Her Men Of Ruin

Squatting down beside the hole, she tries pulling the cage. It seems to have been built for a long time, seeing as the irons are rusty and crusty around the edges. Sitting on the brick floor, Heaven kicks the cage. It falls off after a few kicks, and she quickly passes through it to the other side of the fence. Heaven faces a dilemma with two paths before her eyes. One is the wide pathway of sand and pebbles on which she stands. Starting from the main gate, it stretches out almost endlessly in front of her, flanked by two shallow hills. The shallow hill at the right of the wide pathway carries a narrow track, which is the other path. Adding up the direction of the path and the position of Kaicha’s window, Heaven concludes that the track leads to the pack houses. Knowing that the wide path leads to an asphalt highway, Heaven decides to use the track on the hill instead. From what she knows, the highway stops being accessible to humans at a certain point, which means she would have no aid. Plus, it’s pretty far to travel on foot, so it’s useless going with it, especially since it’s quite exposed—when the Alpha finds out she’s gone, the first place he would start searching is the highway, as he would think she would be heading directly to the human world. Heaven decides to do the opposite of that. If she blends in with the pack, she could find a way to get a horse, even if she has to steal it. Then she’ll travel through the bushes until she gets to the boundary between the wolf kingdom and the human world. Her only problem is that it’s been fourteen years since she last navigated the wolf kingdom. The last time she was in such situation, she could quickly find her way out. But now it’s different. Plus, she’s not familiar with this part of the kingdom, so it would be a bit hard. But she’ll try. When she reaches the pack houses, she finds the people clustered on the street, all moving toward a particular direction. Heaven tries to push her way through against the human forces, making for the opposite direction. But, somehow, the bodies take her as well. Her strength against theirs isn’t enough. Although chaotic, Heaven picks up the people’s words. “An important person is on his way way back. Everyone has to be on their best behavior.” “Finally, our savior is back; he can save us from the Alpha’s rage.” Heaven doesn’t know who is so powerful to be able to save the people from the Alpha’s rage or whatever, but her curiosity gets the best of her. Instead of going against the crowd, she follows them, pushing her way forward until she finally gets to the front, where she stops before a huge building that seems to belong to the Alpha. The crowd is gathered in front of the building, all looking into a big hall with wide open doors. But, due to the able-bodied men guarding the entrance, no one can enter. On a raised platform far across the hall, there’s Ziason seated in a big black sofa, his black hair pulled into a style that reveals his forehead. Seeing him in that chair, Heaven senses an uncomfortable aura around him—that mystic, dark vibe that always clung to him, only it was faint before. Now it’s stronger, and he looks scarier; feels more terrifying. Two men, whose backs are turned to her, bow to the alpha. The one by his right is dressed in a velvety wine-colored suit, while the one by his left looks rough around the edges, his whole attire made of black and brown leather. The shrieks and whispers continue in the background, especially from the women. “They’re here! The alpha’s brothers are back! The pack’s ambassador and the pack’s delight are here. Moon’s Wrath’s powerful trinity are finally together!” “Oh my gosh, they’re so handsome!” “Gosh, they look so strong!” “Moon’s Wrath’s delight is the strongest warrior in the pack. I want to marry him!” “I want the pack’s ambassador so bad. His calmness is too hot!” Slowly, the people’s murmurs begin to fade in Heaven’s mind. What gets louder is the pounding of her heart as her heartbeat picks up a faster pace. As her knees weaken and threaten to give out, Heaven starts gasping for breath, and she doesn’t know why. Why is her heart malfunctioning? Why can’t she even breathe? She would say it’s due to her fear of Ziason. But even when he stood right in front of her, her heart didn’t beat so fast and loud to this extent. Or is it some sort of anxiety attack? Would that also explain why she’s now feeling dizzy, or why the world around her is blurring as much as clangor takes over the noises of the people? Would it also explain why everything about the alpha and his brothers are growing vivid to her senses? That’s weird, right? She’s not supposed to be seeing the brothers clearer now, their image zooming in front of her eyes to the point she even notices the tiny pores on their skin. Despite the huge space between she and Ziason’s, Heaven notes how red his irises are, and she sees the gray strands speckled here and there in the long, black hair of the rough-looking brother. Their scents mingle together—woody, earthy smells that are strong enough to make her swoon—driving her crazy due to the fact that she can’t decipher which belongs to who. This feeling is new to Heaven, as she has never smelt or seen things so clearly before. And it’s stranger to think her elevated senses are only focused on the three brothers. ‘Mate,’ she hears in her head. It’s her voice, but she knows it’s not her speaking. It’s not her demons either. ‘Mate,’ the voice comes again. This time, Heaven has the urge to step forward. Something about the men reaches to pull her, and she takes a step. ‘Mate,’ she hears again. Then she tries taking another step forward, but her dizziness gets the better of her. Darkness gradually close in until Heaven sees nothing but shadows swirling in front of her eyes.