31

DAMIAN’;S VIEW

I bit into my pancake heartily. This time Alina and I baked them together and they actually turned out pretty good. It's been surprisingly quiet so far. The two of us were showering and had prepared our breakfast. We had been sitting and eating for an hour now. Apparently yesterday's activities had both of us pretty tired and we made up for it with heaps of food. I thought back to last night. Yes, it really was unforgettable.

And not only our "sporting activities", which definitely had to be mentioned. i grinned Oh yes, that night had been indescribable. In fact, I had to admit that I had no idea what positions you could try in bed (not just in bed). At the thought of a certain where the angle came in handy, I put my hand on Alina's thigh and slowly stroked up. She stopped mid-movement and glared at me. I smiled lovingly, but did her the favor and placed my hand on the table. I needed a break too.

But it wasn't just the physical thing that really got to me last night. I hadn't forgotten her words either. Normally I would have doubted them, after all it was just a funny situation to say something like that in the middle of sex. But I knew Alina well enough to know that she was completely serious. She wasn't the person to say I love you to someone but didn't mean it. That's why it touched me so much. Of course I knew that a soul connection mostly led to love. Nevertheless, Alina and I were different, which is why it was also a question for me whether and, above all, how we would say it to each other.

I was always aware of my love for Alina, but hearing it from her, even though I knew it might come to that at some point, was still something special for me. Which was probably also the reason for my reaction to her words. Not exactly a best performance, but fortunately I was able to prove that to Alina afterwards.

Still embarrassed, I popped the rest of the pancake into my mouth. Alina also just finished her last one and then looked at me. "You're red," was all she said. I immediately turned my head to the side so she couldn't see it anymore. This woman made that sides of me came to light that I didn't know myself yet. Alina sighed. "I'm excited to see when reality will catch up with us." "Think of it this way: It's all true. It's really happening. You have to look at it more in such a way that we ask ourselves when the ugly will catch up with us again."

The next moment - it was almost too funny to be true - I heard the front door open and a voice said loudly: "Please cover all your nakedness, because I'm coming in now." Even though I knew there was nothing to hide, my eyes naturally went to Alina, who seemed to have expected this and was glaring at me. Don't you dare start something like that. I raised both hands slightly in defense. I warned you about this.

Sometimes I can't suppress it. She rolled her eyes but seemed unwilling to reply. She couldn't have anyway, because Jack now entered the room with a grin. When he realized that we weren't actually revealing anything, the corners of his mouth turned down noticeably. Suddenly he stopped at a distance and looked at me expectantly: "Can I enter this room safely?" Although he had an amused undertone when he spoke, I knew he was completely serious about his question. On the one hand Jack wanted to know how far my jealousy went, on the other hand he wanted to give me my freedom. If I needed more alone time with Alina, he would give it to me.

“Do you want me to go?” Jack knew me well enough to know what was going on in my head. Alina didn't notice anything about it, but read my feelings correctly. She said in a calm voice: "It's fine, come in.

Unfortunately we can't offer you anything to eat." Jack laughed and entered the room with careful steps. "I've already eaten, no problem." He gave me a questioning look, but sat down next to us when I nodded. "I suppose congratulations are in order." Alina made a face. "It sounds like we're married or expecting a child." "Well, that wasn't my intention, but if that's true, you get double congratulations."

"No," I grinned, "once is enough." I explained to Alina, "It's normal in some packs to congratulate one another on a full bond." " that I had nothing to fear, they would never do that to me. But I couldn't suppress my instincts. It would be best if they postponed the hug until later. Alina gave me a cautious smile and said to Jack: "Maybe we won't do that for now." He laughed and turned to me. "Okay, but then you owe me a hug." Embarrassed, I looked away. It made me feel pretty uncomfortable that I was acting so stupid, even though every werewolf felt like that. Alina put her hand on my shoulder. Even if she acted as if it bothered her a lot - probably it did a little too - she understood me. She just knew it, from all the things she had experienced so far. Even if Alina had told me a lot about her previous life, I would probably never know everything. "Once again I interrupt you at your private stuff and once again I have a very reasonable explanation for it," Jack justified himself.

