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T hey were almost at the door of the house when Eline stopped and turned to her, "You have a very bad heart disease that is already killing you because strangely, your body is not responding to treatments.

But since you met the Alpha King and established physical contact with him, you have been feeling way better than you've felt in a long time. Am I right?"

Ismena was dumbfounded to answer the question. Suddenly, this woman is putting all her inner turmoils into words. How did she know that? She never told anybody about it.

Eline continued, "That is because you're not only his mate but also your mating compatibilities are very high. If you mate with him and you keep sharing sexual intimacies with him, it'll take time but your body will heal entirely."

"W-What are you insinuating?" She whispered, suddenly scared. She is so terrified to hope.

"I'm saying that there's a way for you not to die. To mate, and keep having intimacies with your partner." That said, Eline turned and walked into the house.

The rest of the day Ismena couldn't stop thinking about what Eline told her today. There's a way she wouldn't die...?

There's a way for her to live more than a few weeks.

A way for her to keep her family from the misery that will come from her death.

A way for her to see her sister graduate from school.

A way for her to be there on the day her best friend, Sandra, will get married...

There's a way for her to live...?

Everything Eline said was far-fetched, but they made perfect sense at the same time. Ismena can still remember all those times she's fainted and woke to his kisses. The way she'd always felt good after his touch and kisses.

And the night four days ago... She shivered, just at the memory of it. It's been nine days here in Naturiah without her meds. Yet, she feels better than ever.

Ismena is too scared to hope, but what does she have to lose?

Not hoping means dying.

No, she has to meet with Wolfariane. She has look him in the eyes and ask him if she is his mate like Eline said.

Alpha Alphose and the Alpha King arrived in the dungeon-room, but Alphose took one look at the sight before them, and the Alpha King, and made an instant decision to give him privacy. "I'll just...Uhm...wait in the next room."

Wolfariane only nodded, standing behind the bars watching the wolf and the food they kept in front of it the food it hasn't touched at all.

He was barely aware of the door opening and closing behind him.

According to the Sentinels in charge of her feeding, she hasn't been eating for the past few days.

In wolf-form, Nalaila eats hares, fishes, and birds. Sometimes, she eats veggies. But, for the past few days, she has refused to eat anything and it isn't her first time of being this way.

The wolf laid curled up in a fetal position, its eyes closed but Wolfariane knows it isn't sleeping. It woke two days ago for the first time in a week. It made him happy and relieved.

But they were quick to vanish when he got complaints that the wolf hasn't been eating.

"Eat your food, Nalaila." But even as he said that he knows that he's only wasting his time. The wolf does not hear a thing he says. It hasn't heard anything he has said in the last eighteen years.

When he couldn't stand there anymore, he opened the cell bars, walked through them, and locked it. Picking up the big bowl of raw meat, he offered the wolf.

It didn't move.

His wolf yelped in pain, while his mountain lion reared up inside him, snapping its teeth in agitation.

They want out .

They want to reach for her, especially the most damaged part of him. Especially the mountain lion.

For the past few days, he has held that part of him in a tight leach, which in turn has made him restless. But now, unable to bear Nalaila's pains any longer, he let the mountain lion out.

In five seconds, a seven-foot-tall mountain lion occupied the space where the man stood before. Its huge head raised towards the ceiling and let out an ear-splitting roar.

Sentinel Argah who's currently keeping watch of the gates of the big tower watched the beautiful human female as she walked towards the gate and knocked hesitantly on it.

The cougar shifter contemplated if he should open the gates for the human or not.

On a normal occasion, he shouldn't be contemplating it at all. But he'd seen the Alpha King carry the female through this gate days ago, so surely, she's not an intruder.

His eyes surveyed her. Everyone within close miles heard the roar of the King-Cougar. Automatically, everyone within these miles has bowed their head in respect wherever they are. Question is, Is it safe for her to be here now?

The Alpha King is unpredictable, but the Alpha King in cougar form is most unpredictable.

There are rumors that he is most... unstable in that form, and it has something to do with The Lab, eighteen years ago. But it's all rumors. No one knows anything the Alpha King does not want them to know because he is very private .

But still, he walked towards the huge metal gate and pinned the woman with a hard stare. "Who are you looking for?"

"Big bad Wol—I mean, the Alpha King." The quick correction followed immediately.

"Is he expecting you?"

"Y-Yes," she lied, too desperate to start trying to make explanations for the mean-looking man that questions her lazily like he has no intentions of letting her in. "Yes, he is."

The man finally rose from the chair with the fluidity of a cat, covered the distance, and opened the gates.

"Thank you." Ismena walked through and towards the front door. He didn't call her back or say anything else, and for that, she is more than grateful.

There are so many guards—or sentinels, like Eline, calls them—at the vicinity of the tower but when she stepped into the house, everywhere was empty.

As she took the stairs to the fourth floor of the house where she remembered clearly his bedroom is, she wondered at the emptiness of the big castle. Just like that morning four days ago, she didn't see a single soul.

She got to his bedroom, but it was empty too. Where is he?

She knows he's around. He has to be around for his men to let her in.

"Wolfariane..." She called hesitantly, looking around.

