Chapter 42

HAPPY DASARA :D

Yes! The chapter is a day sooner and it is dedicated to @Ky_rine :D

Pic above is of Kasey ^^^

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" Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another: "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . ."

-C.S. Lewis , The Four Loves

DARYA P.O.V

It is my birthday today and I looked like a scarecrow.

Scowling at my reflection, I began using compacts and other cosmetics products to conceal the redness of my eyes and nose.

I know I will get lots of pitying looks today but I wanted none of that. I wanted to forget what had happened and just enjoy my day. His day too... No. That asshole can fall in the deepest pit of the hell!

Quillon hurt me by breaking my trust and I... what did I do? I burned his pack down. I felt thoroughly ashamed of myself as I realized what I had done to Serene. I flinched inwardly every time I recalled the cries and pleas of the pack wolves. They were literally begging me to spare them but I did not once consider it.

It was a good thing the Goddess stopped me from destroying Serene. I had vague memories of where I was yesterday at this time. After I felt myself being raised from the ground, I fell asleep. I don't know if it was dream or reality, but I dimly recall being in an open meadow where trees where dancing slightly as the gentle breeze drifted through. I recall staring at the sky blue eyes through blurry eyes. I recall hands soothing my hair. I recall a soft, musical voice gently telling me that I had done a something wrong. I was in a dizzy state at that time but I honestly felt like the voice belonged to the Goddess herself.

It felt real and I like to believe it was real.

The Goddess said something else too but I do not recall what it was. All I know was that, I was in the middle of the woods, the same place where I killed Konrad, when I opened my eyes next.

When I finally woke up, I was lying on the bed of this very room.

I stiffened the moment I heard footsteps approaching towards my room. Quickly, I hid the makeup kit and washed my hands. Lorcan pushed open my room door and barged in like a little whirlwind.

"Daroo" he said and I knelt on the ground to hug him. "Happy Birthday" he said and placed a loud kiss on my cheek, which just made my day.

"Thank-you" I said with a wide grin and kissed his nose.

I stood up as Duncan and Sel entered the room. They hugged and wished me too. "Here is your gift" Sel told me handing me a box. I knew what it contained because every year, Sel is the one who gifts me a birthday dress.

Smiling, I sat on the bed, while Lorcan stood next to me. "Want to open it" I asked and he nodded enthusiastically.

"Lorcan" Sel called in warning and pouting, he shook his head.

"Let him be" I told her and pulled the ribbon while Lorcan tore the gift wrapper. Inside the box, amidst the tissue paper was a light pink sequined one shoulder dress.

I gasped in wonderment when I saw the dress. As usual, Sel choose the best dress. "I love this" I told her and she beamed at me.

"It's a dress" Lorcan complained.

"Well, of course it is. Darya doesn't like toy cars" Duncan told him and then looked at me, "What do you want for your birthday?"

"Haww... You didn't buy me anything?" I asked feigning anger.

"I didn't buy you anything but I have got a surprise for you and it is going to be delivered this noon" he said and I blinked. I looked at Sel and she too seemed unaware of this. "You have to wait until then" he shrugged and after kissing the top of my head, he walked out of the room taking Lorcan with him.

"You know what he is-"

"No clue and he is not telling me either" she said and I huffed.

"I will wear this in the evening" I told her as she sat beside me.

"How are you feeling?" she asked me quietly.

"Good" I said and as the silence lingered, my lower lip started to wobble. Sel placed her arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer, so that I could rest my head against her arms.

"It's his birthday too"

"I know" she told me. "I also know he hurt you badly, but it cost him dearly. He lost you and that realization was hurting him" she said and I looked at her in surprise. "You want to talk to him?" she asked and I shook my head. "You don't want to wish him on his birthday?" she asked and I gulped.

I wanted to but I didn't want to either.

"I will just text him" I mumbled and she nodded. However, we both knew that I didn't have my phone with me.

"You want to stay at home today?" she asked me and I shook my head.

"I will go to farm. It will make me feel better" I said and she nodded.

After Sel left, I got dressed in a blue high waist paisley skirt and white singlet. After deciding to leave my hair loose, I searched for my bracelet only to realize that I had lost it that night. Did it burn too?

A sob got caught in my throat because I felt terrible. The bracelet was precious to me and I lost it too. Picking a tissue, I wiped my tears and with great difficulty composed myself. While applying another layer of mascara to my lashes, I wondered how my eyelashes hadn't fallen off because of the weight.

Taking a deep breath, I forced a smile at my reflection and then picking my bag, I went downstairs.

__

After breakfast, Duncan decided to drop me to the farm. I was quite during the entire drive until I felt something being placed on my lap.

"Your gift" Duncan said as I stared at the small black box. My guess was it would be ear-rings.