"Our guards have spotted two alphas at the borders with their closest confidants. They're waiting to see if they can enter our precinct."

"Who?" I didn't ask why nobody had told me. Most of them probably knew that I didn't want to be disturbed. "Samuel and Eriens." I knew Eriens. We've always gotten along pretty well. Although I should probably say that we always respected each other. Eriens were about my age and relied on respect in their pack. I've always liked his style. But Samuel..." Why doesn't the name Samuel mean anything to me?" Alina watched me and looked at Jack, who replied: "Samuel took over his father's pack seven years ago. They overthrew him as he went further and further into his insanity." I nodded.

"So you did as I asked?" This time it was Jack who nodded in answer to my question. "Okay," I glanced at Alina, who just shrugged, "Then they shall meet us at the packhouse." ||| "I didn't expect to see you again under the circumstances." Eriens shook my hand vigorously before moving on to Alina. "Von I've heard a lot from you."

"Likewise. to be the first alpha Choosing to fully involve his people in their decisions so that they always have a say probably doesn't get around as well as the appearance of a goddess, but I've heard from you, Eriens."

A grin crept up his narrow face, his red hair pulled back in a little braid and Eriens apparently had a new beard which looked good on him He took a few steps towards Alina to shake her hand and I turned it head and bit my tongue to stifle a growl. Eriens understood my reaction nonetheless. "Well, difficult times, I understand. But I can put your mind at ease, Damian." A tall, burly man, almost two heads taller than all of us, towering over us, stepped out of the crowd and positioned himself next to his Alpha, face rigid. Eriens smiled up at him. "I'm not interested in your soul mate for a number of reasons." He smirked, and now I had to chuckle, too. The irony was just too funny. Alina pushed in front of me.

"How did you two meet?" "We fought each other when Jones realized we were soul mates. And then I had a new bodyguard. Right, Johnny?" Eriens looked up at him encouragingly. But when he didn't answer, Eriens added: "He doesn't like to talk that much." Alina smiled. She seemed to like them both just as much as I did. That was good. Because if Eriens was here for the reason I hoped, then we had to make up. Another person entered the room and Eriens and Jones withdrew to give their place to someone else.

He was indeed as young as I had thought. Close-cropped brown hair that looked more like a practical hairstyle than anything else was the first thing that caught my eye. Then I registered his brown eyes, which went well with his skin tone, which also played around his crooked nose, among other things.

But before I could say anything, Samuel's eyes focused on the woman next to me. And Alina also looked at him before she uttered: "What do you want here, Sam?" than anything else was the first thing that caught my eye. Then I registered his brown eyes, which went well with his skin tone, which also played around his crooked nose, among other things.

ALINA’S VIEW

Sam or Samuel responded to my question as I expected. "Nice to see you again, Linchen." "I hate that name, you know that." He just shrugged as if he didn't care, like he always had. "I think you're in the wrong place here. We want to protect lives here and not let them go before the knife." Sam rolled his eyes. "Just say you're still not over it." "I was over it the moment I managed to make you look like the biggest jerk in front of your father."

"Yes, I haven't forgotten that. Neither has he. The fact that you killed three of our strongest warriors just like that bothered him more." Sam giggled like always when he found something terribly amusing. "You know, it was killing him not knowing how you did it. And me too, I have to admit, but it's all clear now."

The corner of his mouth turned up mockingly. "You are a little goddess. Who would have thought that?" That was the moment I had enough. A moment ago I was standing next to the confused looking Damian and in the next second I was pushing Sam up the nearest wall with a hand around his neck. I bared my teeth and whispered, "What's all this about? What do you want here?" Sam was aware of the danger, but seemed less interested in it. "It's so fun to see that for once you don't know everything, why would I ruin that?" I noticed in the background how Damian kept everyone from coming near us.

