Chapter 7

• Kavi's POV
• I was four years back then. That morning, my mom shouted at me for the first time because I spilt a bottle of tomato sauce on the new dining table cloth. Alpha and Beta family went to an important meeting held at the neighbouring pack where all six pack’s Alpha and Beta family would have a get together to speak about common issues along with council members. The Beta family was there to maintain the calm of their Alpha as it would always be hectic to have more than one alpha at the place due to the authority and dominance of the wolf-side.
• I want to go away from her and also I was angry on my grandparents for not rescuing me from her scoldings. I sneaked out and shifted to my pup form and ran. Within a few minutes, I found the secret route to the mountain top which was covered by creepers and eagerly ran in that direction like little Sherlock Holmes. I was surprised to not find any patrol there but anyway my anger soon came back and I chased after a rabbit for quite some time but failed miserably due to my inexperience. I was so exhausted and sad that I couldn’t do any good thing that day. I drifted off to sleep under a tree and when I woke up, I found the sun setting, my mind warned me to go back but still, I was mesmerised by nature.
• “So beautiful!”
• I jumped at the sudden voice and growled at the intruder. I quickly studied his features. He looked around ten to eleven years old. His hair was nicely groomed and he was shirtless but had good muscles with a big belly. His eyes were hazel green and it shone brightly in the sunshine.
• “Don’t worry! I am not here to hurt you. This was my secret spot. I will come here daily to watch the sunset. But I found you today.”
• I was afraid that he was going to scold me for invading his place. He smelled nice. Sezhiyan told that any wolf that stinks with rotten meat should be informed to him through pack link as they were dangerous. So I came to the conclusion that he was not a threat and sat down and let my tongue out breathing and waited for his reaction.
• He knelt next to me and picked me up like a dog pup and made me lie on my back on his lap and rubbed my belly with a smirk. I purred at the sensation and opened my hind legs and forelegs wide and closed my eyes to enjoy his rubbing. After that, he told me to join him watching the sunset. He shifted into his golden coloured wolf which made his fur shine in the sunlight and he was glowing. I watched his medium sized wolf in awe. I felt a nudge at my mind so I allowed it inside as I was taught.
• “Why are you staring at me like that?”
• He mind linked me.
• “You are glowing!”
• I said in awe. I heard him chuckle.
• “Why are you here... alone?”
• He linked me after a minute. I thought for a minute then decided to tell him the incident happened in the morning. And how I was here all day. He tensed upon hearing that and asked me to go home immediately as my parents must be worried. I agreed as I didn't want to get another round of scolding and made my way to my home. He came along with me. When I was about to go my way, he stopped me by softly biting into my tail.
• "Ouch! What was that for?"
• I yelped in mind link. He whimpered on knowing he hurt me and softly nipped my tail. It healed quickly as I started to giggle at the tickling sensation.
• "What is your name, beautiful?"
• I gave him a big wolfish grin for calling me beautiful.
• "Kavithanjali"
• I said proudly.
• "Anjali! That name suits you."
• He linked me. Before I could protest he was only saying half of my name he ran and disappeared in woods.
• Later that night, my grandpa punished me by not speaking to me the whole next day for leaving the house like that and keeping him worried. I told Sezhiyan about my new friend. He got so protective over me and scolded softly to not go there. But I was on the top of that mountain exactly at the same time in my human form the next day. And he came while the sun was about to go down. He didn't mention his name so I used to call him, 'teddy bear' which suited his big belly. The name eventually shortened to teddy. Initially he would get angry for that nickname but eventually, he got used to it.
• We would meet there daily exactly at the same time. And we will steal food from home to share with each other. I lied Sezhiyan for the first time about not met him again. I am a free spirit and being raised by Alpha became an advantage for me to escape patrols. Also, I knew minimal self-defence even if I need to face the matured wolf.
• Our friendship has grown eventually strong and our wolf was bonded so close. We would meet without anyone's knowledge of the mountain and will spend our time together happily. He was the one, both my wolf and human side felt so comfortable and happy with.
• Our one-year friendship faced its first fight when I asked his real name. For some unknown reason, he never told me his name. He would joke some movie character name whenever I asked his name and I got angry. Childish reason! But I never went to meet him thereafter.
• Days rolled into months. It's been four months since I met him. I never happened to meet him at any of the pack ceremonies. Eventually, I learnt that he might belong to the neighbouring pack as the mountain was spread over three territories. But wondered how he managed to mind link me.
• One fateful event made us move to the pack far away from here. And that day I feared about never meeting him again as the next day we need to leave our pack.
• I rushed to the mountain as I was held back by Sezhiyan giving me pieces of advice about how to behave in the new pack. When I reached there, it was already dark. I shouted his name and shifted into a wolf and howled for him. I shifted back and cried on the floor. I realised how much I missed him. I didn't even have a chance to say goodbye to him. I don't want our relationship to end up with such silly fights and I don't even want to know his name anymore.
