Zaziel was ignoring me.

It was noon on the day I was supposed to face the last trial and I hadn't seen him anywhere. And it wasn't just that morning, I hadn't seen him on the day of my break or the afternoon after overcoming the second challenge.

I didn't have the slightest idea what was happening to him. He was so unpredictable that it drove me crazy. At one point he liked to chase me, calling me his pup, and suddenly he disappeared. The worst of all was that I could smell him in a room, I would go look for him to ask him what the hell was wrong with him, and when I arrived he was no longer there.

Poof, he was always gone like a ghost.

He just left; He just remembered that he had to do something; He was just here but now I don't see him. I couldn't stand hearing other people's explanations every time I asked about Zaziel.

His stupid games were not funny anymore. I wanted nothing more than to find him once and for all to scream every one my frustrations to him.

I didn't have time to run after him, I had a new trial to face, one that I didn't know what was about or at what time I’d be doing it. Perhaps I was already being tested, perhaps the challenge started earlier than what I expected and I was supposed to find Zaziel.

Chase your cheeky bastard Alpha, the trial to test the patience of the candidates.

“Are you sure that you haven't seen him all day?” I asked Artec, while he ate lunch in the kitchen.

“No, I was actually looking for him to tell him something but he's gone.” The smile he was trying to hold back told me the opposite.

“How about yesterday?” I insisted, stealing a nugget from Artec’s plate.

“Yesterday I saw him at night, he was running outside the mansion. Why don't you ask Klaus?, he should know where Zaziel is.”

I huffed and rested my head on the table. “I don't know Klaus enough to be asking favors from him. I only talked to him twice and he didn't seem to be interested in what I had to say.”

“Don't take it personal, he’s like that with everyone.” Artec cleaned his hands with a napkin and patted my hair. “Why are you so obsessed with finding him? You should be practicing for your last trial.”

“I’m not obsessed, I want to find him because he's running away from me and I want to know why. Besides, what's the point of practicing? I don't even know what I’ll have to do.”

Artec scratched the back of his neck and tilted his head. “Are you sure he's running away from you? Zaziel it's not that type of person, if he doesn't want to see you he would tell you that directly to your face.”

“I’m a hundred percent sure. Everyone is treating me like I’m crazy, but I know I’m right. It's all his fault, I want to find him and squeeze his neck until he can't breathe.”

“I would love to see you try,” he said between laughs. “Sorry I can't be of help, if you still haven't found him by tonight I will help you to talk with Klaus. Now I have to go, I promise Darla that I’ll take her out shopping.”

“Have fun on your date,” I said to him before he left the kitchen.

If the last trial was about respecting the rules I had already lost it. Not caring one bit about what Zaziel might do to me if he saw me, I scoured the entire mansion in search of him.

What was the point of still keeping me alone in the same rooms? Surely he trusted me enough after all the time I spent with him. If he were to say something to me, I planned to make it clear to him that it was his fault for playing hide and seek.

Anyway, I went through every nook and cranny inside the mansion but I couldn't find him anywhere.

Maybe he's outside. My wolf told me. Surprisingly we were on the same page that day, we both wanted to find Zaziel, although the reasons were different.

Fuck it, I thought, let's go look for him outside.

The refreshing spring air hit me the instant I stepped out into the backyard. The sun was beginning to set which meant I had to hurry and look before it got completely dark.

I was a nervous wreck, I didn't know what thing should worry me more. On the one hand, I was afraid that someone would realize that I should not be outside the mansion, on the other, I couldn't get out of my mind the idea that the last test could fall on me at any moment.

My search through the yard gave no result, I even risked talking to the people I met on my way, asking them if they had seen Zaziel. Once again his answers were not satisfactory. At that point I was going to become the weird one obsessed with the alpha, my personal nickname that will stick with me for the rest of my stay with the rogues.

I could have returned inside the mansion, forgotten about Zaziel's nonsense, and waited calmly for my last challenge, but my pride wouldn't let me rest.

He had to be close, I could still feel the scent of him despite not being able to pinpoint the location of where it was coming from. So I decided to go for my last option: the forest.

It was not my first time exploring the territory, I had already been able to run through the trees during my hunting training with Artec. The familiarity of the surroundings helped me not get lost among the tall pine trees that surrounded me. Even in the dark I was able to keep myself safe.

I was about to give up when the sound of footsteps caught my attention. With the knife that Zaziel gave me in my hand, I went into the trees, following the sound of the branches being stepped on.

A few meters away from me I saw the figure of two unknown people. They had shotguns in their hands and they moved slowly as if they were chasing something. I followed them as they got closer to the direction of the mansion, trying to hear what they were saying.

"Are you sure it's this way?" one of them asked.

"Yes, I'm sure," the second person answered. "Stop complaining and follow me, we have to hurry to give the others the signal to attack. You have to be more careful, rogues are not easy to deal with.”

