Chapter 33

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY :D:D

On this day, I am going to release the TRAILER of The Shrewd Wolves attached above ^^^^^ It's done by me and it gives subtle hints of WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN in the UPCOMING CHAPTERS of the story ;) Please check it out and share your views about it :)

Happy Birthday to everyone who celebrate their birthday with me, on July 28th :D Woohoo!

Chapter 33 is here and it is dedicated to @shalini1993 :D

Cover done by @FMorden of Darya's wolf ^^^

With my today's happiness, also lies the grief at the last night news of the demise of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, scientist, former President of India and my Idol. A great human being who has inspired millions. May his soul rest in peace!

****

" Have you ever been in love?

Horrible isn't it? It makes you

so vulnerable. It opens your

chest and it opens up your

heart and it means that

someone can get inside you

and mess you up."

Neil Gaiman , The Sandman,

Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones (The

Sandman #9)

DARYA P.O.V

I was woken up by the familiar and aggravating tune of my alarm. Groaning, I picked my phone and dismissed the alarm. As I sat up, I recalled everything that had happened before I lost conscious. Gasping, I looked at my surroundings and realized I was still in Quillon's room, which means I am still in Serene. So they didn't kick me out?

Where is Sel? I had seen her rushing towards me? Is she alright?

Throwing the covers away, I got up and looked out of the window to see bright morning sun.

"How long had I been out for?" I whispered to myself rubbing my eyes.

"Fifteen hours" Quillon answered for me and I turned my head to find him sitting on the couch, with an iPad in his hand. "How are you feeling?" he asked striding towards me.

"Better. Wha-What happened to me?"

"Your wolf wanted to be alone for sometime" he answered and everything fell into place.

"Wait... where is Sel? I saw her—"

"She left late evening and told me to call her, when you wake up"

"I will do that" I mumbled weakly. As I ran a hand through my messy, frizzy hair, I tensed as I realized that Quillon and the whole of Serene Pack knew about my gifts. My wolf started pacing inside me. She was still on the edge over what happened yesterday and I knew I badly needed a run.

Slowly, I raised my lashes to look at Quillon and gulped when I found his dark eyes settled on me.

Is he mad at me? My wolf stopped for a moment and then continued pacing. I frowned at that reaction. Unlike yesterday, she did not seem too worried about the idea of Quillon knowing about my gifts. What brought that change? Whatever the reason, it was not really helping me.

Nervously licking my bottom lip, I began, "We have to—"

"Talk. I know" Quillon incised. "After you had your breakfast" he said and I nodded.

After brushing my teeth, I called Sel. She answered almost immediately. Despite repeatedly assuring Duncan and her, that I was fine, they did not seem convinced and told me they would come here to see me. When I recognized that it was useless arguing with them, I agreed.

"Oh! Sel... I need a favor" I said before she could hang up.

"What favor?" she demanded and I told her exactly what I needed. She agreed and said they would be on their way to Serene soon.

My second call was for Tyson and after assuring him that I was fine, I called Cortez. I had not been talking to him for a more than a week now and as I saw his missed calls on my phone; I felt terribly childish and dialed his number. He was very happy to hear from me and I smiled at his concern for me. We talked for a few more minutes, but carefully avoided the subject of Grace.

Before ending the call, he told me that Cable was spotted in a nightclub on the outskirts of Moreland Pack. The moment I heard his name, my wolf snapped her jaws.

I wanted to call Granel, but then as my wolf scratched inside me, I knew what I had to do. Therefore, instead of calling Granel, I scrolled for Sabine's number because I knew she would leave to school soon.

"Darya... oh my God! I heard what happened. Are you alright?" she asked, panic clearly evident in her tone and I smiled.

"I am fine Abi."

"Were you badly hurt?" Sabine kept asking one question after the other and sighing, I sat on the couch. Almost twenty minutes later, she let me speak.

"Abi... after everything that has been happening, my wolf has lost her cool."

"You want revenge? It's explicable" she sighed.

"I need your help to get that revenge" I told her slowly, hoping she would understand what I want.

"Anything" she said and I winced because I knew she did not grasp. I had told her what I wanted from her two years ago, but back then I did not went through it because Sabine was too young.

"You know what I want" I mumbled ruefully and I heard her sharp intake of breath from the other side. There wasn't any reply from her for and I knew she was taking her time to think.

"I..." she cleared her throat and I furrowed my brows. "I am ready" she told me and I gasped, shocked to hear her answer, even though that's what I wanted to hear.

"You are not going to lose control?"

"No. I...I can do it" she said hastily.

"Are you sure?" I needed her word because once she agrees; there would be no backing off!

"Yes. I am" Her answer was more confident this time and I smiled.

