"Oh, God!" Mercy moaned, "It's been days since I've had this much fun and this good food. If I didn't have the love for mothering my patients so much then I would've reconsidered being the Kingdom's healer."

"This has nothing to do with you being a healer, " Kia rolled her eyes, "Her pregnancy blues have kept her in a constantly bad mood, something which only a you-know-what can cure."

Liana sighed, "Why exactly isn't he coming for you? A couple of years are enough for a Beta King to set in the system."

Kia, once again rolled her eyes at her friend, "But who's gonna tell that to Mercy dear here? Probably Theo is finding her, probably not, " She shrugged, "But if he is finding her, there is no way he'll have an idea where Mercy is if she doesn't reveal herself to him. I might not be the strongest witch, but my magic is strong enough for me to know that no matter what he does he's not going to get a scent from her. And after so much time apart, their bond is getting weaker, unlike that of the Alphas and their Lunas. If you ask me, I think it's only the baby that's keeping their bond intact."

At that moment, Mercy looked like she didn't know if her baby was a blessing or a curse.

"That's... I don't know what to say." I gulped down my drink, "I still think you should talk to Theo and figure all of this out. You have another eight months of pregnancy left and it isn't too late for your mate to be a part of it. He'd want that, you know? If not now, but there would come a day when he'd want to know how it feels like to be an expecting father and he'd regret not being with you right now."

We had spent the entire day in a wild rush, cheerfully skipping from one activity to another. We made Mercy take an ultrasound first and then gushed at the baby that was growing inside her. I had the inkling that she had never checked herself up in fear of being exposed.

Then we had treated ourselves to the spa, all four of us coming out of the parlor with glowing cheeks. Then followed our shopping spree and more than our clothes, we managed to shop for cute baby clothes that had Mercy rolling her eyes at us.

We had completely forgotten that we weren't humans - at least I had. Lunch at a fancy restaurant, trying out the rides in a nearby carnival, we did everything and anything that came into our minds.

The very last one was clubbing, and even though I didn't want to ruin the mood that had been constantly up throughout the day, I had to bring up the fact again. Mercy needed her mate through her pregnancy period, something she was still not understanding.

Males - as far as I had observed my mate - could go to great lengths for their children. Theo would surely be devastated if he learned of the pregnancy too late.

"Then let him regret it. He deserves it for leaving me that way."

"Leave it, Luna." Kia snorted, "Nothing you say is going to change her mind - it's like talking to a wall, without ears."

"But still, if not about him, then think about yourself," I pressed, "We will do everything we can to be with you during this phase, yet it would never be the same as your mate being by your side. No matter how bad he is, don't you think you deserve to have him by your side?"

Mercy stayed silent for a while.

Liana stood up, "You know what? I'm going to dance; in fact, you should, too. Stop making her more miserable by reminding her of her stupid mate time and again, Moon. Let her do what she wants to do - now you wanna join me?"

"Yup!" All the three of us chirped, and soon the tension in the air faded away. No longer were we worrying about stupid mates and their idiocies.

Soon we were all a flurry of sexy moves and giggling voices. Not even a single one of us was drunk, and we still managed to enjoy our time like a bunch of alcohol-crazed, hormonal teenagers. Soon, the four of us had captured the attention of the entire crowd, and Liana giggled at us.

"This was what I was fucking missing! Doing all of this alone isn't as fun as doing it with all of you!"

It wasn't much later when four guys approached us - humans - and all of them good-looking. I didn't know if it was werewolf intuition, but their motives were written clearly on their faces.

Even though all the guys looked older than me, I was sure that Liana's age was almost twice as much as all of their ages combined. I imagined what their reactions would be if they knew they were going to hit on a bunch of hundred-year-olds.

"Can we join you?" No beating around the bush - they simply asked. I was about to turn them down, but my other three friends enthusiastically squealed out a 'yes!'

Was I the only one thinking with my brains here? The guys were so damn lucky that our mates were all the way across the MoonLine - they wouldn't have made it back home in one piece.

