Somewhere near the Witches’ Coven, Crysta stood facing a shifter. She had an annoyed look on her face while the man had an amused one. Their moods seem to be opposites. He was relaxed like he had no care in the world while she looked like she could burn down the whole world any moment now.

"I warned you about him, Crysta," the man said. He leaned against a tree and tucked his hands into his pockets. "How could you trust a human who is hellbent on destroying anyone that is not human?" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"He served my purpose for a while, " she said but the man did not believe a word she said.

"You had feelings for and he knew it so he took advantage of it," the man pointed out and Crysta pouted. "You were so nice,"

"I have taught him a lesson not to mess with me again," she said in self-defense. She was satisfied with what she did. Though a part of her still wanted to be around again she didn’t want to risk being exposed. It was because of the same feelings for the human who was even younger than her but it didn’t matter because she was not a human and didn’t age the same way the humans do. She would have destroyed everything in that facility if she didn’t have feelings for him but she only destroyed a small part of it to teach him a lesson. "He wouldn’t bother me again," she said and turned to look in the direction of Coldshade City.

"You haven’t heard the news of what happened at night have you?" The man asked after seeing the look of longing in her eyes as she looked at the city that was ahead of them. She turned to him and raised a brow but he smirked and she felt frustrated.

"What happened at night?" She asked. Her eyes looked demanding as she waited for the answer.

"It was destroyed and leveled to the ground by the vampire and coven head," he informed her, and she didn’t know whether to be angry or not.

This meant that their stupid mission was brought to an end which would be very good or postponed for a later day which would give the no humans more time to prepare but she still felt hurt. Maybe because of the feelings that she has for the human or the fact that had put in so much work and effort into that place or it could be both, she was not sure anymore.

"You look bitter," the man said, and she glared at him. He chuckled and she ignored him.

"What happened to him? Did he die?" She asked. Though she tried to sound like she didn’t care, the slight tremble in her voice was noticed.

"No, he is alive, I am sure of that," he replied and she let out a sigh of relief. The shifter stared at the witch and felt hurt but he tried not to show it in his expression which he did very well. He had no time for these kinds of things, he had a Lycan to get rid of. Maybe after that, he would have the time to entertain things as silly as these

."Don’t get too concerned for him, Crysta, at the end of the day, he would still want you dead, you are not human, and wouldn’t consider you as one, you should know that by now." He could still do some damage control even if he wasn’t interested in things he considers silly just for the future’s sake.

She only gave him a curt nod before she disappeared and he felt that tug on his heart again. Her concern for another man and a man as weak as a human. It hurts.

*****

The shifters arrived at the junction that led to Ghora and the car stopped and so did everyone who was following it. The car was then camouflaged and made to blend in with forest trees and floor to keep it hidden from the sight of anyone who came across it.

Kora and Emily were like every other shifter who was coming to this place for the first time. They looked around trying to commit the place to memory.

"We’ll have to all come from here, my love," Daren said no xt to her ear and she nodded.

She picked up her backpack without asking any questions and Emily did the same as they proceeded deep into the Amazon. "Something is wrong here," she said and Darren nodded his head.

He could feel the presence of other creatures in his territory and from what he felt, they were not explorers but hunters. "Stay close to me," he said to her.

["Stop, all of you"] he commanded through the mind link, almost sending them to their knees. It was so sudden that the force exerted and felt from it was not something they were prepared for.

They all stopped and waited for either of them to speak.

["There are hunters on these grounds, Watch your step and be careful, don’t get caught, kill before you are killed, but don’t engage if it is unnecessary,"] he said and there was a collective,

["Yes, Alpha Supreme,"]

This was one of the perks of traveling with an Alpha, as the alpha of a territory, he would know when there were trespassers or intruders and sometimes just like now, they would even be able to identify who and what creature it was that had trespassed into his territory. The same could be said for the Luna of the pack.

They started moving forward again and deeper into the jungle, and the presence of the hunters became known to all. Their movement became more stealthy, as much it would cost them anything to kill them, the Alpha had told them not to engage if it was unnecessary.

"We can’t avoid a confrontation," Kora said and she stopped moving. She packed her hair into a ponytail, she wouldn’t anything getting in the way later.

"If that is the case then we won’t you’re any one of them, they have come too close for comfort anyway," Levi said and pulled his make closer to himself. She was the one whom he would protect in all this mess. The Luna could take good care of herself unlike Emily and she had the alpha with her too.

Darren was quiet as he assessed the situation before he gave a nod of approval. They were all waiting for him to give them the go-ahead and a nid was more than enough permission