"You're not doing it." I told her, trying to be as quiet as possible, even though everyone could hear if they wanted to. However, she just rolled her eyes at me, and moved her hand away. I heard her release a slow annoyed breath, before she looked back at me. "You won't change my mind, Christian. And don't worry, I won't make you carry me again if something happens to my leg." Really? That's what she chose to talk about? "No, Lana-," I started off, looking on the side just to make sure it stays just between the two of us. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into." Her eyes were wide and filled with this certainty that I've never seen before. It was fascinating how much braveness she showed, but at the same time, she didn't consider that it could get her killed on day. Her voice muted in my head, and I seemed a bit lost for a second. But when she yanked her hand away from me she made me snap out of it. "Oh, it's safe for you to do it, huh? Save the stories for yourself, Christian." She was really starting to jump on my last nerve. She didn't listen. She just refused to fucking listen. I took a small step backwards, ran a hand through my hair in order to somewhat get away from the heat that was boiling underneath my skin, and placed my hands on my hips. I looked away in order to keep myself from distractions such as her. Perhaps, it was easier to be angry at her, rather than get attached to her, because she knew how to make you do that pretty damn quick. "Look," I heard her start off after a few seconds as she took a small step towards me. "I'm not doing this because I only want you to find that damn necklace. I'm doing this because if my father decided to give everything to the Vesnetsovs, then what if he gave the necklace too?" "It's the same damn story for me, Lana! I don't give a fuck who has the necklace. I want it in my hands. And both your family and the Vesnetsovs are my enemies." I snapped at her, knowing that she was only changing the subject, when she wasn't even aware what she was getting herself into. "And the last damn thing I need right now is for you to get yourself killed." She stared at me for a few seconds with a straight face, before I heard her say. "I don't need you permission." And with that, she walked pass me, bumping her shoulder in my arm, and went back in the room. That day, I found out that no, Lana wasn't someone that could be controlled. If she had something on her mind, she was doing it. If she had a motive, she was doing it. And this time, admit it or not, we had the same motives. Family. ~ Lana's POV It was another one of those voodoo things.. See, I never had real contact with witches. My father did.. But I was his only daughter. He kept me out of whatever was unnecessary. Clionas were something else, but it still required a lot of energy and force for them to do their magic. The difference, I learned,is that clionas had power from some source. A natural element. Witches used their own energy mostly. So that's what made clionas a bit stronger. Now, the thing was, yes I wanted to help Christian.. But the whole point of this hunt was my father. Everything was spinning around my family.. And that made me more connected than anyone else. Yes, I was on a runaway, but I knew things that the others didn't.. And one of those things was the contract, whatever it was about, that my father made with Alexander Vesnetsov, The Alpha of the Vesnetsov pack, and also, apparently my future husband. Of course, the whole point of me running away was to keep my family from toxic people like that. I knew how to read people and Alexander was definitely not clean. I mean, he did have a motive. My father offered him that motive. Power. The Vesnetsovs were already a large pack, and connecting it with ours and ruling was a pretty good motive to me. And you see, he could use that power however he wanted. Destroy us, particularly my father.. Me, and the rest of my family.. Then no one would be there to stand in his way of ruling however he wanted. It surprised me when I heard my father has done that because I still didn't know what kind of plans he had.. What if he was threatened? I mean, it was definitely not him to give up our whole family like that.. And when it came to a small object, a magic necklace, why wouldn't he give that to Alexander as well, in trust or not, when he was already ready to give up a whole pack? Of course he would.. Then no one would be after him. They would be after Alexander. Maybe he was just trying to get rid of the responsibilities. Whatever it was, I just wanted to know.. I wanted to get a closer look to the whole connection my father had with the Vesnetsovs. And these people were offering me exactly that. I was helping Christian but at the same time helping myself. Once again, I was connected to the same things as him.. It's funny in how different worlds we lived in. Both of us.. We were like a contrast, a complete opposite, yet at the end of the day we were either working together, or connected in the strangest way possible. Either way, we were in it together. "Okay, so how does this work?" I asked Amelia as she was lighting the candles. She was kneeling beside the table and after a few seconds of concentration she responded. "First, kneel beside me." I glanced at Christian; his arms firmly crossed against his chest, and the second our eyes met, he just looked away. I knew he didn't agree to this, but he could not tell me what to do.. This was connected to me maybe even more than it was to him. I was curious to know if my father actually trusted Alexander to give him an object like that, or did he still have it.. Whatever it was, it was not Christian word that was going to stop me.