章節 2: Chapter I — Lilium

Jayden Blake jolted awake, eyes wide and sweat dripping. His hand clutched the heart that was pounding erratically.

It had been the same recurring dream for the past five years after he turned twenty.

In it, he was running alone in a thick dense forest, towards where, he did not know at first. It was simply intuition — a sense of urgency he never felt before driving him forward. Inexplicable fear had gripped him, but fear of what he did not know either at first. Wherever his paws took him, he charged ahead. It was only when he broke into a clearing, a meadow of white lilies that he realised.

A figure in a billowing snow white dress, that stood in the middle of it all, had her back turned towards him. Her jet black hair swayed gently with the wind.

He did not need for her to turn for he already knew. He did not know how but it was in that instant, he knew — she was his mate.

Tonight had been the first night it had started again after a year.

.....................

She ran silently from rooftop to rooftop, not once losing sight of her prey.

The dense forest loomed ahead as she reached the edge of the city's outskirts.

It wasn't long before she was weaving through the trees.

So focused on her prey she had been, that she did not realise it until it was too late.

.....................

It was starting again, every year it had been the same vicious cycle — the same dream. It would be around this time of the year that it would begin to disrupt his peaceful nights. And each time, despite knowing it was coming, he still was unprepared for it everytime; waking up heart pounding and gripped with fear.

He did not know what it meant — what it signified. The only thing he knew without a doubt, was that she was his mate. The mate bond was never wrong.

He took a few calming breaths, as the panic and fear faded away, leaving him with a perturbing feeling he could never quite shake off. He guessed it was only natural since it was his mate who was in danger. He had sensed the danger and since the first dream occurred, he had searched high and low for both her and the location of the meadow. For the first year, it was a frantic, desperate search that involved sending out search parties and scouts. The following couple of years, as it became clearer that it was nowhere close to being found — at least nowhere near the pack territory, it died down. The past two years, had been of him venturing out on his own during this time of the year whenever the dreams started again. If only to clear his head, as while he had not given up, he had been tired as the haunting image continued to plague his sleep year after year.

He glanced at the clock and got up from the bed, making his way to his bathroom but the urgent voice of his Gamma that called out caused him to stop in his tracks.

"Jayden! You're awake?! Rogues! Northeast border!"

All lingering thoughts of the dream evaporated instantly.

Immediately turning on his heel, he changed his course of direction. Barking orders and questions in the mind-link to his Gamma who had been charged with overseeing the border patrol for the night, he swiftly reached for the nearest pair of pants that littered his room and hastily threw them over his boxers.

He didn't bother with a shirt, knowing he would be running and possibly shifting. The extra clothing would only be a hassle and get in the way.

By the time he was out the front door, his mind was a blur of images sent by his Gamma and the patrol guards. He worked to sort through the information, focusing on pinpointing their current location within the territory while simultaneously trying to question Lucas about what was happening and coordinating the spread out patrol guards.

It wasn't the presence of a rogue trespassing that sent his guards and subsequently Jayden himself into a state of urgency and anxiety — no, this had happened often enough. It was the fact that it was rogues, not just one but multiple. It troubled him to no end for they never travelled in packs, much less worked in groups.

There has not been more than a single rogue at a time on the Lilium Pack territory in years.

"How many are there?" Jayden asked, navigating his way around the pack house. His mind strategising how his men would need to change tactics to deal with the additional rogues.

"Jayden, the trackers picked up...." Lucas's voice trailed off as if he almost couldn't — or more alarmingly didn't want to answer his friend and leader's question.

"Lucas, how many scents?" Jayden repeated, his voice hard and filled with authority. The anger and anxiety catching up to him and seeping through. He issued a command to his Second's mind, forcing his best friend awake. The latter's wolf was already responding to the command before he was even fully conscious, rolling off the bed. His mind link was open to his Alpha's and Third's conversation.

"More than one rogue? Are you sure Luke? They never work in more than pairs and even that is rare." Dylan asked, thoughts still tinged with the huskiness of sleep.

"Six. The trackers picked up six."

Lucas felt the shock ripple through the mind-link before anger took over, mostly emanating from his Alpha. He couldn't help but flinch internally.

Jayden had shifted immediately, and was now catching up to his Gamma, trackers and warriors.

"Which direction did they come from?"

"Dale City."

A soft breeze blew. And that was when he caught it — the sweet scent of lilies and roses blended in one, with a tinge of vanilla and faint citrus.

He frowned as he attempted to place the alluring scent. It was coming from ahead of him, judging based on the direction of the wind. His gaze and senses sharpened as he increased his speed, his dark brown wolf now a blur.

Movement in the crown of the trees ahead caught his attention and his eyes narrowed. A lithe figure was leaping from tree to tree with surprisingly agile grace. It dawned on him.

"Shit! They split up! Two of them are heading towards the pack house!" Lucas cursed.

"They're being chased." Jayden informed his men through the mind-link. "Not just by us. There's a seventh trespasser."

He felt his men's shock and confusion — none of them had detected a seventh. However, none of them lost pace, and responded efficiently to the following orders that Jayden issued.

"Lucas, your team will follow the group of four. Dylan, the two others. Corner and capture them. If they retaliate, kill them."

"Yes, Alpha." His men chorused and moved to obey the command.

