Chapter Seven

Serenia barely slept a wink the entire night, her dreams haunted by images of her mother lying lifeless at her feet, and strange occurrences of the dark haired boy. When her mother had woken up in the evening, she claimed she wasn't accused of anything and was merely brought for a check up by the pack doctor because she has been feeling under the weather lately.

Though she has appeared more frail than usual, not many people go to their doctor for a minor check up and come back unconscious, sleeping an entire day away almost. She said that was due to the blood that was taken to see if there was anything internally wrong with her, but it was too much for her already weak body, so she passed out and had to be carried back.

Serenia questioned the guards that escorted her, but her mother had another cover for that as well, claiming it was necessary with the recent break in from the enemy pack, the Alpha is asking anyone from the high ranking houses to have a guard escort when travelling outside of their facilities.

But Serenia witnessed her older sister Selena leave the house that very day and other than her usual bodyguard she takes everywhere with her, she didn't have any other guard escort. Was it maybe because she already technically has an escort? Then why did someone as lowly as her mother need two, or any at all? She has always been treated as garbage in this house, why would they suddenly care about her now?

Her mother insisted on letting it go, however, leaving no room for Serenia to ask more questions. Instead, she presented her with the newly stitched quilt she made for her, in hopes to help keep her warmer than the think blanket she is given. But that doesn't seem to have put her mind at ease.

She has wanted to visit the guard barracks and try to peer through the prison windows and confirm if the silver haired man has made it through the night alive. She can detect his scent like before, but not as strongly as she first did at the firepit. Rushing through her morning chores, she doesn't bother trying to grab leftovers for herself and instead grabs some in hopes to give to the man if he is still alive.

She also wants to know if it's possible that the man from before, the one she helped and vaguely remembers his name as Niklas, giving her his name in case they ever had the chance to meet again, is perhaps here again. Though she doesn't remember his scent well from the last time, she feels a familiar presence and has since the moment the silver haired man arrived, making her think that the other man Niklas might be amongst the crowd.

Sneaking up to the back of the guard barracks, she detects very few bodies inside, meaning most of the guards have left to grab their lunch from the mess hall and this is the perfect time before they all come back to eat in their barracks. Following the trail of the scent, she stops at one of the barred windows and crouches down to peer inside.

To her success, she can spot a burly looking man with dark hair sprawled out on the ground, and the long legs of another man sitting up against the wall under the window, just out of her view. She lets out a low whistle to try and grab the burly man's attention, and to her luck he snaps his eyes open and looks directly up at her.

He shuffles to his knees with what looks like a slight struggle and waves at her with a relieved smile, before hitting the other man to grab his attention as well. For some odd reason, when she looks into the crystal blue eyes of the dark haired man she has been looking for, her heart comes to a halting stop and her body feels warm all over.

Clearing her head, she remembers why she is here.

"Is there a man named Niklas among you?" she whispers down at them.

The burly man gives a confused look to the other, her heart sinking.

"How do you know that name?" the blue-eyed man asks. At the sound of her voice, she feels herself melt, her stomach filling with what feels like a flurry of butterflies trying to escape, a sensation she has never experienced before and can't seem to control.

She has to give herself a second before she can answer.

"I met him before; he told me his name," she says, speaking more clearly.

This time, the eyes of the burly man go wide, and he points at her with a shocked, muted look.

"It's you…" he mutters. Both Serenia and the silver haired man look at him with utter confusion before he shakes his head and speaks again. "The girl from that night, the one who helped us lift the barrier. That was you, wasn't it?" he asks.

Serenia peers at the man, trying to think back to the faces she saw that night, but it was too dark to see anything, let alone remember at this point, but now that she pays closer attention, she does remember his build. There was a man amongst the group that had a larger build than the rest, and although she didn't see his face clearly, she recognizes that build now.

"You were there that night, I remember now. If you remember me, then can you answer my question?"

Gunnar is slightly impressed at the way she seems to continue to carry the same confidence and arrogance towards them as she did that night. He looks towards Kai to see his reaction towards her, having now met her after hearing so much about her from their valiant rescue. He isn't prepared to see the look of sheer anger and jealousy on his face, clearly upset with something at the moment, but he doesn't understand what.

Niklas said that night that they owed her a great debt of gratitude if they ever met again. Now that members of their pack are back again, she is probably wondering if Niklas is among them to get her reward from last time, and maybe help them out again.

"Uhm, yeah, he is but we're not sure where he is right now. He was taken somewhere last night after they did some weird experiments on them," Gunnar answers in a cautious voice, throwing hesitant looks towards the still fuming Kai.

The girl frowns and seems to eye Kai through the barred window.

"Is he okay?" she asks.

Gunnar nudges Kai to snap him out of whatever trance he is stuck in, before flashing a tight smile at her. "He's alright, we're just exhausted from last night. Anyway, was that all that brought you here? If he manages to come back, I'll make sure to tell him you found us again, I'm sure he will be happy to see you again as well."

