I don't know why I decide to rush into the underground hall, but I do and it completely does not occur to me that the elders would be down here in the middle of their circle of meditation. Whether they notice me or not is another thing as they don't seem to be breaking out of their trance when I place Valentina's cold body on the floor.

I check her backpack to see if she has any packed blood bags and, fortunately, she does. I unscrew the opening and shove it into her mouth, massaging her throat to drink it. The more she does, the warmer her body gets as she clenches onto the bag.

"Hey," Ganzorig whisper-shouts as he descends the steps, "you shouldn't have brought her here." He looks cautiously at the elders, still mid-meditation.

Soon, Astrid and the Lycans appear, their footsteps startling the elders. They notice the vampire on the floor with me and the smell of blood. They hiss at Valentina, who is now recovered enough from drinking the blood. Despite all the commotion, I caress her face gently.

"Princess," she says softly with a weak smile on her face, her first words to me since I saw her in the forest.

I kiss her hand and ask, "What the hell are you doing here, Valentina?"

She strokes my short hair and smiles, but soon after snarls viciously at the elders behind me. I stand her up from the floor.

Ganzorig is now taking the brunt of the elder's scolding as he tries to explain the situation and the presence of a vampire in their Sanctuary. I try to explain myself, but most of the elders end up silencing me with their deadly glowers.

"What's going on?" Guru's voice booms from the stairs as he first notices the Lycans, then his brows raise a little at Valentina.

He looks at me and his nostrils flare a little. And I don't know why I feel so apprehensive to speak up now, as if I want to please this new older male figure in my life, as if he didn't just order three fighters to try to beat me up and call that training.

I stand protectively in front of Valentina.

"I promise she will do no harm," I state plainly.

Just as I ready myself to protest, he nods firmly. I hear tuts and sighs behind me from the elders, while Ganzorig keeps very quiet despite trying to stop us just a few minutes ago.

"All of you, come," Guru orders. "Including you, Ganzorig."

The Lycans follow first with Astrid trailing Rio closely. She looks back at me and at Valentina. I smile at her but she looks away dismissively. Ganzorig goes out next, then Valentina and I, arm-in-arm.

As Guru and Rio exchange words in the front, I ask Valentina how she's even walking in daylight. She twists the reddish gold ring on her finger in response and looks cautiously at Ganzorig. I catch onto her look and the danger of anyone else knowing that she could easily be burnt to a crisp by removing the daylight ring, the first I've ever seen of one.

"Princess, I'm sorry I didn't come with you in the first place," she says. "I'm such a coward."

I smile thinking, yeah you are.

"There's so much more I want to say to you, but, uh," she sighs as she looks ahead, "I'll wait till nightfall."

We enter a three-storied house built with wood and stones with a roof that curves out, on top of which rests a thick layer of snow. Inside, the house is barren and dim. Guru employs Ganzorig's help to light up some lanterns and even orders him to make tea, which he grumpily obeys. Guru tells the others to set their bags down and to sit in the living space by the fire he starts up. With more light now, I see a picture frame hung on top of the mantel of a younger looking Guru, a woman on his arm and four rowdy children surrounding them. This is Guru's home. Yet why does it feel so empty?

"Your family?" Rio asks politely about the picture.

"Yes," Guru answers. "My late wife, Tenzin, and four out of five of our kids, Tshering, Dorji, Hema and Dara."

The closer I examine the picture, the more I notice the distinct difference between the children and between the parents.

"My wife and I were unable to bear our own children, so we adopted a small brood along the way to building Sanctuary," he chuckles at the memories, which I'm sure are playing in his head. "They're all grown up and have left the nest, so to speak."

Ganzorig walks in with a tray of steaming hot tea and a plate of pastries.

"The only one missing from that picture is Ganzorig here," Guru continues as he gestures to the long-haired man quietly setting the tray down on the coffee table. "He was a late addition, whom we adopted towards the end of Tenzin's life."

