“I need your help,” The girls were astounded when their little brother barged into their room requesting for a favor. Something great must have happened. 

“Help for what? Did you lose your mate?” Hailey joked, but then when she saw the passive look on her face, it slowly dawned on her, ” You really did lose your mate,”

Hazel figured out, “So we’re going hunting,”

“Yeah,” Ashton concurred. He knew his mother wouldn’t let him use her men nor his father – that was his punishment – so what other choice did he have other than to mobilize his sisters.

“What happened?” Hailey asked. For the girl to have escaped the almighty Ashton’s grasp, she must have hit him real hard.

So Ashton spent the next minutes narrating the event as they headed to the entrance.

“So in one word, you scared off your mate?” Hailey intentionally pointed that out, “How dumb could you get?” 

Ashton grimaced, his sister knew how to hit the nail on the head.

“Forgot that part, have you forgotten the fact she’s invincible,” Hazel reminded her sister. Already standing at the entrance, she took a long deep breath since she was the best tracker amongst her siblings. 

“She also hid her scent, I’m impressed yet scared,” she turned to her siblings, “I haven’t seen invincibility ability like this. With this kind of power, she could go off the radar for as long as she intends,” 

“That makes the hunt all the more exciting, don’t you think?. Ashton, what have you got?” Hailey asked him, knowing their brother would never summon them without having a proper plan in mind. 

“I can feel the bond, she’s close by,” was his reply 

“But we can’t,” Hazel shrugged, asking, “How are we supposed to hunt something we can’t see?” 

“By making it rain,” Ashton announced, heading outside with his eyes focused on the sky. 

“Ooh, I’m going to love this,” Hailey was giddy with enthusiasm. Events like this excited her, it was a good thing she wasn’t the one with the demon side – Hazel couldn’t even imagine the scene. Even thinking about it made her shiver. 

“Asher Junior!” They turned to see their mother stomping towards them, “I just need one clear day, why can’t I ever get that? Do you know that our town has become an area of interest for climatologists a huge thanks to you and your erratic weather?!” 

“Sorry mom, but I’ve got a mate to catch,” He said to her just as thunder rumbled in the distance and lightning started to dance in the sky. It has begun. Almost immediately, the rain poured down. 

“Let’s go,” He ordered his siblings and they stepped out, “I’ll lead you to her location, we’d capture her with enough cooperation,” He added, “Don’t hurt her even if she hurts you,” 

“That is so not acceptable,” Hailey refused, “What do we get from this?” 

“What do you want?” 

“What I want?” Hailey brushed her finger across her lips, thinking hard, ” Be my servant for a month,” 

“In your imagination,” He said yet bargained, “One week,” 

Hailey gave him a dirty look, “Are you trying to rip me off? Three weeks,” 

“One and a half week,” 

“Two weeks,” 

“Two weeks it is,” and it was agreed. He turned to Hazel, “What about you?” 

“As far as you don’t bother my life, I’m good to go. Though I’ll like to spend more time with your mate without you growling my head off,” 

“Deal,” Of course, Hazel was the best. Ashton was relieved that she didn’t make any ridiculous requests like his greedy sister, Hailey. If only he knew what Hazel had seen to request such a trivial request.

“Let’s go!” Ashton led them through the woods notwithstanding the rain beating down hard on them. 

The three of them were a blur in human eyes as they sped through the wood. They used their vampiric strength since it was more convenient at this time than padding through the wet ground in their wolf form. In no time, they came across her first footprint.

“She’s close by,” Ashton announced.

A few sprints more and they saw the continuous appearance of a footprint on the wet soil yet the creator was not visible.

“There she is!” Hailey announced, adding more speed, and broke away from their group.

“Hailey wait!” Ashton tried to stop her but the girl had already gone ahead without them. 

Sophia was panting heavily as she ran from her target. How did they catch up with her so easily? So the girl added more speed. But the moment she looked back, Hailey was almost behind her that if the girl dared reach out her hands, she’d be caught. 

