am in charge, and you will listen to me. She needs to feed the prisoners and clean up here. "I can't stop you from messing with her after your shift because the Alpha allows it, but I can stop you while you're on duty and I am in charge."

The guard looked at me and gave me a nod to go ahead and continue my duties. I was thankful for him at that moment, but I knew later that night I wouldn't be so lucky. As I walked down the stairs, I braced myself for what I may see. I expected to see my stuff scattered and torn to pieces, but to my surprise, it wasn't. I quickly fed the other four prisoners and then walked up to the cell next to mine. He was sleeping in the back of the cell. Then I noticed that he was holding one of my books. It was a book of poetry I had found in the trash in the common room in the pack house. Something had spilled on it, and many of the pages were unreadable. However, what was readable was beautiful. He must have heard me because when I looked back up, he was staring back at me. I jumped and almost dropped the bag of food I had in my hand. Quickly I looked down at the ground and pushed the food under the cell door." I am sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, little one." Little one? I thought to myself, why would he call me that. I took another glance back, and only then did I realize just how big he actually was. He was easily all of 7 feet. He stood up and introduced himself as Xavier Crescent.

Crescent. Where had I heard that name before?

Xavier POV

I couldn't believe I had let myself get captured so easily. I had become lazy in my retirement. Or perhaps I had become too comfortable in the belief that our pack and especially myself could ever be captured by an Alpha as weak as this one.

But they had to have had help; he thought, someone that knew the secrets of his pack. While the Amber Moon Pack was sensitive to silver, it wouldn't render them helpless like other packs. Wolfsbane as well wasn't as effective. It would have taken much more than just the usual to take him down as they had. There had to have been someone else involved, a witch perhaps, maybe the Eventura Clan. Those vampires would give anything to watch them fall, even if it meant working with a pack of cutthroat wolves. None the less he now had to focus on getting out of this mess.

My mind was going a million miles a second, and I needed something to focus on to calm myself. Looking around the dirty gray cell I couldn't help but notice the cell next to mine. It looked like someone lived in this one full-time. There was a make-shift pallet-type bed and a small collection of items. There was a worn book of poetry that had fallen from its resting place and into my cell. I decided that maybe some light reading might help me ease my mind. The next thing I remember was the squeaking of the door. I could tell it was dark; I must have been asleep for well over 8 hours. It was the woman from this morning, and from the scent on the book, I could tell that the cell next to mine was hers. I slowly opened my eyes and watched her hand out the food to the other prisoners. I had not noticed I was staring at her as intensely as I had been until she turned to me and our eyes met.

She jumped back and squeaked. It was cute, but it also worried me that making eye contact scared her so much. I could tell she was a human by her smell, but there was something off about her scent, I couldn't tell what, but there was something I just couldn't put my finger on. I watched her as she slid the bag of food under my cell door." I am sorry little one. I didn't mean to scare you," I said. She looked my way, confused, almost like she didn't understand why I would be sorry for scaring her.

I picked up the bag and looked inside. I was pleasantly surprised by the contents, a ham sandwich, a bag of chips, a container of some type of leftover casserole, and a cookie. At least I will have a full stomach tonight. After eating, I watched as she cleaned the basement quietly every so often. She would glance up at the clock each time and furrow her eyebrows a little more. What was she worried about?

Saphira's POV

I watched as the minutes ticked away midnight was coming quickly. I wish I could make time stop. I always day dreamed about having the power to make the world stop just long enough to run. Or maybe go back in time and not let daddy get in that car that night. I missed him so much he was so excited that night he had said there was a grand surprise waiting for me at the top of Amber Falls Mountain. He said that I had a great destiny and that while some of the things I would learn would be hard to understand at first, it would all be ok in the end. I was about to ask him if it had something to do with the birthmark on my back that looked like a wolf howling at a moon. But before I could get it out, something hit the car, and we slid off the road. I don't remember anything else until I woke up in a hospital bed three days later. The first words out of my Aunt's mouth were “it's all your fault.”

She blamed me for her brother's death, and in reality, so did I. The sound of the door opening brought me back to earth. I snapped my head up to the clock at 12:05 am. damn, already.

"Guess what time it is? Ready to have some fun." My stomach turns at the sound of those words coming from Carl's mouth. I had learned years ago that it was pointless to fight. It just made it worse. He reached the bottom of the stairs and gave me a horrid grin.

As he stalked towards me, one of the prisoners from the other end yelled out, come on, man, have a heart. At first, I thought maybe for once someone was trying to help me. But then, with an evil chuckle, he added, at least let me watch this time.