There was no answer .

Completely forgetting his instructions five nights ago when he told her never to wander around but to remain in his bedroom, Ismena went in search of him.

"Wolfariane...?" She called again, walking through the hallways of the fourth floor. She called repeatedly but didn't get any answer.

So, she walked out of the fourth floor to check another floor of the big tower...

The huge mountain lion used his paw yet again to push the food towards the smaller wolf. The wolf pushed the food away again, whining in its throat. An anguished sound.

The wolf has refused repeatedly, but the mountain lion did not give up.

This time around, he stalked closer to the wolf, lowered himself to his haunches, and pressed his huge forehead to the wolf's.

Also, it raised a huge forepaw and pressed on the wolf's jaw repeatedly. A gesture filled with affection, guilt, and pain.

The wolf growled low in its throat. The mountain lion did the same, waiting the wolf out so patiently.

Finally, amber eyes with invisible wounds to the soul closed, and the wolf whimpered in defeat and surrender.

A few seconds passed between them, before the mountain lion stepped back, and offered the food again. This time around, the wolf lowered her head and devored the meat ravenously.

The mountain lion stood guard while the wolf ate, its green eyes never leaving the wolf .

Suddenly, a scent whisked through the air.

The wolf and the cougar froze at the same time. They know that scent for what it is.

The smell of human.

The wolf went berserk instantly, howling in blind anger and rage. Food abandoned, she threw her whole form towards the bar that caged her, over and over and over again. She wants out of here to catch the human!

As for the mountain lion, it stalked out of the bars, barely sparing enough time to close the bars with his hind paw before it took off in a dead run towards the door.

His green eyes mirrored the blind anger and rage the wolf's...only more.

He let out an ear-splitting raging howl that would have shaken the towers if its foundation was not so strong and solid.

A snarl had the mountain's teeth bared with the obvious expression that says...

Prey is here.

Prey will die.

Ismena heard the distinct animalistic roars and growls. It sounded so far away.

She wasn't scared. After all, she's in a changeling territory, it's only a given that she'll be hearing sounds like this.

It makes sense why everywhere looks so empty. Maybe they're in their animal forms training, running, or doing something at some part of the big tower .

"Wolfariane?" She called again, coming down the stairs of the third floor. She stepped into the long hallway, her eyes taking in the enlarged pictures and painting on the wall, fascinatingly. This place is so beautiful.

That roar came again. This time closer.

"Wolfariane? Where are you...?" She called again, "I need to talk to you."

Another ear-splitting roar filled the air. Then, she heard another one. And another. And another.

She turned towards another corridor. That was when she saw it.

Two animals were running towards her. Two lions. But the other one...? It was even bigger. A very bigger lion!

Fear gripped Ismena.

"OH MY GOD!!!!" She screamed so loud, whirled around, and took off in a dead run.

Footsteps sounded loudly behind her. They are gaining in on her!

"Somebody heeeeeeelp!!!!!!" She screamed even louder, running towards the stairs.

Behind her, the slightly smaller mountain lion caught up with the King-Cougar and threw itself at it. The King-Cougar growled angrily and with a strong shake of its body, he threw the other cougar away from his body and kept chasing after the human.

The other mountain lion gave it his all, catching up with the King-Cougar and throwing himself at its path in an effort to stop the King-Cougar. The delay from reaching his prey made King-Cougar roar and attack the leopard .

As they fought, the human ran as fast as her legs can carry her—in this circumstance, very fast—without a backward glance, screaming at the top of her voice.

The slightly-smaller cougar shifted.

Alphose stood before the huge mountain lion, "Don't do it! Don't do it!" He shouted.

At the scent of the human that whisked through Alphose's nose while he waited for the Alpha King to finish up with Nalaila told him that there'll be a problem. His suspicions was quickly confirmed when he heard the loud howl of a wolf and the roar of the cougar that followed.

The human female is in danger! That was his only thought as he quickly shifted forms, ran out of the room and went after the cougar.

Now, the King-Cougar clawed at his cheek, drawing blood instantly. But Alphose knows that the King-Cougar only wants to hurt him enough for him to clear from its path so that it can go after its prey, but it has no intentions of killing a changeling—his own people.

"Stop! Don't do it! She is your mate! You can't kill her!" He shouted in an effort to reach the man within.

The mountain lion let out an ear-splitting roar of rage and threw himself at Alphose.

Alphose made a half-shift, the only way he can protect himself a bit from the cougar's rage without taking his complete animal form because he is still trying to reach the man.

The King-Cougar clawed and bit and clawed him up some more. Under the huge weight of the cougar, he fell flat on the floor .

The cougar stood above him, raised a strong paw, and opened his mouth really wide...

For the first time, Alphose felt that fear...that uncertainty...that the cougar will really kill him.

Still, he held on, stopping the mountain lion from going after the human female. His mate.

"Don't do it...please. She is not just any human, she is your mate!" The smell of hate and rage was too strong in the air, "Please hear my voice above the rage, Alpha King. It is me... It is Alphose... Please."

But when the mountain lion raised a huge paw in the air, letting out yet another roar, Alphose saw his life flash before his very eyes.

The mountain lion struck.