"You will not regret saying yes" I swore.

"Only I said yes Darya" she reminded me and I closed my eyes and groaned when I remembered another major hurdle on the way.

"I know... I will talk to Vincent."

"When?"

"How about tomorrow?"

"Okay. I will ask him to come to Supreme tomorrow" she said and I completely agreed with that idea because Vincent would never step into Serene.

"Yeah, you do that" I smiled. "Thank-you" I said and she chuckled and gave me another ten minutes lecture for saying thank-you.

After she kept the call, I dialed Granel's number and then spoke to him and arranged for the meeting. He agreed.

I then spent the next ten minutes replying to all the messages, I have got when I was out.

Dropping my phone beside me, I placed my hand on the arm of the couch and got thinking. I knew Vincent cared a lot about Sabine and his protectiveness towards her grew after what happened to her. It was reasonable, but I still hoped he would let Sabine help me this time.

I really needed her help. True, there are many girls out there who can do this... but if Cable suspects something slightly amiss then it will all go wrong. In Sabine's case, he will not be able to suspect anything.

Letting out a frustrated growl, I went to take bath.

__

I ate the breakfast painfully slow, trying as best as possible to postpone our talk. The fact that Quillon was sitting in the living room, waiting for me or my wolf being in the edge, wasn't exactly helping. Quinn had already left for school by the time I had come down and I was surprised, he did not say anything to Quillon.

While I was chewing the last bite of my sandwich, Quillon walked in and sat on the other side of the counter, facing me. Damn! I was hoping I could avoid him even though I knew it's not quite possible.

Okay! I can do this. Why am I even scared? If Quillon wanted to kick me out, he could have done it yesterday and if he does kick me now, then Sel and Duncan will kick him back. So everything is cool...

That thought was like a boost to me and it made me smile.

Before he could open his mouth, I started talking, "I know you have a lot of questions about yesterday, it's natural after what happened yesterday, but can you please ask them later. Right now, frankly, I am not in the mood to talk about it. My wolf is at bay. Plus, I am waiting for Sel and Duncan." I let out a breath once I finished talking and noticed that Quillon was shooting me an amused look.

"I came to have my breakfast" he said and that's when I saw the untouched sandwich in his plate.

"Oh! Oh?" I said flustered and he nodded.

"Well, you can have your breakfast... I will just... go" I said and once my back was to him, I grimaced feeling like a total fool.

"Darya" Quillon called and I turned to face him, panicking that he might have changed his mind. "Your family is here" he said getting up from the stool and I heaved a sigh. "But we will talk about this later" he swore, his inert gaze fixed on me and I pouted.

Sel was climbing out of the car, when I reached the door. Within no time, she closed the distance between us and hugged me tightly.

'You scared me yesterday' she whispered and as my wolf whined I felt my eyes getting clouded by tears. I did not want to do that to her... I just wanted her to be there with me.

'Sorry' I sniffed while she pulled away and shook her head. Duncan wrapped his arms around me next and placed a kiss on top of my head, like he usually does.

My guards were standing behind them and I smiled as I saw them. However, inside me, my wolf was growling and I furrowed my brows wondering what was wrong with her.

"Oh! I got what you told me to get" Sel said and at that moment, my wolf snapped her jaws. Nick threw the scabbard at me and I caught it without flinching.

"Why do you need it?" Sel inquired as I slowly started pulling out the sword from its sheath.

"This is the sword in which others like me were killed and this will be the same sword in which Konrad will die" I proclaimed in fortitude.

Just when the sharp, sleek steel blade of the sword was visible, my wolf bristled and growls after growls were emerging from my chest.

"Darya" Quillon called and held my arms.

"Darya, what's wrong?" Sel asked. They were repeatedly calling my name and it only made my wolf furious.

"Hmm..." I grunted trying my best to push back my wolf but it was not possible because she was tired of being suppressed. She wanted to run, she wanted to hunt, and she wanted to kill.

As I thrust the sword in Quillon's hands, I noticed that my claws were out.

"I need a run" I breathed out harshly, while marching ahead. Midway, I shifted into my black wolf. Once my paws touched the ground, I stomped it on the ground and snarled loudly. Quillon's friends were there and they were all staring at me with big, round eyes.

I don't know what they were doing there, but my wolf was already pissed and she saw them standing there as a challenge. In the mood, I was in; that challenged seemed taunting and my body tensed.

They turned pale and slowly started moving. The thought that they were circling me, ready to attack me made me see red.

"What is she doing?" Sel whispered from behind me as I crouched, ready to attack.

"Darya" Quillon snapped and my head whipped to look at him.

