Chapter 17

IVAN

In the doorway of the burning cottage, I fall to my knees. Unable to move, I stare at the fire as Alex and Andrei try to put it out.

The pain and anger inside me are making my body shut down. All I can hear is my own heavy breathing. All I can do is think about Clementine.

I just want my mate.

I ’need’ my mate, now.

I can tell that Leonid is just as heartbroken and angry. Angry at the world, and angry at me for ignoring our mate until she died.

~She’s dead.~

“Alpha! Alpha!”

Finally coming back to reality, I look over to see Andrei shaking me. At some point, he must have moved me because I’m no longer in the doorway inhaling fumes. But when I look back at the cottage, it’s still burning.

“Why isn’t the fire out?” I demand, standing up to run toward it.

Grabbing my arm, he yells, “Wait!”

“My mate is inside!” I growl as I jerk my arm away from his grasp.

“The fire is not stopping!” Andrei says. “Someone is manipulating it.”

For the first time since we saw Clementine die, Leo speaks. ~“Who would dare burn our mate?”~

~Her fucking mother.~

~“But she’s not a witch.”~

~Then she must be working with one.~

I turn back to Andrei. “Clementine’s mother—did you find her?”

“Yes, she’s with Alex.”

“You left her with her son?” I yell.

Before Andrei can respond, I look around and spot Sofia, handcuffed with silver. Alex stands a few feet away, avoiding eye contact with his mother.

I run over and grab her neck. “You!”

“Alpha, please!” Alex says, trying to calm me down.

I feel Leo try to take over as I scream, “You burned her. You burned your own daughter!”

Tears stream down Sofia’s face, and I wonder if she feels remorse. Then she shocks me by saying, “Well, she wasn’t my biological daughter.”

~What?~

“I don’t care what you are to her—you are dying tonight,” Leonid says through me, using his alpha voice.

Before we can attack, the cottage explodes, sending shattered wood across the forest. With my ears ringing, I can’t comprehend what is happening—only that Clementine’s mother is escaping.

~Fuck.~

I’m about to take off after her when I glance at the cottage and see the fire blazing around a figure.

~Could that be?~

~“Mate!”~ Leonid yells.

The figure walks toward me, and with every step, the flames around her shrink. Finally, she stands, in all her glory, in front of me—with golden-orange wings, golden hair, bright-orange eyes, and fiery hands.

“Clementine.” I stand up and reach for her, but she knocks me back down with her hand. Surprisingly, the fire does not hurt me.

“I am Helia, the phoenix queen!” she barks authoritatively.

Helia has an aura about her that makes everyone but me shake in fear. She’s powerful, and I fall even harder for her.

~Damn.~

I stand up again, and this time, she doesn’t knock me down. I then look into her furious eyes, but before I can say anything, she slaps me so hard that my neck almost breaks.

“That’s for not telling me that we are mates,” she says, her voice as cold as the night.

With that, she flies away—away from everyone and everything.

CLEMENTINE

Freedom. That’s what I feel as I fly, the cold breeze hitting my skin.

In my whole life, I’ve never felt this much freedom. The power that I feel inside is almost too much to bear as someone who’s never felt powerful.

~I feel like a queen.~

~“You are, Clem.”~

~Thanks, Lia, but ~we~ are.~

~“How was that slap?”~

~Amazing. He deserved it. I hate him.~

~“Don’t say such hurtful words. He indeed deserved it, but we do not yet know why he didn’t speak up.”~

~You’re right, but I’m still mad at him.~

~“I am too.”~

When we land beside a river to drink some water, I return to my human form. I can still feel my eyes burning…but in a good way. I can also control the flames now, and they are no longer visible.

“Helia, what if we killed someone with that explosion?” I ask out loud.

~“Don’t worry, Clem. We didn’t. We might have hurt some people, but they’ll heal.”~

“Who did we hurt?”

~“Don’t worry about it, Clem.”~

“Tell me!”

~“Your brother, Alex.”~

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. We have to go back.”