Throughout it all, Jayden's eyes never lost track of the figure who was headed in the direction of the larger group of rogues. As he neared, he slowed down slightly, in order not to overtake. Within this time, he had also concluded two things. First, was that the seventh trespasser was highly skilled for no ordinary rogue could blend in and mask their presence so successfully that not one of his men, including his Gamma, detected them. Two, was that the alluring scent belongs to the seventh trespasser.

Whether whoever it was knew he was tailing them, Jayden did not know as they gave no indication of it. It was clear as day though that their foremost goal was pursuing the the rogues.

"Alpha, they're heading out the pack territory to the next town."

Jayden frown deepened. They were running towards the next town, that was their objective?

"Leave them. We will not go into the town — it is nearly sunrise. Turn around. The seventh is behind you. Capture at all cost."

.....................

Barely out of breath, she saw the pack wolves ahead who had overtaken her skid to a stop and turn a full three-sixty. They seem to be scanning their surroundings for something.

Mid-chase, she had also been acutely aware of the large black wolf whom was the only one pursuing her. She knew he could have easily overtaken her and caught up with the others but he did not, which could only mean one thing. His goal was her.

Her eyes widened as it hit her then — they were looking for her.

The moment their eyes went to the top of the trees, she knew she had been spotted.

However, not faltering in her steps, she cursed under her breath before chanting. Her violet eyes glowed red as she felt the magic flow through her.

Lucas was one of the first to spot the seventh trespasser and his eyes narrowed at the fast approaching figure. He recognised it before he saw it — a pair of glowing ruby red eyes under the cloak, followed by a dark purple glow in the shape of a circle with complex lines taking shape. Suddenly, the wolves ahead were seeing three exact same figures of the seventh trespasser.

In the next second, the three figures split off in different directions.

Having a witch as a mate, Lucas was no stranger to magic, but the same could not be said for the rest of his peers as they stood momentarily stunned.

"Split up! Eli's team, nine o'clock! The rest three o'clock!"

Cloaked in the invisbility spell she just cast, she smirked as she watched the pack wolves snap out of their stunned stupor and gave chase to her apparitions.

She turned her attention back to her targets that were now in a distance, nearing the edge of the forest that was closest to outskirts of the town, but still visible. She could still catch up to them. She prepared to jump to the next tree when a low growl emitted from below.

For the second time in day, she felt her eyes widen to saucers and went to the source of it below her.

Staring right back at her with a pair of electric blue eyes, was the — now at a closer distance and more light, she was able to discern — dark brown wolf.

How could she have forgotten the Alpha wolf who had been tailing her? Why had he not taken off after the rest? She berated herself for underestimating this wolf especially when he had the ability to spot her when none of the rest did when they overtook her to chase after the rogues.

She was still cloaked in invisibility yet, he was able to pinpoint her exact location.

She contemplated running, but she knew it was a race she could not win. Not to mention, this wolf had already seen through her magic, the element of surprise was gone and a look ahead confimed she had already lost her targets who had by now, probably made it into the town.

She made a decision.

She dropped down from the pine tree, not making a sound while doing so. A steely expression masked her face as she straightened and faced the wolf before her, eyes narrowing.

Internally, she was seething. Not only had she lost half her targets, making all her efforts for the past weeks vanish and now she was caught. This was all because she slipped up and failed to notice that she had entered werewolves' pack territory, causing the pack wolves to be alerted of the ensuing chase and making her lose her targets.

She briefly dismissed the puzzlement she felt about how she was caught by the werewolf standing before her — her spells had been flawless — seeing as she had to deal with the said werewolf first before mulling over it.

.....................

"Alpha, the two rogues have been captured."

"Alpha, I'm sorry, we lost the witch."

In the back of his mind, Jayden barely registered his Beta's and Gamma's words, his full attention was on the witch standing before him, not that he could see but the alluring scent was stronger than ever before and somehow he just knew.

It was the alluring scent that led him here, when the mirror illusions split in different directions, he didn't give chase, instead he followed his instincts and focused on the alluring scent and realised that it remained directly above the tree where he stood.

There was no movement from both parties. The forest surrounding them was void of movement as well, except for the rustle of leaves from an occasional breeze.

Subconsciously, the Alpha mind-linked his Beta and Gamma to rendezvous at his location.

.....................

Dylan was perplexed as he stood outside the pack house, awaiting the return of the Lucas's team who had gone after the four rogues. Jayden had sounded distracted...Jayden was never distracted.

To add to his confoundment, the two rogues that split off from the rest, surrended the moment they found themselves cornered. The way they had acted was definitely unusual, even for rogues.

Their eyes constantly shifting, flicking back and forth around their surrundings, almost as if they were expecting something unknown to emerge from the forest and attack them.

The witch.

The two of them now sat behind locked cells, awaiting questioning.

Moving with haste, Dylan reclaimed order, issuing commands to send out scouts and a beefed-up patrol back to the borders. The wolves nodded once to their Beta and immediately returned to their duties.

.....................

Lucas had assumed they had lost the witch the moment her apparitions disappeared into thin air in front of them. They had all fallen for her trick.

However, now at the sight of their best friend and Alpha in wolf form, seemingly starring at nothing, Lucas knew he had been wrong. Not everyone had fell for it — his Alpha certainly hadn't.

Sharing a look, Dylan and Lucas approached together with caution, moving to block off all escape from where they assumed she was standing.

Their enhanced hearing picked up what seemed to be an irritated sigh before a soft chant was heard, a magic circle emitted a purple light and the spell lifted, revealing the seventh trespasser.