Alina

I firmly grasped the knob and pulled. A sudden click reached my ears, the drawer was locked. I have been looking for the book of myths but much to my great luck it was no
where to be found.

"What are you doing?" Neil asked walking inside the office. "Trying to steal something now are you?" He grinned playfully, "You better not."

I rolled my eyes, "I have been looking for the book of myths. It's nowhere to be found."

"I haven't seen that book myself." He stated, "Maybe it's in the drawer or something."

I shook my head, "It's not. I have checked all the drawers, aside from this particular one." I said pointing at the locked one, "It's locked and the key is nowhere to be found as well."

He frowned, "Maybe the key is somewhere on the table or even inside the penholder."
I sighed in frustration, "I looked everywhere," I said putting more emphasis, "Everywhere."

"Then I don't know." He shrugged and stood right opposite to me pulling out a chair for himself to sit on."Since when did you start reading that book anyway?" He asked.

"I had nothing better to do. Done with all the paper works." I replied pointing at the stack of completed paper works placed on the side of the table. "Luke ordered me to complete some accounts and before I could hand them over to him he disappeared." I continued. "That guy is so careless and irresponsible I tell you."

Neil laughed, "It's because of you."

I gaped, "Me? What?"

"Yes." He shook his head, "You made him lazy. Before your arrival to this pack, he was quite hard work. And ever since you joined this pack, you took almost all the duties and provided him with the opportunity to slide from all the tasks." He paused, "There are no tasks left for him anyway."

I narrowed my eyes at him, "You make me feel like some criminal."

"Oh, trust me, you are." He leaned across from his seat and poked my cheek, "You're adorable. Alpha James is lucky to have a mate like you."

I scoffed, "Mate like me? Neil!" I gasped, "We are not even together."

"Yeah, you left him." He glared.

"He did." I corrected it.

"Alina, don't take it personally but I think you shouldn't be blaming him for everything. It was not entirely his fault. Guys sometimes tend to make mistakes even though they know it's wrong. Let's just say it's the moment of angst where everything you do seems right. The mate bond you two have in between is not broken yet. If it was then you would have lost your inner wolf. Anyway, it's your life and what I can do for you is to show you the path, rest is up to you." He smiled meekly, "Just don't make mistakes which you'll repent for the rest of your life."

I sat there silently absorbing every single word he had just said.

"I don't-" I started.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, doctor Ron wanted me to send you to him. Are you secretly dating him?" He asked wriggling his eyebrows. "You two have been spending a lot of time together." He tilted his head, "Maybe the night as well." He whispered the last part rather inaudibly but unfortunately was loud enough for me to hear.

I gasped at his sudden accusation. Anger flowed through my veins, "Are you out of your mind?"

"What else can be there for the two of you to talk endlessly about?" He asked curiously.

"About Luke and his scars," I stated bitterly. Neil's accusation of me dating Ron put me off to an edge.

"Scars?" He frowned at the sudden upbringing of the topic, "Are you talking about those burnt patches?"

"Yes." I verified with a nod. "You did notice it as well didn't you?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He stated as a matter of fact, "It's rare for a wound to linger around for that long."

I nodded again, "Indeed."

"What did doctor Ron say about the wounds? Maybe some essential medicinal herbs were missing from the paste made to cure the burnt skin?" He asked, his eyes shrinking all my itself as his gaze fixated directly on me.

"Well," I shrugged, "You know he won't make any mistakes. He has gotten the genes of a warlock after all."

"Witch." He corrected, "A witch."

"That's what a warlock is. He has gotten the genes of a warlock from his father." I narrowed my eyes at him. "What a nice theory you've just said, Neil," I said sarcastically.

He scowled at me in return. "His father was a werewolf." He narrowed his eyes to slits, "His mother was a witch."

I frowned at a new piece of information. "Are you serious?"

"Why you didn't know?" He asked with a wicked smug on his face. "That's why I always say, think before you speak."

"You know what," I sighed getting up from my seated position and placed my palms on the table, "I'm going to go and check on Doctor Ron to see what he has got to say."

"I'll join along." He said instantly getting up from his seat, "If that wouldn't be of any problem."

_

The walk to Doctor Ron's chamber was not exactly a pleasant feeling of calmness either. Yet it contained more of Neil trying to poke details out of me, especially about the imaginary relationship that he was lately fantasizing about.

"I wouldn't be quite surprised if you end up marrying him instead of James," Neil muttered crossing his arms around his torso.

