Kei Valancia
Following the alpha’s scent, which was a mysterious musk that I couldn’t really put my finger on, I found myself where the scent was strong. Stopping in front of a door, I reached out to softly touch the wood. It was smooth under my fingertips, and I could almost smell the earthy scent as I envisioned the tree that it came from.
“How did you know where my office was?” His voice growled behind me. I tilted my head and moved aside.
“I’ll spill my secrets once we’re alone.” I grinned cheekily at him, and he only inhaled sharply before letting it out slowly. I felt his body brush past me and the sound of the doorknob turning squeaked between us. He walked in first and didn’t even seem to care if I followed or not.
“I guess chivalry is dead,” I mumbled and walked in after him, shutting the door behind me.
“Only with you,” he retorted dryly as I heard the sound of a squeak as he sat in what I assumed was his chair. I pretended to look around but only saw darkness. The only color I could see was from the alpha himself, but everything else was just black. I let out a quiet sigh. It would be nice to see a flower or something.
“Take a seat.” Obeying his orders, I walked over smoothly, pushing my senses ahead of me until I could picture the outline of the room in my mind. There were two plush chairs in front what seemed like a large wooden desk; the alpha, of course, was sitting behind it in a massive chair. A table was off to my right along with a couch facing me.
Striding over, I sat in the chair with ease and felt myself slightly relax. It had been a while since I had rested on a piece of furniture like this. I let out a small groan and tipped my head back. This was definitely a little piece of heaven.
“Now, explain to me what you are and what you plan to do here.” Cracking my neck, I lifted my head and faced him.
“I’ll start off with my name.” I cleared my throat dramatically and heard him tap his finger impatiently. I mentally grinned and finally spoke. “My name is Kei Valancia, and I like to think of myself as a traveler of sorts. For a few years now, I visit weaker packs to teach them everything they need to know to protect themselves from other packs or rogues. Now your question as to what I am, I’ll let you try and figure that one out yourself.” His finger tapping stopped as I finished.
“Your features are too bizarre even for a witch nor do you have the air of a vampire,” he mused. “My only guess would be that you are half fae, the one species that is cloaked underneath a cloud of mystery.” I smiled slightly at his words.
“I know much about them if I was being honest with you,” I admitted to him. “Knowing this, I would love it if you wouldn’t advertise it as well. I know rumors are bound to swirl around, but it would be helpful if you don’t say anything about it.” He was silent for a minute, feeling his eyes scanning my face.
“What are you benefiting from helping us out?” he asked in a serious tone. I crossed my legs and made myself comfortable.
“Nothing really. Maybe it’s for my personal reasons, but I genuinely do want to help you. Already, I can tell you have some strong fighters in your pack, and all you need is a little help with training them.”
“Are you talking about Mark?” I grinned at him.
“He’s definitely strong. You’re lucky to have him.” I noticed the alpha emanate a glittering gold for pride.
“Yes, he is,” was his only reply.
“So will you let me help you?” I asked seriously, knowing that this wasn’t the time to joke anymore. He was quiet as he contemplated his thoughts, and I began to braid my hair out of boredom.
The room was quiet as I did this, looping one strand of hair over the other, and soon, I found myself in a soothing rhythm.
Over, tighten.
Over, tighten.
Over…
“All right.” My hands froze, and I cocked my head to the side with a smile plastered on my face.
“So we have a deal?” I guess he nodded as he didn’t say anything, and my smile widened. Finishing off my braid quickly, I tied it at the end and stood.
“I promise. I won’t let you down.”
“I hope not.” He rumbled deeply, and I stretched my hand for him to shake. After a moment, a large warm hand engulfed mine, and we shook firmly. Once we parted, he asked me one last question.
“Is there anything else I should know about you?” I had stopped in front of the door just as he asked, and I turned to look at him with a devilish smirk.
“I’m blind.”
* * *
I laughed at the man walking beside me as he grumbled grumpily.
“What? Still mad that I kicked your butt and by a girl, no less?” He grumbled some more before speaking up.
“And it doesn’t help that you’re blind. I got whooped by a blind, little girl!” I looked in his direction mockingly.
“Aww, did I hurt your precious ego? I would say sorry, but you probably know that I’m not.” I felt Mark cross his arms over his chest, and I laughed as he continued to sulk. Turns out I did break his rib, but he still managed to get up without breaking a sweat. I’ll give him credit for his toughness.
“Don’t worry, Marky, you’ll get your time to shine again.”
