*Mila*
Soren’s words rang in my head. I just stared at him, too stunned to speak or move. He still held my arms.
Every ti I confronted Soren about helping , he was always reluctant, even distant. I always saw him as this cold, cautious, loner that didn’t want to get involved in anything, least of all my trouble.
He tried everything he could to stay out of pack affairs and be left alone.
Right from the start, he’d told he didn’t want his own pack. Soren might have said differently recently, but asking if I was ready to settle down in a pack with him was much different than actually saying he wanted a pack!
Soren wasn’t like anyone I’d t before. It was like he didn’t want to be part of the world. He just wanted to watch and observe, but not get involved.
He’d been helping , but it wasn’t because he wanted to. It was like he happened to see a child fall on the ground and went over to help them up. I was just a wounded child to him and he was picking up off the ground.
When he encountered , he just happened to be in the right mood and what he’d done for already was barely an effort for him.
But now... spreading rumors of a “universal” artifact that put him right in the middle of everything... That was completely different. He wasn’t sitting on the sidelines anymore, he was putting himself right in the line of fire, in the center of the chaos.
I knew that every pack, Alpha, and bounty hunter would be after him now. He would be a magnet for trouble and danger.
I couldn’t believe he’d chosen to do that! Sure, it helped give us ti to find the artifact, but putting himself in danger... especially after what Helen said to !
The ends didn’t justify the ans in this case.
I glared at him and pulled away. There was no rational argunt he could make that would make agree with his decision.
Shaking my head, I turned away from him, taking a deep breath to calm myself.
It wasn’t my place to get mad at Soren. If he wanted to put himself in danger, who was I to argue?
Wasn’t I just another woman to him? I was less than that, a fuck buddy...
Just because he acted polite to didn’t an I ant anything to him at all. We weren’t in a relationship, just a business arrangent. He’d made that clear. I had no right to interfere with his plans.
He could put himself in whatever trouble he wanted.
The warning Helen had given was about my mate, wasn’t it? And Soren wasn’t my mate...
I kept my back to Soren. Even if I wasn’t going to interfere with his plan, I could still let him know that I wasn’t pleased with what he’d done.
When the moon rose, Soren put his hand on my shoulder.
I glared at him.
“Are you ready? The map says that moonlight will guide us to the artifact piece,” Soren asked.
I just nodded sharply and headed out of the cave.
“Following the moonlight” was very vague. Soren was looking to for direction.
I studied the forest around us and saw moonlight beaming down through the trees. There was a clear pathway through the forest marked by the moonlight. When I saw it, I headed in that direction.
Soren followed without a word. He didn’t seem to be upset about the fact that I wasn’t talking to him.
I knew Payne and Ashley were there too. Payne had attacked when I was in wolf form, but I didn’t see them until we got to the end of the path.
It made sense that Payne was there. He was Soren’s right hand man.
When we got to the end of the path, Ashley and Payne ca out of the shadows. Payne’s eyes followed strangely.
I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, trying to focus on where to go now that the moonlight path was gone.
Payne’s intense eyes stayed on , making it hard to focus. It was strange. He’d never looked at like that before but I got the sense that he was excited or expecting sothing from .
My cheeks ward and I kept scanning the area for anything that would tell us where to go next.
“Over there.” Soren motioned.
A moonbeam struck the entrance of a cave at the center of Mount Lournet. The cave was hidden behind leaves and I wouldn’t have seen it without the moon light.
We got closer to the cave entrance and Soren picked up a rock. He tossed it into the cave. It rattled around inside but there was no other response. There was no evidence of traps or anything, either.
“It seems safe. I doubt it is a complicated cave system,” Soren murmured. “Wait outside.” He motioned to Payne and Ashley.
They nodded and took up defensive positions.
“If we’re not out in half an hour, co in and find us,” Soren ordered.
I went ahead of Soren to the cave entrance. It wasn’t very big. I had to crouch down to look inside. The ceiling was low and I knew it would be hard to walk in.
We headed inside and very quickly, the ceiling lowered and the walls narrowed. I had to crouch down even more.
“Mila,” Soren purred my na.
I glanced over my shoulder at him.
Soren stared at , smirking. He pulled his shirt off.
My cheeks ward and I looked around, realizing just how alone we were. What did he think was going to happen?
“What are you doing?” I asked, startled.
