Chapter 82: 82

Dylan's Point Of View

'Oooh... I see everything is going smoothly,' Travis jeered through the mindlink.

I chuckled. 'Shut up, you mutt.' I blocked him out.

Her scent walked into my nose. That ever-intoxicating vanilla scent of mixed roses. I knew she was near. The door pushed open. My beautiful mate walked in.

"Sorry I'm late." Her voice echoed in with a powerful tone while everyone bowed slightly in respect.

I watched her startled gaze. She still wasn't used to these formalities.

Her deep ocean blue eyes held mine. She took her seat on the chair opposite mine.

My amber eyes concealed the euphoria I felt, having my mate in here with me, having a pack meeting. I felt happy, almost grinning visibly. But I masked it all, sparing her discreet glances throughout.

"We can proceed now," my voice boomed.

"The warriors have cleared out the bodies from our territory," came Travis.

I asked, "Any deaths from the pack?"

"None. Just some injuries. Dr. Vera is seeing to them," Morgan spoke.

"That's a relief. We need to triple the patrol." I turned to Mason, asking him to take care of that.

"How close are you to uncovering the traitor? I'm guessing it's because of them those fucking bastards countered our second and fifth lines of defense put in place to protect the pack from these kinds of outsiders. Even the protection spells and enchantments were tampered with. Today they almost got in; we can't let that happen again."

"Almost close, Alpha. Valerie, Helene, and I are working on it. Just a few days and you'll have the traitor," came Celeste.

"Good, then. But we need to hurry fast."

The witches nodded.

"I heard Raina has aligned herself with the enemy, Nikola," Williams added. Everyone’s face became more serious; even the air in our midst turned grave and cold.

I affirmed, "So we've been told."

This clearly changed everything. Raina and Nikola together was pretty... well, much to take in. After so many years had passed, we finally heard of her. She was back now, and no doubt here for trouble. And now it turned out she wanted my mate.

"What's the plan?" John queried.

I met the gaze of everyone present in my office. Then I spoke.

"We prepare ourselves. Raina and Nikola are after us and certainly planning something big. I received word from our inside eyes in the Blood Stone kingdom. There are underground happenings going on in the kingdom."

"What kind of happenings?" Valerie asked.

"Humans disappearing." Xavier came forward, dropping the reports from the men still undercover in the Blood Stone kingdom.

"And even worse, no human seems to be remembering anything around. They've all been compelled," Travis added.

"That's serious," Paulo said.

"Yes, it is. There's no concrete evidence yet, but we suspect whatever plan Nikola has got to do with those humans. And we have little time to figure everything out and stop Nikola."

"And what of the new witch? The male witch. Does he know what underground business is going on there?" John queried.

My mate answered, "No, he doesn't. It seems like Raina is the one mastering the whole thing."

"Yes, I can't deny it. The witch helped us out today," I said, earning a brief stare from my mate.

Everyone nodded. They didn't seem to have anything against the witch staying here in the pack.

'But it's just for a short time,' I reminded myself.

"We need to be more alert and keep Raina far away from our Luna," Xavier spoke. And he was right. I had to ensure Raina didn't get my mate.

"But she already has Cora's journals and everything that Cora had been working on," Helene, who had been quiet, spoke.

"The traitor witch took everything, right?" Williams probed, all eyes moving to Aderyn.

Her eyes quickly scanned around before she nodded. "Yes. The witch took everything."

She lied bluntly, hiding the fact she still had one last journal of Cora.

Her blue eyes then met mine.

"I'll send for all the pack Alphas, including the Alpha elders in the Circle. Raina wants what she has always wanted—to exterminate the werewolf race. Nikola wants more power by ruling us out, making us extinct. Werewolves need to ready ourselves and prepare for whatever trouble lies ahead."

The looks on everyone's faces were that of anger, pain, and hatred.

We spent a few more hours in the office before finishing up.

The pack officials and the rest left the office, leaving my mate and me.

I roved to her.