The guys made their picks - something they seemed to have decided beforehand and joined each one of us. Mercy wasn't showing her pregnant belly - I was sure that would have sent the guy with her running for the hills.

While I was dancing and maintaining some distance between myself and the guy trying to grope me, the rest of the three were completely grinding against the guys. I could see the slight cringes on their faces which were surely because of their wolves admonishing them. Kia, on the other hand, was having the time of her life - still single and mateless.

The guy with me was relentless. I had effortlessly evaded all his advances, yet it seemed like he considered it a challenge he was going to win.

Surely Not.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Kia!?" A voice boomed in our ears above the music and all eight of us froze.

Standing right in front of a gobsmacked Kia was a man, at least a foot taller than all of us, glaring down at the guy who was with her menacingly. Looking at the man who had just pulled Kia to his side, the other guy slowly backed off and then scampered away, making his friends roll their eyes.

Kia was still standing with her jaw all the way down, staring at the man who had her arm in a tight hold while he was glaring at the wimp till he was out of sight. Ignoring the situation, the guys tried to get our attention, but we were all rooted to our spots, watching the scene unfurl between Kia and the guy who loomed over her possessively.

He turned swiftly to her, and his gaze softened slightly. Slowly, he traced his finger down her cheek, towards her chin, and then closed her mouth, all the while she had stopped breathing.

What was wrong with, Kia?

"What do you think you were doing just now, Kia?" His voice wasn't angry anymore, it was tantalizingly soft.

"What... You...? I don't understand, Vincent... How?" She stuttered, slowly trying to step away from him.

He growled and pulled her back to him, "There's nothing here you need to understand."

And without even looking at us, he pulled her away from us, far enough that we couldn't hear them, but close enough to know where exactly she was.

Mercy shrugged, giving them one last glance before resuming her dancing, though there was a small smile on her face. On the other hand, Liana and I looked at each other for a moment, and then realised that Kia would surely inform us everything later.

In the midst of trying to, once again, evade the moves the guy behind me was making, I lost sight of Liana. It worried me slightly, then I reminded myself that she was a big girl, almost one hundred and thirty years old, so I really didn't need to worry about her so much.

Let loose, Moon, enjoy this time alone because you don't know how long you'll get to be this carefree.

Paying heed to the advice I just gave myself, I finally moved closer to the guy who was trying so hard to get my attention. A smirk played on his mouth when I placed my hand on his chest, and he pulled me closer to him by the waist.

I kept moving until I felt the initial awkwardness subside. I had never been in a club before, and this was the first time I was grinding against a man I did not know - especially when the man I really did love was all the way across a portal to a different dimension, probably with his wife.

My stomach churned.

My body relaxed, and I let myself be even more closer to him. He was good, alright, sexy moves, killer body, perfect face, and charming eyes. He could've attracted me if I was a human and I didn't have a mate.

"I knew you'd give in." The guy I was grinding against spoke out huskily, letting his hand slide down to my hips.

"What do you mean?"

"You're the sexiest one out of the four, and the only one who was playing so hard to get. I knew I had to have you tonight."

"Oh really?" I wanted to laugh at him. He really thought he'd be able to score me tonight?

"Yes... " His hand was sliding down lower.

"You'd be really lucky if you have your limbs intact tonight."

Oh no, that gritted voice didn't come from me.

The guy was pulled away from me, and soon he met the scowling, furious face of my dangerous mate. I froze in my spot, feeling the tingles running all the way down my spine.

He stood there, towering over the guy with a dangerous scowl on his face. His glare promised murder in thousand different ways and the grip on his shoulder tightened to the point of wincing, before he pushed him away. Then he turned to me, his darkened gaze looking at me all over like a predator assessing his prey.

An emotion swirled in my chest. Slight fear, and maybe guilt? But the most prominent was lust, and it only became worse as heat flared in my body, awakening every nerve end.

I bit my lip, my eyes taking his muscular legs, to his hard chest, right up to his face that was still full of rage.

I was just about to pounce on him, when his harsh question stilled me to my spot.

"Where the fuck is Liana?"

