Chapter 21

Aria's POV

I woke up in the middle of the night to a bang from downstairs. Forest was still asleep next to me, and I knew I shouldn't, horror movies taught me that much, but I got up and headed to the kitchen, hoping it was just Atlas or Isla.

As I walked I was aware it was very dark, no stars in the sky to light my way. I made it to the kitchen and turned on the light. Looking around the kitchen it was empty. It was your imagination, my wolf said, making me jump, it was a lot to get used to, having another voice in my head.

I agreed with her and went to get a glass of water. Looking out the window into the woods. I was lost in thought, thinking about what had happened the last few weeks, I was glad I'd figured out how to shift, otherwise I'd be gone.

Suddenly my gaze was drawn to the tree line. There was something there. It looked in my direction, right through the window, it looked me in the eye.

I looked away for a second to make sure the door was locked but when I looked back the man was gone, he must have gone back into the trees, I went to the sink to refill my glass and that's when I finally screamed, I screamed because the thing, the man, was pressed up against the window, he was the same man as before, and he wasn't moving, he was just staring at me.

Atlas, Forest and Isla all ran into the kitchen and looked to where I was staring, Atlas let out a low growl and I turned to look at him, I looked back at the window, but the man was gone. Atlas ran outside to see if he could find the man.

Forest pulled me into his arms, wiping tears from my cheek I didn't even realise I had shed. "Hey, hey, it's ok," He said, stroking my hair and holding me, keeping me safe.

"He, he was staring at me, he wouldn't move, I don't know who he was, he wouldn't stop staring."

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Atlas, Forest and some of the warriors had been circling the house and surrounding woods for the last few hours, trying to pick up any scent they could but the man had disappeared with no trace. Again.

I was sitting at the kitchen table, eating my breakfast while trying not to look out the window. I was scared if I looked at the window he would be there, staring at me, unmoving.

Atlas came in and let out a tired sigh. "I sent the warriors home, Forest is still looking, there is no trace of him, no scent, no foot prints, no nothing. If I hadn't seen him myself I wouldn't have believed he was there at all."

Isla came over and handed him a plate of toast and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "He can't have just disappeared," Atlas just sighed before grabbing a piece of toast.

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After I had finished breakfast I went up to my room, I was confused, how does this man keep getting away from a pack of wolves with no trace.

I was lost in thought as I climbed the stairs, so lost in thought I didn't see the man in front of me until his hand was over my mouth and my hands were restrained behind my back.

My wolf snarled in my mind and I thrashed in the arms of my captor. I felt his breath against my ear as her leaned down to whisper something to me.

"You see how easy it was for me to get to you, nothing you or your pathetic mutts can do stop me. This is your final warning. I will be back."

Suddenly I was thrown against the wall and I screamed as the man ran out the room, through the window. Before I was even back on my feet he was out the window and disappearing into the woods.

Isla and Atlas ran up the stairs as I stared out the window, where the man had just been.

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Atlas searched all around the room but there was no trace of him, I didn't even know him, and he was turning my life upside down.

Forest came back home and search again, but again he found nothing. I could sense his wolf close to the surface, he was angry and ready to retaliate if he only knew who to retaliate at.

I lay my hand on his arm, stopping him in his mad rampage around our room, "I'm sorry," I said, "It's my fault he came here, it's me he wants,"

Forest turned and pulled me into a tight hug, "It's not your fault and he certainly isn't having you, you are mine."

A few months ago, if someone had said I was theirs, I would have been angry, or scared, very scared, but this, this felt right, because I was Forest's and he was mine.

"Why don't I help you with your wolf, learn to shift quicker and we could go for a run, just forget the stress for a bit?"

I nodded my head, I wanted to go for a run with Forest.

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We ran into the woods while Forest told me how to shift, I hid behind a tree and did as he said, I imagined being in my wolf form, my black paws and soft fur, and suddenly I was a wolf!

I walked out from behind my tree slowly, I was still a bit wobbly on my paws. As Forest came out from behind a tree further away, his wolf a beautiful brown, I suddenly remembered where I had seen his wolf before. I had seen him in a dream, the day we met, and many more after that.