“Don’t call me, Marky.” He growled, and I just smirked at him as we walked in the middle of the clearing in the backyard from earlier. We stopped, and I saw many auras surround us, all their colors blending together and looking like a messed up rainbow but still beautiful, nonetheless. Becoming serious, the two of us faced the crowd.
“All right, people. As you can see, we have a newcomer. Her name is Kei Valancia, and she’s here to help train our warriors to be the best.” Almost instantly, the air around us was filled with angry chatter, dark red splattering across my sight like spilled blood.
“How can we trust her?”
“She’s only a filthy rogue!”
“She’s only going to kill us all!” I stood there with a stoic expression, not surprised by their accusations. Actually, I even mouthed along with them. Seemingly seeing this, Mark nudged me with his elbow.
“What are you doing?” he whispered in my ear.
“I’ve visited over a hundred packs and have heard over a hundred of the same lines that I hear now. I could practically recite it in my sleep,” I whispered back with a chuckle. I didn’t know what his response was, but I decided to calm the crowd myself. Putting two fingers in my mouth, I blew out an earsplitting whistle. This got everyone to shut up real quick.
“Okay, listen up! I get you’re all kinda cautious about letting a strange she-wolf just waltzing in and training you, but I’m going to say this only once so you better listen.” I waited for anyone to interrupt but was mildly surprised when no one didn’t. “I’m here for one thing and one thing only: to train you.” I let my eyes wander over the blurry colored masses, not letting my gaze stay still for a moment.
“On my travels, I have heard of the rogue attacks that have happened. And frankly, I’m surprised you’re all not dead,” I said bluntly. This caused a few angry mutters, but overall, they were calm. “So, I thought if I could help you become stronger, this pack may be the best and strongest pack in the world. ’Cause let’s face it, not many packs could hold off five rogue attacks and make it out alive. You can hate me, love me, wish for me to burn in the deepest depths of hell. I don’t really care. Just let me help you feel safe to be in your pack. Let me help you become feared instead of stepped on. That is all I ask of you.” I sucked in a deep breath and waited for their response, watching as their auras all flickered with flashing colors, but one of the main colors I had spotted was blue. They were still uncertain, but I noticed one color that was also becoming common.
White—brilliant and pure—white was hope. They finally had hope. And it was riding on me to make sure that I didn’t let it burn to ashes.
“Fine, we’ll listen to you.” A man stepped from the crowd, and I caught his scent of pine trees. I tilted my head and examined the man before me. His aura was a calming light blue tinged with a neon orange. I smirked at his calming aura, but at the same time, he was brimming with confidence—my kind of person.
“I’m so glad you’ll listen,” I replied casually.
“But that doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you when kicking your ass.” At his comment, I threw my head back and let out a gut-deep laugh. It was the only noise echoing around us as if I was the only person here. Facing him once more, I grinned almost manically.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
* * *
I sat ramrod-straight, gasping and sweat dripping down my face. The nightmare was already fading away, leaving only bits and pieces of the gruesome images that have haunted my mind for years now.
Swiping hair out of my face with a shaky hand, I took a deep breath to calm my nerves.
My dreams are where I can actually see visual objects. Yet I would prefer not to dream at all. The nightmares that plague my conscious haunt and torment me, making me feel as if I’ll never get away. What’s worse? I could never remember them nor could I decipher the images that cause me so much stress. Groaning, I hid my face in my hands. There’s no way I’m going to fall back to sleep now.
Growling in frustration, I got out of the bed. The bedroom that I was currently occupying in the pack house was almost empty except for a bed and a dresser pushed against the wall across the medium-sized boxed room.
Earlier, when Mark had dropped me off there, I immediately went into action by running my hands all over the place and pushing my powers out to get the layout of the room. The walls were bare of anything, and a rug covered some of the cold wooden floorboards.
Stretching, I leisurely walked over to an old ransack on the dresser where I held all of my belongings. Opening the top, I reached my hand in and found a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt. Changing quickly into my new attire, I slipped on a pair of extra tennis shoes lying beside the door that the alpha was kind enough to give me.
Digging my hand through the sack blindly, my fingers finally found what I was looking for. Smiling slightly, I pulled out the elastic and put my long hair into a bun.
“Come on, I need to run.” I chuckled at my wolf’s impatience.
“Chill, Rei, I’m going.”
“Well, go faster.”
Rolling my eyes, I opened the door and walked out. Power buzzed around me as I kept my sense on the alert, the dark outline of the hall taking a dim form in my mind. It was empty of any other souls, and I walked down with silent steps and entered the kitchen.
I was lucky enough to get a room on the first level, so I didn’t have to bother sneaking down the stairs. I shut the back door behind me with a quiet click and felt myself relax slightly.
