Adversaries

CHAPTER 5

RAIZEN'S POV.

The battle was as bloody and exhilarating as I imagined it would be. The Warriors really were holding those weak merchant wolves, hostage Something I couldn't condone. My anger for this act was very vivid as I fought them, searching frantically for their Alpha. Something else wasn't right. A familiar smell tickled my nose.

Ignoring Damora's sudden appearance, I fought on. Trying to trace this annoying smell. The smell of a pest.

"I know you currently smell the flies, you're next after I deal with them. Raizen Cage!" He laughed before going on a rampage.

"Knock yourself out, Damora. Or maybe, you should keep yourself to be knocked out by me!" I smirked in return. It has been too long without combat. Now, I couldn't be more glad to see Damora. This battle was much needed. His warriors had gotten stronger.

The battle continued for a while until I began to get a familiar feeling. The same one I got a hundred years ago when my Aloha was stabbed. The feeling of dread and anxiety. Something was going to go wrong and I couldn't decipher what it was.

'help!'

'Please let me go!

Despite the loud battle cries and grunts, I could hear a desperate voice crying out for help. It was strange. There were no warrior women on any of the warrior teams except El-sha, and the village of the southern pack had been evacuated. Salvax made sure of it.

"Raizen! Where are you going!" El-sha called out but I ignored her. Damora's warriors were enough to keep her busy.

I followed my instincts and the voice, pursuing through the shadows. A masked man and a silver haired girl. She was weak. Kicking and scratching against him. It did nothing to shake off the man. Strange. He smelled so much like a human!

I watched their interchange and growled lowly when he tore off her panties. The animal couldn't even control himself. He was trying to take advantage of a helpless wolf woman. Although, the words weak and werewolf hardly went together especially when a human was involved.

In my anger, I threw a dagger aiming for the stupid psychopath's head. Sadly it landed on his back instead. The fool took out his dagger in an attempt to retaliate but his aim was off. The blade flew past me and stuck to a tree.

"How dare you!" I growled inaudibly, covering the short distance. Each assault on the man was packed with force. I didn't stop until his heartbeat was barely audible. Whatever he was doing in these parts, Salvax would get it out of him.

My senses were on high alert, every instinct telling me something was going on, I checked to see that I hadn't by followed from the battle. The wind carried the faintest hint of a scent—blood and fear mixed with something else. Something intoxicating.

Against the large tree, the woman was tied up, her head bent in submission and more likely, fear. Long white hair falling like a curtain around her face. Her breath was ragged. Fear.

"Help me?" She didn't sound sure. Was she scared of me?

I turned to her, my heart pounding not from the fight but from something else. Something that made my blood dance in a way it used to do before. Was this some kind of play by the moon goddess?

Her eyes met mine, and I felt the connection snap into place. It was that same undeniable bond. "Mine,” I whispered.

How is this possible?" I asked, more to myself than to her. She looked at me like I was crazy. Didn't she feel anything too?

"Can you please untie me?" She fluttered her lashes, eyelids closing and opening as if they were engaged in hide and seek with her beautiful blue orbs. She was a beauty.

"You're my mate." I said with another pained whisper that was more audible now, that caused her weird blinking to stop.

"What did you say?" She asked. Was she hard of hearing? How could she not hear me? Deciding that I would find out at a later date, I crouched down to her level.

Reaching behind her, I used one finger to poke at the knot of the rope, "You're my mate." I finally untied her.

“We’re mates?” she had tears in her eyes and I went straight for them, wiping it off before it got to her cheeks. Her skin was very pale. I wonder what pack she was from.

"Yes, we are." I said as a confirmation. I was really getting a second chance mate. Despite the fact that she was freed, I noticed that she still had her hands to the back. There were no weapons in her hand when I had untied her. Was it submission still?

I reached behind her and took each hand in mine, then brought it forward. I looked at her soft hands, they had no obvious callous, indicating that she was not a servant. She wasn't very glib with her tongue so she was definitely not a merchant. I noticed the tattoo, my mood immediately turning sour.

"You're from the Canine's Pack?" I was disturbed. Did Damora know that she was my mate? Did he set a trap? That couldn't be the case, because she looked very confused.

As if my thoughts had summoned him, he appeared. I heard the rustling of leaves as he jumped away from the protection of the trees. He had run the distance from the battle field, in search of me.

"You stay away from my mate, Raizen!" Damora called from the back with a growl. I turned around to face him, instantly turning possessive.

"You're the Alpha of the Claw's pack? Alpha Raizen?" She was whispering to herself while tears fell from her eyes. I could understand this particular set of tears.

"Raizen, you still owe me a fight!" Damora snapped before lounging at me. From my peripheral vision, I saw her stand up and lean on the tree.

"I'll fight you Damora. If not for anything, but for the sake of my mate!" I said as I blocked his strike with my arm.

"No Raizen! Your mate is dead, remember?" Damora growled and I growled in return.

"Ah!" I heard a scream from my newfound mate and turned to see a blade held against her throat.