Lord Talon
The moment Soren, Nadia and I arrived at Blue Scale Rock. We could see the werewolves and Lycans were already there. My feet begin to move on their own, and the sweetest scent comes over me. Sweat begins to form across my forehead as I try to stop myself from walking any closer to the pack.
‘Lord Talon, is everything okay? You don’t look so good,’ Soren says.
‘I’m not sure. I feel strange,’ I tell Soren.
‘Stay here, Lord Talon. We will conduct the meeting, and you can join us when you can,’ Nadia says. I nod and gesture for them to go as I fight myself to keep still. What is wrong with me?
I listen to the meeting, but the scent comes closer and becomes more alluring. Against my will, I walk toward everyone. Beads of sweat drip from my forehead, and I suddenly realise what has happened. I’ve found my long-awaited blood flame. My fated mate that I’ve desperately waited over two hundred years for. I shake my head, ‘No, it can’t be,’ I say.
‘Lord Talon?’ Soren says, confused and worried.
Then, I hear the sweetest voice that sounds like a bird singing as the sun rises, ‘Lord Talon?’ the she-wolf mumbles.
My head flinches up, and my eyes have turned crimson red from the Blood Flame bond and immediately connect with the most beautiful eyes that stare back into mine. Everyone else gasps in shock at my red eyes. At first, the beautiful she-wolf is briefly mesmerised as our eyes connect from the mate bond, but then she fights the bond, confused, and looks at me furiously.
‘Wands! This cannot be happening right now of all the times, places and species!’ Soren says, looking between me and the she-wolf.
‘This is not good…’ Nadia says worriedly.
My blood flame points her finger at me and glares, ‘Liars!’ she yells, ‘His eyes are red. You did kill them. You killed them all!’ she shouts, crying and withdrawing a glamorous dagger attached to her belt from a sheath.
Her eyes change from light blue to dark blue every second with mixed emotions. She closes her eyes for a few moments, and I step toward her to touch her and hold her. I can’t believe my precious Blood Flame is an arm’s length from my reach. Her eyes suddenly open, and she unexpectedly lunges angrily toward me and thrusts her dagger towards my chest. I’m devastated she is trying to stab me. This isn’t how this is supposed to go.
I swiftly grab her arm to stop her from stabbing me but also to mark her, claiming and accepting the beauty of a wolf as mine. It makes the mate bond between us even stronger. Once you find your blood flame, the male’s eyes will turn crimson red and remain that way until you have marked your Blood Flame. She flinches at the sudden but quick burn she feels on her wrist, followed by the sensation of sparks where my hand grips her. She gasps, and her breath catches momentarily as she becomes lost in my deep blue eyes. I stare at her in utter disbelief and shock as I still cannot believe I have found my beloved Blood Flame.
The pack warriors rush forward to attack us. Nadia screams, sending a wave of sonic energy toward them. The pack falls to the ground clutching their hands over their ears.
My blood flame falls to her knees. I release her arm, so she can cover her ears to block out Nadia’s scream.
‘I’m warning you all to cease fighting. We are not your enemy,’ I tell them.
I notice my Blood Flame tug at the leather brace she wears to see my mark. She looks very confused and worried. I could see a glimpse of a scar near my mark, but she quickly pulls the leather brace back up and glares at me again.
‘What in the wands is this? What does it mean? What did you do to me?’ She shouts at me.
I stiffen and feel heartbroken that she doesn’t know what has just happened between us. That she doesn’t realise how special this moment of finding your Blood Flame is. I make a straight face, now showing no emotion at all.
The wolves and Lycans shift and attack the moment Nadia’s scream stops. Soren punches a wolf in the stomach with so much strength that the wolf flies five metres into the air.
I hear a woman shout, ‘Tumultuous Volley!’
A large cloud appears above us, and lightning begins to strike around us. We dodge the strikes, but then a glass vial is thrown towards us and smashes at the ground near their feet. Green smoke emits, making it hard to breathe. We cough and cover our mouths, stepping back.