Terror filled Sophia but an idea came into her mind and she kept running straight ahead but at the last minute took a sudden turn, Hailey rammed hard into a tree. 

“Hailey!” Hazel screamed when she saw what happened and went to her sister’s aid. 

“Hey, are you okay,” She examined the huge bump on Hailey’s forehead and her burst lips with a bleeding nose. This only happened to her because she had been too overconfident of her skills. 

“Yeah, it’s nothing I can’t handle and would heal in a while,” she smiled wryly. 

Hazel turned to Ashton, “You are on your own from now, I need to take care of sister,” 

“Leave, I’m not a chicken,” She tried to chase the girl off but Hazel ground stood her chance. 

“Alright,” Ashton nodded his head in understanding and zoomed off. 

Sophia was happy with her progress, she had managed to shake them off her trail or so she thought, because the next she knew, someone knocked into her so hard they fell onto the wet ground. 

“Sophia, listen to me,” Ashton pushed her back, trying to overpower her. 

“No, you get off me!” Sophia shouted, focusing all her strength on her fist, and punched him straight in the face. 

She was shocked at the intensity of her strength because it tossed Ashton away from her at quite a distance. 

Ashton was shocked at the extent of her strength. Who was he fooling? She would beat his ass if he doesn’t step up his game. No more mercy. 

Sophia took to her heels again, but she hadn’t made it far when she was tackled to the ground once again. 

She tried to hurl a blow at him, but Ashton captured her hand and pinned it to the ground. She did the same with her other hand but he pinned it too. She then attempted to kneel him, Ashton was quick to block her aim. 

“What are you going to do now?” he smirked at her victoriously. However, Sophia suddenly leaned forward and headbutted him. Ashton saw stars. 

With that distraction, Sophia took advantage of it and ramed her fist in his face, he fell to the side. She ran off again for a very long time which made her worried – Had he given up on her? 

But no! 

The breath was knocked out of Sophia’s lungs when he threw himself on her out of nowhere. Sophia lost her balance and they began to roll off the steep hill. 

While they rolled off, Ashton made sure he protected her by taking much of the impact. They both fell into the river and she gasped from the coldness while Ashton groaned from the jagged rocks along the way that pierced into his body – mostly his back. 

“Ashton!” Sophia panicked when she heard the groan of pain leave his lips. She swarmed over to the side where she had seen him fall into and pulled him up from the water. 

“Are you crazy!” Sophia yelled at him, 

“You could have gotten yourself killed!” The girl couldn’t even understand why she was angry and concerned for him. She intended to run as far away from this devil, not come for him. 

“Since you’re a sucker for pain, go die! I don’t care about the world you live in hence don’t dare to drag me into it. Don’t even think about following me either else I’ll – mmm,” her words were caught short when Ashton smashed his lips on hers. 

Her hands went to his chest trying to push him away but his wet shirt clung to his body revealing the tautness of his muscles and how good it felt touching them. 

Her resistance shattered and her hands traveled to the nape of his neck, threading through his wet hair and kissing him back with the same ferocity. 

Ashton felt every curve of her body through her wet clothes and he loved it. His arms went around her waist, pressing her flush against him. 

She was supposed to be fighting him, not loving him, the remaining sense in her head argued but Sophia was far gone. Was this the bond Hailey was talking about? The girl wanted to hate him for the things he had done to her but she couldn’t; a love-hate relationship. She felt drawn to him.

“Sophia,” Ashton pulled away from the kiss, calling her name softly as he begged, “Don’t leave me, please,” there was desperation in his voice. 

No, would be the right answer, Sophia decided in her heart. He turned her into a monster without her permission. All he had done since he came into her life, was to flip everything upside down. 

“Alright, I won’t leave,” Her heart still ended up betraying her. Sophia had a feeling that she would come to regret this if she doesn’t grasp the chance now. Why was she having this insecure feeling?