We had to settle this between ourselves. But I had time. And the strength to leave it hanging there for a long time. So I smiled wickedly at him, tightened my grip, and pushed him up a notch with a gust of wind, so Sam now understood that I meant business, too. He kicked at me with his legs and grabbed my hand which was wrapped around his neck. "I want to help you. And it doesn't really help if I die of lack of air first, don't you think?" "Oh, I'll risk it for this sight." I heard Zabrina whisper, "That's what I came here for," and imagined her grin. It brought me back to myself. I loosened my grip, but didn't let Sam down yet. "Tell me what you're doing here." "If you would listen to me, you would have heard me. I will help you. Do you think I killed my father so that I can carry on like him?" I frowned and let go of him.

"You killed Case?" Sam pursed his lips and rubbed the back of his neck. He replied, "Yes, I have. There comes a point in life where you realize something is seriously wrong. Mine was when Case had Sylle killed." Sylle had been his best friend since I had known Sam and in my opinion his taste in his best friend was the only good thing about him. At least, that's what I thought before I found out he'd killed his bully father. "I'm sorry for that. I didn't know." "It doesn't have to be. Case thought Sylle would make me weak, so he had her eliminated. I guess that's when I blew my mind." He gave me a meaningful look, but I took it.

Sam had killed Case as a result of that, making him Alpha automatically. There wasn't one Standing up, although that also seemed very likely when I thought back to how Case had the children raised in his pack. I took a few steps back, giving Sam some space back. He was silent for a moment, but then spoke again: "We've both made a lot of mistakes in the past. Case probably bigger than both of us. So I'm all for putting our differences aside. At least for that what lies ahead." And after that we would speak out. Maybe even before that. But the most important thing now was our survival.

Sam was willing to forget both of our betrayals, now the only question was whether I could forget his actions first. I looked into his brown eyes. Sam had changed, as had I. And he had already laid a good foundation for our new relationship when he killed his father. So I nodded to him. "All right." Sam, suddenly very serious, seemed relieved.

"Very well, then we can get to the more important topics." He looked at Eriens, who had been watching us closely, like everyone else. "I think you want something for us tell." "Right. I just wanted to make sure you got yours," he cleared his throat, " disagreement." Damian, still watching me closely and no doubt wondering what had happened between Sam and I, pointed to the large table where we had been sitting with Egbert. "Sit down Yes." "Well," Eriens began, "I got your message before, and I've always intended to join you - to join you. Before that, though, I wanted to work on something." Eriens reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a small vial filled with a clear liquid.

"It's quite complicated to explain, so I'd like to demonstrate it." He waved of a woman using a gloved hand to pull a well-known plant from a brown bag: Krecanos. Eriens rolled up his left sleeve, exposing his arm. The woman held the herb away from her and ran toward her Alpha. Suddenly Jones stepped into the action and grabbed Erien's arm. He shook his head, causing the woman to stop.

Eriens frowned, probably talking to his soulmate via mind-link. But Jones kept shaking his head and freed his arm in return. Then he nodded. Was he able to do anything else besides communicating with gestures? The woman looked questioningly at her alpha, who was still looking at the man next to him, but finally nodded. I almost thought it was meant to be an intentional show, entertaining as this was, but then Jones reached for the vial and drank the contents in one breath.

In response, he pursed his lips, waited about twenty seconds, and nodded to the woman. She carefully removed the krecanos blossoms and rubbed them over Jones' arm. I leaned forward excitedly. Normally, as a natural reaction, his arm should have burned immediately and turned an unhealthy red color. It was even possible that the herb was so strong that it would have caused a brief faint. How a body reacted to the herb was always different and also depended on the health of the individual.

But nothing of the sort happened. Jones didn't appear to be in pain, nor did his arm begin to discolor. I stepped closer, fascinated. "You found a cure for Krecanos?" I breathed questioningly. "Not quite," Eriens replied. "We were looking for a way to suppress the effects of the herb. It helps against the superficial effects. And judging from our trials it doesn't last for hours either, but looking for another way or mix to prolong it would have Took too long.

We didn't know where your plans were and when you were going to take action against them." "That's great," Damian intervened and stepped next to me. "How much do you have?" Eriens told us a lot, saying he hadn't taken all the doses with him but the rest were on the way. Clear relief then broke out and Damian threw me a look. I nodded. Even though we destroyed most of the krecanos, it helped.