I had no control over my wolf, my thoughts were slowly turning malicious and I was ready to attack anyone who came in my way because right now, I just needed something to vent my anger at.

As his eyes turned dark, I curled my lips. Another wolf trying to attack me!

"Step. Back" he said through gritted teeth and my ears erected in angry defiance. "Last time. Step. Back" he spelled out and I rushed to attack him.

As I lunged at him, he shoved me, on the chest, with the heel of his hand. I fell a foot away and immediately stood up to see him shifting into his midnight blue wolf.

The blue wolf was huge in size and the aura excluding from him was purely intimidating. He stood tall and stiff legged, facing me with bristled hackles. His one, powerful growl made me shiver but neither did I show it, nor did I let it terrorize me. Which is why, I went for another attack. This time, I am going to finish this wolf.

"Darya" a familiar voice shouted in outrage as I did that.

The wolf stood still, waiting for me, completely undaunted which made my blood boil in rage. The wolf turned his head away as I snapped near his muzzle, which gave me the opportunity to drag my claws on the thick mane of his chest and shoulder.

That really ticked off this wolf because he snarled in front of my face and kicked me in the chest.

"Don't hurt her Quillon"

"She is not in control"

Someone shouted as I rolled over and stood on my feet to look at the midnight blue wolf that was stalking towards me, with murder intent on his black diamond like eyes.

His touch made me realize that I belonged to him but as he stalked ahead, I once again took it as a challenge.

The wolf stood in front of me and watched me with narrowed suspicious eyes and I crouched, ready to jump and attack him anytime. When he grasped what I was doing, he pulled back his lips to display his sharpest incisor, which was a warning for me to back off.

When I was close enough to him, I went for his neck, but the wolf was tall, powerful and stronger than me because he quickly twisted his body and before I could make my next move, he pinned me to the ground. His paws on my throat! Not crushing me, but holding me firmly on my place.

Snarling, I tried to fight back but it only hurt me more as my face scraped the interlocks on the ground.

"Quillon, you are hurting her" another voice growled out from somewhere far as I twisted my body, trying my best to escape from his hold.

After fighting in vain for few minutes, I realized that this wolf was stronger than me and would overpower me no matter what I try. When I stopped fighting, the wolf let go and I arched my back and whimpered repeatedly.

The midnight blue wolf stood beside me and as he growled, I forced myself to look at him. His tail was curled towards the back and his ears were erect and forward. Lowering his head, he stared stridently, demanding my submission.

My ears flattened against my head as I curled my body to make myself look small. As the wolf leaned closer, I mewled asking him to spare me.

He was strong. Too strong an opponent for me! He could make me submit to him anytime soon.

The wolf growled and as I looked through the corner of my eyes, I found him stepping back and back. Once, he was far away from my face, I stood tall on my fours.

My wolf gave control back to me at that moment and I looked at Quillon's wolf, who was looking at me with a sad expression. Feeling anxious and hurt, I fled from there and into the woods.

I raced down the narrow path between the trees as swiftly as possible, away from everyone. I still could not believe that I attacked and tried to challenge Quillon. His wolf was too powerful for me to fight fairly. I know he tried to be gentle with me, but when I pierced his skin, he lost control too. Cannot blame him... I was too mad to recognize who he was!

Hurdling over a rock, I continued running. My wolf desperately needed this. After being in Serene for a whole month now, I was quite familiar with the pack territory and hence I kept running on the trails, wolves normally use. My surroundings were a blur to me as I ghosted down those trails. Growling, snapping, I kept running thinking about everything that had happened yesterday.

Konrad has gone too far and even though he knew I would save those children, what he did was unforgivable. Then again, all of Konrad's actions are unforgivable. Before meeting Quillon, I had a goal in my mind and that was to kill Konrad's minions first. I had almost forgotten about it but not anymore.

I am not going to forget it this time. I am going to kill Cable first and then Sanity. Tyson and Cortez were already collecting information about Cable and I was sure, he would get something very soon.

My main target was Konrad though. Killing him was very difficult because he is often underground and for years, we have not come up with anything successful when it came to tracking him. The only way to find him is by attacking his minions. Ekon, had refused to share any information of Konrad with me and I had to respect his choice. I could torture Cable and force the information out of him. Yes... that is what I am going to do.

Cable would surely share the information in exchange for his life. No! I cannot let that rapist wander around in town. I cannot spare his life no matter what. Once he is captured, he has to be killed.

Dammit! How else can I find information about Konrad and finish him?

I was tired of him. My wolf was tired of his cheap, nasty tricks.

When I sensed a strange smell, I slowed down and dug my paws on the ground to stop. Looking around, I found two hares on an open meadow. There were very far from me and were engaged in a boxing match.

