Sid's POV

　　The second Ariel's rejection of our mate bond her lips, those perfect lips, I feel to the ground. Curling into the fetal position as the pain was intense, I had received numerous injuries during my life but this, this was worse than anything I had ever experienced before. Tan was whining in my head while trying to take control. He wanted nothing but to shift and chase after her demanding she take back the rejection.

　　"How could she have the strength to run off, we are hurting she should be too" Tan whimpered.

　　"I don't know, I don't think she has ever trusted anyone in her life judging by how her own father treated her. Maybe she built a wall surrounding herself to prevent her feeling pain" I told him.

　　"That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard. This is all your fault had you stopped Star and Hunter from attacking in the first-place things could have been different" he snarled at me before retreating into the darkest depths of my mind blocking me from having any further contact with him.

　　How could he say this was my fault, Star is our Luna as much as Angel. After all they are one in the same just like Tan and I. No matter my personal feelings about things I had a sworn duty to protect my Luna and that meant protecting her from myself if need be.

　　"Sid?" Angel kneeled next to me.

　　"Come on man lets get you back home" Benson's voice came from behind me as he helped me to my feet.

　　I couldn't look at Angel or Jake, I knew it wasn't their fault directly that Jason died but they were a part of it and a small part of me did blame them. I had always wanted a mate and seeing all my friends find theirs made me jealous. What I wouldn't have given to have one, I would have treated her well. I would have been loyal unlike many of the other mated males out there. All I wanted to do was to shift and run off but as Tan had blocked me out I couldn't. Until he came around, I was essentially a human.

　　"Are you ok this isn't your fault, it isn't anyone other than Jason's fault" I heard Jake say to Angel while comforting her.

　　"IT's ALL OF YOUR FAULTS EVERY SINGLE F**KING ONE OF YOU" I shouted before realizing what I had even done.

　　Next thing I knew Jake was standing in front of me his hand gripping my throat restricting my airway.

　　"You DARE to talk to your Luna and Alpha in such a tone!" his eyes pitch black telling me I was dealing with Hunter at this very moment. "I understand your mate rejected you and no I do not know the pain you are currently feeling but that does NOT give you the right to disrespect us" he spat only calming down and releasing his grip on my throat as Angel placed her hand on his shoulder.

　　"Son I know your pain believe me I do; I was around your age when that monster took her away from me. It will be hard, but you will overcome this." William paused turning to look at Rita, a smitten look on his face. "If I could be lucky enough to receive a second chance then you can to"

　　Suddenly I felt the wall blocking me from Tan fall as he forced us to shift snarling at Rita before running back out the way we came.

　　Ariel's POV

　　"I Ariel Wright reject you Sid as my mate" The words my wolf Jade forced out of mouth, words I never in my dreams thought I would say.

　　"Why did you make me reject him" I asked Jade as we left the dungeons, making our way to freedom.

　　"He would have hurt us, remember what our father has told us Ariel. Men only want a woman for one thing, mate or not he would be no different"

　　"You don't know that for sure. I felt the break of the bond yet felt no pain why is that" I asked confused as to why I felt unfazed by my rejection.

　　"Ariel the day I came to you on your eighteenth birthday, I searched through your memories as they became my own. The pain I felt you endure at the hands of your father and the other men he allowed to use us as a punching bag, I swore to prevent you from felling such pain again. I wasn't there to protect you then, but I am now"

　　"Jade, I don't understand"

　　"Each time you befall harm I absorb it. I fell the pain for the both of us to save you from suffering further" she told me as we came to a halt.

　　Peering through Jade's eyes I noticed how we were no longer in the Royal Kingdom; we were in what was known as the no-go zone. It was called the no-go zone for a reason. That reason being as this was Vampire territory, any wolf that ever crossed became fair game.

　　"Jade we cannot be here" my voice full of worry.

　　"We will be ok; its currently light outside and we will be where we need to be before the sun sets relax scaredy pants" She chuckled at me.

　　Jade was the braver out of the both of us. Don't get me wrong, my mouth has gotten me into trouble more times than I could count but even I drew the line at crossing vampire lands. The sun may well be up but there are rumors that speak of a new breed of vampire. The rumors say that some crazy scientists experimented on vampires and as a result they were able to walk under direct sunlight, not turning into ash as they did so.

　　"Get that thought out of your head, I've never heard of anything more ridiculous than that" Jade rolled her eyes at my thoughts. Sometimes I forgot we shared a mind and I had such a judgey wolf.

　　Pushing all negative thoughts from my head, we continued our journey. I had pressed Jade several times wanting to know where we were going but she refused to tell me. All I was told is that when we got there I would know.

　　As the hours flew past the sky was becoming darker. We were still in Vampire territory which meant if we didn't find cover and soon, we would be in a hell lot of trouble. I could feel Jade becoming tired, she hadn't stopped once. Pure desperation to reach her destination wherever that was. After convincing her to shift back and give me control I masked our scent. Goddess it was cold now the winter nights were approaching; I began to run only stopping when a small hut came into veiw. A storm was on its way I could smell it in the air, I needed shelter, and this would have to do. After sniffing the air and tapping into Jades hearing I was convinced the hut was empty.

　　"Not to burst your bubble chick but you need clothes too" Jade chuckled.

　　Nodding in silent agreement I ran to the edge of the hut as quietly as I could. Once I made sure it was indeed empty, I went inside. The hut looked tiny from the outside, but this really was a 'don't judge a book by its cover' kind of moment. This hut was massive inside, walking around and judging by the dust that lay settled on the counter tops, furniture, and floor not a soul had been here in a while. I closed all the shutters on each window in case anyone walked by the last thing I needed tonight was to be found. Once I was sure the hut secure, I searched the bedroom that sat to the back. It must have been my lucky night as I found a pair of trousers and a shirt. The were far to big for me and weren't clean by any means but given my situation beggars couldn't be choosers.

　　……………

　　**BANG BANG**

　　I was awoken by a loud banging on the hut door, I felt Jade also stir praying to the goddess that it wasn't who I feared it was. The door suddenly flung open revealing the silhouettes of three men. Peaking out from under the bed I could just about make out one of the men. He wasn't very tall; he couldn't have been any taller than 5ft3. His skin was deadly pale shimmering under the moonlight and his eyes were a mesmerizing shade of pink. My fears were confirmed when he smiled to one of the other men. He had fangs; white pointy fangs that looked sharp.

　　"He said sh... sh... she was here" The tallest of the men stuttered, while searching through cupboards and sniffing the blankets.

　　"She can't have gotten far. Find her. Do not harm her for master wants her alive" the shorter vampire spoke, his voice held so much authority that it made me wonder who he was.

　　"Look at the way he carries himself, his posture, the way he walks. He is either from a noble background or he's been trained by somebody of that stature" Jade was right, he held his hands behind his back almost level with his shoulders as he walked, his back remained straight and he held his head high. There was no way he was a foot soldier.

　　I waited for what felt like an eternity for them to leave before crawling out from under the bed. The fact they searched everywhere but where I had hidden left me dumbfounded. Lifting my nose into the air I sniffed trying to pick up their scent but nothing. I had grown up learning that vampires had a scent that stuck out. It was said to be like honeysuckle. Not being able to smell them made a knot form in the pit of my stomach, I could tell Jade was also on edge a far change from her normal courageous self.

　　Was it me they were looking for if so, why? I needed answers but figured for now it would have to wait until the morning. At least then we would be safe to travel.