"Why didn't you tell everyone about the journal? You don't trust them?"

She shook her head. "It's not that. I trust everyone here with my life. But the traitor witch is someone around, watching and listening. I can't let them or Raina know I still have mother's last journal. For the time being, until we find who the traitor is, Valerie, Celeste, and I will keep on working on the journal—" she paused briefly. "Along with Reagan."

Now a grimace crept in. I had almost forgotten about the bloody witch. But I promised Aderyn. I’d just have to stand the witch.

"Fine. You just do what you have to."

She let out a tight-lipped smile.

"And thank you for showing up."

"You don't have to thank me, Dylan. This is exactly what I should be doing, right?"

She deepened her smile; I got so lost in it.

I moved closer to her, my eyes falling on the white, soft skin on her neck. She was fucking gorgeous. Sexily gorgeous. I heard the loud pumping of her blood in my ears. My eyes trailed her neck. Something began to grow within me. I couldn't control it. A drumming heartbeat beat loudly in my ears.

I was far beyond paying attention to her words. I wanted to go to her, grab her, and get a taste of her warm, soft blood that flowed alluringly in her.

Fuck! What on earth was I even thinking?

I felt the want grow within me, getting more impulsive. I wanted her.

My eyes glowed red. Quickly, I turned my back to her so she wouldn't see my red glowing eyes, which meant I wanted blood. Her blood.

Shit!

I felt Aderyn move closer to me. I smelled her worry.

I couldn't control myself any longer. I couldn't control this thirst, but I couldn't hurt my mate either.

I was left with no other choice. I raced out of the office with my fast superspeed, leaving her all alone.

It was morning already. I was going downstairs for breakfast. I arrived, meeting everyone already at the table. As I approached, they all bowed their heads in respect.

I scanned around, and she hadn't come down yet. Just as I thought it, her scent hit me. She was here.

I turned around, taking a seat. Aderyn approached the table, saying good morning as she slid into one of the empty chairs.

Her eyes darted to mine, and she pushed out a small smile. I held my breath, tightly holding on to the fork I had in one hand and the knife in the other. I smiled back. A strong feeling overpowered me. It was starting again. Ever since the intruders attacked and I smelled her blood, I had been going crazy on the inside whenever I saw her, whenever she was right next to me.

I wanted her... I wanted her blood.

But I didn't want to hurt her. I knew just by the taste of her blood I might lose control; I didn't want that to happen.

Gunther had been helping me to gain control, to find balance, but even he didn't have much power over my bloodlusting vampire side.

I hated it. And gosh, her scent kept hitting me. I couldn't stand this much longer.

I dropped the cutlery in my grasp; its metal sounded harshly against the glassy plates, stumbling into the chicken salad. All heads snapped to me. I felt the worry in each gaze. But I had to get as far away from her. Her scent was toxic to me. I couldn't hold back any longer.

I drew back my chair, standing on my feet. Just as soon, she was beside me. Her wide, bulging blue eyes searched mine. "Dylan." Her call alone had questions.

She knew something was wrong. I bet she could feel it the past few days I had been off, staying away, fighting this side of me that wanted her blood.

I hated myself.

"Alpha," Morgan and Travis called in unison.

I turned to the worried duo, my gaze falling on Brielle, Allegra, Nina, and the rest at the table, then onto my mate.

"I'm fine, guys. I'm just not hungry," I lied to them, hoping my mate would believe me.

She held a detective's gaze on me before blinking. I whispered to her, "I'm fine."

I left the dining hall, heading straight to my room to feed. I had been feeding more frequently these days, but was never truly satisfied. I only craved her blood. Last night, I went out to the human town in hopes that drinking directly from a human instead of a blood bag would help, but it didn't do much to appease the deep, stabbing hunger I felt.

Changed my mind. I needed a run. I strutted out of the pack house, running into the woods. Instantly, I shifted, giving Gunther control to relieve me of the intense hunger and pain I felt.

Then he growled loudly.