I crouched down and slowly moved ahead, making sure they would not sense my presence. I wanted to hunt and these two were the perfect targets.

I was almost two feet away when the hares stopped fighting and became alert. They were very agile and within no time, they started running for their lives. Growling, I ran after them. The smart little creatures separated in two different directions and I went after the bigger one of the two.

He had strong hind legs and was quicker, hence whenever he would run; he would send mud flying over my face. I snapped my jaws in irritation when it happened the third time.

A minute later, I lunged at him with full force and pinned him to the ground with my paws. Blood started oozing from his back from his skin, where my claws had pierced him. As I saw him struggling for his life, something fierce kicked in my heart and with a low growl, I let go of him and watched until he ran out of my sight.

I felt relieved after venting all the anger that had been inside me.

Just because I let this little creature go, does not mean I am going to spare anyone else. I am going to show no sympathy for Cable or Sanity or Konrad. They had always meddled into mine and the life of my loved ones.

I have a very good memory of what they have done to the pack wolves of the five Alphas' protecting me. The verity that they would do the same to Serene made me see red.

How dare that Konrad come and attack children of Serene Pack? How dare that Cable try to harm my Quillon? I will not even flinch when I squeeze the life out of him the very same way he kills his victim. I would like to see the life drain from him. I had let that mutt live longer than I intended! The only thing that had been saving Cable was that he was scared of me and never actually ready to fight face to face with me.

Pathetic mutt!

Did he really think that I am going to simply sit and let him attack my Quillon again? He is go—

Wait... what?!

My Quillon?

I tensed and narrowed my eyes as I realized what I just said. I think I said it before too. My Quillon? My?

I cannot... no! I cannot think like that. I shook my head fiercely, trying my best to shake that thought from my head. How did he become my Quillon? When did he become my Quillon?

This cannot happen! I mean, I cannot possibly be in love with Quillon.

No!

NO. NO. NO.

I am not in love with him. This is just a crush. I had a crush on Vernon too and now it's gone... Poof!

Shit!

I cursed using horrible words in my mind and kept jumping in my wolf form. This is impossible. It is ludicrous. Outrageous! I am not in love with him; I am just thinking that I am in love with him. There is a difference. A huge difference!

I paced in the ground, trying to convince myself that this was nonsense. I am not in love with Quillon. I just have feelings for him. Strong friendly feelings! I mean, sure, I like being with him but it is only because he is my mate. He can be nice when he wants to, he is protective, caring, unselfish, hard-working and that's why I lo—.

NO!

Growling, I slapped one of my front paws on my head. I like him. Like. That is where it stops.

Love was not part of our deal and me loving him, would be sheer stupidity on my part. That's why, I should not think on such lines.

I should change my thoughts soon. I should just stop thinking that I love him. For that to happen, I will just keep remembering all the things Quillon does to annoy me. Right! That's the way. I can do that.

He does a lot of annoying things like... like what he said when we first met. He apologized for that... so scratch that. Like how he does not let me ride his bike... No! Scratch that too. Like how he did not forgive me, even after I said sorry, for the website I had done. But he was so worried about me.... so that kind of makes it even.

Dammit! I can think of something better. I just need some time because my brain has stopped functioning now. I can do this... Oh Yes! I got it. Like how Quillon thinks I am a stupid sometimes, which I am not.

Good... keep going Darya! Add some more to the list. I just have to think some more. I can totally get over this. I will forget him—

"What are you doing here?"

I turned my head to look at Quillon, who was standing a few feet away and staring at me intently. He looked bloody spectacular in a dark green collared t-shirt and denim. The t-shirt clung to his body, accentuating his muscles— Dammit! I am trying to forget him and he appears right before me.

As Quillon took a step forward, I barked at him and he froze in his tracks. He seemed baffled by my reaction for a second before striding ahead. I growled at him, hoping he would maintain distance. But as he came closer and closer, I turned and ran away.

"Darya" Quillon snapped and I came to a halt after there was a good amount of distance between us.

While he shot me an annoyed look, I shot him an accusing one. Yes! I am blaming him. All of this is his fault. He should have continued being an asshole, and then I would have been able to forget him. Somewhere, somehow he started being all nice with me and I did not even realize it. Now, I don't like the result of his niceness because it makes me feel a lot of things for him.

"Darya" he called striding closer and when I thought he was too close for my liking, I took off. "That's it doll-face" Quillon said in exasperation and as I increased my speed, he lunged at me and wrapping an arm around my body, he tackled me to the ground.

"Shift back" he growled out pressing my head on the ground and I snapped in frustration. "Now" he shouted in full volume and his tone ceased all the fight I had.

