FATAL CLAIM

Chapter 5

DYLAN

I stared at the dark sky as I stood by the border.

'Do you think she still misses us?' My wolf asked and I sighed. I had told him over and over again to let Caterina go. She was no longer our mate.

'What she did was her choice, we can't do anything about it,' I explained.

'So you've forgotten about her?' His voice rang in my head. I didn't know what to tell him, part of me had let go off her. She chose her side, and I chose mine.

He agreed with me but kept quiet. He's still having a hard time being apart from his mate, even though Ric broke the bonds, it affected Aiden much more then it did me.

My phone began to ring and I answered it without looking at the caller ID.

"Hi, it's me," Mia said.

"Hi, to what do I owe the pleasure?" I asked.

"Well, I'm going out tonight so I was wondering if you might be around the borders?"

"Are you asking me out on a date?" I teased.

"No!" She snapped. "I just- my father wants me to meet Ryan in three days."

"Ryan?" I asked in confusion.

"The guy I'm supposed to marry," She replied.

"Right, sure I'm patrolling the borders so I'll be here," I said.

"I'll see you in a while," She said before hanging up. I stared at the phone, I shook my head before putting it back in my pocket. I sat on a large rock as I stared into the forest. There was no one else out here today, otherwise I could have gone for a run.

I thought of what the Luna had spoken to Daniel and I about earlier today. She wanted us to find any connections between Clarissa and her mother. She didn't understand why Clarissa would listen to her mother and betray Adrian. But deep down we knew that it had become hard for Clarissa when Adrian kept having his breakdowns. She did help him a lot, but she gave up too soon. And Ace, he had an edge over people, he could make them believe almost anything he said and it almost happened to me once. If it weren't for Adrian and Daniel, I'd be dead right now. But what hurt Adrian the most was Clarissa didn't even think of her own child. She let herself fall into Ace's trap.

Ace got what he deserved, he was still rotting in that dungeon with a daily dose of wolfsbane. It had been nine months since he was locked up there, Adrian wasn't yet ready to kill him. But he was getting something much worse then instant death, he was slowly dying every day. I didn't feel bad about it at all, if it was up to me, I'd make him suffer much more. He was too weak to do anything about it, and if he tried to escape, it would take any of us less then a second to snap his neck in two.

I sat there for two hours, looking out for any trouble lurking at the borders.

My ears perked up as I heard the leaves crunching.

"Dylan!" Someone whisper-yelled and I walked into the forest.

"Mia?"

"Hi!" She appeared in front of me and I took a step back.

"Has anyone ever told you, that you're very dramatic?" I chuckled.

"Quite a few times actually," She responded with a grin.

"Well, what did you want to talk about?" I asked as I walked deeper into the forest with her.

"Well," she began to speak as she kept her pace in rhythm with mine. "Father wants me to meet Ryan in three days, but I don't know if I'm ready."

"You will be spending your whole life with him anyways," I shrugged.

She blew out a breath from her nose, "I know, don't remind me," She gritted her teeth.

"Okay, let's practice. I'm him, what do you say to me?" I asked.

"Uh, hi?" She laughed.

I shook my head at her.

"You need to-" she cut me off before I could finish.

"I don't think it's such a good idea," She shrugged as she sat on the ground.

"Then what do you want to do?" I asked.

"Let's go for a run," she said.

"I have to patrol the borders," I gestured around and she nodded.

"I know, but we can stay close by," she said and I looked around, contemplating what to do.

"Fine," I agreed and she walked behind a tree. "Let me tie my clothes here," she called out and I nodded my head.

I decided to shift and stood there waiting for her, she emerged out of the tree and her I stared at her in awe. Her wolf had a dark silver fur, with purple eyes, I had never seen such eyes before.

I had mind linked one of the guards to come by the borders since I knew we wouldn't exactly stay right here.

I followed Mia through the forest, and I ran ahead of her, heading for the stream deep in the forest. I loved that place, it felt so peaceful there, and Aiden could hunt there so he enjoyed it too.

She ran behind me, I came to a stop once we reached the clearing. I glanced at her, she was taking in the surrounding as she looked around. She gave me an approving look as she walked towards the stream. I let Aiden take over and he caught a fish instantly. Mia shook her head as she tried to catch one herself too.

I caught the scent of a vaguely familiar person, and before I could react, my wolf ran off into that direction. I took control and contiued running, I came to a stop near a huge tree and sniffed the air. The smell was much stronger here.

The leaves crunched as someone walked towards us. I stood in front of Mia protectively, I growled to let the person know not to make any dumb move.

I instantly went behind a tree to shift back. I put on the shorts I had tied to my ankle and held the shirt in my hand. I walked back and threw the shirt towards Mia. She growled at me but went behind the tree to change.

I stood in front of her, as I looked around carefully. Someone emerged from behind the tree and a wave of surprise went through me. It had been nine months since I'd seen this face.

"Aubrey?"

She looked at me nervously and I stood there in shock.

"You're back!" I said in disbelief.

"I-" she looked at Mia nervously and I heaved a sigh as I nodded.

I turned around to Mia, she looked just as confused as I felt.

"Can we get a raincheck?" I smiled apologetically.

"Yeah, of course," She smiled. "Well, I'm gonna get my things," she pointed in the direction that we had come from. I had mind linked the alpha and Luna about everything.

I stared at Mia's retreating figure for a few seconds before I turned back to Aubrey.

"Let's go inside," I said. She nodded before following me towards the pack house.