41

Keno;

I ran through the dense forest like a madman and while the thunderstorm was pounding in my ears, I kept bumping my shoulder against thick branches and tearing my t-shirt open more and more, but I didn't give a shit.

First Aria disappeared and now Yasha too.

Few alphas could claim to have two mates and then lose both within hours.

"Bloody shit!" I cursed furiously, shaking my head, shaking many drops of rain from my black hair.

I was not interested in this Yasha at all. The bond with her wasn't nearly as strong as with Aria... I loved her and not just because of the connection, but because she was just my little one. The stubborn, stubborn, bitchy girl that was clouding my mind again and that I was so worried about that it was almost unbearable...

When I reached a tree, I paused for a moment and mentally called for Jamal again, but he was certainly far away and wouldn't even notice my desperate calls...

It was maddening..

Plus this forest, which seemed so irritating to me. There was no end, no beginning and where before you thought you were going to be running in circles, deep abysses suddenly appeared in front of you that you would never have expected to be there.

"Keno!" I suddenly heard Jamal's voice behind me and looked past the tree with wide eyes to watch my beta just pulling a pair of pants over his otherwise naked body.

"Jamal," I whispered relieved and immediately ran up to him to explain everything to him in detail, but when he arrived in front of him, he suddenly hit me in the face without warning, causing me to stumble and the thunderstorm above me stopped raging .

"What the shit!" I yelled from under my hands, clutching my bleeding nose as I watched wide-eyed as the entire forest lit up again.

"Are you okay?" he said sympathetically, but I immediately wanted to attack him, which he knew how to prevent by taking a few steps back, but I still approached him closer.

"Calm down!" he yelled at me, gently pushing me away. "You are enchanted!"

"What?!", I wanted to know irritated and rubbed my bloodstained hands on my jeans to look at him in complete disbelief.

"That Pasqua is a fucking witch, Keno! That's why he knew about Aria and stayed close to her!"

I stared wide-eyed into nothing and at that moment I became aware of the extent of these illusions. Yasha wasn't a wolf, nor was Juniper... They purposely laid it down for us to separate, and now that Aria was traveling alone, Yasha didn't bother to stay by my side either.

All along, Aria was her only target...

"Where's Aria?!", I asked desperately and looked around the forest in panic, but Jamal only shook his head slightly.

"She's after the witch. I couldn't follow her, otherwise I would probably have fallen for her spell and wouldn't have found you. There are also vampires around here and they're not the friendly kind!"

"Vampires?" I repeated, overwhelmed, clutching my heart. I've never been afraid of anything... I've never felt such panic... but this time it wasn't for me, or for my pack, or for my life...

It was about Aria, who was either being used by witches for their purposes or being tortured by vampires...

"Fuuuuck!" I yelled with all my might, banging my fist hard against the tree next to me several times until Jamal grabbed me tightly from behind and tried to calm me down.

"What do you want from her?" I whispered softly, closing my eyes to hold back tears. I didn't want Jamal to see my weakness, but I'm sure he could hear it just from my trembling voice.

"What do witches want anyway... Exploit their power... Turn her into a bonded slave... I don't know," Jamal said thoughtfully and I almost burst with anger at these thoughts alone, so that I hastily tore myself away from him and clenched my hands into fists.

"We have to look for her immediately!", I explained to Jamal and turned to him, but he denied my statement, which made me almost attack him.

"Don't you get it?! We don't stand a chance against their spells! Aria has to find out for herself!"

"Are you kidding me!" I yelled at him and pushed him backwards on his shoulders so that he almost fell over.

"Keno!" He spoke loudly, looking intently into my eyes, which were blazing with anger. "She has to do it alone. The chance that those witches will hex us immediately is too great!"

"Maybe I can help!", I suddenly heard a voice from the side and, like Jamal, looked in the direction from which the voice came.

"You bastard," Jamal growled at Pasqua. "How did you get out of my trunk!"

"I'm a witcher," said this blond guy, grinning superiorly at us.

"Why would you want to help us?" I demanded, tensing every muscle in my body as he slowly approached us.

"Because I like Aria. That's the only reason. I know Juniper and Yasha and I don't want them to use them for sex."

"What did you just say?!", I growled in disbelief and already felt my wolf, who was out to tear everything around me with anger.

"Then tell us what to do," Jamal spoke instead of me and I really tried not to freak out, so I took several calming breaths and tried to follow Pasqua's plan carefully...