Page 17

Ismena was in her happiest mood tonight. For her, it wasn't exactly a mystery how she went from being scared of her companion, to being completely relaxed and trusting, enough to play in such close proximity with the white wolf.

She'd been scared of this forest and it turns out that her fear was apparently justified. The forest swarm with Wild Ones.

Barely a few minutes after they'd entered, they'd been attacked by two. Ismena was very sure that she was going to die.

Her clarity was instantly replaced by shock when the white wolf glided in front of her, shielding her with its body before it attacked the wild ones. Nalaila might be broken, but she was a strong survivor in every sense of the word.

Indeed, this wolf is a sister to the strongest male she has ever seen in her entire life.

Every fear in her had bled out of her in that moment, seeing that this wolf is truly not feral, contrary to what most people might think. This wolf does not see her as a threat. This wolf does NOT see her as a meal. This wolf likes her .

That was when she'd begun touching the wolf as they roamed around the forest. It started with just a little touch to its soft, furry back but simply extended from there.

Before she knew it, they were playing hide and seek in the forest. Amidst killing more Wild Ones that felt it was okay to interrupt their play.

Ismena had no idea how long has passed, but she knows it must have been hours. Even at that, she was in no hurry for this miraculous night to end. After all, Wolfaraine will not be back until morning.

Why go home to spend a lonely night craving for her mate in her bed, when she can keep having fun with Nalaila? The wolf has some blood all over its body but thankfully, none of them belonged to the wolf.

Now, they were playing chase. Nalaila has been chasing her around and no matter how fast—or how hard—she'd run, she can't see to outrun the white wolf. Not even when she climbed trees as Eline had taught her.

"Alright, that's it. I don't think I can ever outrun you and that's so sad." She admitted defeat aloud, rather begrudgingly as the white wolf caught her again and tackled her to the ground.

The wolf made that growly sound of excitement again before rolling her around with its hand under her armpit, which in turn made Ismena ticklish. She began giggling uncontrollably.

"Oh, stop, you bad wolf!" she giggled, "I'm starting to think that you're doing this intentionally!"

Instead of answering, the wolf who was on top of her placed its big head on hers and rubbed against it.

Ismena laughed as she gave in and began ruffling the wolf's furs from its head, behind its ears, and down to its huge body. The wolf might not be as big as the males she'd seen but it was taller than her a bit. Nalaila's wolf would be around 5 ft 5 or 5 ft 6 .

"Alright, we'll play chase one last time, then we go over to that lake we talked about. Is that a deal?" she relented yet again.

The wolf raised its paw, she automatically raised her own hand and shook it like two business humans that just closed a deal. Another laugh bubbled in Ismena's throat at that.

The wolf finally gave her enough space for her to get up, which she did. They began playing all over again.

Wolfaraine had no idea how long he stood there, watching the unbelievable scene in front of him.

Maybe, he'd slept and stepped into a dream. It would explain a lot.

But then he looked behind him again, just to be sure, and indeed almost all the Alphas that attended the burial rites were right there behind him. They have the same look of disbelief that his face must definitely mirror.

"This is not a dream, is it?" He asked no one in particular, needing to say the words out loud.

"I do not believe it is, Alpha King." Alphose answered the same as he had the first seven times their Alpha King has asked the same question. This is the eighth time.

No one could blame him, of course. What they were all seeing...witnessing... it all looks like a dream. How exactly is this possible?

"That little lady is indeed the Rahinna Queen. No other female would be able to be so brave... Not human or even changeling." Alpha Asissy stated reverently.

The Rahinna Queen. The Queen of the Alpha King. The Queen of Mates. The Queen of Naturiah.

"She has always been so brave." Head Sentinel Rodarh responded, watching the scene in awe. He lowered his voice to a whisper, "I mean, it takes a really brave human to live with this male and it takes a different kind of 'brave' to be having sexual intimacies with him."

"You are right. When I first heard that his mate is human, I thought my work just added.

As the Alpha in charge of the main border, I thought that I and my men would have a case of trying to keep the woman away from the border every single day because she was trying to run far away from him. " Alpha Zane whispered too.