Quillon got off me and removing his dark green t-shirt, he threw it at me. It fell beside me and as I looked at him, I found his eyes were closed.

Although his eyes were closed, he was facing me and that made me a little uneasy. Once I shifted back, I held the t-shirt close to my chest. "Turn" I said with a frown.

"I don't trust you not to run away" Quillon said with a shrug and I growled. Watching him like a hawk, I quickly put on the shirt and huffed when I saw that it stopped mid-thighs. As I raised my lashes, I found him smirking with his eyes closed and I scowled. His eyes were closed, weren't they? Did he sneak a peek without me even noticing it?

"I am done" I said and he opened his eyes to look at me. I glared when that smirk remained intact on his face. Why the hell is he smirking?

"Good. Let's go" he said and gritting my teeth, I stood up and followed him. "Your family is waiting for us" he said and I closed my eyes in guilt, because I just left them there and ran away.

With a frown etched on my face, I kept following Quillon. I do not love him. I am just attracted to him because I spend most of my time with him. That's all.

This love thing is all in my mind and I should first erase it from there. And like decided earlier, I will do that just by thinking about his negative qualities.

My head collided against something and gasping, I took a step back and met unfathomable dark eyes. Quillon was staring at me curiously and I blinked in daze. God! Those black eyes... they were so beautiful and right now, it seemed they were looking right through me.

I am sure I looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Did I say out loud what I was thinking?

"What's wrong?" Quillon demanded.

"Wrong? There is nothing wrong" I said and smiled brightly but it did not convince Quillon because he leaned forward.

If I keep on lying, he will surely prod further. So the next option is to tell him some other truth. "I was formulating a plan to kill Cable" I said and Quillon inhaled harshly.

"We will talk about this later" he muttered.

__

Duncan and Sel left at noon so that they could be home before Lorcan returns from school.

While she was here, Sel filled me in with some things that happened yesterday. She told me that while she had come rushing, she had seen Serene Pack wolves kneeling in respect to me. To say, I was shocked to hear it would be an understatement. I do not even know what I did that made them do that.

Grace had also told Sel that the Serene Pack wolves had been calling me life. I was flabbergasted to hear it.

Life!

They called me life. It was an honor, which I did not think I deserved because I have been used to wolves calling me with terrible names.

At the end, I just wished that I live up to their expectations of me. I never make them regret calling me life.

Quillon said he wanted to talk to me about it, but I told him that I had an assignment to do and now, I was sitting behind the locked door of my old room. My attention was barely on the assignment that I was writing.

I still could not shake the thought of me loving Quillon from my head. No matter how many times, I tried to throw that thought out of my head, it was not happening. The word LOVE was glowing in my head in bright neon red color. I tried everything to put it off but it was not helping.

In the end, I had to accept that somewhere, somehow my feelings for Quillon turned into something real. Something like... love!

There, I have said it.

I am not very proud of it but I cannot deny it either. It just... happened? My wolf felt giddy and she wagged her tail in pure bliss.

Groaning, I lowered my head and held it in my hands. Why? Why did this happen? My life is already complicated enough... why add this?

When I think about Quillon, I feel extremely happy that I love him, but that happiness dies down when Konrad's mocking gaze pitches in. He is already targeting Quillon because of me and if he comes to know about this... then he will try to take Quillon away from me. That is how Konrad is! He finds pleasure in my pain.

I am not going to tell Quillon anything about this because I do not want to make a fool of myself. Call me coward or anything else, but I had once tried confessing my feelings and it turned out to be a major disaster.

It happened when I was fourteen years old and at that time, I didn't know the difference between crush and love. I was convinced that Vernon was the love of my life and so, decided to confess the same to him. I had called him to come and meet me in the park. While I was waiting there for him, Konrad had sent two rogues to kill me. My guards had killed them before Vernon had arrived. "Let's take you out of here before others arrive kid!" that's what Vernon had muttered while ushering me into the car. I had already been crying and after hearing it I had bawled my eyes out.

KID!

He had called me a kid and I was about to... Urgh! I giggled softly as I remembered it. Back then, I cried a lot because the fact that Vernon saw me as a child, really hurt.

However, I had learnt an important lesson that day and that was not to be the first one to confess feelings.

So, that's the reason I am not going to tell Quillon about this. Also, I know that he doesn't feel the same for me. It hurts, obviously, but it is also the bitter truth. My wolf whined softly and rested her head on her paws feeling shattered. I pinched my lips and wiped the tears from the corner of my eyes.

I don't even know why I am crying.

So Quillon doesn't love me. No biggie!

It's his loss, not mine; because honestly, I cannot force him to love me. So, I will just throw this feeling to the back of my head and continue being just the way I am.

