And There Were Wolves

(d) five

There was no mark. He hadn't marked me. He'd bitten and he sucked my blood but that was it. It left me more confused than if he'd marked me. Eros had taken me back to the Ethereal's packhouse about an hour ago. Despite what I'd told him, he didn't believe that Ryker had indeed come and that he'd bitten me. The fact that the wound had healed itself by the time Eros had found me on the bathroom floor didn't help, either. 

"Why can't you believe me?" I breathed out and sagged on the couch. "He was there. He bit me and drank my blood. Why else would I be passing out in the bathroom?" 

"Maybe you had too much to drink." My best friend annoyingly shrugged and, at this moment, I wanted nothing but to throw something at him. Anything. He seemed to realize that too, as he took a seat next to me and held my hand. "Look, Xyrra, Ryker is no longer in Europe. The pack at the border saw him leave when he nearly crossed their territory. There was no way that it was Ryker." Eros let out a deep, exasperated sigh. "As for the whole blood-drinking thing, I don't think that ever happened. Perhaps it was a dream that you had when you passed out." 

"I know what I saw, Er. I still could feel him. It was real." Although there had been a sliver of doubt in my mind previously, after what had happened in the bathroom, I couldn't be persuaded that it was just a mere illusion. "And this wasn't the first time. He approached me in the alley behind the cafe when I was gonna go home." 

My best friend gave me a sad smile. "If it was truly him tonight, then how come I couldn't smell him, Xy?" This was a question that I couldn't find the answer to. Eros was one of the best trackers in his pack. He would be able to smell Ryker even from a distance. "I was there with you, wasn't I? We went through the entire floor together and the basements too, but there wasn't even a hint of his smell." 

I ran my hands through my hair and rested both of my hands on the back of my neck. "I don't know, Er." Closing my eyes, I took a deep, calming breath and tried my best to gather my scattered thoughts. 

Feeling the heaviness of Eros's hand on my shoulder, I reopened my eyes and looked up to meet his gaze. For a split second, I was hoping he'd say that he was sorry and that he believed me. But it never happened. "You should get some rest. It's been a long day." 

Eros gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze before planting a small kiss on the side of my head. Then he got out and left, leaving me alone with my own thoughts. 

The first thing I searched for when I reached my bedroom was the Book of the Damned. Somehow, I felt that I'd find answers there. It was a funny thought, considering that I didn't have the key to open it. In the end, I was only caressing its cover, hoping by some miracle that it would open without a key. 

We'd found that key while cleaning my mum's things. I'd initially thought that Eros stole it from me. Before he'd gotten kidnapped and had his memory wiped, he'd texted me, confessing that he'd taken the key in order to protect me. 

Yet upon gaining his memory back, he had no recollection of that key, which confused the hell out of me. Now that I finally had time to truly ponder about it, I couldn't believe how dumb I'd been. The answer was so obvious. 

"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!" I cursed under my breath. Adelina, the sorceress who'd put hexes on Eros and altered his wolf Ares's memory, must have taken the key. She hadn't just done what she'd done to help Ryker's crazy ex-fiancé Alana get her revenge. Adelina had had her own agenda since the start. 

If I didn't live in a heavily guarded compound such as the Ethereal packhouse, she would've stolen the Book of the Damned as well. Perhaps she was currently cultivating her plan and waiting for the right time to put it in motion. 

With a flick of my wrist, I summoned a ball of red smoke and placed my hand on the front cover of the book. I wasn't entirely sure what I was doing, but I was hoping I could charm the book to prevent Adelina from stealing it. I lifted my hand and was satisfied to see that the red smoke stuck to the book like a second skin.