Hunt begins 4

Landon said, I know Maddox can't leave, but mother is helping Alissia. We can't leave tonight.

your mother will join and the other will be your lifemate he said surprising him

Wait, what? Landon asked. Alissia is hurting in a way I can't heal. I thought it would take all night.

your mother can help her on the way, but alessia only agreed to her help if she came with us... stubborn... nevermind

That's my girl, always joining the fight, Landon said with a smile in his voice. Well, do we have a location in Brazil?

yes.....takuna he said in a serious tone

The old Morrison Lab battleground? Landon asked. Where savage jaguars, human butchers, and vampires planned to attack the De La Cruz ranch and Mikhail Daratrazanoff? The land that Dominic and Solange single-handedly took down, and taking out Brodrick X, head of the Jaguars, while the noble Dragonseeker pretended to be the first of the line to fall? That Takuna?

yes that takuna he said in a serious tone

We must hurry then, said Landon. I have no doubt that Serendipity is sensitive to the horror of that place.

why do you think that?

She's Annabelle's daughter. Maddox told me how much they look alike. 'Like look in a mirror,' he said. Annabelle was the most sensitive to evil out of us kids.

true but it doesn't mean she is the same

I know, but at that age, children don't know how to handle lingering evil in a place as it is.

let us hope she is a slow bloomer he said in a upset tone now let's hurry, our plane leaves in ten minutes

Then, let's leave. We have little time.

They made it to the private air strip with minutes to spare. The piolet was a old human friend of the family. They took their seats and set off.

------

Lucy got to the gate of the school and walked in. She feared she had waited too long. She wasn't girly, she couldn't stay home while he fought, and she detested dresses and skirts. Everything Allan wanted. But in that moment, she feared she would lose him.

Allan sat in the court years reading a book quietly. He seemed deep in thought as he read

She looked at him under the rose-covered canopy, the flowers adding a sweet scent to the relief she felt. She slowly started to back away, glad he was alright, when she was pushed from behind. She looked back and saw Sage. Lucy sighed. Of course, her father and Advisor planned this whole thing out in half a second. She walked into the garden and sat on the bench. Her legs were together, her hands in her lap nervously fighting, and her eyes focused on some rocks on the path as if they were highly interesting.

He slowly stopped reading "hello lucy...or should I say beta, what can I do for you tonight?" He asked in a emotionless tone

She tried to find the words. He was so handsome, and his hair shown like the sun in the moonlight.

"Nothing!" she said, standing up and starting to run away.

He didn't chase her but sage tripped her and he was suddenly there helping her up " be careful, young males are sensitive to the smell of female blood" he said

She looked at him, blushing. Why isn't he acting awestruck? How in the world is he so calm?

"Um... thank you," she said. "You can let me go now."

He did so immediately "good night miss lucy" he said and dipped his head a bit

The way he inclined his head to her... she turned bright red. She tried to say goodnight to him in return, but it came out a stammering mess. Her sister Slayers all groaned in her head. She felt thankful to Sage for ordering them to stay quiet and not try to tell her how to act. That would have been a mess. Still, Lucy's blush deepened at how unintelligible she sounded. She wanted the earth to swallow her in that moment.

He looked at her for a moment " did you need something else? " He asked

Say something smart, Lucy, she thought to herself. Stop acting like a high school girl. Say goodnight like a normal person, or tell him to claim you, or... a walk in the moonlit gardens! Anything!

"I-I want to spar!" she blurted out, covering her mouth. It was as if every woman let out a groan in her head all at the same time. "No, I mean... I want to... to..." She looked at his eyes and got lost there. When she blinked, she was even more embarrassed that she had just been staring at him like an idiot. "Walk! That's it! I want to go for a walk."

He was silent for a moment "why? " He asked in a plain tone " you have gone through great lengths to avoid me, why do you want to walk with me?"

"I..." she began, then shook her head. "Wait, you knew? This whole time, you knew I was your lifemate? But... you said..."

"And I meant it" he said in a serious tone " but it doesn't mean I would have rejected you, lifemates are meant to work together, it would have been no different, an ancient like you should know that, the fact that you made the decision to keep away from me based on my preference makes me doubt in your judgment not only as a warrior but as a lifemate" he said in a almost a cold tone " I have no problem greeting the dawn but when I do it will be because you rejected me, not the other way around" he said and started to walk away

"I didn't reject you!" she said, grabbing his arm. "I was hurt because... all your preferences, they aren't me. I know how lifemates work, but the heart still breaks when you hear you aren't what the most important person to you wants." She looked at him, tears in her eyes. "You want a woman to stay at home and look pretty and worry about you. I can't be that. I have scars, staying at home would be a death sentence to me, and I am a warrior at my core. I thought... if I could be your ideal at least off the battlefield, you'd want me and accept me. But I can't be her. I can't be the woman you want." She looked down. "I know we are supposed to work together, figure it out as a unit. My mind knows this. It is hard to follow what you know when the pain lingers. In hearing that you wanted some other type of woman, if felt like a rejection. To me, to a lot of women, that is enough to make us hurt for a long time."

"And this is why woman shouldn't be warriors, you let your emotions rule out your logic" he said removing her hand from his arm " I am allowed to have a preference in what appeals to me and what doesn't, all I see is a woman who let her insecurities make a innocent man suffer, as a lifemate you have a duty to me and I to you and you have already failed me over something as petty as what I like in a woman" he said moving away from her "I would rather greet the dawn then have your burdens added to mine for whatever time I have left and I have no time to wait for you to mature, you are a ancient, this should have already happened" he said and turned and started to walk away

She growled and said, "I didn't have them until you said you'd rather have someone other than me! I was confident in who I was! When I saw you for the first time and I heard you didn't like who I was, how did you expect me to react?! As if everything was fine?! That your opinion didn't hurt me?! Yours is the only one that matters, and to hear you hate the type of woman I am destroyed me! My entire outlook on who I was as a woman and a Carpathian changed six months ago when I saw you for the first time in my entire life! I thought you were the most handsome man in the world, and pride welled up in me, knowing that you fought so hard to find me, knowing that I could ease that burden because I was also a warrior! But then..." She looked at him, angry tears falling. "Why am I the one who is wrong? Why is being true to who I am wrong, Allan?"

"If you were true to who you are then my comment wouldn't have bothered you, if you were confident in who you were then you wouldn't have been shaken" he said plainly " it shouldn't have mattered if I like female warriors or not, your the one that made it matter" he said with a shrug "I also prefer blondes which you are not are you going to go dye your hair now?" He asked in a mocking tone still walking away

"I thought I would at least be able to hold your attention," she said. "But nothing about me appeals to you. How can I compete with this pretty woman you have in your mind when I can't even figure out how to grieve for my sister or our fallen brothers properly?!"

He just kept walking and didn’t speak another word to her, he went inside the teachers dorms and just the door leaving her alone.

Rain began falling hard as she left to find a place to rest.