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The moment Malik reached the forest, he knew.

He knew what Mikhail was planning.

One glance at the almost full moon told him exactly what he needed to know. It told him everything about Mikhail's plan.

"That bastard", he swore through gritted teeth as he tore his trousers off and tossed them aside. As much as he and Mikhail had their intense hatred that ran bone-deep, he knew Mikhail better than anyone else in the world. They were so alike - too alike. He had to only think if he had his brother's mate, what would he do in order to get revenge?

The answer was cruel but came to him right away.

The wind brushed over his bare body as he took a deep breath in, his muscled chest heaving up and down as he prepared himself. He had to get to Arya by tonight before they underwent the ritual preparations and he knew it was humanely impossible to do.

But he was not a human.

The aconitum had yet to wear him down to a mere human.

Despite how long his wolf was suppressed for, he was still an animal. He was a beast at his very core and the human body he resided in was a pretty facade that his ancestors evolved into to fit into society. He and his people were very much wolves in sheep's clothing.

He closed his eyes, his lashes casting thing spiderlike shadows across the hollow under his cheekbones. His face, impassive as if it were cast in marble was straight and still such that if passerby were to see him, they would think he was a statue, such a fine statue that adonis could not hold a candle to his raw masculine beauty.

Then just as suddenly, his face contorted into a twisted expression of pain and his body began to convulse and shake, tremors ripping through his body, each one more vicious than the last.

Malik hunched over and then fell to the ground on his fours, his back arched as his body struggled to transform. He could feel the traces of aconitum burning in every fibre of his muscles as it tried to fight back the transformation.

He groaned in pain as a fresh wave of pain hit him and just as that receded, another hit. This was the most pain he had ever been in, his first transformation had been less agonising than this. His fingers curled and the leaves and stones crumbled under his hands and he clenched his hands in agony.

He could feel his skin grow warm and warmer, he could feel his skin begin to tear and rip as hair began to push its way through. Malik could feel every hair follicle sprout and grow. He could feel his spine break and he sensed a darkness hovering over his conscious as it rearranged itself for the first time in years. His nails grew and tore out his fingers, blood soiling the Earth below his body.

It was like a feverish dream as he slipped in and out of awareness, the ache accompanying him even in the dark. He could feel his face lengthen and grow and the next he was aware, he could feel his tail flicking from side to side.

As Malik opened his eyes, he noticed his perspective had changed. Everything looked different from the eyes of his wolf, the world looked bigger. He took a tentative step, the agonising pain he felt just moments before forgotten.

There was the sensations of dirt and crawling insects under the padding of his paw. He could feel the wind caressing through his fur and the gentle sway of his tail. His ears perked up and he was assaulted by sounds from miles away. He had managed to do it, he could shift.

With childish excitement, he began to run, rhythmic padding echoing through the forest. Malik had forgotten the raw power that his wolf form provided him. His already heightened senses were through the roof, everything looked so beautiful, so intricate. He could see the details in the bark from a tree that was metres away from him, he could see the stars in achingly stunning detail.

He lifted his head and howled, the howl reverberating through his chest and shaking the trees near him, sending birds flying in protest.

Malik knew where to go, he could never forget the path to his home. Everything blurred together in a brown and green blur as his body instinctively weaved between trees and roots, delving deeper and deeper into the forest.

To Malik, it felt like only minutes had passed but he knew it had been an hour at least. The moon was quite high in the sky and there was no time to waste so he pushed his body harder, faster, anything to close the distance between his pack and himself.

There was a distinctive change in the air as he put civilisation behind him and neared the place where he grew up. The greenery grew richer, the scents stronger as nature liked to congregate and flourish near the wolves. They had a special connection to the wild which gave them another reason to hate humans with all the polluting and littering.

Malik could hear the sounds of the patrol but it didn't seem like the regular two wolf patrol, rather like a mini-army with many wolves marching in rhythm.

Had something happened?

Was there an attack?

Or... Was it something to do with Arya?

He felt his heart beat, beat so loud, he feared the wolves would discover they had an intruder in their midst.

Malik hadn't been this close to his pack village in so painfully long. He could smell the familiar scents, see the familiar trees. But to the village, he wouldn't be greeted with familiarity, he knew that much.