Carl looked back at me and pointed towards my cell." Get in mutt and get on your knees." I did as I was told I could hear the jingle of him undoing his belt behind me and braced myself for what came next. The belt stung as it made contact with my back. He laughed every time it made contact. When he was satisfied with his work, he reached down and ripped my shorts off. As he grabbed me and forced himself inside of me, I heard a deep growl. It shook the entire basement. It startled Carl, and he stopped jumping to his feet, shocked. You... "You aren't supposed to be able to do that." Quickly he pulled his pants back up and ran up the stairs, yelling for the guards. I glanced up and gasped. Xavier had shifted but not into a wolf like the others. He looked like what mainstream media portrayed werewolves as. Large furry men with wolf-like features and long claws. He slowly made eye contact with me and walked towards the cell wall. I fell backward and scooted as close to the cold gray brick wall as I could. I knew he couldn't reach me as long as the bars held him inside, but I wasn't sure they would. He reached the wall taking a bar in each hand; he squatted down, almost sitting on the floor. His eyes were glowing a bright, almost fluorescent Orange." It's ok little one; I am" ... he was cut off by the sound of the door slamming open.

Five guards rushed down. One was holding a tranquilizer gun. From the top of the stairs, he shot Xavier directly between the shoulders. Within seconds Xavier had shifted back into his human form and passed out onto the floor. The guards then went into his cell and put large black iron chains on his neck, arms, and legs. One guard cussed at Carl; "what the hell did you do to make him so damn angry?" " I don't know. I was trying to fuck the mutt. Maybe he just wanted a turn."

"Hell, next time, give her to him; maybe it will calm him down. We can't afford to have him escape; we will all be dead then. If he doesn't kill us, the Alpha will when he finds out we let him get away."

Carl just laughed and looked at me; now where were we, you little mutt. The quiet guard stopped him. "Hey, you don't have time for fun now, buddy; we have to go fill out reports now, and that's going to take all damn morning." Carl rolled his eyes and just winked at me; see you later, hot stuff, and we can pick up where we left off. After they left and had turned off the lights, I straightened up my cell and changed into my pajama pants. Carl had ripped the only pair of jeans shorts I had almost in half. They were unwearable now. I could hear Xaviar moving behind me, and I turned to see him sitting up with his hand on his head. I could see they had left the dart in his back, and he was bleeding a steady stream of blood from it. I assumed the dart must be made from silver to guarantee it would pierce the skin of a werewolf correctly. He was trying very hard to pull it out, but he couldn't reach it. I must have lost my mind, but the words slipped out before I even realized what I was doing. " Here, let me help you"...

Xavier's POV

My eyes shot open, and I was met with the worst headache of my life. Ugggg, whatever they were poisoning me with certainly packed a hell of a punch. I tried to pull the dart from my back, but the chains I was now wearing prevented me from reaching it. I had forgotten all about the girl until she spoke." Here, let me help you." Her voice stopped me in my tracks. I turned to see her standing at the cell wall with her hand reaching through the bars. When I stood, she averted her eyes and looked to the ground; it was only then that I realized I was completely naked. When I shifted, I had torn my clothes to shreds. She quickly turned and pulled a sheet from her bed and pushed it through the bars. "Thank you," I said as I took it and wrapped it around my waist. "Turn around"; she said, "let me take that dart out of your back." I smiled down at her and turned around, and backed towards the cell wall. It certainly stung when she took it out, but the relief after she removed it was worth it. I turned around to thank her but quickly stopped. She had her hand over her mouth and a tear in her eye. I noticed he had taken the vial out of the dart. What was so upsetting about that vial.

She looked up at me and said, "I am so sorry; it's all my fault." I reached my hand out for the vial, and she placed it in my hand and then backed away. I looked at the vial and read the label. Cursed Blood.

Donor Saphira Elune.

It only took me a second to understand. “Little one, is your name Saphira?” With tears pouring down her face, she nodded. "I am sorry, I had no idea what they were doing with the blood they took from me. I didn't have a choice; my Uncle made me do it." "Who is your Uncle?" I asked. "The Alpha of this pack." she whispered.

Saphira's pov

My heart dropped when I read my name on the vial I had taken from the dart. This is what they were using my blood for. To poison the ones they weren't strong enough to capture.

“Little one, is your name Saphira?”