"Mine? Thanks" I told him and pulled the ribbon. My eyes widened in surprise when I saw the platinum coin inside. A wolf howling was depicted on the obverse and a five pointed star on the reverse.

I smiled when I saw it because it was one of the most unique gifts I have ever received. I picked the coin which was the size of a cucumber slice.

"Why a coin?" I asked Duncan, staring at it in wonder because it had good weight.

"You will understand soon" he replied and I grinned. I will then!

"It's beautiful. I am never going to convert it" I said and he smirked slightly.

__

It was only after everyone finished wishing me in the farm, did I realize that Wesley wasn't in the farm. I called his parents number and like the last few times their phone was switched off.

"It's been ten days now, hasn't it?" Nancy asked and I turned to look at her. "Wesley is not coming ever since I showed you a picture of his dad" Nancy reminded and I stiffened. "Did you find out anything about his dad?"

"I... I asked Nick to find out. Unfortunately, he..."

"I know. Sorry" Nancy said remorsefully and I shook my head. My eyes glistened with tears as I thought about Nick. The day he was killed I had asked him to find the truth and when he had gone to do that, Konrad had noticed him.

"I will ask someone else to look into the matter" I promised Nancy and when I looked at her, I found her staring at something behind me with wide eyes.

I followed her gaze and noticed Wesley and Mr. Adams walking towards us.

"Darya" Mr. Adams smiled when he saw me. "So sorry for not informing you about Wesley's absence but we were out of town for few days" he said handing me Wesley's bag.

"Something wrong?"

"Oh no! Nothing dear. I was out of town on work basis" Mr. Adams filled in. "Anyway, I have to go" he said and turned to leave.

"Hi Wesley" I said linking my hands with his.

"Good morning Darya" he said staring ahead and I smiled while Nancy looked at Wesley through suspicious eyes.

__

A few hours later, while I was neatly arranging coral dahlia's for a bouquet, I sensed a familiar scent. Placing the scissor down, I walked out of the warehouse and froze in my spot when I saw Vincent coming towards me. When he saw me, he smiled widely and waved at me.

He plucked a yellow daffodil from my own garden and gave it to me. "Happy Birthday" he said kissing my cheeks.

I looked around and realized that his arrival here had attracted attention.

"How did you get in?" I asked in a shocked whisper.

"Duncan allowed me" he said with a shrug and I blinked. "Everyone knows" he added and my mouth dropped open.

Fifteen minutes later, we were sitting on a rooftop of a nearby building eating a KFC's fried chicken, while also sipping coke. It was my birthday treat for him.

"So, then your sister-in-law asked me to find out where you were and I tried but I got no vision. Then yesterday evening, I got a vision of you in the middle of the woods. I called Duncan and by then, you were already found" Vincent explained to me in detail about how our little secret came out.

I hated Vincent in high-school and that was no secret because every student in our class knew it. What no one knew was how we became friends...

"Nice dress Darya. You put Lady Gaga to shame" Vincent drawled sardonically and his friends burst out laughing as I walked past them.

"Go fuck yourself Vincent" I muttered without giving him another glance.

It was senior's send-off party in school and for the occasion, I was wearing a white mini dress that had embroidered bodice and feather skirt.

Sitting in one corner of the room, I watched with a bored expression as my classmates danced. One of my classmates started approaching me but I shook my head before he could come closer. Shrugging his shoulders, he walked away. Four guys had already asked me to dance with them and I politely refused because I was not in the mood to dance. In fact, I wasn't interested in coming here in the first place. It was only because Raven forced me that I chose to attend.

When the loud music started disturbing my peace of mind, I decided to leave. However, Vincent and his friends were all near the door and I cringed at the thought of walking past them again!

"Leaving already? Now, come on Darya... I can force someone to do a sympathy dance with you" Vincent mocked and I gave him my death glare. That idiot did not know that I was gifted or else he would have learned to keep his mouth shut.

I didn't know what Vincent's problem was but he hated me. Talk about ungratefulness. I was the one who saved his ass from getting expelled yet he seemed to have forgotten it.

After stepping out of the auditorium, I made my way towards the school building. It was vacant because everyone where in the auditorium partying. Since it was almost nine at night, even our juniors had joined the party.

Couples were making out in every silent corner of the building and I groaned whenever I would come across one. The only place with no one around was the rooftop and I went there.

I decided to stay there until Granel comes to pick me up as I was staying in their house tonight.

While I was removing my heels, my eyes drifted to one of the empty classrooms on the right wing of the school building. Through the window, I could see a silhouette of a couple. The boy who had his arms around the girl's waist was kissing her neck. I rolled my eyes when I saw that. There were too far from me and thankfully, I wouldn't be able to hear their moans.

The light of the room was on but the couple wasn't visible when I looked up again. I suppose they are using the floor now!

