In Reach?

At around three that morning, Liam wakes up on the couch, realizing he fell asleep. He kept pushing himself trying to figure out which camp to attack, but he was already too exhausted.

He gets up, and makes his way down to the kitchen. He’s hungry, especially since he missed dinner.

But as he reaches the kitchen downstairs, he sees Noah sitting at the counter top, pinching his brow-ridge.

“Can’t sleep?” Liam asks the frustrated looking Noah.

“I guess. You?”

Liam starts packing out lunchboxes and utensils to dig in.

“I actually fell asleep, and before I even had dinner.”

“Mh.” Noah nods.

“So what’s really the matter?”

Noah sighs as he looks up at Liam. “I fucked up Liam. Real bad.”

“What did you do?”

“It’s Nina.”

“The witch? What about her?”

Noah hesitates. “She’s,….she’s my mate.”

“What? Why didn’t you,……Noah. Is it because she’s a witch?”

“I don’t know. I mean, when I saw her, I didn’t know what to say, what to do. I mean, did she have to be a witch?”

Liam drops his fork on the counter, stomps around the island, and grabs Noah by the throat as he shoves him against the wall.

“What the fuck is wrong with you Noah? You need to fucking grow up and forget what that witch did to you. What does it matter, if your mate is a wolf or a witch, hell, what if it was a dude? You still found your fucking mate. That is more than what others can say. The moment you are ungrateful for your mate, is the moment you are undeserving of her.”

Noah rubs his neck as Liam let go, still staring at him with such disappointment.

“I tried.” Noah says as he stands up straight again. “I wanted to tell her. But she already knew.”

“She knew?” But realization dawns on Liam as he remembers her gift. “Of course she knew.”

“Yeah. And because I didn’t acknowledge her from the beginning, now she thinks I don’t care. She keeps avoiding me every time I try to get close. And now I don’t know if it’s because of what I did or because she really doesn’t want me.”

Pfh! “So what are you going to do about it?”

“That’s the thing, I don’t know. This has never happened to me before. Girls were always running after me. I never had to do the chasing. But now, I don’t even know how to get her attention. Her being a witch doesn’t even bother me anymore. I got over it the moment she looked at me. I knew I wanted her. I’m just pissed that I froze in that moment when I realized she was a witch. But it was just that moment. And now it’s costing me. What do I do Liam? I’ll do anything.”

“Anything?” Liam smirks.

“Yeah.”

“Well then, that’s your job. You need to find out everything about her. What it is that makes her smile and happy. What does she like, or hate. What are her unconscious habits or her guilty pleasures? That’s the only way for you to know your mate, and to know how to win her over.”

“Shit. Where do I even start? And what if she ends up rejecting me? I don’t think I can handle that. She’s already all I can think about.”

Liam grips his shoulder as he chuckles. “Do you remember, there was a time you said I was the one just being obsessive and controlling when it came to Mira? Now you’ll have first hand experience of what that feels like.”

Liam and Noah chatted a bit more on how Noah can improve his courting skills rather than using his flirting skills. But after a few minutes Liam dropped his fork as he gripped his neck groaning in pain.

“Liam? What’s wrong?”

“I,….I don’t,…..know.” He says crouching over the floor, gripping his necking hoping for the pain to go away.

But the pain is moving down his arm, burning its hand. Liam looks at his lower arm, where the fiery pain is, but he sees nothing. He keeps on growling as the pain seems to worsen. Gggrrrhhhhhh!!!!!

“Fuck Liam. You don’t think,……” Noah crouches down, looking at Liam. They both know what he means. The pain, it’s probably the mark, the bond. Could Dahlia be torturing Mira?

Ggggrrrhhhhh!!!!! He growls as the pain starts to sting now. He looks back down at his arm, and notices red markings, like someone is scratching on his skin. The skin isn’t breaking, but the deep sting is making blood spots mark him, right under his skin, making the markings clearer. That’s when he sees, these aren’t random marks. They look like symbols.

“Is that a,…....four? Zero-four. What does it mean? Is Dahlia sending a message?”

But looking at it again, Liam notices, it’s not a zero. It’s a capital ‘d’. D-4. Repeating it in his head, he knows it’s something familiar, something he knows. D-4. And that’s when it hits him.

“It’s not Dahlia.” He tries to get up as the pain dissipates. “It’s Mira.” He runs up the stairs, and knows Noah is right behind him.

He runs into his office and makes his way straight to the wall with the map.

“What is it Liam?” Noah finds him in front of the map.

“Here.” He points to one of the camps. “This is where Mira is. This is where Dahlia has her. This is where we need to attack.”

“Are you sure?” Noah walks closer to the map.

“Yes. Look. D-4.” Liam points to the campsite and links it to the grid numbers. “That’s what Mira was trying to point out. Not zero-four, but D-four. She’s seen this map countless times. She must have figured out where she is. Noah, get everyone ready. We’ll leave in the next hour. We have to get there as soon as possible.”

“Yes Alpha.” Noah rushes.

Liam grabs the office phone and starts dialing. It’s time for them to play their part.

“Hello?” A tired voice speaks.

“Ms. Swan. I have located Dahlia’s camp. We are leaving soon to get there. I will send you the locations of the other three camps and the details of when we commence the attack tonight. I trust you will be able to deliver.”

“Uh,…yes Alpha. The council will deliver on their part as agreed.”

Liam hangs up, knowing that side is sorted. In the next twenty-four hours, this war may just be over, and he’ll have Mira back in his arms.