At that moment, I wanted to disappear. I nodded my head and sank into a puddle on my bed. I waited for his reaction but heard nothing. I never in a million years thought they were using my blood to make a weapon.

Every month like clockwork, the doctors of the pack had withdrawn blood for me, saying they were using it for testing to teach the others. I was still confused, though. How could my blood have the power to hurt a werewolf so extensively? It had said cursed on the vial; what did that mean? Was I cursed? Did someone else curse it? I had so many questions.

I lay down on my bed and tried to rest, 4 am would come early, and my back was still very sore from being whipped. I woke up to Xaiviers voice. "Little one, wake up." I jumped at his voice and almost rolled off my bed into the wall. "Easy' he softly spoke, "I am sorry to wake you, but I can hear them coming, and I thought you would want to be awake before they got down the stairs." Just as he finished speaking, the door burst open.

Carl came in with another guard and a man I only see at the clinic on occasion." They need more of your blood mutt." My heart sank; it took two days for me to recover from the last time they took blood. "We had to use it all on him." Carl spat, pointing at Xaviar. "We will need a lot more if we are going to take down the entire Royal Pack."

Royal Pack, that's where I had heard that last name Cresent was the last name of the Royal family. I don't know why I hadn't realized it sooner. The stories I had heard suggested that at some point, many 100s of years ago, their Alpha had been mated to a Fae and their offspring carried traits of both the mother and the father. I hadn't heard much else but judging on what Xavier looked like when he shifted; I wouldn't be surprised if all the rumors were true.

I got up and followed them upstairs into the room beside the Alphas office. They had set it up with an exam table and a few chairs, and a table. "This is where they will be drawing your blood now, Mutt." It took them about an hour to get set up and get the blood drawn. The man that drew my blood handed me a cookie and a soda. Here eat and drink this to help. I was about to take a bite of the cookie when Carl Knocked it out of my hand. "No sweets for you until we are done with you." Wait, what did he mean by we?

Then four other men walked in. I didn't know all of their names, but this wasn't going to be good. I tried to get up, but I was dizzy from them taking so much blood, and I fell back down. "Get back here, you little bitch. We are going to have fun with you today. Since you got your blood drawn, Alpha has excused you from all your duties today. So no one will miss you." He picked me up and threw me onto the exam table, and ripped my shirt off me while another one pulled my pants down. I tried to fight, but I was so dizzy, and the room kept spinning.

I blacked out and didn't come back to my senses until I realized I was being carried down the steps to the basement. Every muscle and bone in my body hurt. I could hear a deep growl from somewhere in front of us. "Oh, would you like a turn, big boy. Here you can have what's left." I could hear Carl laughing while the other Guard unlocked the door to Xavier's cell.

Carl pulled me from his shoulder and threw me in. I braced myself for the impact, but it never came.

Someone had caught me. I opened my eyes to see that Xavier had caught me in mid-air.

How was he so damn fast? Then the reality of the situation sunk in. I screamed and started to panic.

"No, please let me go. No, not again." He set me down, and I ran to the cell door begging for Carl to let me out. He just laughed and walked away. He slammed the door behind him, and I fell to my knees. I could hear the chains dragging closer to me, and I turned to him, still on my knees, and accepted my fate. I bowed my head and tried to control my breathing and calm my body. I was shaking so much there was no way it wouldn't anger him. It always pissed the other men off when I showed my fear. I could tell he was standing above me." Please make it quick."

"What do you mean?" he asked to "make what quick?" " Please don't make it hurt long." I begged, " Little one, what do you think I am going to do to you? "

Xavier's POV

It was getting very late, and Saphira hadn't returned yet. I was worried. Thinking about her also made me think about my Mate and our son. Had they been captured also, Ren was much stronger than me, and my Mate Celia was crafty and would be able to slip away unnoticed, and I knew they would stop at nothing to find me. My son had taken over the Position as Alpha and ruler of the 12 Higher packs four years ago when he was only 25. He was a good leader, and all their people loved him. I wondered how he was handling this. Or how disappointed he was in his old man for allowing himself to be captured. The door abruptly being swung open brought me out of my thoughts. I could see the Guard coming down the stairs, and the bastard in front was carrying a naked woman over his shoulder. Quickly I realized it was Saphira. My wolf howled in anger. Azra had been quiet for 90 percent of the time we had been captured. He's usually much more vocal. I can only assume it has something to do with the concoction they used to capture us with. I wasn't sure why I felt so compelled to protect her. She wasn't our Mate or of any relation to us. However, I felt that if I had to give my life to save her, it would be a fair trade.