Massaging my sore feet, I was reading a blog. While I was waiting for another page to load, I looked at that classroom and found the guy opening the room door. He looked here and there before closing the door again. My eyes drifted towards the window and I saw the couple again in the same position as earlier. However, my eyes rounded in disbelief when I saw another guy coming to join the couple.

He pulled the girl towards him and started kissing her. It was only then I noticed that she seemed limp.

Without wasting another second, I stood up and began running towards the right wing. There, I jumped down and landed on the balcony. In a quick movement, I pushed open the classroom door almost breaking it from its hinges.

There were not two but three guys in the room, all juniors. And they had laid the semi-dressed girl on the teacher's desk. She was clearly drugged.

The three guys growled when they saw me and one moved towards me to attack me. I punched him in the stomach with everything in me and he fell on the ground, screaming abuses at me.

Looking at him, the other two rushed forward and in a swift movement, I moved around the room and hit them very hardly.

The first guy got up from the ground and scraped my arms with his claws. Growling, I was ready to rip him to shreds. But before I could move, he was shoved away from me. I turned to look at Vincent, who was standing beside me and trembling in rage.

"Go to Abi" he told me as he moved forward to attack the boys.

The girl, Abi, had tears streaming down from the corner of her eyes. Even though she was drugged, I knew she was aware something bad was happening to her. She was sweating and I quickly pushed strands of her dark hair away from her face. I had seen this girl before. She was my junior and she was really beautiful but until today, I did not know her name. She had a black eye and a bruised face and I cringed when I saw that.

The guys had halfway dragged her jeans down. Had I not arrived in time, they would have gotten their way with her.

There was a loud growl and when I looked, I noticed that one of the boys had dug his claws to Vincent's chest. Gritting my teeth, I rushed towards them and held the back of that guy's neck. As he whimpered in pain, I dragged him backwards and then rammed my fist to his spine, breaking it.

He cried in pain and dropped on the ground. While the other two were attacking Vincent, I forcefully shoved a chair and it hit one of them. The moment that guy noticed me; he ran towards me but haltered in his steps when he saw the fire flames in my hand.

I caught his neck and slammed him against the wall. He screamed in pain as I burned the sensitive skin of his neck.

Letting him go, I went to help Abi who was struggling to sit up. "Are you okay?" I asked and winced when I noticed that the guys had torn her clothes and their claw marks marred her body. Blood was oozing from her nose and from a wound in her waist.

She might have shifted recently because her wound was taking quite a lot of time to heal. While I was trying to cover her body, I heard sounds of bones cracking and my eyes widened to their fullest extent when I saw that Vincent had killed all the three boys.

Snarling, he was kicking their lifeless body.

"Vincent" I snapped and he growled at me. When he saw the girl he quickly rushed forward.

An hour later, the girl whose name I learnt is Sabine, was admitted to the Supreme Pack hospice. I explained what had happened to Granel and he was now trying to cover up the murder in school. Sabine's parents had been informed and they were already on their way.

In the meantime, I learnt a great deal about Sabine and watching her curl into a ball tightened something in my chest. I gulped audibly when I saw her. I could have stopped the horror she was undergoing a lot sooner if only I paid a little more attention.

After she puked the drugs out, the doctor gave her a general anesthesia to put her to sleep because she was sobbing uncontrollably.

I was near the entrance of hospice leaning against Granel's car and waiting for him when someone came and stood beside me. Turning my head, I looked at Vincent whose face was stiff with tension.

"Thanks for saving Abi" Vincent told me sincerely and I nodded. "Even though I hurried after I came to know what was going to happen to her, I still wouldn't have made it on time. Those mutts would have done a lot more damage if you hadn't reached there" he added.

"How did you come to know?" I asked curiously. Beside me Vincent tensed and then paled.

It was only then I grasped what he said... what was going to happen to her. Furrowing my brows, I looked at Vincent like I was seeing him for the first time ever.

"Your gifts are supposed to be a secret right?" he asked me and I turned rigid while my wolf bristled. "So is mine!" he stated and I looked at his dark brown eyes which started turning gold.

"What is your gift?" I demanded. I got a faint suspicion but I doubt it to be true.

"I don't think you are that stupid" he said with a smirk and I glared at him.

"Soothsayer?"

"I prefer psychic" he said and as I raised an eyebrow, he shrugged.

"Does anyone else know?" I enquired.

"What are we, sharing each other's secrets like friends now?" he said in distaste.

"Go fuck yourself Vincent!" I snapped and climbed inside Granel's car.

That is how it started and we have been best buddies since then. But to keep our gifts a secret, we continued pretending to hate each other.

"You seem lost" Vincent commented and shaking my head, I asked him to continue. "Mom is overjoyed that my gift is out" he added and I smiled.

"You want to continue this as a profession or you want to continue your college course?"

"I will finish my college and then give my complete attention to being a psychic. Might even go to Bali to continue studying more about astrology" he mused and I sighed.

