47

Keno;

For days we wandered through this gloomy forest and it was becoming extremely exhausting for me to be under full concentration the whole time, but I didn't trust this Pasqua one bit, so I had to be ready to kill him at any time.

"Are you finally coming?" he called after me and Jamal and I looked briefly at my beta, who seemed even more marked than me. His dark circles under his eyes shaped his otherwise so even face and his otherwise so short, perfect curls stood out in all directions.

"We should put him out of his life," he whispered to me with a grin and I was only too happy to agree, but he promised to keep these two weird sisters away from us, so I let him do it.

"As soon as we have Aria," I began, looking deep into Jamal's eyes. "You can do whatever you want with him. I promise!"

Jamal smiled happily and I knew he was a fighter and would enjoy catapulting this weird wizard, warlock, goblin or whatever he was into the afterlife to the fullest.

"You should know," Pasqua drew our attention, standing right in front of us. "That's something I can tell when someone plans something behind my back. So you should-"

I couldn't react as quickly as a long arrow was suddenly pierced through his head and I stared wide-eyed into his blue irises, only to watch in shock as all life drained from them.

"Keno!" Jamal yelled in panic, tugging on my arm to pull me behind a tree, but I couldn't take my eyes off Pasqua, who just collapsed and died before my eyes. "Keno!" Jamal shouted again, shaking me until I looked at him with wide eyes. "Concentrate! Those are dirty vampires!"

Jamal stood at the edge of the tree to look out, but I was more sensitive than he was. Already knowing that we were surrounded, I slowly stepped away from the tree to stand openly in the small square that looked like some kind of clearing.

"Come out!" I yelled menacingly and Jamal immediately stepped to my side to tense his entire body.

My eyes fell upwards as some branches rustled in the wind and I glanced at the gray sky before looking straight ahead again and noticed a slightly older-looking woman walking straight towards me with two other vampires.

Her entire attire seemed like one of majesty. She even had a fucking crown on. What was the shit? Was that again an illusion created by Yasha and Juniper?

"You see her too?" I turned to Jamal, who had already turned into a wolf and growled loudly next to me.

I also wanted to transform, but suddenly this woman addressed me by my name, which made me look at her confused.

"Keno, right?" she asked politely, noticing my puzzled look, which made her smile. "I'm sorry. How rude not to introduce myself. I'm Gloria," she said to my surprise and on the one hand I was happy to have found Aria's beloved aunt, on the other hand she was a vampire, which Aria had probably not told me.

"Hello," I then said quietly and looked around, where I recognized more and more vampires around me, all of whom seemed ready for a fight. "Where's Aria?" I wanted to know after my brief observation and also noticed how Jamal growled loudly next to me.

"She wants to live with me, Keno. I'm really sorry. She sent me to tell you personally," she suddenly asserted my worst fears, and I shook my head in the negative, while my wolf seemed to believe her immediately. Too many times she'd rejected him and pushed him away, because where I should be able to feel her through the marker at any time, there wasn't anything there since she'd once again decided to go without me.

But still I didn't want to believe her.

"I want to see her. Talk to her," I returned my wishes to this Gloria, but she only put on a regretful expression to scrutinize me sympathetically.

"She's very scared of you. She said you'd held her against her will. She's very scared because of your nature," she spoke to me and I felt my eyes fill with tears as I said these words, but I quickly brushed them away and collected myself to think about it all. While it made sense that Aria might not want to see me after everything I'd done to her, was she really that scared of me? was i so cruel was i such a fool

I felt Jamal's eyes piercing me and also felt the pain that came over him as he had to see me suffer...

"So you two. Go home and don't worry. My little one is back with me and she's finally happy again."

I looked at Gloria one last time and nodded to her.

"Tell her-" I wanted to tell her something, but I dismissed this thought and just nodded. "We will go."

She seemed happy about my decision and nodded to me again, only to disappear again faster than expected with all her followers until there was nothing left but me and the wolf next to me.

"Transform back," I commanded Jamal in a dark voice, looking around the forest to make sure we were alone.

Jamal immediately complied with my order and quickly pulled on his ripped jeans to give me a sad stare...

"So we're leaving?" he asked sympathetically and I immediately looked at him seriously.

"Certainly not! It was all a lie! Aria isn't scared of anything! She didn't leave because she wanted to get rid of me. She left because she couldn't stand that witch who claimed to be my mate! "

Jamal grinned stupidly and ran his fingers through his thick, black hair in anticipation.

"Does that mean we kill some vampires?" he wanted to know excitedly like a little puppy and licked his lip.

"We're going to kill her damn majesty and everything that stands between us and Aria," I replied, hugging his shoulder and he did the same.

"I'll protect you and Aria with my life," he assured me, and we set off together, chasing the disgusting smell of vampires, unsure of what else awaited us.