He feels another flare of rage spike next to him when he says this and looks back towards a once again furious looking Kai. Gunnar clamps a hand down on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down and keep his eye on the girl.

"Uhm, well I thought you guys might be hungry, so I also brought food." She holds up the plate of sandwiches she swiped from the kitchen.

"We are absolutely starved!" Gunnar cries and rushes up to the window, thankful for his tall height and long arms to be able to reach just below the window and catch the sandwiches as she drops them through.

"I brought water as well, but I see now the canister won't really fit through the bars. I can fill the cap up and hand you each a capful of water, it's a big enough size to serve as a cup at least," she says and holds up a canister, unscrewing it and pouring water to the brim.

"How in the realms are you holding that in this weather? Aren't your fingertips freezing?" Gunnar asks, carefully but quickly taking the cap from her so she doesn't freeze anymore.

She seems to scoff in sarcasm at the question of concern.

"I've pretty much suffered frostbite more times than I can count, I just get it healed before it does any damage thankfully, but I lost the feeling in my fingers altogether a long time ago."

This catches Kai's attention, looking directly up at her with a look of pure shock and pity, she can almost feel it hit directly into her chest, causing her to look away from him and grab the cap back from the burly man. She planned to only be here for a few minutes, but she has spent a longer time, she needs to get out of there before the guards come back and discover her feeding the prisoners.

"I guess we'll be seeing each other soon, since you managed to make it through the night. I'll try and find your friend Niklas on the outside and make sure he's alright, at least."

She stands up and dusts the snow off her knees.

"Wait!" Kai cries out, rushing up to the window.

She peeks back down, her mesmerizing eyes reflecting the bright sparkles of the white snow around her, he is stunned for a moment.

"Who are you exactly?" he asks.

She just smiles simply at him.

"The youngest daughter of the Beta house."

With that, she stands back up and rushes off. Kai stands there and listens to her retreating footsteps, the pounding of her feet matching the beating of his heart, already feeling the bond strengthening between them the longer he is around her.

But something seems off. She doesn't seem to recognize him as her mate, at least not as strongly as he does her. He confirmed it the moment their eyes finally connected; she is the one he is fated to be with for the rest of his life. Whether she is the fated Luna or not, she is his fated mate and that's all that matter's to him.

"You mind explaining what the hell that was?" Gunnar suddenly asks.

Kai pulls away from the window and slouches back down on the ground.

"What the hell was what?" he asks.

Gunnar laughs dryly, shaking his head. "Sometimes I think there are two different people living inside of you at the same time. I mean the way you were acting earlier; I could feel the rage seeping off of you, I thought you were going to break your fist against the wall. Where did the sudden anger come from?"

"What would you think if I told you I finally found my mate?" Kai whispers.

The cell is dead silent for a few seconds, only the light blowing of the wind outside the window to be heard.

"I'd say it's about time but wait – does that mean…" he trails off and points towards where the girl was just crouching, hanging them food and water. "She is your fated mate? Are you certain?"

"On the night we made the rescue of the other pack members and Niklas' sister, I split off from you guys because I wanted to check something else out. Do you remember?" he asks.

Gunnar thinks back, then nods.

"I felt her presence that night, and I wanted to chase it. I already had an inkling of who she was, before I could even confirm her gender or identity, something in me just told me it was who I have been searching for. But I was so blinded and desperate that I didn't take the usual caution and ran into a Raseri member doing his business in the forest and had quite the struggle taking him down and disposing of his body before any other members discovered him. By then, you guys alerted me that I needed to make it through the barrier before it was too late, and that's the end of it. I let go of her trail, but always planned to come back for it."

Gunnar thinks about what he says carefully, piecing everything together while reading between the lines.

"Did you propose this mission to your father, just to find your missing mate?" he asks with a low tone, squinting his eyes in suspicion.

Kai glares at him. "That is why I am here, that isn't why we are here, however."

"Then why are we here?"

"As his brother, I would think you would understand best as to why we're here. For information, of course, specifically for that piece of rock they have."

Gunnar realizes he is referring to his brother and the tall tales he has been spouting the past week. He can't believe Kai actually fell for it, and somehow convinced his father to go along with it as well.

"I know what you're thinking, but Harbin is a lot more intelligent than you believe he is. His knowledge of this rock, the Gioll, holds a lot more truth than we thought. If that truly is a piece of the rock that contained Fenrir, it might be a key to helping us break the seal of the Bifrost."

"How is that possible? It is something used and controlled by the Raseri people; therefore, it rots of pure evil."

Kai begins to understand how his father and Harbin felt when they scolded him on lack of education of their own ancestors and history.

"If you remember correctly, it was the ancestors of the Raseri that tossed our ancestors out of Asgard and into the mortal realm, the Managamr. The members of the Raseri pack are those who were tossed in the bunch with us, mistaken as our own and cast out alongside us. That is why the Raseri pack have held a strong hatred and vengeance towards us, always seeking revenge against us."