"I can't believe she is taming a wild beast. Literally taming one." Alpha Morose added in a whisper, his tone filled with wonder.

"Not one. Two." Alpha Zane, responded. "That wolf is the second wild beast she has tamed. The first is him." He pointed at Wolfariane’s back.

"I can hear you all, Jaguar. The least you can do is stop whispering. It is an insult to my hearing to think I would not hear you all in a whisper." Wolfaraine stated gruffly, without looking behind him.

All the whispering Alphas cleared their throat, their cheeks going warm at being caught.

"We apologize for that." Alpha Zane said aloud.

Wolfaraine barely paid them any attention because it was all focused on his mate and his sister. His wild sister who'd refused adamantly, repeatedly, to leave her room .

Emotions clouded his throat. No matter how hard he blinked, he could not stop his eyes from watering.

"Alright, that's enough for tonight. I think it's time we all leave." Alphose addressed the alphas.

"Well, it's obvious we can't go back to the Rat Clan. I'm almost home already." Adanel muttered.

"Ours is far but way closer than the Rat's Clan." Rodarh said, and Onaries seconded with a nod.

"So, I think it's better we all just go back to our various homes, since we already came out this far." Alpha Morose agreed.

Alpha Asissy stepped forward, "It's not all the time we get together like this. What do you say we all go running and hunting before we all separate?"

"That's a great idea," Rodarh nodded his head, followed by the rest of them.

With that, all the Alpha took on their animal forms and took off in a run. Only Alphose remained behind Wolfaraine, but he was staring at the Alphas with longing on his face. Changelings love a good competition. It's not every day that a chance to compete with other Alphas presents itself.

"You should go with them too, Alphose." Wolfaraine spoke in a low tone.

"But—"

"I wanna be alone." He is having a problem controlling his damned tears. Heavens, in one week, he has teared up more than he has in his entire life.

"Okay. Call me if you need anything." Alphose patted his back reassuringly. Then, he shifted forms and ran after the other Alphas.

Alone, Wolfaraine allowed everything he was feeling to surface. A single tear escaped down his chin. His eyes zeroed in on his little sister.

Those happy little growls, It was the first time he's heard it in eighteen years. He could watch this scene all day.

The wolf finally conceded to going to the lake when it reluctantly allowed her to pull away, but didn't make any effort to initiate another game of chase.

"So, it's the lake, huh? Yaaaay!" Ismena kicked the air excitedly. "If we go now, at least, we can get a pretty good sight of it before dawn comes. Then, I have to take you back to the tower and wait for your raging brother. Oh, he is gonna be so mad, Nalaila. So mad..."

She wasn't expecting an answer, of course. In fact, there was no indication that Nalaila was listening, but it didn't stop her from talking to the wolf.

Looking around, her eyes searched for a path that can be used as an exit. The wolf had led her so deep into this forest that it wouldn't surprise her at all if they ended up getting lost without a clue of their way back.

When she found a path, she breathed out a sigh of relief, "Come on, friend! Let's see if we can make our way out of this place through this path."

The wolf fell into steps with her and they walked together. They were only able to take three steps together when Ismena froze.

With the euphoric feeling of playing with Nalaila evaporating, she was finally able to make out another feeling …

A shiver went down her spine.

He is in the Rat Clan, Ismena, there is no way he is here.

Turning around, she looked around fanatically, swallowing tightly. She could see clearly enough in the semi-darkness but her eyes only saw trees.

"Yes, that's right. He is in the Rat Clan. Pull yourself together, you dog." She muttered under her breath, scolding herself.

But as she made the move to turn back to her path, a figure pulled away from a tree that was a little far away from where she stood. The figure had blended so well into the night, into the tree that she'd thought it was part of the tree that first glance.

Now, she watched in shocked horror as the huge figure began moving closer to her. This figure has become so familiar to her that she knows the very owner of it, even without the butterflies that spread out on her lower belly and her heart that began to race.

"Oh, damn. There was a 'caught'." She muttered in sheer horror while her dangerous actions in the last several hours flashed through her mind. He is gonna be so mad!

As he walked closer, her nervous system took over, words started rushing out of her mouth.