Alim opened his mouth when he realized with whom he had collided, precisely with the she-wolf who grabbed him by the back of the collar of his clothes to not let him go.
-Priscilla smiled at him as she turned to him, -You and I need to talk about some things, okay?- the way the she-wolf looked at him made the boy nod his head.
Priscilla didn't care much for the scene they were making. Of her seeming to almost intimidate the puppy. It wasn't time for that.
-Let's go somewhere else,- she said to the cub once they got up, -And don't think about running away.
Alim raised his head and to Priscilla's surprise he grabbed her hand.
-Let's go,- he also said with a smile that made Priscilla's smile disappear. Something was very strange.
They walked in the direction of one of the stone walls around a large ceiba tree. The boy walked beside her and Priscila watched him out of the corner of her eye. And she opened her mind. Because at that moment it wasn't time to rule anything out.
What if the puppy was Liam?
It could be. Who would suspect a puppy?
She had already bypassed that part at the beginning so... she entered Alim's mind. He had nothing to lose and the possibilities were closing in on him and time was running out. She did it quietly, gently, without the boy's knowledge... but found nothing when he reacted.
He stopped in his tracks. The puppy's mind was so clean that she found herself trapped in white walls everywhere inside. Alone, all alone. She looked around and found she was no longer on Layan grounds but inside a room so white it made her eyes hurt, with no way out. Someone else's consciousness.
He took a deep breath forcing himself out but it was no use. She did not move, she did not return.
Perhaps she had become trapped inside the puppy's mind. Her heart pounded in her chest and she gasped. She closed her eyes again but it was no use. She couldn't get out. She was trapped in a blank space, so pure and so terrifying.
What the hell was going on?
She tried to call out to someone, first her mother, then her father, even Layan, but it was as if her voice and mind couldn't break through Alim's mental barriers. She frowned in annoyance.
How on earth had it come to that situation?
Suddenly she felt a warmth on her back that made her turn around.... nada. She narrowed her eyes. The white was getting stronger and stronger and it was blinding her. And again came that heat, only this time it was spreading around her waist as well. It was such an unpleasant sensation that it made her shudder and jump to the side shuddering and making her alert.
But every act was useless, this time the heat again on her back moved as if it were hands touching her and this time it was moving up her abdomen, feeling the bare skin of her torso until it reached her breast.
Priscilla bristled and let out a squeal trying to shake it off but the sensation was increasingly terrifying as it spread around her thigh. Searching for that area she was only willing to allow one person to touch. She was losing strength in her body until she fell to her knees.
She bared her fangs in annoyance and at the same time panic generated inside her.
Layan, the wolf's name crossed her head and she let out another shriek. That feeling was as if someone else was touching her and it was really disgusting. As if it was the beginning of a rape. She never thought that letting herself be touched by someone else, even if she didn't see it, could do that to her.
-Priscilla, come out,- a loud voice in her head made everything around her suddenly go black and the sensation of the touches faded away.
As if thousands of threads were tangled around her she felt herself being pulled out until the sensation of standing on something firm was in force.
-Priscilla,- a male voice she struggled to recognize due to her daze.
-Priscila- a voice that snapped her out of that precise daze.
She opened her eyes with a start to find herself in the same place where she had stopped and next to her Victore and her wolf, Layan. Both of them didn't have very good faces.
-Priscilla, can you hear us?- Victore at her side waved his hand in front of her face as if to get her attention.
Priscilla still felt like she was in a strange bubble, her ears were whistling and she could barely tear her gaze away from Layan in front of her who grabbed her shoulders. His fingers dug into her skin and her face was twisted into a worried grimace.
-Prisci...
But he couldn't finish the sentence as the she-wolf turned to the side and breaking his grip fell to her knees and simply vomited. The two wolves knelt beside her even more alarmed by the situation they still didn't understand.
Layan quickly steadied her by grabbing her from behind while Victore held her hair while Priscilla shuddered with retching and gasping until she vomited again until she just let out bile. Her face was covered with tears and her throat burned. Her skin bristled and she trembled in the alpha's arms.
Remembering over and over again that which had touched her turned her stomach and that had been more impressive than being trapped inside someone's mind. Her body was rejecting all sexual contact other than with the wolf she had chosen and as a result she was so weak from vomiting in Layan's arms.
-Calm down, breathe,- Layan ran his hand down her back in an attempt to comfort her.
Victore stopped touching her as he realized that his alpha was beginning to wrap the she-wolf in possessiveness and protectiveness. So the best thing to do was to give them space.
-Alpha, you'd better take her back to the castle and keep her with you. I'll go get Kei and we'll take care of everything.
Layan looked at his commander as he pulled Priscilla close to him and wrapped his arms around her neck. He stroked her head and positioned her so that her nose was as close to his gland as possible. That seemed to have an effect because the tremors in the she-wolf began to gently subside.
Victore admired the scene until he felt a small hand on his.
-Is she all right?- the puppy Alim was beside him asking with a worried face.
Victore bowed his head and narrowed his eyes.
-She's already with the alpha,- she said, patting him on the head.
That answer seemed to be enough for the puppy to nod his head and run past the couple. Priscilla, who heard it, barely raised her head with heavy eyelids, intoxicated by the pheromones.
-No,- she could only gasp barely understandable through her throat.
She didn't know if Liam was inside Alim. It hadn't been the same reaction as when he spoke to her, he hadn't even spoken to her. So she didn't really know what had happened and that was exhausting.
Layan stood up holding her by the thighs and supporting her body. She couldn't move her legs to wrap her waist around his waist with them. It was as if her mind was completely exhausted and her body felt like a mere rag.
-I leave everything to you Victore. Anything at all, you tell me.
The Commander nodded and turned to return to his duties. Layan stood still for a moment.
-What were you doing?- asked the alpha in a soft tone, leaving a kiss on the she-wolf's shoulder but he didn't receive an answer.
***
When Layan had seen the new corpse, this time with wounds all over her body but that seemed to have been with nails superficially, he was stunned. None of the murders had anything in common and it was very confusing especially since there was no scent trail or anything that would lead them to anyone.
And that was very mortifying.
They had been investigating but had hardly any results, but that something was going on, something was going on. Layan grunted at this.
-Alpha, it's the same as the previous ones. There's no fingernail scrapings or anything like that. It looks like something did it... I don't know how to explain it-Victore lowered his head- Ahhh, where the hell is Kei, he could give more details-.
The alpha ran his hand over his head and slicked back his long hair.
-We keep going around in circles and nothing. There's no pattern either. How long is this going to go on. If only we knew...-he remembered Litus' words in their last conversation- What if....
Suddenly a shriek came to her mind and her eyes instantly turned golden. That was a sound of panic, one given by a she-wolf in danger looking for a male wolf to help her from any danger.
-Priscilla,- she gasped. She was in danger.
-ALPHA,- Victore noticed the change in her face and that she spoke his name, -ALPHA,- she shouted as he ran off, -Shit,- and turned to the other wolves who were packing the body in blankets, -Finish the job,- she said and ran off.
He told them and ran off. Because he had also heard that screeching sound and it didn't seem to be good.
Layan ran until he transformed into his beast form, hurrying his pace. Priscilla wasn't the type to call for help and was strong enough to defend herself, which is why he was so alarmed to hear her like that. It reminded him of the time when she had awakened the power of fire as a cub. Even her screams echoed in his head and the way she cried. His chest tightened at the memory and it was unbearable.