Gunnar nods in understanding, feeling a little guilty that he hasn't put as much faith and belief in his brother as he should be, thankful that Harbin didn't join them on this mission, so he still has the chance to make things right if he makes it out alive.

"If that girl really is your mate, then that means there is no chance she is the fated Luna we have been searching for," Gunnar comments.

For some reason, this assumption irritates Kai.

"Why do you assume that?" he asks.

Gunnar shrugs, as if it is obvious. "Because she is born of the Raseri pack, which means she is a descendant of Skoll or Hati, she can't possibly be the fated Luna of our people, she can't possibly have the blood of Freki."

Kai thinks back to his conversation with Niklas, and how he believes the girl that helped them isn't a true member of the Raseri pack, and that she might have been kidnapped from another before she was even born. That now seems more likely, since she is his fated mate, there is no chance she is a true member of the Raseri pack with no ancestral blood of either Geri or Freki.

She may not be a former member of the Wolfmåne pack, but it's clear now she isn't a true member of the Raseri pack, which means it's likely neither is whatever blood-related family she might have here with her. He remembers that last thing she mentioned was that she is the youngest daughter of the Beta house, a clear sign that she was born here rather than brought. Was her mother captured and forced to marry into the Beta house?

Or was she kidnapped as a baby?

Kai trembles at the thought. Regardless, his goal is now clear, he must enter the Beta house or get as near to it as possible. He could tell from the malnourished and frail figure of the girl that she has been mistreated and possibly abused in the house, another thought that shakes him with anger.

The closer he is to her, the better he can protect her. Now that he has found his fated mate, he won't allow anymore harm to come to her.

A few more hours go by before the sun starts to go down, an amber glow swallowing the dimly lit prison as they barely cling to consciousness. They are thankful for the water and sandwiches they had earlier, with the guards giving them nothing since they got here, they wouldn't have any strength left at this point.

Just when they think they're about to spend another night down here, the familiar heavy footsteps of the guard echo down the stairs, prompting them awake.

"Surprise, surprise, your still alive. Just in time for you to be assigned to your duties, and to show me your miraculous recovery skills."

Kai recognizes the guard from earlier, silently sending a prayer of thanks to his mate once again for the food and water, to further help Gunnar's recovery from the other night. Given the food and rest he needed, he seems almost back to perfect condition.

"Not bad, you seem good enough now. Alright, you start in the yard firth thing tomorrow morning, head with him over there," he says and roughly pushes Gunnar towards an awaiting guard. He is quickly cuffed and escorted up the stairs, making sure to keep his head down.

"Like you predicted, you will be serving as a house servant in a high ranking house, lucky you, eh?" the guard says as he grabs hold of Kai, cuffing him as well.

"What house am I being brought to?" he asks.

The guard shoves him forward towards the stairs, pushing him again so that he stumbles going up.

"Well, aren't we curious? Afraid you might have to try surviving in the big bad Alpha house? Like I've been saying, you seem like quite the lucky one, and as much as I'd love to eventually haul off your lifeless body from the Alpha house, you aren't going there."

Kai feels rather hopeful about this, for reasons other than survival. If he is being assigned to a high ranking house that isn't the Alpha house, that leaves few options: Beta or Omega.

Worse case, if it is the Omega house it might be easier to sneak out and visit the Beta house when he can. Best case, he is tossed right into the lion's den and given the opportunity he has been chasing, the Beta house.

It doesn't seem like the guard is willing to tell him, he has no choice but to see when he gets there. Keeping his head down while they travel through the snow, he takes a few peeks at his surrounding, trying to detect either scents of Niklas, or his mate. He can feel a faint detection of his mate, but sadly nothing of Niklas, making him wonder where in the realms he disappeared too.

He starts to think the worst the more he thinks about it, but the overwhelming scent of his mate distracts his thought, making him realize they are walking in the exact direction of it. Kai can feel his wolf start to stir within him, before he is quickly begging to be let out, sensing the strong presence of their mate, he wants to break free to find her.

Kai struggles to hold him back, biting his lips and tongue to suppress the urge to shift and silence his wolf. He feels the light whimper from inside but the small flare of defiance at the same time. His wolf isn't happy that they aren't rushing towards their mate right now, but Kai understands more that now is not the time.

"Alright, mutt, here we are. Let's see how long you can last here," the guard says, coming to a stop. "The head maid inside will take you from here, keep your head down and mouth shut, or she'll beat you worse than we did." He lets out a dark chuckle, not bothering to uncuff him, just knocks on the back door and walks off.

A second later the door opens to reveal a tall, slender woman with a mean look imprinted on her face. She gives him a look up and down, sneering as if unsatisfied with what she sees. Kai knows he isn't much but is well aware of how fit he is with all the training and hard work he has done over the years; he almost feels offended that she seems to scoff at the mere sight of him.

"Not much, but I guess you'll have to do," she mutters. Clearing her throat, she straightens her back and almost seems to turn her nose up at him, gesturing inside the house.

"Welcome, to the Beta main house, where you will spend the rest of your days serving the masters of the domain."

'Mission accomplished.'