He was quiet for a moment before answering her lingering question.
“We just want to make this world safe for our pup…”
he said, his voice going a little too soft that I had to lean a little bit forward to hear him. “A Volana-infested world isn’t safe.”
I heard her cry lightly and then she sniffled.
“What world is our pup going to be born into?”
She asked in a broken whisper.
“A safe one… I will make sure of it.”
My heart clenched at their words; Casey was pregnant, and it seemed that Charlie was the father. They were going to be parents and they thought a world of Volana wolves was a dangerous world. They feel threatened by us.
But the reasoning behind that is unclear to me.
We weren’t dangerous; at least, my mother and I weren’t. Enzo’s mother isn’t dangerous either and it didn’t seem like any of those in her village were dangerous either. But none of them even have their abilities anymore, so hunting them didn’t make any sense.
Did that mean there were Volana wolves that weren’t good? Ones that used their powers for evil instead of good? I didn’t want to believe such a thing, but it was the only thing that was truly making sense to me.
I bit my lip, trying to keep myself from crying.
“Ugh… it smells in here,”
she whispered, and I could tell her face was pressed against his side. “Almost like wolfbane… do you smell that?”
My heart fell into my stomach.
Wolfsbane.
Was that what Xander had injected me with? That made me feel like my inside was on fire and made me pass out. Was that what they were smelling instead of my Volana scent?
“There’s no one here…”
he assured her. “But yeah… I smell that too. The flower could be growing somewhere around here.”
“Leave it to that stupid pack to have wolfbane flowers growing,”
she murmured.
I could practically hear her eye roll.
“We are outside the pack so I doubt it’s them,”
he said in return.
“Still…”
she huffed. “It’s weird that we couldn’t smell it from outside the barn.”
“It’s not dangerous unless we are injected with it. Smelling it won’t do a damn thing. Just get some sleep,”
Charlie pleaded.
“Fine…”
she murmured, and soon, they both went silent.
My heart was pounding against my ribcage; they couldn’t smell anything from outside so maybe Enzo couldn’t smell me either. I glanced up at the window; the little bit of sunlight left was completely gone and the barn had gone completely dark.
After a few minutes, I heard the light snoring of both those rogues, and I smiled knowing they were completely out.
Quietly, I emerged from the shadows. There was a lot of hay left in the cage and I might be able to use that to my advantage. As quietly and slowly as I could I moved the hay piles to the window. A couple of times I had to freeze when I heard the snoring stop, but then it continued shortly after.
Once the hay was piled up until it reached the window, I took a deep breath before willing my limbs to move and climb up the hay pile. I clenched my teeth as pain shot through me; I was incredibly weak and thought I was calling to fall at any moment, but I finally reached the top of the hay pile.
I could have fallen asleep once I reached the top, but I knew I needed to get that window open. I needed Enzo to smell me, or at least sense me. I needed this to work.
I was more than relieved when I saw that the window was unlocked. When I finally got it open, I wafted with the fresh breeze of the outdoors, and I soaked in the fresh scent of the earth.
But I also smelled something else, and my mouth instantly watered with desires.
Despite having my wolf asleep and hidden in the back of my mind, I could still smell my mate.
Enzo was nearby.
Enzo’s POV
“Ethan, gather the strongest warriors. I need you on patrol of the forest just outside our pack going North. I think Lila is in trouble,”
I sent a mindlink while running toward that exact area.
It didn’t take long for him to respond.
“What? What is she doing there?”
Ethan asked and from his tone, I knew he was jumping into action regardless of what I said next.
“I don’t know, but I know she’s in trouble,”
I said in return just before ending the mindlink and running even faster.
I managed to pick up her scent almost immediately after leaving the pack borders, but I also picked up something else… wolfsbane and rogues.
…..
Lila’s POV
I stayed at the window for what felt like an eternity. I have no idea if Enzo could sense me whatsoever, and the thought of not knowing ached. My wolf was completely gone from me, and I was left completely in the dark.
I leaned against the open window, taking in the wonderful breeze of the outdoors and feeling it strengthened me.
Casey and Charlie were still snoring heavily, and it brought me some sort of comfort. There was a part of me that didn’t think they were that bad; maybe a little misunderstood. Although they were part of Paul’s clan, maybe their judgment was a little off.
I leaned my head against the window frame, wishing I could shrink in size so I could crawl through. The cold breeze and the scent of the familiar and clean earth brought me a sense of comfort. I couldn’t smell Enzo though; however, my senses weren’t working as they should be so that didn’t mean he wasn’t close by.
That didn’t mean he couldn’t smell me.
My body was weak, and my wolf was still asleep; I had no abilities, and I was losing the battle to sleep. I allowed my eyes to close and my body to rest against the hay while my head used the open window as a pillow.
If they were to wake up right now, they’d be able to see me. I was no longer hidden in the shadow and the moonlight touched me in a way that made it look like I was glowing. But at that very moment, I didn’t really care if they saw me or not. I was too tired to care.
It didn’t take long for sleep to come for me and then soon everything went dark.
…..
I woke when I felt a pair of cold hands on my face, they were checking for a pulse. My nose picked up a familiar scent; a scent that I loved so much. Though, it was faint, it was there. I opened my eyes and lifted my head to see Enzo kneeling at the window before me.
My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. I must have been dreaming; there was no way this plan of mine worked. There was no way I was here right now. Maybe those rouges saw me sleeping at the window and they killed me.
That had to be it; they killed me.
But I saw the relief in Enzo’s eyes as he sighed and took my face in his large and masculine hands. He bent down and brought his lips to mine, allowing me to taste his sweetness and his gentle touch. My entire heart was pounding violently against my ribcage and tears prickled at the corners of my eyes.
Way too soon, the kiss ended, and he looked deep into my eyes.
“Max told me you needed help,”
he whispered against me. “I’m going to get you out of here.”
I swallowed hard, wanting to speak but words failed me. He looked behind himself and nodded his head in the shadows.
He brought others with him.
I wondered what time it was and how long I’d been a prisoner in this barn.
Has Xander been captured yet?
Before I knew what was happening, the front door of the barn was broken open and I swung my body around to see 3 large wolves making their way inside the barn.
I instantly recognized one of them as Ethan; the other two must have been warriors. Maybe Jake and someone else?
This woke the rogues who screamed at the very presence of Ethan and the warriors. Ethan was the first to growl fiercely, nearly shaking the entire barn. Charlie jumped in front of Casey, shielding her from any attacks and I could see the pure horror on her face as she stared into the eyes of the Beta.
I looked back at Enzo to tell him to not hurt them, but he was gone from the window. With a racing heart, I quickly climbed down the hay pile I created, and I tried to get myself to the cage door.
Enzo walked into the barn still in his human form and he looked seriously pissed.