After the revelation, a silence settled between our two spirits.

"What?! No, you can not do that to me! After all that I have experienced, all that has been suffered, you know very well that I can not be with a man! Even now, I freak every time I stay alone with a guy!" I cried desperately.

"I have already told you, it is you who see the evil everywhere while you possess this faculty to see their auras. You discriminate them because they are men, but there are good and bad," she said in a soft voice.

" You think I don't know! But they are stronger than me. Their hands, their odors, their looks. I don't support it! I could never be with a man," I said sadly.

"Please, understand me, you human you can love and sleep with whom you want while me, half wolf can only unite with a single wolf. The wolf that the Goddess Luxna has chosen. Our mate."

My hand closed at one point. I was angry after my wolf and after him, the wolf of this Alpha. I kept the Goddess apart from all this, knowing that with all the insults I had already communicated to her after my rapture, my words will surely wound her again.

Stopping all communication with Lulu, I lowered my eyes as a sign of submission to Alpha Adam and then I explained the discovery of the two future intruders to Jake.

"It's not our territory. He must be warned," he said, pointing to Alpha Adam's head.

" What is going on?" The powerful voice of the latter rose. I looked him in the eyes to still see anger, but mix with confusion and sadness? Did he think I was going to run away?

"Wolves are heading towards this territory. A man and a woman, Jake said precipitately for fear of further stirring up the anger of this Alpha.

"I can not hear a thing," he said, concentrating on the dense forest.

"For now," I murmured.

At my words, he turned his head towards me. I quickly turned away my green eyes. In less time than it took to say, a black shirt stood before me, the same shirt that Adam wore. I looked up to find myself subdued by his gray eyes... Clouds of storm. My breathing stopped of itself, betraying my contemplation.

His closeness frightened me, but another feeling that I could not identify was manifested. I took a step back under the strong emotions, but powerful strong arms gripped me by the waist and pushed me against a tall and muscular torso. A cry of surprise escaped from my mouth.

Uncomfortable, I had time to put my arms between our two bodies.

"Why do you think there are wolves there? I hope for you that it is not a snare to escape, little one," he growled softly near my ear.

"Release her!" Jake grunted in a loud voice.

Alpha Adam didn't seem to want to listen to him. His hold had even strengthened. He didn't want to let me go, it was certain. I saw from the corner of the eye that our warriors had put themselves in an attacking position, and so the wolves of Adam did the same. I could imagine them showing their teeth, gauging themselves with a menacing look.

"Lucy, are you okay?" Jake asked through the pack link.

"Yes, don't worry,"  I replied with a voice rumbling my anger.

My eyes looked at him, I crossed my arms, showing my angry face, but I was more vexed than anything else. How could he insinuate that I was lying? I wasn't stupid enough to flee now while we were near his territory and in negotiation for an alliance. I would just add problems to Jake.

"I don't think there are any wolves there. I know that, and I'm sure. I didn't intend to escape and do not call me little," I dared to say full of anger.

He looked at me at first surprised and then made a smile that illuminated his face. His hard and severe features, which he sported a few moments earlier, had become younger and more attractive. It was now up to me to be confused. I opened my eyes wide as his face approached mine. All of a sudden, he froze, his body becoming tense.

"Trespassers have entered the territory," I heard the blue-eyed blond. Beta Luke, if I remember well.

" I was right!" I shouted with a big smile. I heard my wolf chuckled and then I understood what I had just done.

I didn't smile normally, at least not so easily. He was doing something to me. He made me feel myself. My real self. The one I had taken care to close in double turn away in my memory and that surfaced only with people I trusted.

Affection. Feeling that I had not received for a long time. But I didn't want his affection. I wanted to remain as I was now, I didn't wish to heal. The only way he rejected me was to hate me. I could tell him my past, tell him what these monsters had done to me and what they had forced me to do. He would be disgusted with me and would reject me for sure.

"No! Don't do that! Please," Lulu implored me. I did not reply.

"Let me go!" I said in a pained voice. I didn't like to be cold against my wolf. She was my friend, my family. She represented a lot for me.

Adam, surprised, released me and examined me from top to bottom with an uneasy air. Did he think he had hurt me? Yes, he did. Internally.

"Only you see evil in what he has done," whispered my sad wolf. "Taking you in his arms is not wrong. You don't have to be afraid of him. I trust him. You can also trust him."

More and more annoyed, I ignored him and turned back to Jake.

"We must go there too," I sent him, which put an end to the growing anger in which he was plunged.

"We're coming with you," Jake said, keeping an eye on Adam.

I backed away from that Alpha who was my mate.

"Her wolf has chosen you... You are mates," Jake said. I nodded briefly.

I started walking again in the direction of the cries and tears I could hear. I now saw several other werewolves. Adam had to send his men to intercept the strangers. I hoped he had not ordered  to kill them.

Sam's amused voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"So you finally found your mate..." Sam said.

"Apparently."

"Your reaction was funny. The guy, you just met him and you smiled like a teenage girl. It reminds me of the first time I saw my beautiful mate," he said, teasing me.

"Shut up, you idiot," I reprimanded in an annoyed tone. But what he said was true.

When I met the pack's members, I had made sure to block all my emotions and thus show none. Over time, I had softened.

Me and Sam had managed to establish a friendly relationship. He even considered me as his little sister. Even though, at the beginning, I resented him for saving my life, I had then learned to appreciate him. It was Sam who set the mood and kept up morale at all times. He was funny. It wasn't surprising that he was already taken by a woman equally beautiful and charming.

He burst out laughing as I walked by his side. I sent my elbow to the ribs and then smiled gently. Heavy grunts were heard behind me on my left. That was where Adam was.

