Just when I thought they were going to have their way with me, blood splattered across me. I watched how Luca ripped them apart. I guess that because of the Alpha blood that ran through him, he was stronger than the average Lycan, but I didn't expect one Lycan Hybrid to take on four supernatural beings. Of course, they will be ok. They will heal, but I don't think they will ever try to take what was Luca's."I am so sorry. I shouldn't have left you by yourself in such a place," Luca apologized as he released me from the contraption. "Did they do anything to you?""No," was all I could manage. Luca picked me up, and in the blink of an eye, we were in front of his car. He put me down and opened the car door for me. It should be the other way around, since I am the slave, I thought.On the way back to Xan's pack, I realized I don't feel Xan's fear anymore. "Where is Xan?""I don't know, but she is fine. My father confirmed it," Luca said."How did you know?" I asked. Was it just pure luck? I wondered."My skin started to burn," he explained."I don't understand," I stated."Remember, earlier tonight I made you a promise that no harm would come to you?" Luca chuckled with regret."But how did you know it was connected to me?" I wondered again, looking at his face, which was in an intense expression."Because you are the only person I've ever made a promise to," Luca confessed."But you don't even know me," I expressed myself in shock. "Why would you do such a stupid thing?""Have you ever met someone and known that it was the person you had been waiting for all your life?" Luca said, looking at me for a moment, even though I would have preferred his eyes on the road at the speed he was going."Yes," I said. The thing was, even though I was fated to Xan when I saw Luca for the first time, I felt instantly that my life had come full circle. I didn't expect it to be a man, but I have to wonder if we are perhaps twin flames."Ouch," he chuckled. "You could have lied." He obviously didn't realize I was talking about him. Should I tell him? I wasn't sure if I wanted him to know.He was still looking at me as if waiting for me to say, 'just kidding.'I broke eye contact first and averted my eyes outside of my window. The sun was starting to rise."Where are we going?" I asked when I noticed we were heading towards the wolfless area."Xan didn't get any answers since she ran into a problem," Luca explained."What kind of problem?" I wondered."Some of the wolfless tied her up and tortured her. As you know, the wolfless get to do whatever they please with a Lycan in their area if it is not a blood moon." Luca reminded me with a chuckle."Is she ok?" I wondered. I wish I had the opportunity to do some damage to a Lycan."Do you really care?" Luca chuckled."Must be the fated mate bond thing," I dismissed it. Or let's say attempted.He gave a little chuckled snort."What is that for?" I demanded to know.Our conversation got cut short when he pulled up to the entrance of the wolfless area."Good luck. Send Xan a mind link if you need me," Luca said, making it clear he is not joining me.With a plastered frown on my face, I got out of his car. I was eager to find my sister.I barely made it through the entrance before a few wolfless friends greeted me with open arms."What are you doing back here?" I got bombarded with questions."What happened to Nebra? Did she get caught?" I asked. I was not interested in catching up. I found myself wanting to find my sister and get back to Luca."She must have been caught. We have not seen her all night," one of them informed me.I gazed deeper towards the wolfless area. The disregarded buildings I never have to live in again.'No one here has seen my sister, you can let Luca know to come get me, please,' I mind linked Xan. I don't know why, but I desperately wanted to get away from the wolfless. That life was behind me. I had a taste of a world outside of the wolfless area. I was happy to be free from the wolfless area, even though it now meant I was a slave.Was Nebra caught early the evening that no one saw it? If she didn't get caught, everyone would have known. They would, right?'You are free. Do what you want,' Xan mind linked me, and then nothing. Just like that, I was no longer able to see her mind.What the hell? I wasn't sure what to do. I guess I was free to go look for my sister. But how do I navigate the supernatural world when I was not part of it?I started walking towards Luca's father's pack. Alpha Eric's pack was the nearest pack.Halfway there, I got the feeling that I was not alone. I heard a twig crack under someone's foot. Perhaps it was under someone's paw, but it alerted me that I was not alone. I stopped walking. I scanned the area but saw no one."I know you are there," I called out. No one responded, so I started walking again.While I was walking, I wondered if a slave counted as free if their captured and set them free? What does that mean for me? Did Xan really have the right to set me free since she gave me to Luca? I've never heard of a slave being set free, so I didn't know if it was a possibility.The snap of a twig again made me jerk my head around, but it was too late. A net was swiftly thrown over me. I was captured, and I didn't even see my captor's face. Yes, captures. More than one. Two people dragged me through the woods."Hey!" I shouted at them. "I can walk, you know!"They didn't answer me. They just continued dragging me in a different direction than what I was going. Since they are dragging me, I suspected that their pack was not far away, and I was right. I didn't know there was a pack closer to the wolfless area than Alpha Eric's, but there it was.I noticed a few people shackled to poles that was surrounded by made shift shelters. It was clearly not your normal pack. I quickly picked up that it was a traveling rogue pack.I knew it won't help telling them that I am a free wolfless. Rogues wouldn't care. I am theirs now. And no one was coming to safe me since no one knows that I needed help."Boss, we caught a human roaming around in the woods," one of my captures called out.A wild looking man with dreadlocks and an unkept beard walked out of the biggest made shift structure.He reeked of alcohol."I am a wolfless," I tried to explain to them that I am not some lost human.He grabbed me by my face and turned me left, then right. He forced my mouth open with his thumbs, inspecting my teeth. What the hell was he inspecting me for?"I belong to Alpha Eric," I lied. I could not exactly say I belong to a Luna.He chuckled at my lie. "If you belonged to him, you wouldn't be roaming around.""I was on my way back to his pack," I explained."You are a very bad liar," the man chuckled."Or you are just a really bad listener," Luca's familiar voice came from behind me."Set him free, and we will be on our way," Luca instructed. He was well built but not as towering as the rogue. However, I saw what Luca could do to another and believed he could take the giant of a man on. The only problem a few people came out of their made shift structures, and I doubted Luca could take them on all at once."And you are?" the man challenged as the rest of his rogue pack circled around."I am Luca," he answered. I was scanning the group. "I am busy training this slave for my father. Alpha Eric.""Why are you training a slave?" the man wanted to know."To run. To take care of themselves. To find their way back to the pack, but most of all,... loyalty," Luca said."Loyalty? Why does a slave need to be loyal?" he chuckled. It was clear he didn't believe a word Luca was saying."Why should I explain to you. You rogues don't understand the word loyal," Luca challenged, but I realized that he was just buying time. Was his father's pack on the way to help or Xan's? I don't see Xan's pack getting here anytime soon. I nervously gazed towards the woods for any sign of Luca's father. I wasn't sure if this rogue pack was hybrids or not, but one thing was for sure that they won't stand a chance against Alpha Eric and his pack.