Shrugging, I picked up an Oreo, took a bite and continued with my assignment.

____

QUILLON P.O.V

'Q, dinner is ready' Quinn said through the link while I was reading a business related article. 'Call Darya too' Quinn added.

After coming out of my office, I went upstairs to call Darya, who had locked herself in a room to work on some assignment. She had been at it since afternoon. I wanted to talk to her and ask about her plan, but the first time I tried, she told me she had an assignment. Second time, she was sleeping and third time... I had to go out.

However, I still managed to get hold of Quinn and leak some information. Apparently, Cable had planned an attack on me and Darya was the one who had saved me. After seeing the dead bodies of the attendant and his family, I had first thought Cable had done it. When I wasn't able to draw any connection, I thought it was done by some gang. Nevertheless, my wolf snapped his jaws ferociously after hearing it. The audacity of that mutt to attack me!

Quinn had told me, he came to know about Darya's gifts that day. She had saved my life and I was not even aware of it. My wolf howled in pride at that thought and I smirked slightly.

As I reached upstairs, I caught her scent in our room and walked in there to see Darya texting someone with a worried look on her face. "Dinner is ready" I knocked on the door to get her attention.

"I will be there" she muttered and then after texting something else, she stood up.

"Problem?" I queried.

"Yes" she muttered going downstairs. "And its name is Vincent" she added and I growled the moment I heard that jackass's name.

"What did he do?" I demanded.

"He did not do anything... yet" Darya answered entering the kitchen.

"Who did not do anything yet?" Quinn asked sitting on the stool.

"Vincent. I have to ask his permission—"

"For what?" I incised in exasperation.

"Oh! We are talking about plan 'Cut Cable'?" Quinn said excitedly.

"Cut Cable?" Darya said amused.

"You knew about this?" I asked glaring at him.

"Succinctly" he replied carefully and I gritted my teeth as my wolf winced in pain. "So, did Sabine agree?"

"Who the hell is Sabine?" I all but roared making both of them jump in their seats. I was tired of being kept in dark. I wanted to know everything.

"Ma-my friend. She was there with me, that day, in Elegance. Short, brunette, very beautiful... she was standing beside me when you guys came" Darya supplied and dimly, I remembered a short, slim brunette, who had been holding Darya's hands tightly.

"The one that was cowering behind you?" I asked and Darya nodded. The reason, I remembered Sabine so well was because unmated pack wolves who had accompanied me that day to Serene had lustful thoughts about her.

"Yep. That was Sabine and she was cowering because she is just wary of men" Darya said sadly and I cocked an eyebrow. "She was almost raped when she was thirteen." I inhaled sharply after hearing it. Just thirteen? I am glad that she was saved in time.

"For what do you need Sabine's agreement?" I asked.

"I need Sabine to lure Cable to his death and she can do that" Darya said slowly.

"How old is she?"

"Sixteen" Darya replied.

"You want a sixteen year old, who was almost raped once, to do that?" I asked in outrage, glaring at my mate.

"Yes. I want Sabine to do this" Darya said looking me in the eye and my eyes widened in shock after hearing her words. That girl had been peeping at me from behind Darya's back the other day. She did not once raise her head to look at anyone. It's obvious she is still terrified of men, then how can she do this?

"I was with Sabine that day" Darya said and my head whipped to look at her.

"You were the one who saved her" Quinn whispered and Darya was silent for a long time, before nodding.

"That's how we became friends. Abi had been terrified for months. Had attended lots of therapies and on one such session, do you know what she said to her shrink? That she would feel better if she saves other girls' from such men. When Abi had heard about Cable, she was the one who told me she wanted to kill him. I thought she was just saying it in anger and dismissed it. But I realized how serious she really was when she shifted and ran into a town filled with humans after hearing Cable was spotted there."

I raised my brows and Quinn sucked in a breath after hearing it.

"To calm her down, I made a deal with her. Her part of the deal was that she would lure Cable, while mine was to slaughter him" Darya finished dexterously.

"And what does 'luring' include?" I demanded.

Darya grinned and said, "For others- talent, but for Sabine just her gift."

"Gift? She is gifted?" Quinn asked interestedly and Darya nodded. "What's her gift?"

"Her skin starts glowing gold. Initially, it used to happen only when she was happy but lately she has been learning to do it anytime she wants."

"What's the specialty of her gift?" Quinn questioned, confused.

"When you meet her, find it out on your own" Darya shrugged and took a bite of her pasta.

"Uh, I am going to meet her?" Quinn asked raising his head in pride, as if he was about to meet some celebrity.

"If you come with us tomorrow, you might" Darya said.

"Tomorrow, where are you going tomorrow and with whom?" I asked with a feral growl.