The question was like a harsh slap of rejection to my face. Why did I even think he came for me? Why did I forget time and again that me and him were impossible. My feelings, my emotions were not going to change the situation so wasting my time and hormones uselessly over him was not going to get me anywhere.

It was right then when I saw that Jaxon was standing right behind him, glaring at me. He looked like he was in pain, and he was blinking back tears, his fists clenched tight.

"Where the fuck is Liana, Moon?!" He gritted out again and I snapped out of my reverie.

Oh shit, where was she?

"I... I don't know... " I stuttered, because now I was afraid, "I lost sight of her long time ago but I didn't go after her because-"

"-because you were too busy humping that wimp."

My nostrils flared in anger. I didn't bother myself to tell him that I had lost sight of her much before I actually started humping the guy.

"Whatever." I said flippantly, "She is a grown up woman and she can do whatever she wants - she can go wherever she wants to. Why are you finding her?"

He stepped closer to me angrily, and I shivered, "This grown up woman is doing something she should not do - and it's hurting Jaxon."

Oh. Oh.

A small part of me pitied Jaxon, but another, larger part of me smirked.

I smirked, "Then I do hope she's enjoying herself. How does it feel, Jaxon, getting a taste of your own medicine?" I taunted him.

Jaxon whimpered, and a low growl rumbled through Adrian's chest, "You are going to help me find her now!" He raised his voice.

I took a staggering step back in fear.

And that was when my eyes fell on Theo.

And I panicked.

Oh shit, Mercy!

I was sure that the panic was written all over my face. My eyes were wide as saucers, and I was terribly out of my mind.

I had no idea where Mercy, Kia and Liana were. I didn't realise at all when I had drifted away from then, and here all the way from the MoonLine, the mindlink was not going to work effectively. All I needed was to tell all of them to flee - especially Liana - but none of them were in sight.

"Alright," I breathed deeply through my nose, calming the fear that course through my body at the fury in Adrian's voice. "I'll find her, alright, and I'm pretty sure she's just around somewhere on the dance floor, making out-"

I was rudely interrupted by a threatening growl from Adrian.

"Okay, whatever she's doing...let's spread out and search?"

And I desperately hope that I'm the one to find them all first!

I took off in the direction I was sure I last saw Kia, though I knew finding her right now would be of no use because she herself was busy with her mystery man aka Vincent. I struggled through the crowd of madly humping teenagers and adults, cursing loudly when the song playing on the DJ hit a high note and everyone hooted loudly, pumping their fists in the air.

Oh fuck!

That was right when I heard a familiar voice, and I changed my path to find Mercy, going in the direction from which the voice came. I was pretty sure I was close to her, because I was nearing the sitting area and I assumed she had ditched the guy from earlier or scared him away by revealing her pregnant belly.

Out of nowhere, a guy and a girl met right in front of me and started making out, the dude groping the girl in a way that made my insides uneasy. I gagged and turned another way, finally spotting the glints of red hair madly swaying in the crowd.

"Kia!" I nearly screamed, but then remembered that 'the mates' were here and I had to be extremely careful.

I had actually thought that the swaying was from all the dancing, but unfortunately, another battle went on here. Kia and Vincent were literally in each other's faces as they screamed and yelled at each other in anger.

I didn't care about being a casualty in the war though; I just grabbed her elbow and pulled her towards me, "Sorry, man. But I need to steal her away. Drop by at my place if you want to fight again and I'll be ready with popcorn!" I yelled at him.

"Why did you pull me away?" Kia whined, "Well, anyways, I'm glad you did that. I was sure I was going to kill him right there."

"You will have to explain all of that during bedtime, honey." I told her, "But right now, Code Red is in action."

"What?!" She gasped, "Why?"

"The mates are here." I steered her towards the sitting area where Mercy probably was, "Apparently, Liana is doing something she is not supposed to do when she has a mate of her own." I muttered.

Kia laughed and let out a loud whoop, "Yay, that's my girl! Do you think that Mercy's sucking faces with one of the guys here?" She asked, laughing loudly.