We were eating quietly for a few seconds until Vincent spoke again.

"I think Sanders figured out we were friends too" he said and I pinched my lips. Quillon thought I hated Vincent. I don't know how he is going to react when he finds out... why am I even worrying about his reaction?

"Doesn't matter" I said eating another piece of chicken.

"Really?" Vincent asked raising one perfect brow and I scowled at him. "Will it matter if I say he is going to apologize to you?" Vincent asked and I blinked.

"He is?" I asked curiously and Vincent smirked. "I will not forgive him" I said staring at my lap.

Vincent shook his head and smiled sadly at me, "If I knew you were going to get hurt this badly, I would have warned you not to go to the lake that day."

My eyes widened when I realized he was referring to the day I first met Quillon.

"You said you didn't know Quillon is going to be my mate" I accused.

"I lied" Vincent shrugged and I threw a chicken piece to his head. "I knew you were going to find your mate that day. I also knew you were going to move to Serene" Vincent said.

"Why didn't you tell me Quillon was going to be my mate?"

"One thing I have definitely learnt about my gift is that if I stop a certain event from happening at one point. It will definitely happen at some later point" Vincent sighed and I frowned, not understanding the hidden meaning behind it. "If I had kept it from you, you would have somehow found out what I did and then you would have misunderstood" he added.

"How misunderstood?"

"You would have thought I was keeping you away from Quillon because I hated him" he muttered.

"I wouldn't have thought so"

"Really Darya?" he asked sarcastically. "You were pretty pissed when you came to know about Bee" he remarked.

"Only because you were wrong in keeping Bee away from Nevin" I said gently and Vincent smiled sheepishly.

"I was eighteen then and I just wanted to show off" he said with a careless shrug and I chuckled. "Besides, if I stopped you then, you would have met him sooner or later."

"Did you stop any event from happening?" I questioned and Vincent nodded ruefully. "What event?" I asked curiously because as far as I knew, Vincent never personally tried to stop any event from happening. He just warned the people concerned about it.

"I stopped a she-wolf from meeting her mate" he replied tightly.

"Do you have feelings for this she-wolf?" I inquired and compressed my lips when he made a disgusted face. "So did she meet her mate?"

"She is going to... soon. Sooner that I wanted" he grumbled with a scowl and I hitched my brows.

"You are not going to stop her then?"

"I will try" he swore and I shook my head. "Enough talk about my future. Let's talk about your future" he said and I pouted. However, Vincent already pulled out a handful of screw shells from his coat pocket. "Pick" he said extending his hand to me.

With my three fingers, I caught a small amount of screw shells and placed it in Vincent's other hand. Both of us pursed our lips when we saw that it was an odd number.

"It doesn't take a genius to figure out that my future is going to be bad" I said mockingly and took a sip of my coke so that Vincent couldn't see the tears welling up my puffy eyes.

"I will try to figure this out soon" Vincent swore and I sighed.

__

It was five in the evening when I reached home and everyone, whom I considered family, was there. I was hugged, kissed so many times that for a few minutes, I completely forgot about my pain. As I climbed the stairs to change my dress for the evening, I wondered, why I am feeling this sad when I have so many people who unconditionally loved and cared for me.

A genuine smile crept on my face as I thought about it and with that same smile fixed on my face; I went to take a shower.

•••

Meanwhile, in the backyard of Duncan's house....

Once Sabine was sure everyone was here, she raised her chin, "Welcome to 'I-HATE-Q Club'" she began looking at all the members of her club.

"Q?" Caden, Tyson's four year old son asked.

"Yes. His name is Q. L-M-N-O-P-Q" Lorcan explained to him and Sabine nodded.

"Q for queen" Caden said enthusiastically.

"Yes. Same Q and since Q has hurt our Daroo, we are all going to punish him" Sabine stated and her team members nodded.

"With a water gun?" Kasey demanded sarcastically.

"It is one of our main weapons" Sabine admonished. "Besides, it's filled with colorful paints" Sabine added with a cheeky grin and Kasey rolled her eyes.

"Mine is blue" Severina, Granel's daughter, said with a grin.

"I want blue. I don't want pink" Bryan, one of Tyler's twins frowned.

"I want pink" Blodwen, his sister said. "You give me yours and I will give you my yellow gun" she told him.

"Great. Thank-fully that's settled" Kasey said, pleased the twins didn't end up fighting.

"Now, we will discuss what we have to do" Sabine said in a whisper and ushered everyone closer. "A little birdie told me that Alpha Q is going to come here and when he is here, Lorcan, you will go and call him..."

Sabine and Kasey had to explain the whole plan a total of four times before their club members understood it.

"So everyone knows the plan right?" Kasey asked them and all the club members nodded, except for Lorcan, whose attention was fixed on an extra gun lying on a nearby stool.

"There is another gun" he said loudly. "It is green" he chuckled as he sprayed the paint on the wall.