• Suddenly I felt a shirt draped over my body. I startled and jumped up to see my teddy standing there. He buttoned the shirt and wiped my tears.
• "I missed you, Anjali"
• He said with a sad smile.
• I hugged him tightly and cried all my desperation. How much can a five years old hold to her? I missed my teddy for all these days. He kept on telling soothing words to me.
• He pulled away and kissed my forehead and cheeks and then he kissed my lips. I was shocked as I remembered Sezhiyan telling me to not allow anyone to kiss my lips. But he is not some anyone but my teddy. At that moment my wolf howled in joy. I pulled away and buried my face into his bare chest not knowing what to do. I didn't even know that he stole my first kiss at that age. I heard him telling 'I love you, Anjali'.
• I replied with 'I love you too teddy' just like I tell my mom and grandparents. His face lit up and hugged me again. But I felt him stiffen soon. Before I could ask why I caught the rotten meat smell. And it was so heavy. He told me to run. But I can't leave him alone.
• I mind linked Sezhiyan as he taught and he replied me to run towards the pack territory. Everything happened in a jiffy. Teddy shifted into his wolf and started to attack the nearest one and mind linked me to run. I didn't want him to get hurt so I tried to shift but out of nowhere a wolf jumped on me and injected silver into my system. Teddy came to rescue me but got cornered by both wolves.
• Fortunately, another medium golden wolf similar to Teddy came to rescue and each fought against a rogue.
• I couldn't shift now and I felt so weak. I was terrified and worried to not help my friend who was fighting for our life. When I saw Sezhiyan and patrol running our way, I was beyond relieved. But my relief short lived when I have seen one of the rogues throwing some liquid thing at Teddy's face. The liquid must have hurt him as he howled in pain and rolled on the floor in pain and soon his form went limp. His every so beautiful hazel green eyes turned lifeless.
• I don't know whether it the silver or the fear of the sight in front of me, I fainted. When I woke up next morning, Sezhiyan informed one of the two pups fought there had died and the other was seriously injured. My heart broke when I heard him saying that. My teddy died. Just as I feared. If only I haven't gone to see him, he would be alive now. I killed my Teddy.
• That's when I decided to turn invisible to not hurt or lose any more loved one. I didn't even have a chance to attend his funeral as my family dragged me three packs away. I could never erase the traces of his memory. No one can replace him.
• Back to reality, I decided to stay here for the whole night but in the middle of the night, I felt someone near me. I got cautious and jumped into a fighting stance and found Logan looking at me amused.
• "How did you find your way to here?"
• He asked surprised while sitting next to me. I sat down looking at the bright Moon
• "Umm... Don't know... I just walked in random direction mindlessly."
• I lied but the pity in his eyes didn't go unnoticed.
• "Actually one of my friends used to come here. He lost his brother exactly at this place. And whenever he feels bad, he would come here."
• My heart skipped a beat.
• "What happened?"
• I asked not showing my curiosity.
• "I don't know what exactly happened here. But he and his brother fought rogues at their younger age. And the rogues killed his brother. It happened almost eleven years back. Maybe you might have left by that time. That's why you didn't remember such an incident."
• I turned my face another side to not show my quivering lip and welled up eyes to him.
• "Oh! May I ask who is that friend? Do I know him?"
• I asked slowly after calming myself. My wolf howled at the sad memory. Her alpha genes weren't strong enough to overcome the silver back then, but we have got immune to silver things in the later period. Actually, it was a big scientific failure. After my grandparent’s death, I started injecting myself with silver daily thinking it will make me go to them. I got allergic reactions and my wolf scolded me for doing that as it affected her the most. But over the period of time, it was like antibiotic and we didn’t feel anything with silver. So I tried killing myself with the silver dagger but it only left a faint scar in between my breasts as my wolf healed it but the process of healing happened painfully slowly. My flesh didn’t even burn anymore with the contact of silver as my blood has silver with my diluted intake of silver.
• "Why are you so curious about it?"
• He asked with a raised eyebrow. I lightly smacked his head and smiled. He sighed on seeing my smile. But I forgot to breath when he said the next word.
• "Akhilan"
• He looked at me to see any recognition in my face but I was too shocked to show any emotion at the mention of my mate's name.
• "Akhilan is my friend whose brother got killed that day. He is our current head warrior's son. You have met Mithun right?"
• I just nodded. But all I really wanted to do was to howl loudly to let out the huge amount of pain filling my heart. I hate when men reject their mates. But I knew my mate has every right to reject me. Because I killed his brother. His own blood.
• I looked up at the Moon who was snugly hiding behind the clouds.
• I mentally muttered a 'Why?' to him as my life can't get any more messed up. I let out a sigh and stood up and brushed the dirt from my dress. When we are near the home, I felt his aura turning into happiness.
• 'I could feel his aura? When did this happen'
• I asked my wolf.
• 'Your power will grow stronger over the period of time. But I will let you know about our new power tomorrow.'
• She shut me off! Woah! What a bitch!