"Stop, the two of you," Jake said wearily. 

"Alpha, she lies," said the man on the ground.

"I beg of you, don't believe him! He tried to rape me!" The young woman shouted in a strident, false voice.

Arms crossed, we had arrived at the scene that I found amusing. Surrounded by trees as huge as the others, we had landed on a piece of land uprooted where the two young strangers were arrested.

Adam's warriors surrounded the man and what was curious, was that according to their postures, they believed him.

The beautiful blonde kneed before Adam looking at him with tears streaking his cheeks. She lied like she breathed. You didn't have to be smart to not realize that. Moreover, her aura was dark red. Hatred and anger towards others. She had had to deceive many men with her words and her angelic appearance. Her long blond hair and her little girl's face could make her look like a real saint.

Pathetic. She didn't even deserve to live. People like her should not even have the chance to live. It was irretrievable. Her aura was too dark to be cleared up.

The man had a shaved head. He looked large and well built, which was quite characteristic of the werewolves.

Adam's men examined the wounds of the man. His stature and his shaved head reminded me of some memories. He raised his eyes, titillated surely by my contemplation. His green aura confirmed his identity as his blue gray eyes where different emotions crossed him. The confusion then the relief and recognition to finally end with a touch of joy. His eyes sparkled as my eyes remained in marble.

A man of my past. This physician hadn't changed much in appearance, though a little more presentable than in the "black prison."

Warriors helped him get up, then lowered his head as a sign of respect towards his Alpha. Almost carried by men, he walked with difficulty towards his territory. Safely at home.

As I still stared at the place where this old friend disappeared, I felt tingling in the back of my head as if someone were staring at me intensely. Resurrecting my thoughts, I turned around, taking care to not cross the look of a furious Alpha. These pack leaders were very protective of those they saw as their own, and I was one of his now. At last I could always escape, but my she-wolf didn't deserve me to behave like that. I would make an effort. I will stay with Adam for her.

Other warriors brutally grabbed the woman as she attempted to free herself and shouted with all she could. This wolf was going to spend bad hours languishing in a dark and damp prison for lying to an Alpha and wounding a member of his pack.

"Sorry for the inconvenience," Adam said, turning to Jake. "Nevertheless, I think we have made the tour of our arrangement. If you have any further questions, you can contact me by phone."

After a few bows, we were escorted to the edge of the territory. I followed them in silence. Adam confirmed that he would come with us to our territory with some warriors so that I would bid farewell according to tradition. I was grateful to him, but it didn't take away the fact that I was going to leave Jake's pack.

Everyone turned into werewolves to run through the woods. I removed my clothes in front of others without embarrassment. My bones began to crack, to lengthen slowly. I was able to control the speed of my transformation, which was rare for the werewolves. But I had a special wolf. The white fur covering me, I felt the heat radiating through my skin. I greeted her with a smile and waited for my wolf to stretch her legs. She snorted before joining Sam's brown wolf.

The furs of different colors rushed rapidly into the forest. With some breaks when Adam and his men stayed away from ours. Our eyes met from time to time before I forced my wolf to turn her face away. She shouted at me, but I had nothing to do with it. I didn't want this link with this man. It complicated the task. It complicated everything.

We finally crossed the border of our territory in human form, but then Adam stopped. We looked at him in astonishment.

"I'll meet you here in fifteen minutes. And if you run away, I'll find you."

A promise or a threat? I didn't know, but his words had sent me chills of excitement. I bit my lip and nodded quickly.

In the territory I bade farewell to Elisa, then to Nathan who couldn't help but jump into my arms and cry. I couldn't train him anymore, but I told him that he would be a very powerful Alpha once he was an adult. He made a promise to work hard to get there and then wiped his tears by standing proudly.

After these farewells, I presented myself before Jake to remove the bond he had with me as a member of his pack. He recited words, looking me straight in the eyes with that determined air, then I felt the knot break.

Painful. I could feel gradually the bond's erasing. I held my heart for a moment, breathless. With a difficult sigh, I tried to regain my senses. I raised my head and bit my lips to avoid crying. I was alone again. Orphan.

"I'm here with you. Forever, Lucy," Lulu reassured me in his peaceful voice.

We left with the cries of Nathan and the howling of wolves announcing my departure. Their voices moved towards the heavens, resounded on the trees and leaves, and dissipated through the forest. The steps of Jake and Sam had become hard and rigid as they approached the boundary of the territory. Their faces were also confined. I couldn't stand this atmosphere. She reminded me of bad memories. Remote and unpleasant.

Seeing Adam and his men a few yards away, I turned to my friends and smiled slightly. Sad. Since my abduction two years ago, they were the first people to accept me and support me despite my morose behavior.

I approached Sam and took him in my arms.

"Please, be happy. And if he does not treat you correctly, be sure that I would kick his ass," told me Sam.

"Your language!" I reprimanded, laughing. "Don't worry about me and take care of your mate first!"

He burst out laughing before releasing me. Then I took Jake in my arms.

"Tell Elisa and Nathan that I'm sorry to leave like this and that I love them," I managed to articulate on the verge of tears.

"Yes, I would tell them. Call me if something happen. Whatever, okay? We'll call each other anyway," Jake said benevolently.

I nodded and smiled back. I crossed this imaginary line which only smell could distinguish.
I remained near Adam while my old pack and my friends were moving away. Things were going to be complicated, but I knew that I could see the wounded man again, my old friend. And above all, I was going to be able to advance in my quest for revenge.

I turned and walked toward my mate. A new life would begin with this man.

"Thank you," Lulu whispered before I assumed the appearance of a white wolf.