DISTRACTION

VALERIE 'That was fun!' I tell Evie through the link as we return home after the hunting. 'Fun?" she asks incredulously. 'We couldn't catch a single prey, all thanks to Edith.' Evie complains and I laugh. 'True, but you got to admit the chase was fun.' I tell her. 'Yeah, I almost bit that deer's tail.' she says chuckling. We are walking in the woods; actually I'm sitting on Evie's back. My gaze falls on the white walls of the moon temple. I haven't visited there ever since I came back. 'It's beautiful.' Evie tells me. 'You've been there?' Yeah, Jasper took me there the day he marked me.' 'Oh! You never told me the marking story' I tell her. 'Nothing much, we went to the temple and while returning had a small make-out session, he took the opportunity and bit me. I realised a little late what he did.' Evie says guiltily. 'It's not your fault.' 'I could have tried to stop him. Anyway I took the revenge so it's all cool.' 'Uh- what revenge?" 'I shifted in his car and wrecked it completely.' 'Oh dear!' I say gasping. If anything like that happens to my Arrogant, I might have a heart attack. My Arrogant is my most precious asset. 'Thanks.' she says chuckling. 'Do you want to go to the temple?' I do, but I'm wearing only Shawn's shirt and that will be inappropriate so I decide to go a little later. **** It's late in the evening and I've just finished training Patrick so I decide to go to the temple. I'm walking in the woods and I smell a familiar scent so I follow it. I see Oscar who is sitting on a broken tree branch. "Oscar, what are you doing here?" I ask him. "Chilling." he says, smiling and showing me all his white pearls. I frown when I notice the liquor bottles around him. "Is everything okay?" I ask, sitting next to him. He reeks of alcohol and I scrunch my nose at that. "How long have you been drinking?" I ask him. "I've just started." he says smiling and I frown harder because there are at least ten empty bottles around. He isn't sober. "That's it. Get up, we are going to the house." I say, getting up and tugging his arm. "I am not going anywhere." he says pushing my hands. "Why not?" "Wherever I go, I see mates. The blushing, holding hands, sucking each other's face, cuddling... all make me sick!" he says and pretends to gag while I stare at him not knowing what to say. "You know I didn't want a mate on my sixteenth birthday, I wanted to enjoy life." He says while chuckling. "Everyone found their mates. You, Evie, Ivan, everyone! I am the only one left in the group and I doubt whether I'll ever have one!" he continues talking while staring ahead. "Don't say that. You'll find your mate one day and she'll love you more than anything." I say, comforting him but he scoffs at that. "I don't have a mate!" he says I don't want him to be like this, he looks so sad and it really hurts my feelings. I know he must feel really lonely when we are all with our mates. "Oscar, you are drunk. We'll talk tomorrow." I tell him and start tugging his arms again. "No. I want to talk now. I want to know why I don't have a mate!" he shouts. "Am I that bad?" "Oscar please, Calm down we'll talk tom-" "I want to know why!" he screams. He's my best friend but he looks so broken and sad now. I want to do something for him but I can't do anything. "I am ranting, aren't I?" he asks me somberly while I stare at him. "I better go, sorry!" he says walking away. I watch him until he vanishes from my view. I ask Nathan through the link to go and talk to him. I hate seeing him like this! I also know he wouldn't have been like this if we hadn't found our mates. He must feel lonely now since we all have our mates. We never considered that at all! I decide to pray for him so that he would also find his mate soon. With that thought, I start walking towards the temple. I enter the temple and gasp at the sight in front of me. The temple has been renovated and I know it was done by Shawn. The temple is still more beautiful to look at. The wide hall walls are painted creamy white which matches with the color of tiles on the floor. I can see my reflection on those crystal clear tiles. I remove my sandals and keep them in a corner so that the tiles will not be ruined. There are fire torches on either side of the wall. At the end of the hall there are around five broad stairs that leads to a platform where the statue is kept. There are two silver statues of wolves at the bottom of those stairs. The wolves have craned their necks and they look ready to howl. My eyes then fall on the beautiful statue of the goddess. The silver statue of the moon goddess is the same one that Hunter had tried to steal. The dome of the temple has an opening in it for the light rays to pass and fall directly over the statue, illuminating it. I see some ladies lighting candles around the platform and others placing flowers near the statue. They are all from the old Pack and I instantly recognise them. They always kept their children away from me since I was considered to be 'cursed'. As soon as they see me, they bow their heads respectfully and I frown at that. They are doing this because I'm their alpha's mate. I ignore them and walk to light a candle in front of the statue. They all step back and head to a corner when they see me approaching. After lighting a candle, I kneel down and join my hands to pray. When I close my eyes the images of the attack scene flashes in my mind. I open my eyes and blink a few times. "Are you okay?" one of the ladies asks but I don't respond. I close my eyes again and the same images keep popping in my head. I was there the day I arrived and I almost had a similar memory. There's something in there and I need to find it. I look at the goddess's statue and smile. Like always I find it difficult placing the face of the statue for the image of goddess in my mind. In the image I have of the goddess in my mind I always find it difficult to put a face for the goddess. The ladies are looking at me with concern. However, I don't bother explaining anything to them. Therefore, I pray and leave the temple. I'm sitting on the same rock that I was sitting on the other day in the beach. I close my eyes and begin concentrating. Minutes later, I find myself in the same woods where the attack had happened. I see the Hunter thief running ahead with Mr. Austin and the others following him. Without wasting any minute, I run behind them. Hunter is now standing in the cliff where he's surrounded by Pack members. 'Give the statue back!' Mr. Austin growls at the thief who is smirking. The thief catches the statue above him and throws it with full force. My eyes flutter open and I stare at the waves in front of me. I'm not scared about what happened to the statue because I know Mr. Austin fell on the ground forcing the statue to land on his back. But I still get the clue as to why the images are popping in my head. I dive into the water and decide to revisit the attack scene because there is definitely something in there. I'm running in the woods and I see a familiar large black wolf with striking blue eyes running beside me. Shawn. I stop and he does too. He brings his face closer and I gently rubbed my hands on the soft black fur of his head. His large wolf that is in face level with me now whines softly when I do that. He nuzzles closer to me and I lose balance and fall flat on the ground with my back. I can literally see the amused look in Shawn's wolf when he comes over me. He bends his head and sniffs me a little before licking my neck. "Yuck! Get off me!" I scream, giggling and I feel my wolf purring inside me. She likes it! Stupid animal! He continues licking and sniffing my cheeks and they are all wet now. "I hate you!" I say, shoving him off me. However before I can sit straight he comes above me and nuzzles closer to me and I know he's about to shift back to his human form. Oh dear lord! It is difficult to think straight when half naked Shawn is in front of me. Can anyone imagine how it would be if he was in his birthday suit? I shove him harder and he rolls and falls near me. I take that opportunity to get up and stand. "You are not shifting back, you get that?" I warn him, narrowing my eyes and pointing my index finger at him. He lowly growls at me and nods his big black head. I start walking towards the attack scene and I hear him growling again from behind. I turn and see him coming towards me. With his head he motions for me to sit on his back and I easily oblige. Why say no to a free ride? I get on his back. "Driver, take me to the attack scene!" I say while chuckling and pat his head while he growls in a sinister way. Shawn is incredibly fast and I would have enjoyed the ride a lot if it weren't for the tingles in my body or my wolf going crazy in my mind!