Azra wanted out, but we were just too weak. But it didn't stop us from letting out a loud growl that rocked the walls.

The Guard turned toward me, and with an evil grin, he walked towards my cell. "Here, have your turn then." He looked at the other Guard mind linking, no doubt. The Guard stepped forward and unlocked my cell door. The one carrying Saphira stepped in and threw her towards me. I quickly jumped up and caught her before she hit the ground. Goddess knows she didn't need anything else to cause her pain.

She had closed her eyes, waiting for the impact, and when it didn't come, she opened her eyes and looked up. The look she gave me almost broke me. I do not think I have ever seen that much fear projected from someone's eyes in my life. She started to panic and thrashed around. I quickly set her down. As soon as her feet hit the floor, she was at the cell door trying to talk the Guard into letting her out. But he just smiled and slammed the door in her face. I quickly reached between our cells' bars, grabbed the tattered blue blanket off her bed, and slowly walked towards her. She had fallen to her knees after the cell door shut. Even though I was trying hard not to look at her naked body, my eyes were drawn to her back. My wolf howled as we both realized why we felt so drawn to protect her. It looked like she had the mark of a Moon Child.

I couldn't be certain, and she would need to be examined by our elders, but it all made perfect sense how her blood could be used against our pack.

As I approached her, she turned towards me with her head hanging towards the ground. "Please make it quick," she said. " What do you mean?" I asked,

"make what quick?"

"Please don't make it hurt long," she quietly begged. "Little one, what do you think I am going to do to you?"

She lifted her head with tears falling to the floor;" You're going to kill me," she whispered.... I felt tears forming in my eyes. "No, little one, I would never hurt you. I just want to help you. Will you let me?”

I asked. She nodded her head, but I could tell she didn't believe my words. Gently I wrapped her in the blanket and picked her up. She gasped when I lifted her from the ground and began to shake. "Easy little one, you're safe, I know you don't believe me, but I promise you, you are." I hoped my words had given her some type of comfort, but I knew they didn't. I laid her down on the cot and slowly backed away and sat down in the corner." Please rest, little one. I promise I will not come near you while you sleep."

It was getting close to dawn when I was awoken by yelling. YOU DID WHAT YOU F*&CKING IDIOT. IF HE KILLED HER, YOU WILL BE NEXT. The door to the stairwell flung open with such force that it fell from its hinges. I stood up and walked in between the cell door and Saphira. I wasn't going to let them touch her.

The Alpha and five guards came barreling down the stairs. “Get her out of his cell NOW” he screamed. “Alpha, we don't have any more serum. We won't be able to get her out. He will kill us all, even you. ” The Alpha turned towards me and then looked to her and then to me again. “I didn't touch her, unlike those worthless dogs there.” He looked back to where I pointed.

They brought her down here beaten, bruised, and naked last night and threw her in my cell. All I did was wrap her in a blanket and let her rest. Those idiots there almost killed her. I would have allowed her to lay in her own bed, but the assholes locked her in here with me: Saphira child, it's time to get up. Here come to your Uncle.

I fully planned on stopping her and keeping her safe as long as I could, but before I could act, it felt like my head exploded. My wolf whined. I could hear voices of 20 or more all at once. The mind link to my pack had been silent for so long it surprised me.

Wait, if my mind link is working, that means my pack is close!

I grabbed my head and fell to my knees. It was too much all at once. I tried hard to respond to the link, but I couldn't; I was still too weak. I heard the door of my cell lock. I looked up and saw that Saphira had obeyed the Alphas command and left my cell. “Let me know what he has done to you.” She looked terrified at those words.

Could you not make me repeat myself, child? She dropped the sheet she had wrapped around her and exposed her naked body. He inspected her body and gave an evil grin. Now child, tell me who did this to you. Her eyes widened, and she glanced towards the guards and then towards me and back at the ground.

“I fell” she whispered. He laughed loudly. That's what I thought. Now, child, we are going to be having some essential guests tonight. They are all very excited to meet you. They can't see you like this, so be a good girl and go clean yourself up down at the creek. I will give you the day off to rest.

He looked back over his shoulder at me and glared; You will be the star attraction tonight. Tell me, is this how you expected your last few hours would be?

Saphira's POV

I wasn't sure when I had fallen asleep, but I felt oddly safe with Xavier close. I hadn't slept long when I could Hear my Uncle yell. He was yelling at Carl for putting me in the cell with Xavier. He busted in and ran down the stairs. “Child, come to your Uncle.” He cooed. The sound of his voice made me sick. He was putting on a front he didn't care for me. He only cared about what he could use me for. All the years of drawing my blood for "test," He had been making my blood into a weapon. This had to have something to do with the markings on my back.

