Chapter 76: Chapter 76

Azraiel took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair in his office at the packhouse. It was 6 in the evening and he had promised Charlotte to introduce her properly to his wolf. He was actually looking forward to this particular meeting until an hour ago. Katya woke up an hour ago and the first thing she did was to meet him.

The fear in Katya’s eyes was still fresh in his mind. She looked scared to death and when she narrated what happened during her spell, he became scared too. According to Katya, this has never happened to her before and he for a fact knows that she is a strong witch. He has seen her perform many hard spells with ease and the spell she performed came nowhere near the spells she performed while helping him find Ayleen years ago.

If there was any doubt left in his mind, it was wiped off the second he heard how Charlotte behaved with the wolf in Katya’s vision during the spell. It was clear that those wolves who helped Charlotte that day were definitely not rogues. Rouges are vicious, and insane, and don’t have the ability to separate good from the bad. There is no way that they’d help Charlotte. Also, their eyes turn to their original eye color when in human form but it didn’t change as per Katya. Now, the question is, if not rogues then who?

There was another thing in Katya’s vision. Charlotte actually woke up before being found by us, but her eyes were white. It’s clear that it wasn’t Charlotte but one of the beings present in her. But, her eyes didn’t turn white while she was in his house, and angry at him and Katya for hugging. Now, that takes the number of her changing eye color to four.

Fucking four!

Also, Charlotte seemed friendly, almost like a leader to those wolves which was scaring the shit out of him. Just what the hell is she?

Before talking to Katya, he had planned on spending a few peaceful hours with his mate, but now, he was forced to take an action that he’d never take under normal circumstances. Nodding to himself and gulping harshly, he set aside the guilt in his chest and his wolf’s whimpers. Azraiel quickly mindlinked Kira and Theo to increase the pack security and walked out of his office to meet his mate.

***********

Charlotte was sitting on the sofa with her arms crossed. The guilt and hurt she was feeling right now were overwhelming. Katya woke up around an hour ago and she wanted to meet her, and apologize for the harm she has caused, but Ayleen reminded her that it’s probably not a good idea to meet her right now. So, Ayleen, Azraiel, Matt and god knows who all have met her and here she was drowning in her guilt of causing her harm in the first place.

If she could be honest with herself. She was afraid of what Katya might have seen during the spell. This whole eye color-changing thing and the possibility of being a hybrid had put a nail on the coffin she thought wouldn’t be needed. It’s one thing to be human and turn into a werewolf and another at hosting a fucking party for supernatural beings in your body!

She also knew that this made her dangerous, fucking dangerous!

She had come to a decision even before all of this happened, but Azraiel, her mate and her feelings for him were bound to make a dent in her plans.

“Hey! Let’s go!” Azraiel was standing at the door with a smile.

Charlotte suppressed her emotions and smiled. That man would know in an instant if she let her emotions run wild and then he’d fucking try to stop her.

When Charlotte reached him, he placed a sweet kiss on her forehead and put his arms around her and she melted in the embrace. God! This is going to be so damn difficult if she turned out to be a psycho demon of some sort!

Hand in hand, they started walking towards the backyard. It was a little after six in the evening and the sky was starting to get dark. Charlotte asked him how Katya was doing now and he informed her that she was healthy and unharmed. They conversed about the safe and neutral topics, probably both of them afraid of touching the subject that has been clouding their minds all day and night.

They passed Charlotte’s cottage and started walking further in the woods, but it wasn’t the path she has taken with Theo or Azraiel earlier. They were walking to the side, to the left of her cottage but going deeper and deeper into the woods. The woods were much denser here. Charlotte assumed it was both for the security of the borders as well as to provide a sort of cover for the wolves. The ground here was more uneven and the stones were bigger than in the rest of the woods. She was holding Azraiel’s hand with one of her own and taking the support of trees with her other hand. She knows that Azraiel has earlier warned her about touching things and leaving her smell and imprints, but it was impossible for her to walk through these woods without touching the trees and leaves.

After walking for what felt like hours, they reached a sort of clearing. The trees were less here and the ground even. Azraiel tugged her forward and she gasped as the view came in front of her eyes.

A lake!

A fucking lake!

She had no idea there was a lake in the pack, in the middle of these dense woods.