"Yes. I brought it for Glory but she is not joining us" Sabine sighed.

"Glory doesn't come to play with anybody" Rina pouted.

"I will call her" Lorcan said and before anyone could stop him, he dashed indoors.

While the I-HATE-Q club members were waiting for Lorcan, Kasey heard a screech of tires coming to a halt. When she tilted her head to look, she spotted Alpha Quillon's familiar silver car.

"He is here. He is here. I saw his car" she said breathlessly to Sabine.

"Oh... okay. Okay. Lorcan go call him. Oh Crap! Where is Lorcan?"

"He hasn't come out yet"

"Oh No! Who is going to call Alpha Q?" Sabine said and looked at Kasey.

"I..I... I am not going to call him" Kasey mumbled shaking her head and Sabine huffed.

She looked at her team members and picked Caden, the bravest one of the lot, "You know who Q is?" she asked him and he shook his head.

"Never mind... Your mummy is out there, go ask her and she will tell you. Then bring him here" Kasey suggested.

"Q for queen is a boy?" Caden asked in astonishment.

"Yes, He is. Go call him here. Everything will proceed according to the plan then" Sabine agreed hastily and Caden ran towards the front yard.

__

A sudden silence spread across the area when Quillon Sanders stepped out of the car. Everyone was looking at him accusingly but no one dared to say that to his face because the aura radiating from him was very powerful.

His face straight, Quillon marched ahead but stopped in his tracks when Seline Rhoades stood in his way. Crossing her arms across her chest, she glared at him.

A smirk appeared on Quillon's face and he rolled his eyes, as if he expected this to happen. "Where are the other four?" he asked looking around.

The remaining four joined and stood beside Sel.

While Tyson and Cortez were frowning at Quillon, Duncan and Granel seemed to be fine with his presence.

"Who called you here?" Sel demanded with a growl. Quillon just looked at Duncan, who sighed. "You called him here?" Sel asked Duncan in disbelief. "This-" she hissed, pointing a finger at Quillon, "-is your idea of surprise?"

"They need to talk it out" Duncan told her quietly.

"I agree with Duncan" Granel supplied and Sel directed her glare at him.

"I do not" she shouted. "It's her birthday today and he will only upset her more!"

"I will not" Quillon swore.

"Shut up" Sel snapped at him and Quillon compressed his lips.

"Try to be reasonable here Sel" Tyler Grier said quietly. "By what I have heard and what Kasey said, we know not everything is his fault."

"He agreed without even knowing what he was agreeing to" Grace, Quillon's mom, said pleadingly.

"You cannot put all the blame on him for that" Granel added.

"They are right little bear!" Sel's mom told her quietly. "Let Darya and Quillon talk. They need to talk and sort this all out."

"She won't be happy to see him" Sel grumbled grudgingly.

"I think I can deal with that" Quillon smirked and Sel scowled at him. He sighed before adding, "I want to apologize to her."

There was complete silence for a whole minute, where everyone was looking at Sel, waiting for her decision.

"Fine" Sel said through gritted teeth glaring at her family. She then looked at him, "One chance. But if you make her cry again, I am going to-"

"I know" Quillon cut her off, looking at Sel's chocolate color irises. "I know what you will do" he added and Sel narrowed her eyes.

The Alphas' moved away from the door to make way for Quillon. "Her room is-"

"I know where her room is" Quillon incised and then walked in while the others wondered inwardly how he knows where her room is.

Everyone concluded that Quillon figured it out by Darya's scent, but none knew that Quillon could already see Darya getting ready for the evening upstairs, in her room.

__

"Mummy, mummy" Caden called rushing towards his mother and Piper looked at him questioningly. "Who is Q?" he asked breathlessly.

"What?" Piper furrowed her brows because she didn't hear what her son said. She was paying complete attention to the dialogue taking place between Quillon and the Alphas'.

"Q... Q for queen" Caden explained to her. "Kitty wants me to get him to the backyard" he told her, referring to Kasey.

"Q for Quillon?" Christina, the beta female of Emperor Pack, who was sitting beside Piper, asked him.

"Nooo. Q for queen" Caden pouted. He was sure Q is for queen because his teacher had taught him that.

"Queen? Oh! You mean Quinn? He is right there" she said and pointed her finger to Quinton Sanders, who was standing awkwardly near a silver car.

When Caden spotted Quinn, he smiled happily and then ran towards him, completely unaware that the target of I-HATE-Q club was not him.

__

Quinton was getting bored. He only knew a handful of people here and he wasn't really interested in talking to anybody. He just came here to wish Darya and also hoped Q would convince her to return to Serene.

His wolf was getting anxious for some reason and Quinn suspected it was because of all the wolves surrounding him. They were all gifted and he could sense it but sometimes, he had to make physical contact with them to know exactly what their gift is.

