Chapter 5

Leila rolled in her bed, grabbing her duvet and her eyelids were crushed, "No...no...no..."She muttered in her sleep, she was dreaming of that night, that night that she lost it all.

"We will never surrender!"

Her Father's voice re-echoed in her mind.

"Father..."

She could see herself calling out once again with tears streaming down her eyes. The moonlight was blurred by the branches and leaves of the trees that danced above their heads.

She was such a mess; pinned down, her knees sunk into the soil, her hair mangled and her clothes ripped to rags.

"Don't listen to him, we will do whatever you want...don't hurt our daughter!"

Her mother called out as she looked at her battered daughter and her side stood two bulky male wolves at her sides with one holding a silver knife mere inches away from her throat.

Her Father who had been forced to kneel next to her mother snapped his head to his mate.

"Where is your pride, your honor as a warrior Marlina?!"

Why were her parents fighting in that situation?

"And where is your common sense, Rayson?"

Then the dream kept rolling on until it came to the point that her parents were ripped like ragdolls.

"Nooo!"

Her screams shot up to the roof and she fell off the bed with a bang, but when she got up to find her bearings.

Her blue eyes scampered a much simpler, smaller but still nicely furnished room than what she had grown up with.

"It was just a bad dream, Leila,"

She said to herself.

"It's over, it's all over,"

Her fingers raked her brown hair until her ragged breathing finally eased up a bit then she staggered to her bathroom.

After three splashes of water, her breathing was then finally back to normal.

"That can't happen again...you are no longer that weakling anymore,"

She said to her reflection, her hair was so long before.

"Do you have to cut it?"

She remembered Bastian's little pout when she said she wanted to cut her hair a day after their alliance was made and he was training her

"It's going to slow me down, and that's the last thing I need right now,"

"But still it's so pretty-"

She grabbed a knife as he was speaking, making a clean smooth cut, and brown locks fell to her feet.

"I need this, Bastian,"

In these five years, she had grown stronger, finding wolves from all walks of life, rogues, stranglers, loners...anyone who needed a home, and sometimes she needed to use some tough love slowly but steadily her empire grew.

Now back to the present, suddenly her heart was racing again and she could only take tiny mouthfuls of air.

"Leila!"

She heard someone's voice, her eyes came to the bathroom and she pushed her side against it.

"Leila...let me in..."

The velvety male voice that came through pleaded.

"No need...i...I'm fine..."

"I never said you weren't, Leila,"

Distracted that her lie had been seen through so easily, Leila's hold on the door lightened and the person at the other side forced it open.

"Leila...What the heck?"

The person that had walked in was tall with red hair and silvery eyes, this just like how they met he had, popping in when she felt so low.

"It's nothing, I'm sorry I overslept. I didn't plan to be so late for the meeting..."

As soon as she stepped out of the bathroom he held her hand, pulled her to the nearest wall, and caged her with both of his hands.

"Leila, how many times will I tell you this?"

He groaned.

“Just because you need help from time to time doesn't make you weak,"

Her eyes failed to keep his gaze as he spoke.

"I know that Bastian, I know I can rely on you,"

She clenched her fist.

“But that's what I've been doing for so long because I want to be able to stand on my own two feet-"

His fingers came down to tip up her chin.

Electricity jolts through her body.

That was something he always did.

So when her eyes were up, what she saw when she looked up made her blood run cold.

“You don't have to be that part of yourself anymore,"

That was what he was saying instead, she saw them.... they were those blazing sickening green eyes.

And allowing no room for thoughts she pushed him away.

"Get away from me, monster!"

"Leila, it's me, I'm not a monster..."

He called out then her eyes began fading away and she rushed towards him stretching out a hand.

"I'm so sorry,"

Was all she could say.

"Bastian, I don't know how you put up with me,"

She admitted as she helped him up.

"You have your flaws,"

He said with a shrug after getting up.

"Then again you have the confidence that doesn't ever let you stop getting up when you fall,"

"Now you can tuck that flattering tongue away,"

She said, He laughed.

"But I mean it," then he bit his lip, and this time he looked away.

"Do you want to just postpone the meeting though?" he asked her with a cocked eyebrow.

"No," She said quite firmly.

"I'm fine, just a little drained but I can handle it..after all..." she paused.

"...I've been handling it for 5 years now there's no point in slacking off at the finish line,"

Pakistan looked back at her and sighed then squeezed her shoulder. "It's alright then let's go," He walks out of the cabin with Leila who took her time admiring what all the hard work she had invested her time and effort had yielded in the past five years of her life.

They held the meeting in Baisten's cabin, and after that, she decided to check up on her wolves to see how their training was going for the day.

But she wasn't quite ready for the surprise that hit her in the training hall.

"What the hell do you all think you are doing?!"

A fuming voice filled the training hall that jolted everyone up as the owner of the voice marched in with a commanding aura while several wolves scampered up to their feet before she came to the midst.

"We...we were just taking a break, we were just about to..."

A ginger-haired man manages to speak up amongst the group.

"I can't hear you properly, did you just say that you wanted to do five laps around the compound?"

More than a dozen pairs of eyes widen and an uproar of No's rented the air but just that voice overshadowed them all.

"So you want ten instead?"

"Nooo!!"

"Fine fifteen! Are you finally happy?"

Everyone went quiet and she clapped her hand.

"Well chop, chop no lagging behind,"

A few groans could be here from here and there but soon they were all running out without any more questions.

The training hall was quite large and could contain two ballrooms, the group threw some puppy eyes at her which she responded with “Do you want to do more laps?”

Five laps later and she was still watching them with arms crossed. Then suddenly a warm and bulky arm came across her shoulder.

"You know they need to be alive to fight later right, Leila?"

She sighed, looking up at him.

"Of course, I know that Bastian, but I can't have them slacking off now,"

He nodded. "That's true..."

His eyes came to a she-wolf that was dead than alive at the moment on her seventh lap.

"But I doubt you will still be alive today if I never gave you any breaks..."

"Bastian..."

His hands came to her shoulder slowly massaging it.

"Come on, actually I was the one who told them to take a break..."

Her eyes widened and she snapped her head back at him, he shrugged and didn't stop massaging her shoulders.

That was becoming too much.

She waved off his hands.

"Okay guy that's enough for today,"