One week. One week till the unimaginable would happen. The knowledge of my birthday died with my parents. Beck only knows my birthday because he saw my calendar in my room.

Also, it wasn't Beck's handwriting. It was a female's handwriting. Maybe I could track the package back to its sender using a spell but a smart witch would know how to hide it.

I kept running until I got to the edge of the pack boarder. My wolf sniffed the boarder line but got to close. She let out a whimper as the boundary sent a shock through her body and sent her flying back a few feet.

She let out a grumble and pawed at the ground trying to make it softer. She sat down and laid her head onto the ground. She liked it. Liked having her mate around more often than usual. She wanted him. I don't know how much I want him though.

He knowingly brought me pain and treated me like garbage. My wolf let out a whine as she feels a hand run down her fur. His scent wasn't one we should be afraid of.

"You like to take care of your fur," Lucas smiles to my wolf. She rubs her head along his leg and smiles. I shake my head at her with a small smile on my face. She was a goofball and always a playful one.

"I need to talk to Nicolette right now but when we're done I'll let my wolf out and you both can hunt," he negotiated. She thought about it for a second and nodded. He placed some clothes in front of us and turned around. I shifted back and changed and cracked my knuckles as I stretch.

"You stressed Malcom out by running off like that," he said turning around. His blue eyes looked like an ocean as the light lightly shone in him. He scanned my face as I clenched my jaw.

"Then why isn't he the one looking for me?" I ask him. He opens his mouth then closes them. I sigh and nod. "I told him I would try."

"But?" He questioned. He knew there was a but. It was so easily read that I had my doubts about his intentions with suddenly wanting to work things out with me.

"It just happened so suddenly. First he knowingly tortured me and now he drops his she-wolf fling and wants things to work. I feel like there's a catch and I don't want to fall in love with him then have the rug pulled out from under me," I said. "Why me anyways? Why would he want me as his Queen Luna?"

"Because, Nicolette, you're perfect for it. You are strong, confident, and smart. You Amy think you're weak but I think your strong. You were brave enough to run when your parents told you to. You were brave enough to spend all those days knowing Malcom was with someone else and you didn't reject him. Malcom's a fool if he's going to let you get away from him," he said. I let out a long sigh and lean my back onto a tree.

"And what makes you think I'm so perfect for being Queen Luna? I loose my temper easily, I'm only one fourth wolf. The vampires and witches are seeking me out to be their queen. If they found out I became Queen Luna, they won't hesitate to attack," I told him. Beck always told me what happens in his coven's meetings.

They've been seeking me out for years. Malcom was the only one who didn't give a crap if he found me or not. The witches wanted me the most so I could put an end on the continuous war the werewolves, vampires, and witches are in. They want me to find a peace in all of this mess.

"I've seen you fight Nicole I've been beat by you and so have our guards," he told me. I let out a scoff and roll my eyes.

"If you call those royal guard then you are in for a shock," I tell him. Those guards were no where near the required training for boarder control.

"We had an incident few months ago leaving our guards incapable of fighting," he said. I nod and stare outside into the woods outside of the boarder. It looked the same from in here but it looked so much freer than in here.

"Are those guards capable of healing?" I ask him. He shakes his head and I nod, taking note of that. "I'd like to take a look at them."

———

It was a room full of beaten down wolves some had injuries so tiny that it should have healed but they had not.

"Physical therapy to see if they can regain strength in their injuries," Lucas told me as I stared at all of them doing exercises fit for their injuries.

"How long ago was this?" I ask him. He counts on his fingers until he stops at 5. "5 months and these injuries still haven't healed."

I walked over to a male who had a brace in his arm. Nothing serious but still should have been healed after 5 months. Humans heal faster with this kind of injury.

"Hi I'm Nicole," I introduce myself. "What type of injury do you have?"

"There's a fracture in my wrist," he tells me lifting his hand out to mine. I closed my eyes and hovered my hand over his injury.

Suddenly the scenery changed. Smoke surrounded my view of where I was standing. Screams and yelling were heard all around me. I was seeing this from his body.

He turned around fast and slammed his wrist into the base of a tree. A wave of pain spread through his body. That's how he got the injury. He growls as he turns back around and then there was a woman, her face hidden in the smoke.

Her eyes glowed a bright blue as she smiled.

I pull my hand away from his arm and take a few deep breaths. Doing that spell always toyed with my energy.

"A witch. A witch put a spell on you," I tell him.

"We were ambushed. Alpha had led a meeting that morning and all of the royal guards were there. We were going to change some formations up in the border. Then, smoke. So much smoke came out of nowhere. When we were injured, they came out of the smoke and out a spell on us," he retold the story of what happened five months ago.

"What about M—Alpha?" I correct myself.

"He was left untouched. He fought though. He fought and got injured but no spell," he recalls. I nod taking note of that.

"Do you think he was apart of the ambush? I question. He shook his head no and went back to his wrist exercises.

"Can I try to do a counter spell on your wrist?" I ask him. He thinks about it then holds his arm out to mine.

I carefully take his brace off and place my hand over his wrist. I mentally go through the list of counter spells that could possibly counter this one. I could feel the dark energy without even doing a spell. There was so much dark energy in this room that it was suffocating.

"This won't hurt you," I told him. I started with the spell and my eyes glowed blue as a bright light formed between our skin.

I felt it all. The pain of his injury, the pain of the day when he got it, and all of it in between. I closed my eyes as I felt my body absorb the black magic in his. I felt it building up and clogging my thoughts up.

"One more week Nicolette until you time is up," it sneered. I stumble back away from his wrist and into the wall. I hold my head and groan as it kept whispering.

"It's time you face the same fate your parents did," it whispered to me. I let out a whimper as black smoke claws it's way out of my body and into the air. I let out a breath and drop to my knees.

"Nicole," Lucas exclaimed as he drops down to my side. My breathing was heavy and the room started to spin. I look up at him with my eyes still blue.

"The same person behind that attack is trying to kill me," I whisper.

———