The sky had turned dark some time ago and now there was only the moon illuminating their surroundings. The water of the lake was a spitting image of the sky, dark and bright at the same time. All the noises of the woods were gone. It was silent, calm and peaceful there. The wind blew softly as if afraid to disturb the serene calmness.

“Come!” Azraiel said. She could hear a smile in his voice.

Charlotte followed him and they sat down on the ground, the slight grass tickling her softly.

As Azraiel sat down, he put one of his arms around her shoulders and pushed her head to his chest softly.

“I never thought there would be a lake in the middle of the woods!” She said quietly.

“Yeah..!” Azraiel breathed, his breath fanning over her cheek and hair.

“It’s actually enchanted,” Azraiel told her.

Charlotte wasn’t surprised. If the woods could be enchanted, then so could the lake be.

“What does it do?” She asked, looking at the mesmerizing shine of the water that rippled now and then.

“It is a safety measure. Anyone who tries to enter our pack by swimming through the lake starts drowning in it.” He said it so casually that she knew many have drowned in it.

"It’s dangerous, but it looks beautiful." Charlotte said softly. It was true.

“Mhmm…It is beautiful!” He said and then he pulled away from her and stood up.

“My wolf is so excited to meet you that he is scolding me for sitting here!” He said with a chuckle.

“Then what are you waiting for?” She said playfully and stood up.

“You can turn around if you want.” Azraiel left it to her to decide.

“Mhmm” She didn’t give him an answer but didn’t remove her eyes from him either. She continued looking at his face as he removed his clothes one by one. It took a lot of restraint on her part to not look anywhere but his face.

Once, Azraiel removed his clothes he started shifting, his bones breaking and forming the bone structure of a wolf but it happened in seconds as compared to the time taken by Richard or the new wolves that she saw in the training field. She had to blink twice to make sure that it actually happened, and it did!

Now, in front her stood the white wolf instead of Azraiel. He was huge, larger than any wolf she had seen or imagined. He didn’t approach her, instead, he waited for her to move forward, looking at her intently with his golden eyes.

Never removing her eyes from his golden orbs, Charlotte stepped forward and held out her palm in front of his snout. He licked it playfully and that made her smile.

Gathering that he was too large for her to pet him, he sat down on the ground, folding his legs so that she could at least touch his face.

Sending a grateful smile, she gently brushed the soft fur on his face with her fingertips, between his eyes, at the side, everywhere. Once she was sure that she conveyed her love for him through her eyes and soft words, she closed her eyes. Calling out to her wolf, Charlotte mentally spoke words of appreciation and gratitude to her wolf.

Her whole body was tingling, most probably it was her wolf’s excitement that was making her feel so many emotions at the same time.

Charlotte had completely surrendered to her wolf at that moment. She was now at the back of her mind, her wolf taking reigns of her body. When she opened her eyes, they weren’t black anymore, but bright golden. Tears dropped from her eyes one after another, making her cheeks wet. She cupped the wolf’s head in her hands and

softly brushed her thumb across his face. Her wolf hugged Azraiel’s wolf tightly. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes. His wolf breathing in her scent and her, just savoring his presence.

When they broke the hug, he playfully licked her cheeks, trying to wipe the tears but instead wetting them with his tongue. Just like Charlotte, her wolf touched his wolf’s fur with her hands, but she didn’t restrict herself to the face. She softly rubbed her hands all over his body, making him grunt and groan occasionally. Charlotte had no idea why she did that but she couldn’t do anything since she wasn’t in control.

Once her wolf stopped rubbing her hands over his wolf, he started rubbing himself on her, licking her hands where the skin wasn’t covered.

Why…? Charlotte was confused as to what he was doing.

Imprinting! Her wolf thankfully provided some input.

He is making an imprint on you, making you smell like her so that other wolves would stay away from you! I did the same. She explained, clearly enjoying the touch of her mate and the fact that he now smelled like her.

Charlotte quietly acknowledged the information and observed everything. Soon after, they started playing. His wolf was making her chase him. Usually, the female counterpart runs away, and the male chases, as a sign that the male is the predator and the female a prey. But since Charlotte couldn’t shift yet, he wanted her to chase him instead. Her wolf obliged, enjoying the time with her mate, giggling and whispering soft soothing words in his ears, letting him know that she’s here, even if she can’t communicate with him all the time.

Charlotte and her wolf were so happy and engrossed in their perfect world that they had no idea that the creatures with red eyes were looking at them from across the lake.