"Supreme Pack... and you are coming with me to meet Vincent" Darya said smiling brightly.

"I am not going anywhere to meet that mutt" I snarled standing up and Darya cocked an eyebrow.

"It's fine if you are not coming, but I am definitely going." The doll face had to defy me.

"I am coming with you" Quinn raised his hand and I scowled at him.

"No one is going anywhere" I declared in my Alpha tone and both of them stiffened. "And why do you even want to meet that mutt?" I demanded.

"Because he is Sabine's cousin" Darya snapped in frustration and I was startled by that piece of information. "He is extremely protective of her and he will never let her agree to this. So, I want to talk to him and convince him to agree to this so that we can save the world from Cable" Darya said with a growl of her own.

"If Vincent is protective of her then he will definitely not agree" I foretold.

"Can you please not be negative?" Darya hissed with a frown. "His approval is a must and it all depends on how smoothly we talk to him."

"You mean how smoothly I talk to him?" I said and she flushed in her seat. Vincent will not listen to her, hence she wants me to go and talk to him.

As I chewed my food, I debated on what to do. My wolf wanted to kill Cable and he could do so if Cable gets caught. The problem was that he doesn't. However, he can easily fall into a she-wolf's trap. Especially a gifted she-wolf like Sabine!

My eyes then travelled to Darya, whose grey eyes were eagerly waiting for my answer. Nervously, she licked her bottom lip and I swallowed hard.

"Fine" I said looking away from those soft pink and velvety lips.

"Really?" Darya asked startled as I took a bite of my pasta.

"Fantastic! What time are we leaving?" Quinn asked grinning widely.

"We?" I said, arching a brow. "Darya and me. Not you. You have school to attend" I said, wiping the grin from his smug face. While he growled, I glared at him, making him swallow any protest he had.

"Next time" Darya said smiling sweetly at Quinn and I scowled at her. "We have to be there by ten" she then told me and I nodded.

If Vincent keeps ogling at my mate, then I am going to gouge out his eyes.

__

After switching off all the lights, I went upstairs and as I was pushing our room door open, I saw Quinn coming out of his room.

"Going somewhere?" I asked him.

"For a run" he muttered and was out of my sight before I could ask more.

As I entered our room, I spotted Darya sitting on the bed and texting someone. When I entered the room, she looked at me and smiled, "Sabine told Vincent to come to Supreme and he agreed. But she did not tell him why."

"And that's a good thing?" I asked flatly and she rolled her eyes.

"It is better because if he knew why, then he would never agree to come to Supreme" Darya pointed out getting under the sheets.

"You are sleeping so early?" It was only nine-thirty and she does not sleep until eleven.

"I am feeling very sleepy" she replied and I furrowed my brows.

"Is something wrong?" I demanded. She has been behaving oddly since morning.

"I am fine" she said, turning her back to me and my wolf growled, not liking it one bit.

However, I ignored him. "Alright!" I said and pressed a button on the remote that brought the television into view. Suddenly, I remembered something, "Darya" I called and she opened her eyes, but did not turn to look at me. "Thank-you for saving my life" I said with a smile. Chewing her bottom lip, she seemed to be debating on something, before nodding and covering her head with the sheets.

I blinked and then punched the power button.

Suddenly, she pushed the sheets away and turned her head, "I accept your thank you on a condition" she said and I cocked an eyebrow. "I want you to forgive me for that website thing" she said and a slow smile crept up my face.

I had already forgiven her, even though I said I did not at that time. However, I was stunned that she still remembered it.

"Done" I said and once again, she covered herself with the sheet from head to toe.

Something is definitely wrong!

I was watching a news channel, when Darya lowered the cover and turned to look at me. "I need to ask you something" she began and I pressed mute. "What is your gift?" she asked and I tensed.

"Who told you I am gifted?"

"I suspected it and Quinn confirmed it"

Quinn!

I could happily punch that little bugger in the face right now.

My wolf wanted to tell her everything but just then, I recalled what dad had told me yesterday. My wolf complained heatedly but I suppressed him to one corner of my mind.

"Quillon?" Darya probed sitting up and I gritted my teeth.

She will continue with her probing until I give her an answer because now, thanks to my little brother, she knows I am gifted. I couldn't tell her everything. Especially the lethal part because of which most people thought I was a madman and had to be thrown into a mental asylum.

I could tell her that I change emotions. All I had to do was hope that she would not think I had changed her emotions.

"I told you about my gifts and now—"

"You did not tell me" I remarked.

"Well, I had decided to tell you before the incident occurred" Darya protested and I sighed.

Closing my eyes, I leaned back and muttered, "I can manipulate feelings and emotions."