I inhaled the crisp night air and let out a small sigh. Without hesitation, I walked with long strides across the damp lawn and stopped at the edge of the woods. Finally, I let go of the powers flowing through me, and everything in my mind went back to black.
I had a moment of panic as the familiar feeling of energy didn’t register in my mind, but I soon calmed when a small spark of green flashed at the edge of my vision along with other small flashes, signaling all the different kinds of plant life. Popping my neck, I could feel the restlessness of my wolf begin to affect me.
“All right, all right. I’m going,” I said before running at a full sprint through the woods. I just let my body move on its own accord, dodging any obstacles without even seeing. I wouldn’t be able to explain how I do it, but it’s just that I know that I can. Makes total sense, right?
I suddenly felt myself jump, and I had in that one second of being suspended in the air the feeling of being weightless until gravity reminded me it was still there and began pulling me down. Just as I felt myself nearing the ground, Rei decided to take the reins.
Transforming in midair, I landed on the forest floor with four feet instead of two. I yipped in excitement as I felt like I was breaking free from a tight dress I had worn too many hours. Though I still couldn’t see as my wolf, it sucked a little less. Actually, everything was sharper. My powers were more tuned into the energy surrounding us.
Now, full of happy energy, we ran at full speed through the woods. I heard the whizzing of trees passing us by inches, the smell of the sweet honeysuckle and fresh pine mix to make a heady concoction. I was on a high that I never wanted to come down from.
We ran like that for hours until I had circled and was now just a couple miles away from the pack house. However, I was stopped by an overbearing presence that dripped with power.
Halting immediately, I swiveled my head around, and my ears perked up high. I froze when I caught sight of the source of my caution.
The power that seemed to reach the morning sky waved in a hypnotic dance, a glittering black that consumed anything in its path. I felt my breath catch just from the beautiful sight.
This type of darkness was different from the cursed blindness that I have. No, this kind of black glittered. It wasn’t suffocating or heavy. Instead, it was light and free. It was beautiful. Entranced by this phenomenon, I took a step without even realizing it but stopped when a vicious growl ripped throughout the early morning air.
“Stay where you are.” The power from this source increased even more, spreading out even further. I looked and saw what I assume would be a man. His form was outlined by his dark power, catching a glimpse of his form. The funny thing was he wasn’t big like his power suggested. No, he was lean and sinewy with his long limbs, but he would loom over my human form easily. That was the only thing that I could really define as everything else on him was covered in darkness. I felt myself sigh.
Too bad, I bet he’s hot as Hades.
“Shift,” he demanded. His deep voice filled me with contentment which I found strange.
“Hmm. He smells heavenly,” Rei said dreamily, and I agreed. He smelt of dark chocolate and a certain masculine musk that called to us.
“Maybe it’s that Axe cologne that is popular among humans,” Rei suggested.
“Rei, I don’t think that’s quite right,” I told her in amusement.
“I won’t say it again. Shift.” He growled, and I knew he was beginning to become irater. I changed back into my two-legged form, my clothes magically reappearing. A tint of orange floated around him, and I heard his breathing momentarily stop. Violet enveloped his form like a blanket, and I furrowed my brows. I would like to think that it was my supernaturally good looks that made him go all lusty or something because I haven’t seen this much violet from a man in quite a while. Yet how could his desire grow from simply looking at my rumpled clothing and sloppy hair?
“He’s obviously not seeing the same thing as I do.” I snickered to Rei.
“You are so childish, nonetheless.” I could still hear her hidden laughter in her words.
I cocked my head towards him with a small frown on my face. It didn’t seem as if he’s the only one having some major hormonal issues, however. The strong urge to leap into his arms and devour his face was beginning to fill my mind. Not only that, but I could smell his scent from where I was standing, and I was praying for my soul. It was absolutely mouthwatering.
I took slow steps towards him, seeing the familiar color of dark brown surround him. He was tense. Why, though? He seemed to be a grown man while I am only a small girl or woman, I guess.
“Who are you?” This time, his voice held an edge that could have cut the hardest stone on earth. I didn’t answer as I kept creeping my way even closer to the source of sexiness.
“Answer my question.” The mystery man growled, but I simply continued to ignore him. Following where the powerful presence was coming from, I stopped when he was right in front of me. Reaching out, I felt my hand touch a prickly cheek. What I wasn’t expecting was the sudden explosion of colors and electricity zip through me. Gasping, I pulled back, but a large calloused hand gripped mine in a tight hold.
The one word that I never dreamed of ever hearing was suddenly spoken.
“Mate.”