The man dressed in all black shifted position so that the young man who had been talking to Xeraphine through the seamless speaker was now standing facing her.
Immediately, the nerves in Xeraphine's brain sent out impulses, so she swung her legs quickly and indeterminately. Her goal now was to run as far as possible to save herself. She didn't care about the stumbling block that sent her tumbling between the paved road and the sharp shrubs. She ignored all the pain, because she no longer remembered what and how the pain was since she lost both parents.
It was much more painful and made her whole body seem numb.
Xeraphine was in stubborn mode, as was the young man who was now shapeshifting and transforming into a silver-furred wolf, darting quickly after his rather agile quarry.
"Stop chasing me, Alexio!" screeched Xeraphine when she saw that Alexio had aligned his steps, while she was reluctant to stop swinging her legs. "Stop! Let me go!"
"You can't just walk out of pack territory, Xera! You must stop now, or you and the rest of the pack will be in danger."
"Pack? Since when did we have a pack after the attack? We're just like them now, Alexio. We are rogues." Xeraphine, who was beginning to be angry as she recalled the events of ten years ago, did not realize Alexio was ahead. She stopped her steps abruptly, but it was too late. She and Alexio collided, rolled over, and fell into the forest.
Xeraphine's body slammed into a large archway, screeching and groaning from the unbearable pain all over her body, while Alexio was not far from her, still managing to control his balance so that he did not experience the same thing as the girl after he landed hard.
Alexio got up, transformed himself, and rushed towards Xeraphine to help her.
"There must have been a lot of things you witnessed back then for you not to realize the difference before your eyes," Alexio said as Xeraphine stood up. He quickly checked on the girl's condition.
"I don't understand what you're talking about."
Alexio sighed, pointing to Xeraphine's elbow and arm dripping with red liquid. "You're hurt. Let's go back to the lab and talk while I treat your wounds."
Xeraphine looked hesitant, afraid to trust Alexio so easily. Although Alexio's father was a beta, his late father's right-hand man, it didn't mean they would be loyal, especially after his father's passing.
"Did you think I would do you harm?"
"Isn't that what you're aiming for? Why didn't you just let me die there? And what did you do to me? Why did I–?"
Clep!
Xeraphine's words stopped. Her body limped and sagged, and before long, she almost fell to the ground if Alexio had not caught her swiftly. He turned his head towards a watcher standing not far from them.
The man had successfully shot an arrow containing a tranquilizer, now lodged in the side of Xeraphine's neck, to immobilize her. Several other guards swiftly lifted the girl's body on a stretcher and carried her back to the pack laboratory.
***
Xeraphine groaned, wincing as the sudden pain brought back the consciousness she had lost. She slowly opened her eyes, then reflexively closed them again due to the spotlight that seemed right in front of her face.
She moved her head slowly while trying to catch any sound with her sense of hearing. There was no critical conversation other than the sound of clinking metal objects not far away.
"Mommy... Daddy..." Xeraphine mumbled softly, calling out her parents. She saw both of them come and smile in dreamland just now, but only for a moment. Then she was in so much pain that she returned to reality.
It wasn't delightful. She missed her mom and dad so much, but again, reality separated them.
"Xeraphine, do you hear me?" asked a voice that made Xeraphine force herself awake. She was sure she was in that strange room again. However, she didn't want to speculate on what Alexio and her father were doing to her.
"Where am I?" asked Xeraphine in a hoarse voice. Her body was still so weak that she didn't have the strength to move her fingers. Let alone run away.
"You go back to the lab. I'm sorry if I took you by force. We've already crossed the pack border, and it would be dangerous not to move quickly."
Xeraphine snorted. A classic excuse to show that they were good people who did good and cared. Though she was sure, they must have their own personal goals to be so protective of her.
"Tell me, what do you want?" asked Xeraphine. "Why have you brought me to this strange place. I don't recognize this place. Let me go. I want to go home."
"This is your home, Xera. Our home. Our pack."
Xeraphine laughed mockingly. "Fucking nonsense."
"I understand that you no longer recognize this area. Indeed, many things have changed. But not our pack and its visions. We brought you here, too, on the orders of your father, Alpha Ronan."
"He was already dead when I woke up. I didn't find you anywhere either. I thought you had turned to ash."
"We're still alive."
"Yes, because you losers ran away." Xeraphine's eyes turned red after saying that sentence. She didn't expect the pack's confidants to still be alive while her father and mother had died a horrible death to protect everyone. "You're traitors!"
"Let us explain first, child. It's not what you think. We did this on the alpha's orders, too. We should have saved you back then so you wouldn't have to witness everything." The middle-aged man stood not far from the bed, trying to explain from his point of view, so that Xeraphine would no longer think badly of those who had survived until today.
"And you should know that the Ecliptic Pack was threatened and attacked because of this." Alexio interrupted his father. His hand gestured across the room, revealing an unfamiliar sight to Xeraphine. "Not to be arrogant, but my father and I are assets to the pack, and the rogues intend to keep us as their slaves. That's why Alpha Ronan ordered us to find a safe haven."
"To hell with your lies! Just tell me, what is the purpose of your taking me? And... what exactly has happened?"
"We searched all over the world, but didn't find you. So my father and I tried to track you down ten years ago, because that's when we first lost track of you."
"And then?"
"We kidnapped you from the past and brought you to the future—the present," Alexio replied, making Xeraphine's eyes widen in disbelief. "Yes, today is ten years after the attack, and you are from the past. We experimented on you to make you the best weapon for the pack, as you wanted, to become a warrior."