"Manipulate" she whispered carefully and I nodded without looking at her. "In what way?" she asked.

"I can make a person happy one moment and depressed the next" I stated.

"Like, change hate into... love?" she asked slowly.

"Never done that before" I replied honestly, scratching my nape.

"Oh!" her voice was barely audible. "Can you at the moment, change my emotion?" she asked and I glared at her.

"No" I snapped switching off the television. Suddenly, all I wanted to do was get out of the room.

"Why not?" Darya was stunned.

"I don't try my gifts on my family" I replied flatly.

"I am family?" Darya asked stunned and I felt my cheeks burning as my eyes flickered to look at her. Her grey eyes were looking at me with a hopeful expression and her cheeks were also beet red.

My wolf purred softly and I clenched my fists.

"Now, it is my turn to ask the questions" I said instead and she opened and closed her mouth.

"Only three chances"

"Six" I corrected and before she could protest, I demanded, "Tell me everything."

"Okay... Many of them are involved in this and it is different for each person. I will tell you how it was for me and when it started for me. I will not tell you the part which reveals others secrets because, I have to respect their decision and keep it a secret" she began and I gave a nod of encouragement.

"It started for me, after I shifted, at the age of eleven" she said and watched me carefully for my reaction. I had already figured out that she had, since all such gifted kids shifted at eleven. "Nine months later, I learnt I could control everything that has its roots inside the earth." I had guessed this too but I was not sure. So, the Austin kid could control sky.

"After that, I came to know the truth about my birth and then I met Abraham Rhoades and he, well Sel told you what happened, he got killed later and Duncan met Sel and he came to know about me. A week before their wedding, I got my second gift water. I was not expecting it, and hence it was quite a shock. Then two years gaps for air, fire and this January the last element sky kicked in" she said with a casual shrug and I frowned.

"That's it?"

"Yes"

That cannot be it. There is more... I am sure of it.

I kept staring at her and she raised her brows questioningly. I already knew whatever she told me. It means, I knew how much Darya is involved. What I did not know is how much others were involved.

"There is more, isn't it?" I asked and she nodded.

"What I just told you, is from where I play a part in it. The story started long before my birth... It started with the destruction of Elegance Pack."

"What?"

"Everything, every single wrong thing that has been happening around us is because of the destruction of Elegance Pack. What the rogues did that day to Elegance was really very wrong" she said sadly and I furrowed my brows.

"I know" I agreed but I still did not understand how everything started because of Elegance. "Did the rogues who killed other four children attack you?"

She tensed at my question and held the sheets in a tight grip, "They did... but they were killed too."

"Who killed them?"

"The five Alphas'" she replied.

"Why did your father—" she glared at me and I cleared my throat, "I mean, why did Abraham Rhoades try to kill you?" I asked, clenching my fists. I swear, if that man was still alive, then I would have ripped his head off.

"Many reasons, but the one that hurt the most were his accusation of me killing his mate during my birth" she said and my wolf whined softly.

"That's not your fault" I growled out as Darya lowered my head.

"I know" she muttered feebly, "Duncan repeats the same thing whenever the topic rises."

She was upset and it was obvious by the way she refused to look up. I wanted to provide comfort for her but I also did not want to give her a shoulder to cry. And as an alternative, I hauled her towards me by wrapping an arm around her waist.

Darya gasped in surprise and I took that opportunity to bring my mouth down to hers. Thankfully, she was not wearing any lip-gloss.

Sparks of electricity spread all around my body and my wolf purred like a big, wild, hungry cat as she ran her fingers through my copious black hair. I sucked and nibbled her lower lips, teasing her. As she let out a moan of complaint, I brought her down on the bed without pulling away from the kiss.

The kiss was explosive but something felt different from Darya. She was pulling me closer, asking for more and even though I absolutely loved it, I was still unsure because I knew that she was not ready. This was all new to her and she needed some time... at least before making that decision.

I raised my head and looked at her beautiful face, which was a rare shade of crimson. Her lips were soft and wet and dark pink. When her eyes flew open, her irises were also flaming crimson. She was looking at me... adoringly, and my wolf howled happily.

I thought he would be worried for his mate, but he seemed cool and hence I knew, for once, there was nothing to worry about.

"Why did you stop?" she asked breathlessly.

"That was the seventh question" I smirked.

She slapped my shoulders and chuckling; I lowered my head and claimed another scorching kiss.

****

Hope you liked the chapter :)

So, Darya loves Quillon. Do you want her to tell the same to him? Do tell me!

Next update on 7th August. ANOTHER REMINDER TO CHECK OUT THE TRAILER.

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Love,

Shruthi. Prabhanandh. Suvarna :-*

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