Fighter, fighter, tracker, guard, fighter, healer, tracer, beauty, another guard... Quinn kept saying in his mind what a person's gift was when his eyes would settle on them.

He heaved a sigh when the Alphas' finally let Quillon go inside the house. A smile curved his mouth when he figured out, Tyson Grier, the last Alphas' gift which was decoding. The guy, basically, was a freaking genius in cracking out puzzles. He must have high level IQ, he mused interestedly.

Quinn's cell-phone beeped and his eyebrows shot upwards when he read a message from Madlyn... one of his classmates.

Jst bought dis... hw do I look bby? <3

Baby? Whom did she think she is calling baby? Quinn thought with a frown.

However, a slow smirk appeared on his face when he opened the attachment, which had a picture of Madlyn dressed in a red lacy lingerie that concealed nothing of her astonishing body.

Without replying, Quinn locked his phone and kept it inside his pocket.

A fist connected to his butt and Quinn turned to come face to face with a little boy who was grinning proudly. Quinn scowled but the boy didn't pay any attention to it.

"You are Queen?" the boy sniggered.

"It's Quinn" he corrected with a frown.

"Kitty is calling you" the boy said holding his hand.

"Who?" Quinn asked confused as the boy dragged him towards the backyard of Duncan's house.

"Kitty. She is there" the boy directed and then dropping his hand ran ahead. Furrowing his brows, Quinn followed after him.

When he turned around the corner, he didn't notice the two little devils waiting for him.

The twins, who were standing there, immediately raised their guns and smeared their targets face with the paint.

"FUCK MAN! WHAT THE HELL?" Quinn screamed and closing his eyes, he was rubbing the yellow and pink paint there.

He couldn't see anything and the spraying didn't stop either. While he was wiping the paint, he tripped and fell face first on the ground because he hadn't noticed the transparent wire kept a few inches above the ground.

Groaning in pain, he was about to stand up when a water balloon hit the back of his head.

"ATTACK" an unfamiliar female voice commanded loudly and Quinn winced every time a water balloon was thrown at him. He knew he was surrounded by kids who were laughing every time he would jump.

"Goddamn! What the fuck is wrong with you all?" Quinn yelled covering his face. Another balloon was thrown directly over his groin.

"FUCK! MY DICK!" he screamed. Gasping, Quinn clutched the dearest part of his body that was throbbing in pain, while someone burst out laughing from behind him.

His wolf was growling as well as wagging his tail at the same time.

"That is for hurting Daroo" another female voice said before throwing a water balloon at his face. Quinn groaned and covered his eyes again.

He felt someone running and before he could react, he was tackled face-first to the ground, with three to four children sitting on his back and hitting him.

"Hurting Daroo huh? Destroying Emperor huh?" a female voice hissed. "Here... take this" she growled clutching a fistful of his hair she raised his head, making Quinn scream again. "Attack" she screeched louder than him and Quinn cried in pain when someone bit his wrist.

"Holy fuck woman! What is wrong with you?" Quinn shouted ignoring the slight tingly feeling that was spreading over his body.

"No! Caden. No biting!" another girl gasped in horror before pulling away the devil that was biting him.

"My turn" another happy little girl said and Quinn spat out the liquid that was being sprayed on his face.

"What are you doing? He can recognize our scent" the other girl whispered.

"He cannot. I sprayed moonflower scent here" the girl, who had been commanding everyone to attack, chuckled evilly.

"The effect wore off because I can catch his scent" the other girl said in worry and the one above him breathed in audibly and tightened the grip on Quinn's hair.

His wolf couldn't take it anymore and growling, he quickly got up which compelled the girl straddling him to drop down unexpectedly along with the other two kids sitting on his back.

They squeaked in dismay as Quinn stood up. Since his face was covered with pain, he couldn't see anybody.

"Glory isn't coming" a sad voice said.

"Lorcan attack" another boy encouraged happily and Quinn gritted his teeth as three more balloons were thrown on his face by a laughing Lorcan.

The water wiped out the colorful paint on Quinn's face and Lorcan stopped hitting him when he realized that this was not Q.

"Oh My God! This is not him" a female voice yelped, the very moment Quinn wiped his face.

"What?" another female voice asked equally shocked.

"This is not him!"

All the kids screamed and ran away from there.

Opening his eyes, Quinn glared at the dark haired teenage girl who was staring at him with a guilty expression. Her cheeks were flushed pink and she was nervously biting her lower lip.

"What. The. Hell?" he seethed through gritted teeth.

Quinn blinked in confusion when he caught a scent that his wolf going frenzy inside him. He inhaled deeply, totally liking that scent.

"It was her idea" the girl whimpered pointing a finger to someone who was standing behind him.

Quinn knew she was pointing to another girl. The one who had straddled him before painfully clutching his hair! The one who was also the leader of this group!