He was their enemy now. Mikhail must've spun lies about why Malik was incapacitated, why Malik was not fit to be the Alpha which left Mikhail no choice but to take over. He wondered how far Mikhail would take his lies but he knew it was far enough that he had to stay out of sight.

The faint glimmer of lights beckoned him gently and as he was heading towards in, almost in a trance, a monstrous, angry howl tore through the otherwise silent night.

The howl was so ferocious, so dominating that even Malik took a step back as the trees swayed violently and wolves all around the village dropped to their knees, showing their necks in submission.

That howl, that howl was Mikhail's. It was a howl of pure rage and anger. It was an Alpha's howl, one that would level anyone whose position was less than the alpha. In a sense, it was a declaration of war, an execution.

Arya had escaped, there was no other reason which would warrant such a reaction from Mikhail. Not only had she escaped, but she had a chance of succeeding otherwise Mikhail wouldn't be so angry if this was a game.

Malik felt a grim smirk cross his face. Mikhail must be panicking. His leverage had disappeared the night before the mating ritual and his brother had escaped. No wonder he sounded so angry.

Lifting his muzzle to the air, he inhaled deeply and was surrounded by an orchestra of various scents. Lingering amongst them, faintly in the background was that of his mates, her sweet, sweet scent calling out to him. Malik began to follow out, his eyes closed, nose out, walking blindly whilst using only his nose and ears.

Slowly, he noticed the scent branched off into two. One led to the main road and the other which was much fainter led deep into the woods. He came to a stop, looking both ways. His nose told him to follow the stronger scent but every time he took a step, his heart was filled with wrenching pain and apprehension.

In close proximity, he could hear his brother barking, urging him into action. He was no use to Arya if he was caught, he would have to follow the faint scent deep into the forest and pray he had made the right decision.

As Malik dived deeper into the wood, a mixture of adrenaline and panic laced his body. It was as if his brain had been switched off and he was watching himself through a glass box. He couldn't think or feel anything except the increasing pulsating panic that was clouding his mind. The panic, it wasn't his. It was Arya's and her emotions were so strong she was overwhelming him as well.

She was in dire trouble.

Just as he came to that conclusion, he heard a sound so terrifying, he felt his heart drop and his stomach heave. A single scream rang through the air, high pitched and feminine, full of pain and desperation.

Then just as suddenly, he felt a sharp searing pain in his left leg, so distressing he stumbled midst run and came to a tumbling halt. His back leg throbbed and ached and it was as if a row of thick, sharp needles had clamped down on his leg and were so deeply embedded, they would never come out.

Not needles... teeth.

Ignoring the phantom pain coursing through his body, he drove on in the direction of her scream, his paws sending dirt flying with the ferocity of each leap. Her scent got stronger, as did the scent of her blood and he could feel the blood rushing to his head and his heart was wrapped in a tight vice from the anxiety.

He came across an open clearing where a large wolf lay on its side, dead to the world, its rugged fur matted and dirty with a branch driven into its flank. The chest rose and dropped feverishly and drops of blood decorated its muzzles and the branch. It had been so long he couldn't recognise the wolf.

Malik followed the trail of blood with his eyes and felt his heart come to a stop and his eyes fell on the source.

Arya

Arya. She was there in front of him. She was there. He made a strange barking sound as he stepped towards her and came to a stop.

Her leg.

It was... broken. It was torn open and he could see her muscle and tissue. He could see the odd glimpse of white bone. He could see the blood pooling in the holes. His eyes travelled up her bruised and beaten body, the holes in her clothes and the blood on her body till finally, he came to level with her face.

Her eyes were open and glassy with wonder, as she stared straight ahead blankly. Malik saw the reflection of his eyes on hers and watched in a trance as she looked on, entranced.

"Malik..." Her lips mouthed.

A whine left his throat and despair began to lay siege on his mind.

She was dying.

He brought his head closed to hers until all he could see was the reflection of his eyes in hers and nuzzled against her face softly, the contact soothing his raging heart.

Malik felt her eyelashes close and her breathing slow and deepen, a strange sense of contentment emanating from her body.

Then when he was sure she was unconscious, he wiggled himself below her and stood, positioning her so she lay draped across his back.

The run would hurt her terribly so but he hoped if she was unconscious, she wouldn't feel it.

He was running out of time.

The next chapter is... interesting 😚👻🌶

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