Soren continued to smirk and he walked closer to . I couldn’t back away into the narrowness of the cave. He reached for my shirt and popped open the top button. Quickly, he kissed my lips.
I stood there, stunned, my skin hot and tight.
“What do you think I’m doing?” he asked, grinning mischievously.
“You... you... stop it!” I gasped, pulling away as much as I could. My cheeks were so hot.
Soren chuckled close to my ear. “Why? I’m just thinking we should shift. It would be easier than crawling on our hands and knees. But we should also save our clothes.”
I groaned and dropped my head into my hand. He was teasing , and doing a damn good job at it! My cheeks were beet red.
“You... you... you’re such a jerk! You can’t do that!” I snapped, pushing at him. I was more embarrassed about the fact that my mind imdiately went to a dirty place.
Laughing, Soren started to unbutton his pants. “Do what? Finally get you to talk to ?”
I turned away from him and started to undress. I could hear Soren undressing behind .
Quickly, I shifted and waited to hear him shift before I turned around and faced him. He picked up our clothes gently in his wolf mouth.
He paused and looked at , his wolf’s deep eyes scanning appreciatively. I could tell that he liked the way I looked in wolf form.
I felt naked suddenly, bare and exposed before it. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before...
My heart skipped a beat and I panted slightly before brushing past him and going deeper into the cave.
My nose perked up and I slled sothing delicious, mouthwatering. I opened my mouth and my tongue hung out to the side as I kept slling that sweet, unique scent. It was familiar... Soren’s scent.
Sohow, in wolf form, it was so much more powerful than what I normally slled. At first, I thought it was a nearby plant or flower, but it was him...
Did he always sll that good?
The cave opened up into a clearing surrounded by rocks and mountain peaks. I stopped dead when I realized the floor was covered in poisonous nettle plants with needles.
There was one small corner that was cleared of plants and a very, very narrow pathway leading to it.
Behind , I heard Soren shift back. I waited to hear the sound of his pants zipper before looking at him.
“Do you think that’s it?” he asked, pointing to the corner not covered in poisonous plants.
I nodded.
Soren leaned against the wall and made his way through the narrow path. I shifted back and put my clothes on quickly.
Suddenly, Soren stopped and held his hand up.
“It’s like there is an invisible barrier here,” he said.
“Just push through it, you’re strong,” I told him.
He scoffed but he leaned into the barrier.
Click!
Sothing quick and silvery flashed from the opposite wall.
“Soren watch out!” I cried.
Growling, Soren jumped out of the way. He grunted and I saw blood spatter from his arm. He clutched his arm and shook the pain off.
“What was that?” I asked.
He narrowed his eyes and looked at the wall behind him.
I could see what was stuck into the rock now. Small, sharp blades, like large needles. They were imbedded in the rock like bullets.
From their position, if Soren hadn’t reacted, he would have been struck through the heart and the throat.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
Soren nodded, removing his hand from the cut. “Just a scratch,” he said.
“Your leg,” I said, pointing to his pants where a dark, bloody stain pooled.
Soren frowned and looked down. “It must be from the nettles...”
I hurried over to him and grabbed his arm as he wavered slightly.
“You’ve been poisoned. We need to go back,” I said.
“I’ll be fine, Mila. Get what we ca here for,” he urged.
Sighing, I stepped around him and made it to the cleared corner. There were no other traps or barriers. I dropped to my knees and dug through the dirt.
In seconds, I found a beautiful, crescent-shaped gemstone that resembled the moon.
“A Moonstone?” Soren asked with a scoff.
I shrugged. “The Moonlit Crystal?”
“Maybe...”
Soren’s voice sounded weak.
“We should get out of here,” I said.
We shifted back. Soren carried our clothes in his mouth and I carried the stone. Before exiting the cave, we shifted again and put our clothes back on.
Payne and Ashley were waiting for us in the woods. They looked anxious. Had we really been gone that long?
“Did you get it?” Payne asked.
“We did,” Soren nodded. He sighed and stumbled forward.
Payne jumped at Soren and caught him, supporting his weight over his shoulders so he didn’t fall on the ground.
“He was stung by so nettles,” I said.
“He’ll be fine,” Payne assured, looking at . His eyes fell on the stone in my hands and he froze, blinking and staring.
I noticed his eyes glistening, like he was going to cry.
What was with him?
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