They wanted to attack the mansion. I had to do something. It would be very simple if I had had a cell phone to warn any of the members, without that option I could only return quickly with the others or try to stop them myself.

Time was running out.

I decided to go for the second option and shifted to my wolf form. Just like I would with any other prey, I approached them from behind, waiting for them to let their guard down.

They bent down to look for something in their backpacks and I prepared to jump.

Suddenly I felt a sting in one of my hind legs. I looked back and discovered that I had a dart stuck in it. Then I started to feel tired. Someone got close to me and hit my back. Even if I tried to stay awake, my body fainted, and my eyes closed.

×

When I woke up the first thing I noticed was that I was sitting in a chair with my arms and legs tied with chains.

The room was almost dark, the only lighting present was coming from some holes in the tin ceiling. The smell of blood dominated the atmosphere, a lot of blood must have been spilled within the four brick walls.

"You finally woke up." The voice came from the darkness. "We were waiting for you to join us."

Three figures approached the illuminated area. I tried to recognize my kidnappers but no face looked familiar. The three men were tall and muscular, even if I wasn't tied up I wouldn't have been able to win against them.

The gears in my mind began to turn, wondering which was the best option. I still couldn't make decisions without seeing how my kidnappers acted. There was no point in acting brave if it meant I was going to end up with a bullet between my eyes.

"We have some questions to ask you," said the one with the scar on his cheek.

"I'm not in the mood to talk today," I replied.

Even though I didn't know what they wanted I figured it would be about the rogues.

"Look, we have a prankster among us," the redhead commented.

The last of the three approached me and stood next to me. "I don't care if you feel like it or not, I assure you that soon you will be answering all our questions.”

I stayed silent, pretending not to feel threatened by the situation.

"Where's your alpha?" asked the one next to me.

With a defiant look I made it clear that I wasn't going to answer. It's not like I knew where he was either.

"I asked you a question," he told me and pulled my hair.

Not a single complaint came out of my mouth, something as simple as that wasn't going to make me talk. In my time living like my family I had experienced much worse pain and torture than that. They would have to do a lot more to break me.

"Where are the prisoners?" the redhead asked me.

"I have no idea. Do they have prisoners?" I told him, smiling.

He punched me in the face and my nose started bleeding.

"Where are they?" he asked once more.

"Maybe you should ask someone else, I'm not even one of them."

The man raised his arm to hit me again but one of his companions stopped him.

"Leave her for now, let's see if she's still so funny after spending a day without anything to eat and drink.”

They walked away from me, two left the room and one stayed in the shadows watching me.

I could taste the blood dripping from my nose and the muscles in my arms and legs already felt numb. On the other hand, my mind was working at a rapid speed. Millions of questions about the identity of those people and their possible motives ran through my head.

There was nothing I could do at the moment but wait for someone to notice my absence and come look for me.

Zaziel is going to find us, my wolf told me, he should sense that something is wrong with us through the mate bond.

Usually I would have argued with her, but this time I was also sure that Zaziel was going to look for us. Something told me that he wouldn't leave us adrift, even if it was just because he didn't want to lose his toy.

The sound of the forest completely surrounded the room, the way I could clearly hear the birds’ singing passing through the windows that were on all the walls made me think that I must be in some kind of warehouse.

I didn't want to risk shouting, I didn't know who might be nearby, and there was still the risk of me running into one of my uncle's followers.

The chains on my arms and legs were too tight, it would be impossible for me to escape.

Time passed although I didn't know if minutes or hours had passed. Between hunger, thirst, and fatigue the only thing I could think about was rest. Still, I didn't dare close my eyes for fear that my kidnappers would try something while I was sleeping.

"Are you ready to talk now?" said one of them when they returned.

I wasn't sure how long I had been locked up there but it must have been several hours considering that the darkness of the night had already been replaced by sunlight.

I looked up at them and spat in their direction.

"That bitch," the one with the scar complained. "I'm going to teach her a lesson."

"Not yet," the redhead interrupted. "Do you remember where the prisoners are?"

"What prisoners?" I asked him.

“We gave you a chance, now you have to suffer the consequences for not taking it,” he said and took out a knife from his pants pocket.

"This is going to be fun," the third man said, approaching me with a plier in his hand. "Should we start by cutting into her soft skin or pulling out her nails?"

"I like the nail option," his partner said, grabbing my hand.

I tried to free myself from his grip but he was very strong. The man with the plier grabbed my thumb and brought the tool closer to my nail.

"Do you have anything to say now?" he asked me.

"You smell like shit," I answered him.

I wasn't going to betray the rogues, not when they showed me respect for the first time in my life and saved me from my family.

"You chose this," the man said.

Accepting my fate, I closed my eyes. The pain of my captor’s grip on my hand made me grit my teeth.

"That's enough, let her go." Zaziel's voice echoed in the room. "She already passed the test.”