19

I sat in silence on the hard wooden chair and just listened to the others arguing. I didn't even try to say anything because I knew it didn't matter what I said, it would be wrong either way.

To my surprise, Thomas hadn't introduced me to the people I had seen, but had walked with me to a large wooden hut that was a little off the beaten track. The council had gathered there and were now discussing me heatedly. I sat in the seat that was actually my brother's. This, however, stood in the middle of the room and delivered a heated argument with a strong man. The council consisted of 7 people, including me.

The town or group, whatever, had called itself Aurum and was based basically on the old organization of my home village. Here was the point of contention. In the old organization I would now be the sole leader for further discussion, but was I also in the new one?

For three people on the council, including my brother, it wasn't a question at all. They were sure that I had to take my place at the head of the organization. But the others were critical. The eldest of the group tried repeatedly to settle the dispute, but he had no chance.

Worst of all was the only woman in the room. The tall, black-haired woman seemed to want to kill me with her eyes and I shifted nervously in my chair. She had only intervened briefly in the men's argument and made her intentions clear. i should die

Luckily she was the only one who said it so directly. Even if the dark-skinned, well-built man who was just talking to Thomas probably thought something similar, at least he didn't say it.

The probably oldest in the room, who was still trying to settle the argument, was also against me, but at least didn't want to kill me. He was of the opinion that I was a risk that could not be assessed. I should first come into custody or be integrated into the community. So far I liked this approach the most, because I really didn't feel like playing the leader here. I would never be able to draw up battle plans against the wolves.

Ever since I was able to think reasonably clearly again, my thoughts have been with Cyrian. I hated myself for forbidding him to tag me. That was the only way he could have found me.

On the other hand, I was happy about it. I didn't know if he really had a chance against the humans here and I didn't want to put him in danger.

I continued to overhear the strangers arguing. The few details and information they gave didn't really help me because I couldn't understand most of the terms.

At some point the discussion cooled down a bit. It became quieter and gradually the conversations fell silent. It was again the eldest who brought in a suggestion.

"Let's leave her here on the council for a month and see what happens. When this month is up, we'll request a referendum to decide whether or not she becomes leader."

"No!" the black-haired woman almost fanned out. "We don't have as much of her alive as we have dead. If she were a good leader, she would even sacrifice herself. This is finally our chance to deal a real blow to the wolves. So far we've only tickled them, but now we have the opportunity to really hurt and harm them. Only idiots would pass up that opportunity!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Mystic." came a growling voice. I hadn't heard the tall bald man speak. He too had only observed the situation critically, but he seemed to be on my brother's side, so presumably on mine too.

"We claim that we are better than the wolves and then want to kill an innocent woman? One who even still belongs to us?" the stranger explains.

"Who says she belongs with us? You know a mate bond always affects both, including humans. If she could, she would crawl right back to the Alpha!" argued the woman apparently named Mystic.

"Nonsense!" my brother defended me. Just as he was about to continue, he was interrupted.

"That's right now." the eldest explained again. "There's no use arguing with us here. We all disagree, but we all know that Thomas has the last word in a case like this. He's the main voice in the council, so let's finally agree or he decides alone!"

Mystic snorted audibly and glared at me again. Then she sighed and gave up her resistance. "Well then I'm all for her staying here for the month and then we let the people decide, I'd rather that than let Thomas decide, we all know that she would then become leader today."

The others nodded too. I could see the relief on different faces when the matter was finally settled.

With a slight smile on his face, Thomas grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the hut. He didn't look a hundred percent happy, but satisfied.

"That means we have a month to convince people that you're the rightful leader, that should be doable."

He pulled me down a path. "You will be able to sleep in my house. The members of the council all have their own house, unless they have family, then of course they live there too. First I will introduce you to my wife and children, they will love you."

Without saying anything I followed Thomas. There was so much I would have liked to say or ask him, but not a word passed my lips. I had to digest what I had experienced first. Not only that in a month there would be a vote on whether I would be the leader of a group of killers, but also that my brother had a family. So that I too had a new family. A nice thought.

Cyrian's point of view

Seconds, minutes, hours. Everything seemed so incredibly surreal to me. Ever since I found out that Alexandra was gone, time and place didn't seem to matter anymore. I hadn't been able to track down her brother and had returned so dejected, expecting Alexandra to be waiting for me at home. But she had disappeared. I had probably only arrived shortly after she had disappeared, but it had been too late. Every attempt to find her failed.

Only hours later traces of esters were found. These small, innocent-looking blossoms were really annoying to wolves. They completely obscured the smell of people. Luckily, you could still follow the smell of esters and since the source of the smell could only be Alexandra, I had had hope for a brief moment. But that hope had vanished into thin air just as quickly as it had come.

You couldn't follow the smell as it led in different directions. That made me extremely angry on one side, because that made it even harder to find Alexandra again.

But on the other hand I was relieved because it meant that she hadn't run away from me again. But whether a kidnapping was better than a voluntary run away?

I hated myself for walking away and also for not tagging her. Now everything depended on the wolves following the various tracks. I too had taken over one of the paths and have been following it for over a day now. I didn't even allow myself a break.

sleep, eat, drink. Everything was so unimportant without her. Even the things you needed to survive lost their value. Her name haunted my mind over and over again.

A darkness had settled over my thoughts and, fittingly, large storm clouds covered the sky.

The angry thunder sounded like my enraged roar when I lost track for a brief moment.

The bright flashes lit my way for a few seconds because the moon was covered by clouds.

For the first time I felt like I understood what happens when a wolf's mate dies. The wolves didn't scream, nor did they get angry. They were mostly very quiet. Trapped in their sadness and the darkness.

I shook my head and picks up the pace. Alexandra wasn't dead, I would have felt that. She's somewhere waiting for me. She's waiting for me to save her and I won't let her down.

My mighty paws almost flew over the forest floor and I only took in the trees around me in outline.

Faster and faster I followed the trail because it had to end somewhere. Should I find the person who dared to kidnap my Alexandra, she would suffer for it. They would all suffer. Mercy would be a foreign word to me.

I would set an example so no one will ever forget what happens when you dare touch my mate.

Lost in my thoughts, I kept running until I suddenly stopped, startled. For the first time in over 24 hours I stood completely still.

I sniffed the air and inhaled the smell. The further I had walked, the weaker the smell of esters had become, but now I recognized what lay beneath the smell.

Person.

I didn't know who it belonged to, definitely not Alexandra, but there was definitely a human touch beneath the neutral scent of the flowers.

An angry growl escaped my throat. These dirty people dared to steal my Mate?!

I started walking again, following the scent of the human that became more and more obvious the further I walked.

I knew I was about to reach my destination and someone would be there and know where my mate was. I would have no problem getting him to talk.

Cracking thunder announced me and the first raindrops found their way to the ground.

The faster my paws slid across the forest floor, the louder the sky thundered.

It was only a few minutes before the first roof appeared between the trees. The smell of esters had dissipated and the human smell underneath mingled with the other smells of the village.

A village of people.

Another angry sound escaped my mouth. I didn't know which of these humans had kidnapped my mate because the smell mixed with the other human smells.

People all smell pretty much the same to me, except for Alexandra of course. She smelled fresh and a little like warm apple pie. The rest of humanity just smelled like dirt. It would be impossible for me to find that one person. At least not by the smell.

In the shadow of a large oak tree I transformed back. It didn't bother me that I wasn't wearing any clothes, this was quite normal for wolves. In human form I entered the village, knowing that this night would not only be long, but also bloody.