I start running toward the pack house, since Alex has probably been taken to the infirmary. As my legs hit the ground, I sense everything around me: the heartbeats of the birds hidden in the trees, the leaves falling on the ground, the annoying buzz of the bees. Weirdly, I can even understand the creatures around me.

It’s scary.

~“Clem, calm down!”~ Helia says. ~“It’s dangerous back there.”~

~I can’t~, I think~. Alex is injured because of me.~

~“He is okay!”~

~How can you know that?~

~“I am Helia, Clem.”~

At that, I stop running. I relax a bit knowing that Helia is with me; without her, I couldn’t have done any of this.

~Thanks, Lia.~

~“You’re welcome.”~

It’s still nighttime, and I’m suddenly tired. I think about continuing to the pack house, but Helia is right: it’s too dangerous, especially since everyone there reports to Alpha Jake. People won’t accept me back—as if they accepted me before.

Being a human is one thing, but a phoenix? That’s threatening.

~“You are also a witch,”~ Helia says. ~“You keep forgetting that, Clementine.”~

~You’re right. I want to forget because once everyone knows, they will kill me.~

~“You don’t know that. Mate won’t try to kill us. Besides, we cannot die.”~

~I’m not sure about that, Helia, but you’re probably right that no one can kill us.~

I keep walking through the forest until I see a small shelter beside a tree. As I come closer, I see a man, who looks like he’s in his late twenties, sitting outside the shelter. From what I’m smelling, he’s neither a werewolf nor a human; he’s something else.

A vampire.

~Shit!~

“Don’t worry. Vampires are harmless to us.”

~Right. I keep forgetting how powerful we are.~

I slowly walk toward the vampire, but with his heightened senses, he snaps his head in my direction and bares his fangs, ready to attack. I give him a kind smile, and that seems to calm him down.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” he asks in a threatening tone.

“Helia and I are here because I have nowhere to go,” I reply as I sit across from him.

“I didn’t say that you could sit with me.”

I smile. “I didn’t ask for permission.”

The corners of his lips curve a bit. “Carl,” he says.

“Nice to meet you, Carl. I’m Clementine.”

He nods politely. “You too.” He looks up at the sky. “What are you doing alone at night in the deep forest?”

“Running from people,” I reply, somehow feeling that I can trust him.

“You can,” Helia says.

“And you decided to come and sit with me? Do you know what I am?” Carl asks, as if vampires are the most powerful creatures in the world.

“Would you like to know what I am?” I reply with the same arrogance.

His eyebrows knit together. “I’ve never smelled someone like you before.”

“You probably won’t again,” I say.

“I am a vampire,” Carl suddenly says, watching for my reaction.

I just nod.

“That’s it?” he asks, seemingly disappointed.

“Yup.”

“So, what are you?”

“A doctor,” I say, trying not to laugh.

Unamused, he prods, “You know what I meant.”

“I’m a phoenix.”

As soon as the words leave my mouth, he stands up and kneels before me, eyes sparkling. “I am sorry—I didn’t know. I am at your service, Clementine.” He bows his head.

“Sit,” I say. He does, but he looks confused by the order. “Why the hell did you kneel before me?”

“Because I know that phoenixes are extremely rare, and I’ve learned that they can be extremely deadly,” he stutters.

I smile at him. “I am not a dark phoenix, Carl.”

“Oh,” he responds, obviously feeling stupid, “I thought there was only one kind.”

“There was,” I say, confusing him even more. “I am the first light phoenix, which means that you are lucky.”

He places his hand on his heart. “Oh, thank God.”

We stay silent for a while until he asks, “So, what people are you running away from?”

~Should I tell him, H?~

~“Yes, he is to be trusted,”~ she replies.

“Well, I’m kind of running from a werewolf pack.”

“Werewolves,” Carl spits angrily.

“Hey, my mate is one, so be more respectful,” I say angrily.

“They killed my family,” he explains.

“I understand, but not all of them are bad,” I reply, earning a nod. “I am sorry about your family.”

“Thanks.”

“So, what are you doing here?” I ask.

“I came to this forest to meet with someone… My sister is sick, and she’s going to help me.”

“Oh, who is she?”

Just then, a familiar voice says, “Clementine?”