"Stop it," I growled lightly, grabbing hold of his arm. "Come on, walk faster," I said dragging him along.

We stopped outside a familiar brown door. Neil grumbled some words under his breath about how ungrateful of a person I was which I didn't bother to pay much heed to.

The door creaked as I pushed it slightly.

"Alina," Ron called. I fully opened the door and was surprised by the view that laid ahead. Ron's back was faced towards us.

"How did you know it was me?" I asked as I walked inside, clearly astonished by his ability to sense my presence.

"It's not a big deal." He said turning around.

"Yeah, it shouldn't be." Neil butted in, "True love Alina, true love."

Ron gave him a suspicious look and tilted his head, "What are you even talking about?"

"Nothing." He smirked, "I'm just pissing Alina off."

"If I were you," Ron grinned, "I wouldn't take such risks, you never know when she's going to attack."

"But her reactions though," Neil cried out of joy, "They're worth the risk."

"I am still here you know," I remarked irritated by their conversation about me.

"That I totally agree with you Beta." Ron chuckled and straightened his posture. I never understood his obsession with white t-shirts and button-up shirts. He never wore any other colour, I mean never in three years of me staying here- have I seen him wear anything other than white. "By the way," He suddenly interrupted my thoughts, "the reason I called you-"

"Yeah, about Luke's certain burnt patches which never seems to heal, what theory do you have to prove such marks to linger around especially when werewolves tend to have inhuman healing speed." Neil interrupted.

"Such an abrupt interruption it was." Ron complained, "Anyway, what I was saying was, yes the wounds on his arms- I did take look at them as Alina asked me to- from far that is since Alpha Luke is not quite corporative about it."

"Why would Luke act all worked up about it?" Neil frowned, facing his head towards me.

"I don't know." I sighed, as the memories of his behaviour flooded inside my head. "I remember talking to him about seeing Doctor Ron for a better answer to those unhealed wounds but he clearly denied. The last time I asked- he literally threw me out of his room and the time before that he walked out on me."

"That's harsh." Neil scowled.

"Are any of you planning to listen to what I have to say here?" Ron waved his palm in front of us.

"Sorry." Both Neil and I said in perfect unison, "Do continue."

"The wounds are not ordinary."

"So they are extraordinary?" Neil joked. Ron glared earning an apology from him in no time.

"You shouldn't be joking you know, the matter is something which shouldn't be taken so lightly." Ron stated calmly, "For the wounds are not caused by fire. Even if it was it wouldn't have taken so long for it to heal properly."

"Then why did such blisters appear on his skin?" I asked.

"The Graveyard of doom."

"What!?" Neil confounded. "What does that place has to do with his wounds anyway?"

"Yes, it has a lot of things to do with it. He must've had an encounter with some holy barriers." He bewildered, moving his hands in the air to form some sort of gesture, "And yes I'm quite sure of it because I've done quite a lot of research about it before approaching to you guys."

"How is it so?" I questioned unaware of the effects he was talking about. "Isn't the graveyard of doom like totally sealed for werewolves?"

"Nope." He answered simply, "Only the witch's shrine is fully protected but there are some parts of the graveyard free for anyone to roam around. As much as I know only a few parts are sealed by holy spells which we can not cross."

"But you can, can't you? Since you're not a werewolf?" Neil pointed out.

"I'm not so sure about that," Ron laughed awkwardly, "Haven't tried that yet."

"But..," I whispered petrified by the entire atmosphere, "It's..he..how-" I tried to form a coherent sentence but failed miserably.

Neil looked at me with his lips pressed into a thin line, he soon opened his mouth and continued my sentence, "He told us that it was all due to a rogue having a lighter."

Ron shook his head immediately, "He lied."

Author's note:

Okay. This is probably one of the longest chapters I've written in this book until now. Such an accomplishment it is for a lazy person like me. 😍😂

I'm literally sitting in front of the tv watching the 4th ODI match of the tri-series, AUS vs SA while I continue typing a new chapter for you guys. And guess what! It's 4 am here rn. See? I love my readers so much! 😜

Anyway, updates might be a bit slow since I'm currently on my holidays and will be travelling a few places where I'm most likely not going to get a stable WiFi connection. 😞 But I'm so excited about the travelling part 😍👌. So yeah.

If you like this chapter then please don't hesitate to leave a vote and comment behind because seriously it really means a lot! Like a lot! And I would really appreciate feedback from you guys.

Thanks for reading.

Take care until next time! xx