Suddenly, from the back of my mind I felt a soft push and I heard Forest in my mind, "You ready Aria?" I looked around, looking for the source of the sound, although I knew it was in my mind I didn't want to believe it, it was unbelievable.

"It's ok Aria, it's just the mind link, you'll get used to it soon," I nodded my wolfy head and tried to link him back.

"Forest?" He smiled at me and nodded, it was like speaking to someone, but in your head and no one else could hear your conversation, unless you let them.

"When in wolf form all wolves can communicate through a mind link, you must allow them into your mind, so you will feel a push which you either accept or reject, like just then. This link only works in wolf form but mates, once they are mated, also have another link which works in both forms, their own special form of communication."

I listened to Forest explaining the different links, and it did make some sense, it helped me piece together a few more pieces of the puzzle.

Forest gently nudged me forward and we started running. I was a little off balance, I wasn't used to running on four legs, but Forest was always there if I fell. We ran through the trees, jumping over fallen branched and weaving through trees. It was the best feeling in the world.

We ran until we got to a small stream, Forest stood guard first while I drank my fill, then Forest had a drink, he didn't need anyone to stand guard for him, he was an alpha wolf, only an idiot would try to challenge him.

Once we had both had a long drink Forest lay down in the sun, motioning with his head for me to join him.

I lay on the ground, the sun soaking into my fur, my head resting on Forest, listening to the sounds of the trees swaying in the breeze and the river flowing down stream. I felt so relaxed, so safe, so free.

I knew Forest was still plagued by the man in our room, so was I, the way he managed to disappear like that, it was unreal.

"Forest?" I asked, I wanted to ask the question that had been plaguing my mind for days, "What if you found someone you loved more than your mate?" He looked down at me, confusion written on his face.

"It doesn't happen, no wolf loves another more than their mate," He sounded so insistent, but it must happen sometime.

"Hypothetically though, what if they found someone who hadn't found their mate, if they hadn't either, could they mark them?" I shifted slightly, I was confused about mates, the one person you were destined to love the most.

Forest nudged my head slightly, "Hypothetically, yes, they could mark them, but that never happens, I don't know a single wolf who wouldn't do anything for their mate. It's the way we were made, we were made to love our mate, not someone else's."

I looked over at the trees watching them sway in the breeze, I found since I had got my wolf, I had much better senses, I could hear so much more, see so much more.

Everything was wonderful. Everything was perfect. Until it wasn't.

We continued running through the woods until we got to the pack line, the guards on patrol all bowed their heads to Forest. That's when I saw him. The guard. That guard.

He looked over at me and smirked, coming over as Forest went to talk to another guard, leaving me all alone. Alone with him.

He came over to me and whispered in my ear, "This isn't over." He said, winking at me as he ran his hand up my fir, making me bristle with disgust, "You may think you're safe, but we will find you, and you will be mine. You can't escape us, look at how easily we infiltrated your ranks, look how easily we sneak past your little wolf, and you can't tell anyone, your mate may believe you, but the pack will believe me, and then Forest may got thrown out the pack, for disrupting the pack peace, you want that human?"

He walked away, a cocky swagger in his step as he walked. His threat rang in my mind, he was one of them, he was working with the man who got into my room, but I had no proof, I couldn't stop him. I couldn't stop him. Loud, too loud. Everything was too loud, too bright, just like the first time I shifted, but this time it was worse.

I could smell everything, hear everything, taste the scents on the wind and feel the bumps of the ground beneath my feet.

The sounds surrounding me were distorted, I couldn't make out anyone's voices, they all blurred together. The light was shining in my eye, making me squint, the colours were all wrong.

I span around, trying to figure out who the screaming, squealing, unnaturally coloured shapes I presumed to be humans were.

I heard an echo of a voice calling out my name, I heard it over and over again as it reverberated around my mind, once, twice, again and again.

I did the only thing I could, the only thing I knew how. I ran.