"God, no!" I groaned, "And don't let those mates hear you, alright?"

Right then, a body landed on top of me, taking me by surprise. It turned out to be Mercy, totally out of her mind, and giggling at anything and everything she could see. For a moment, I felt offended that she was laughing at my face, but then I realised that she must have had too much to drink, or must have been drugged to be this inebriated.

"I missed you! Where did you disappear off to!" She screamed in my ears, and I winced at her scratchy sound.

"Merc, sober up a little, alright? Theo is here." I told her.

"What?!" She pushed me away, her eyes widened, and jaw dropped open.

"You heard me," I gestured to Kia, "Take my keys and get her home. Don't come out or stay here longer unless we tell you. And don't open the doors, too. Please, please avoid Theo at all costs if you don't want a confrontation."

"At it, Ma'am!" Kia took the keys and grabbed Mercy's arm, steering the poor, confused woman away.

"Tell me when you reach home!" I hollered after them.

Now, that was when the dread settled in. One task was over, but Liana was still somewhere around - I hoped she was - and she was giving her virginity to someone - perhaps she had already even given it. Judging by the pain on Jaxon's face, I was pretty sure she was just kissing or dry humping, because if Liana was actually having sex, then Jaxon would've had been in no condition to sit or stand.

All of that meant that she was here, and I needed to find her before the men did it. I really didn't want anyone to find Liana in a compromising position with another man - nevermind, I would have taken the sadistic pleasure of watching Jaxon writhe in pain suffering for whatever he had done to her.

I just didn't want Liana to do something she might possibly regret - not now, but someday in future.

"Did you find her?"

If it was possible to jump out of my skin, I would have done that. The deep voice that came from behind me belonged to the one and only Adrian Wolfe, and I slowly turned around to face him, "Do you see her anywhere with me?"

"No."

"It clearly means that I didn't find her yet." I smiled at him, sarcastically, "I thought she was waiting here for me to find her, but no such luck." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Well, find her then!" He yelled.

"I don't take orders from you, you asshole!" I screamed right back at him, and walked away rapidly, hoping that the crowd would swallow him alive. There was no such luck on my side though, because he was right behind me when he grabbed my arm and forced me to face him.

"What's gotten into you?" He asked, softly this time.

Definitely not you! I inwardly snorted. Why did he suddenly care?

"I think we should concentrate on finding Liana. I don't have any fucking time for this." I muttered, trying to twist my arm out of his.

"Moon..." he whispered, pulling me close, "I'm sorry for raising my voice at you."

I froze. Oh my God, this man apologized.

"Yeah, whatever." I dismissed him coldly. "We have a more important matter at hand."

Yes, I was still mad at his cold dismissal when all I wanted to do was pounce on him and kiss him all over. Now, he made sure that I wouldn't want anything from him for the next few days at least.

"You're mad at me." he stated, pulling me closer, "I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to do that. I was just upset because I couldn't see Jaxon hurting in this way."

"Whatever Jaxon is feeling now isn't even a thousandth fraction of the real pain, Adrian. And you're telling me you were upset? You didn't seem upset when I was hurting that way."

"Moon, I -"

"I don't want to talk about it. It's better if we start searching right away." I pulled my arm away from his hold and turned around, flipped my hair, while walking away. Once, again I heard a low growl before a thick, sinewy arm was wrapped around my waist.

"I know I've hurt you." He whispered lowly in my ear, "And I'm ready to apologise to you a thousand times just for that. You know you mean much more to me than anyone else. Just don't walk away from me."

His breath tickled the crook of my neck, sending an involuntary shiver down my spine. I hated, absolutely hated how he affected me, and I didn't know how to cure myself of it. I didn't like how I always leaned into his touch, how his touch always sent sparks and shivers down my spine, and left goosebumps in its wake. For a man who already had his pregnant Queen waiting for him back at his empire, he affected me too much - it was so fucking unfair.

"Please, refrain from touching me further. It might not affect you, but it does to me and with our current situation, it is really better if we stay away."