CLAIMED BY HER TRUE MATE

Solstice night

Eryna follows Ulmar outside, taking a small detour around the castle before she is led past a small bridge connecting them to a massive pavilion. "Be careful what you say around everyone, especially the highborn; they are still shocked about your arrival."

Ulmar warns her, but Eryna can only nod silently to her advice as they enter a massive pavilion covered with trees and a large bonfire in the middle, with over a hundred wolves conversing with wine and drinks in their hands.

But the moment they sensed Eryna's presence, they all became quiet, and it made Eryna immediately conscious of her every step. She could feel their hardened stares and whispers passing around.

"Don’t mind them, Eryna; you won’t be here for long," she whispered to herself as she moved forward, following Ulmar, who quietly led her to three large chairs here mounted on a taller platform.

No one had to tell Eryna the next step, as she immediately bowed to Alpha Varagon the moment she met his gaze. She could hardly breathe and didn’t know how to, so she bowed her head instead.

The tension around her was intoxicating; she wanted them all to stop judging like they had since she came into their territory, or were they just surprised by her hair color? She could tell.

"I am pleased to be in your presence, Alpha Varagon. My mother has said a lot about the onyx pack and your grace," she said breathlessly, hoping someone or something would cause a distraction to get the attention off her, but what Alpha Varagon did stunned her; he laughed.

"Haha! I’m sure she did, that woman cannot stand me," he says as he takes another sip of his wine. "Stand, child, let me take a look at you," he tells Eryna, who wheels up straight.

Taking a deep breath filled with anxiousness as Varagons gazed studied her from head to toe, like she was a product of mere exchange he wanted to check out... “very good!" He called before pointing to a chair to his left. "Sit here," he ordered, and Eryna would be a fool to do otherwise.

She took a seat, feeling everyones silent and still staring until Varagon raised his cup back up and said, "Let us continue the merriment of the solstice evening!" He roared, and everyone cheered, facing back to their drinks and gossip, but Eryna could still feel someone looking.

" so. Lady Dawson… Do you celebrate the solstice? Back in your pack, I mean".

"No. "Not like this, but this is a beautiful festival, Alpha Varagon," she says to Varagon, who gives a proud smile. She looked happy and appreciated it, but her Eryna eyes followed his arms to his wine goblet, which he tried to pick up. She could immediately see the tremors that took hold of his hand as it shook violently. He immediately dropped the cup, and at Ulmar's signal,

"You must forgive me, but I have to leave. Vidalgo will be here soon enough, as he’s done with his orders". He tells Eryna that as Ulmar comes to help him up, she can see something is wrong; he is sick.

And she knew it was a secret from the way Ulmar gave her a deadly stare before helping Alpha Varagon back inside, leaving Eryna on an empty table.

She could only look at the merry crowd having fun and dancing around the bonfire. As she picked on the cherry cake and took little sips of her wine, she looked around, hoping to see a blind spot or opening she could go through and escape. "Enjoying the view?" A voice whispers near her ear, almost making her jump.

" gods! You scarred me, Vidalgo.” Eryna shrieked as she placed a hand over her chest to calm her heart, which was pumping so loudly.

Vidalgo then let out a smile as he watched her: "You don’t seem to be enjoying the party."

"I am. "Trust me, I am," she says as her eyes meet shortly with Nylah, the girl who barged into her room. Nylah had the meanest scowl on her face; sure, she hated seeing Eryna for an unknown reason.

"Hmm. Then come to dance with me."

"I do not know how you dance here. "For sure, I will mess it up."

"Not when I’m here; I’ll teach you. now come"He tells her, and Eryna doesn’t reply, knowing what possessed her to stand up and follow him, but she does, and that caught the attention of a few onlookers.

But the moment she stepped towards him, she felt that look again, that dark gaze from the forest, the perfect stranger. Eryna quickly looked around and caught the cloak and the green eyes that shone through it. Eryna immediately followed him, saying, "I’ll be right back... I’m sorry".

She tells Vidalgo as she goes into the garden that it was more like a maze; what she didn’t know was that Vidalgo was right behind her. You’re the one from the forest, aren’t you?"

She calls out to the strange man, but he doesn’t answer. "Can you stop for a second?" He ignores her and keeps walking, and Eryna hates that; she hates being ignored and being seen as a pushover. She quickens her steps to meet him halfway.

She could still hear the echoes of cheers and celebration going on in the pavilion, and they became louder; the solstice had finally begun. The solstice was a time when the moon would be the closest and brightest, and the legend says it did that to get close to its chosen goddess.

Eryna didn’t know why, but she felt her body become hotter with every step she took. She could feel her eyes becoming blurry, and her body felt hot, like she had been thrown into a furnace.

"Please stop…"

Eryna called out to the blurry figure, but it seems her pathetic plea was what got his attention as he turned, shocked to see the state that Eryna was in. He ran to her,

But Vidalgo had also noticed that Eryna had lost her balance and was about to fall." Eryna!" He shouts as he too runs forward to grab her hand.

They both simultaneously touched her hands, and a wave of shock passed through Eryna's body to both males who felt it. With Eryna in both her arms as her gaze faced the moon and her eyes turned a bright violet, like a pulsing fire with a promise of power behind it,

But what terrified both males was the feeling that shook their inner wolves to the core as they both looked at Eryna with one thing slipping from both their lips:

"Mate,"