Growling, Quinn spun to glare at that girl who had closed her eyes and ducked her head.

"I am so sorry. I really am. I thought you were Alpha Q" she mumbled in a soft voice, completely unaware of Quinn's sharp glare.

The girl had dark brown hair that was now left loose and peach skin. But what calmed Quinn down was her lovely scent. Her scent had his wolf wagging his tail and rolling on his back.

Mate.

His wolf said happily and Quinn breathed in deep. That moment, he forgot all the torture he faced for the past five minutes by his mate and her team. Forgot that he looked shabby!

For a few tense seconds, he kept staring at the girl who was his mate. With her eyes closed, she was still refusing to look up.

"You wanted to do this to my brother?" Quinn asked in a shocked tone.

Gasping, the girl looked up and opened her eyes wide to reveal dark brown irises. Quinn forgot how to breathe when his eyes met hers.

She was beautiful. Without doubt, the most beautiful girl he has ever met.

Shaking her head in denial, the girl blinked and kept staring at him innocently until her cheeks turned beet red.

"Wow" Quinn breathed out and the girl blinked again while his wolf howled in pride.

Soon, her skin started glowing. Quinn watched in fascination as her skin started radiating a nice shade of gold. She was shining like a sun.

His sun!

"Sabine" he whispered his mate's name and surprised, she stared at him for a few seconds before gulping audibly.

When Quinn was about to say something else, he heard footsteps approaching them and before he could react, Sabine was tackled to the ground.

Quinn growled as he watched Vincent cover Sabine's eyes.

"No. Abi. Don't look at him. Just stay the hell away from that brat" Vincent told her as she was groaning in pain.

Quinn clenched his fists angrily. Today, he was ready to break Vincent's filthy paws if he kept his mate, Sabine, away from him... again!

•••

DARYA P.O.V

I had just finished applying lipstick when my room door was pushed open. The lipstick dropped from my hand when I caught the scent.

Slowly, I raised my head and my eyes met Quillon's dark brown ones through the reflection in the mirror. My wolf stiffened in surprise and gave a low defensive growl.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I demanded rudely. Well, to be honest, I wasn't in the mood to be nice to him either.

This was the guy who broke my heart. My fucking heart which I was stupid enough to give him in the first place!

"Hi" Quillon said but I did not bother replying the same to him.

"Who let you in?" I asked next, ignoring my heart which was thudding in my chest as I stared at him with a slight frown on my face.

"Your brother" Quillon replied and I pursed my lips. Duncan and I are going to have a talk later regarding surprises.

"You look beautiful" he said and my wolf raised her head in surprise, while I simply stared at him. I could already feel my cheeks flaming but I wouldn't react to it.

Quillon looked good too. He was wearing khaki pants with black knit sweater which somewhat concealed the plaid shirt underneath. His look was completed with smooth classy shoes and a leather wrist watch.

He looked bloody spectacular but I would not share that personal view with him.

"What do you want?" I asked sharply.

The silence lingered as we kept staring at each other not knowing what to say to each other even when thousands of things would go on and on in our mind.

"You still haven't told me what are you doing here" I pointed out curtly, unable to bear the silence.

Quillon sighed and began talking, "I wanted to talk to you about what happened-"

"I do not want to talk about it" I said flatly cutting him off.

"But-"

"No buts. I just don't want to talk about it" I snapped. " You used me and like a stupid, I fell for it. For everything" I said shaking my head in disgust.

"I did not use you" Quillon said.

"For once be honest!" I launched furiously. "You used me to take revenge from my pack for something that had happened years before any of us were born."

"I did not use you. I did not want revenge" Quillon breathed out curtly.

"Yes, you did. Or else you would have never made that plan with your father."

"I did not make any plan with my father. Will you please listen-"

"You did not care about me or my pack. You just wanted you petty revenge" I spat.

"Will you just shut up and listen to me?" Quillon grated annoyed.

"Don't you dare tell me to shut up" I shrieked as my wolf bristled. Quillon winced as if he realized his mistake. "You planned everything. Every single thing! Calling me to move to your pack first and then, to your room. Deliberately marking me and then, making me fall in love with you."

"No" Quillon growled, dark eyes settling on my scowling face. "You can put the blame on me for everything else except for the last one."

"Don't fret! I am already blaming you for everything. I am blaming your charm which I obviously did not know was deadly... or maybe you just used your gifts and brainwashed me. I wouldn't even hav-"

The breath left from my lungs and my heart pounded against my chest as a furious looking Quillon was snarling right in front of my nose. Stunned, I leaned back against the counter, while Quillon leaned closer in an intimidating way.

"Do not ever think or say that" he pronounced lethally. I swallowed audibly when my eyes settled on his midnight black ones. "I did nothing. Not one thing to make you fall in love with me. I did not even ask you to love me" he spelt and my wolf lowered her head in shame.