• 'Not as much as you!'
• She replied cockily and cut me off again. I smiled to myself and searched for my key in my jeans as I didn't find my mother’s car here.
• I opened the knob and the light turned on before I could enter with a sudden pop sound which made me move reflexively and I pulled a gun with each of my palm from the back of the jean and pointed straight. The loud sound of ‘surprise’ paused midway as 'Surp..???'. I was relaxed when I see familiar faces but the expression on their face was priceless.
• The room was filled with glittery papers blasted from poppers a minutes ago. I looked around and find 'Happy birthday' banner behind them and a big chocolate cake was placed in the middle of the room. Sezhiyan, Mithra, Aryan, Inba, Dhaya, Tamizh and even Mukilan were here. I bitterly tried to ignore the sting in my heart on not seeing the person gave birth to me not there.
• "Woah, calm down, Wolfie. First, put the gun down, my wolf is scratching to get on the surface, sweetheart."
• Sezhiyan spoke with an amused voice yet had a strict edge.
• I smiled apologetically and lowered my guns. I was not used to celebrating my birthdays lately and none of this surprises in midnight happened in the past eleven years. I won't blame my grandparents for celebrating in the morning. Because at least they did that, till they left me. Last five years, my birthday went unnoticed except last year Kalai gifted me a white gold earring on the next day as she forgot it on the day.
• I placed my guns on their place and walked inside. There was masking scent near the door which helped them to hide inside. I wonder why they used it when they knew the absence of my wolf.
• "Uh... Sorry guys, it is my reflex to pull the guns when I feel some threat. Umm... Thank you so much for all this.. arrangements."
• I tried not to give into emotions but my voice cracked at the end. Why do they care about me? I don't deserve any of this. I'm a killer of my own mate's brother.
• Luna Mithra hugged me and softly said 'Happy birthday, Kavi'.
• "Thank you very much, Luna"
• I replied with a small smile. Soon everyone hugged me and told their 'happy birthday's. Mukilan decently shook my hand and wished me. And I quickly side hugged Dhaya ignoring his stupid smirk.
• I was asked to make a wish before blowing the candle.
• 'My dear Moon God! Please bring that monster in front of me and help me to take my revenge'
• I blew the candles contented and cut the cake. I fed the cute little princess next to me ignoring all big wolves’ open mouth. Tamizh was so happy that she got the first bite. Before I could cut the next piece, Logan shoved my head onto the cake. There starts the war. I wiped the frosting from the remaining cake and pinned Logan to the staircase and rubbed it all over his face.
• I teased that he looked much better with chocolate frosting. The couples made us cringe by rubbing the cake on each other sensually. We groaned and asked them to find a room. Oh, Moon! Why elders are behaving like teens and we teenagers shooing them like old people!
• Tamizh threw cake on her brother who cutely chased her playfully and tickled her. Her sweet giggles made us all laugh. I wiped the cream and threw it over Mukilan who was looking at another side. He looked at me shocked and he used his wolf speed to pick the remaining cake and pinned me next to Logan and hit the cake on the top of my head. I gulped dramatically. Oh my hair!
• Youngsters started chasing one another with snow spray and we played chase for the next thirty minutes. We cleaned up ourselves in backyard tap and Luna and Inba aunt provided tissues to wipe the cream and soap to clean up. Mukilan offered to wipe the cake from my hair and he wiped the remaining cake from my face. I muttered a thank you to him and went inside the home. So the dinner was a start to celebrate my birthday but ended up horribly. I wonder how would my mom react if I get good marks in Final exams. I knew she would tell that it was luck or wrong calculation. Enough about her bi-polar behaviours!
• I grinned big when I saw everyone was now looking at me with excitement with a gift in their hand. The beauty is they didn’t give me something to show off their money power. Tamizh was already asleep in the guest room. Alpha couple gifted me a laptop with all the latest features included. I love my laptop but this one will make my work much easier. And My uncle and aunt gifted me Amazon cash voucher, so I could get whatever I like.
• The surprising part was Mukilan gifted me the limited edition of the book which contains new techniques in web and super short cut ways to roam on the internet. I tried purchasing it but failed thrice. I wondered how he got that. I hugged him to thank as this was going to make me much smarter and I could send some useful tips from the book to Kalai to fasten the work there. I looked at Logan and Dhaya who had their hands in pocket at looking at me with a smile.
• “Where are your gifts?”
• I asked with a smirk knowing the reply very well.
• “Stop the nonsense! You are the one who should give us treat!”
• That was Logan.
• “We don’t want to give a gift because our love for you can’t be compiled in any of the gifts, you know.”
• Dhaya said with a wink making us laugh.
• They made it a memorable birthday. I can’t ask for anything better. They left after promising me to prepare a great food tomorrow and Logan, Dhaya and Mukilan told me to take my town tomorrow. I agreed to make them happy. And a little distraction won't hurt right. But I should make sure to not make this a routine. I drifted off to sleep with that promise.
• ?