“We have many visitors coming tonight that are very interested in meeting you,” he said. “Surely others like himself that wanted to use me to gain control of other packs. Go clean yourself up at the creek. I will give you the day off to rest. At least there was that. “ As they left, I noticed Xavier holding his head.

“Are you ok?” As he looked up, I could see his eyes flickering back and forth. It seemed like he was trying to mind link someone but couldn't connect. “My pack is close little one; they are trying to find me, but I am too weak to make the link work. They have to be right on the outside of the boundary for the link to be working.”

My mind was turning a million miles an hour. As my mind was racing, my eyes fixated on the ring on his left hand. “Give me your ring.” I shoved my hand through the bars.

“Little One, what are you going to do? ”He asked as he slowly slipped the ring off and set it in my hand. “They gave me a free pass for the day, and the Alpha told me to go and wash in the creek.

The creek in circles our entire territory. I will cross the creek and find your pack.”

“I need your ring to prove you really are here.” He seemed to be deep in thought. “They will not make themselves known easily. You could walk right past them and never see them.”

I hadn't even thought about what would happen to me when I did find his pack. Truthfully I didn't care; it could not be any worse than what I had endured here. I took his ring in my hand and nodded my head. I had to move now. I couldn't run the risk of anyone finding out what I was up to. Xavier, let out a low growl and was fixated on something behind me. I whirled around and ran right into a heavy chest. I already knew who it was, Carl....

“Well, well, well, what do we have here? I came down to see if you wanted company bathing, and here I find you making plans with the enemy.” He raised his hand, ready to strike me down.

In a flash, Xavier had reached his arms through the cell bars and pulled me towards him. He held me tight with one arm and put the other in front of me to try and protect me from Carl's wrath. But Carl had stopped in his tracks. I looked at Xavier, and he had the same confused look on his face as me. Carl's eyes rolled back in his head, and he fell to the ground. Behind him stood the quiet guard. “I have been waiting forever for a chance to do that.” He said. He bent down, taking Carl's head in his hands, and with one swift motion ripped it right off his shoulders.

He then looked at me and said “for good measure,” and winked. As he walked over Carl's dead body, I sunk as far into the cell wall as possible. Xavier growled, “stay back.”

Quickly the guard put his hands up. “I mean no harm, Alpha, I promise. I only wanted to give Saphira this.” He pulled a long T-shirt dress from his bag and a pair of black leggings. “My mate guessed at the size.” He said. “My name is Darrian, by the way, I have never been able to introduce myself to you formally.” He extended his hand that was holding the clothes, but I didn't dare move.

I had been tricked before, and I wouldn't fall for it again. Although he had never hurt me, that didn't mean that he wouldn't. He must have realized this because he gave a soft smile and nod. He sat the clothes down and backed away slowly. As he returned to the top of the basement stairs, he turned back and said. “I have heard that they are worried about a recent increase in activity near the Northern border by the pools. Now, if you excuse me, he said I have a rather large supply of blood to misplace.” Then he gave me a wink.

From behind me, Xavier spoke. “You and your mate will have a place in my pack when this fight is over if you so wish.” Darrian bowed his head and shut the door behind him.

Quickly I grabbed the clothes and threw them on. They were a little big but, like Darrian had said, better than the alternative. I stuffed the ring into the pocket of the dress and ran up the stairs. I didn't have a second to spare. I ran out of the Front door and turned North. The Northern border was only about 2 miles away. It normally wouldn't take me long, but I was so tired. After what seemed like forever, I could finally see the waterfall that flowed into the pools peaking through the trees. I pushed harder. I had to get there before anyone noticed me. I had passed many different bathing areas and would no doubt draw the attention of the patrols being out this far.

I didn't slow at the water's edge but dove straight in. The cold water shocked me, and I lost my breath for a few moments. I couldn't stop now; I was so close.

It was only a very short distance across the pool, but every bone and muscle ached. The water stung every cut I had and made me feel like I had burst into fire.

Finally, I felt the ground beneath my feet. I clawed my way up the bank and fell into the earth.

I was trying to catch my breath when I realized I was not alone. Someone was here, in front of me.

“Why do you have my mate's smell on you?” I heard the question while I looked up at one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. "Who are you to Xavier?"