He was right. That was a cheap shot from me. He had already told me he doesn't use his gifts on his... family.

"It was all you. Whatever you were feeling then, whatever you are feeling now. I did not use my gifts on you even when you were burning my pack to dust" he said and I flinched while my wolf curled herself into a small ball.

He could have stopped me. Completely changed my emotions but he didn't... not even then. Why?

"I did not even make any plans with my dad" Quillon said and I looked at him in surprise. "The night I had called you, asking you to move in, I had dinner with my family. Mom wanted me to ask you to come to the pack. Dad was against it. In the end, I decided to ask you to move because I wanted you to come to my pack. There was no hidden agenda. Pleased with my decision, mom went to share the happy news with her friends leaving dad and me alone. Dad started saying something about making you fall in love with me-"

I gasped but made no comment. I was right!

"I zoned out after hearing the word love. He kept blabbering but I did not hear a single word because I had completely blocked him out. All I did was kept thinking how sick I felt after hearing the word love."

I flinched again after hearing that. Did he really have to say that?

The word love makes him sick and I told him that I loved him. No wonder he froze after hearing that. I held back the tears threatening to leak from my eyes.

My wolf whined inside me feeling pathetic.

Quillon doesn't love me!

A part of me just died as I said it in my mind. Nevertheless it was the truth. A truth which maybe in time I will learn to get over.

"When he asked me if I understood what he was saying, I snapped out of my thoughts and replied with a yes without knowing what I agreed to. I came to know about dad's plan only minutes before the meeting" Quillon finished and then stepped back.

However, I had frozen in my spot.

"I should have asked dad more. Made it known to him that I wouldn't agree to any such gruesome agreement but I didn't and it was wrong of me. So... yes, I am sorry. If I could go back in time and change it, I would... but I cannot. All I can do instead is say sorry and I don't know if it's enough but I can assure you that I would never in a right state of mind give my agreement to destroying another pack ever. That night... my mind was blocked because I was completely ashamed that I agreed to something so terrible without listening. I couldn't say anything because I felt guilty and hence, I could not take a stand for you. I am really sorry for that"

"OK" I said and Quillon furrowed his brows.

"I don't understand" he mumbled, confused.

"Okay. I accept your apology. I believe you had no part in your dad's plan. I also believe you were innocent in all this" I muttered and turned away from him, to keep the lipstick back in the kit.

Nothing made me feel better. In fact, I felt terrible after hearing this.

Quillon doesn't love me. He did not agree to destroy my pack but I believed he did and in return, I burnt down his pack.

Who in this world would feel better after knowing all this?

"You do?" Quillon asked surprised.

"Yes" I said sourly.

"So..."

"Nothing. You return to your pack." I wanted him away from me. I did not want him to see me have another breakdown and to be honest, I was already on the verge of that.

"What?" Quillon said startled.

"The agreement. Sixty days are over. Today is the last day" I reminded.

"Yes. What about it?" he questioned.

"The deal between us was that we try being mates for sixty days and if it didn't work out we part ways" I said, trying my best to keep my voice normal.

"I know that. I don't see how it concerns us now"

"It does concern us. The sixty days are over and I have decided us being mates isn't working out. So... let's part ways. It's over" I finished shakily and my heart cracked as my wolf wept painfully. I was shivering and my knees felt wobbly.

The color drained from Quillon's face and for a few terse seconds, speechless, he just watched me in disbelief.

"You-" Quillon cleared his throat, "-You have decided?" he asked and gulping, I nodded looking at his dark eyes. "Didn't you think it's necessary to ask me what I want?"

"I know what you want" I said and Quillon blinked. "I know you weren't happy with me either. So, it's good for the both of us if we part ways. Us being together is toxic anyway" I tried to make a joke out of it but I couldn't even laugh.

"You can go back to your family, your pack, your old life and I can go back to mine" I forced myself to smile.

I had to let him go because I had no right to hold him or claim him as my man. For a relationship to work, both parties must be involved. When only one person is involved, it is not called a relationship.

"I see you have thought this through" Quillon whispered.

"Yes. That was what we agreed to at the beginning" I pointed out.

Quillon was silent for a long time before nodding. "We did" he agreed and my bottom lip wobbled. "Fine... I will... I will go" he said and smiling coldly, he turned to leave.

He took about four steps, stopped and spun on his heel. Hauling me in his arms, he claimed an angry, devouring kiss that left me breathless.

"Happy Birthday" he said in an emotionless voice, abruptly releasing me. Then, I watched him turning on his heel and walking out of the door, out of my life.

Only then, I fell on my knees and let myself shed all the tears that I had been holding in.

****

Hope you like it :)

Quinn met his mate. Q apologized. Darya forgave him. Unfortunately, Q and Darya got separated :( What do you want to happen next? Do share it with me!

Next update on 30th.

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Enjoy!

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