A woman with gold chains through her hair grabs my blood flame’s arm, and a look of terror appears on her face as she pulls at the bracer and stares at the symbol on my arm. She knows what it is and what it means and then looks at me with sadness. My blood flame yanks her arm away from the woman and runs toward me with a look to kill. She swings her dagger, and due to me being briefly in shock, she is about to stab me again. She slashes me across my arm near my shoulder. I hold the deep cut and give her an emotional hurt look. Her eyes begin to flicker repeatedly, from light blue to dark blue. As if she is confused and fighting her thoughts.
Soren tosses the warriors into the air like ragdolls and punches a few more, sending them flying back. Nadia screams again, sending the wolves and Lycans onto their knees again, clutching their heads and ears. We take the opportunity to retreat. I hesitate as I don’t want to leave my blood flame, but she keeps trying to kill me. I don’t know why, as Blood Flames are soul mates and meant to love each other for eternity.
Leaving her behind would also be deadly to both of us as we would begin to burn up and eventually die if apart too long. It’s not normal for Blood Flames to be apart.
As I turn to look back, we are a long distance ahead of the wolves due to our immense speed, but I can see my Blood Flame chasing after us in the distance. I smile that she is following, hoping she has realised we are Blood Flames and that she wants to be with me.
‘We need to slow down,’ I say to Soren and Nadia. They look behind me and smile as well when they see the she-wolf following us.
‘I can’t believe you’ve found your Blood Flame, and she is a she-wolf!’ Soren says as we come to a halt to wait for her.
‘I’ll kill you! You monster!’ she shouts, lunging through the air toward me. She flinches as she sees my smile fade to one of sadness. Her eyes flicker in shades of blue, and she loses focus. She falls to the ground as she fights the mate bond.
We stare at her silently.
‘Monsters!’ she says in a harsh tone. We flinch at her hurtful words. She lunges toward me, but I keep still with no intention of moving to see if she truly wants me dead or to kill me. I have been waiting a very long time for my Blood Flame, and if she doesn’t want to be with me, if she truly hates me, then she may as well kill me because the moment our eyes met, I knew I could never live a day without her by my side. I knew at that moment she had stolen my heart, and I knew from that moment onward I would protect her and love and cherish her no matter the cost.
As her dagger is about to plunge through my heart. Soren suddenly grabs her from behind. Her dagger drops from her hand and lands in front of my feet. She desperately tries to grab it back and won’t take her eyes off it. Desperation flashes through her eyes as I pick the dagger up and run my hand over it, admiring the craftsmanship.
‘Don’t you touch that! Give it back!’ she snaps.
‘Why? So, you can kill me?’ I say, still looking over the dagger.
She elbows Soren in the stomach, surprising him. He lets her go from the impact he wasn’t expecting. She drops and rolls, swinging her leg around, knocking Soren over. Nadia is about to scream, but she knocks her down with a high kick. I watch her fist clench and fly towards Nadia’s face. But Soren grabs her arm and pushes her onto her stomach. She kicks Soren's shin. ‘Agh! This one’s feisty and a decent fighter. You’ll need all the luck you can get with this one,’ Soren says to me.
‘What in the wands is that supposed to mean?’ Lylah yells, kicking him in the other shin.
‘Alright, that’s it!’ he says, tying Lylah’s wrists behind her back.
‘Let me go!’ she yells and tries to fight him off.
‘Soren. What are you doing?’ I ask him.
‘I’m clearly wrapping your present up for you. Complete with a bow,’ he replies, smiling, as he ties the last knot.
‘You bastard!’ she yells at Soren. ‘I’m not an object you can tie up and give away!’
‘Oh, really?’ Soren smirks, stands her up and shoves her into my chest. Sparks tingle all over us as our bodies touch. I enjoy every second of it until she steps back, furious and falls over.
I tuck her dagger under my shirt into my belt and gently grab her arms to stand her up.