All eyes are on him, no doubt, trying to decipher the story behind the scar on his face. He bows slightly at his father, then darts his eyes a little towards me as he looks down at his feet, abashed that I've found out he's the chief elder's son.

"Thank you for welcoming us into your home and for the lovely tea," Rio says, ever the diplomatic and charismatic Lycan Alpha that he is.

I look over at Astrid, a look of admiration spreading across her brown eyes as she affectionately gazes at Rio. And I wonder how her feelings towards him could have changed so drastically. But then again, the destiny bond is something nobody ever fights and I'm sure despite her first reaction to Rio, she must have felt something stir in her.

"It is an honor to welcome the Lycan Alpha into my home," Guru replies. "But I didn't just call you here for some chitchat and tea."

"Right, you may have noticed that we are friends of Bianca," Rio states, looking at me. "And we have come to retrieve her."

"Excuse me?" I scoff. "I didn't want to be found, least of all 'retrieved'."

"Now that you have become a Sigma, I see that, Bianca." Rio's voice is cool and level.

I almost flinch at the sound of that, the first time I've heard another call me that, unlike Guru, who seemed sceptical to do so. At first, I used it as an excuse to conceal my identity, but the more I've said it and the more I've thought about it, the more it grows on me. And I appreciate Rio recognizing it within me.

"So, you're not going back? Ever?" Astrid asks, her voice wavering with betrayal and disappointment.

"No, Astrid," my voice trembles a little, too, but I clear it as I have to act more like the Sigma I claim to be. "I was never going to become Alpha of Silver Bow in spite of everything I did as the rightful heir."

"I'm sure if you speak to your dad, and maybe Rio and I could help—"

"No," my voice booms louder than intended. "I don't need anyone's help."

Astrid flinches. I didn't mean to sound so brash to her, but I guess now's as good a time as ever to start breaking off my affection for her. Even if it shreds my heart to do so.

"And yet," Guru interjects, "here we are."

He cryptically leaves those last words hanging in the air as he takes a bite out of a biscuit and sips his tea. Everybody else follows suit, except for Valentina, who's clinging on for dear life next to me, being a little dramatic now.

"It is not by chance that the three of you have gathered here at this moment," Guru says, pointing to Rio, Astrid and I as he does. "A danger looms above us that threatens all of our three species."

"The God of Death," I tell Astrid, Rio and Alex the words even sending a chill down my spine. "And, I think, he visited me in my sleep last night, telling me that you two were coming."

Rio mulls over my words with his hands rested on his chin and eyes me cautiously, unlike Astrid who looks a little panicked.

"Why us?" she asks. "What do we have to do with this?"

"Well, there's more." And I begin to explain my short conversation with the Sun Goddess and that perhaps their odd pairing may have something to do with it all, though we are yet to find out exactly what.

"You speak to your Goddess?" Rio asks Guru, completely ignoring what I think is the most important piece of the puzzle here: his destiny bond with Astrid.

And as Guru explains how they speak to the Sun Goddess, Astrid looks a little broken by the news. Well, now there's two blows to her I've dealt in one go. First, admitting that I wouldn't go back to Silver Bow. Second, casting a doubt upon whatever it is that's blooming between her and Rio. She looks at me, a little fury cast behind her brown eyes.

I knew to expect this. All the anxious thoughts I've been having the past few days didn't just happen out of worry and regret. But because they were all true. There's nothing I can do to change destiny or whatever danger lies ahead. I just have to get over Astrid, march ahead and hope I survive long enough to see my journey come to a head. Whatever and wherever that may be.

"...perhaps you might have the innate ability to speak to your Moon Goddess, Alpha Xenakis," Guru suggests as he points to Rio's black eye.

"Where do I even begin," Rio utters.

"You could try meditating," Guru replies. "Or wait for sleep."

I shudder at the thought of sleep, though my own exhaustion suddenly dawns upon me, after the last bit of adrenaline I had from saving Valentina gets neutralized by the hot tea I sip on. I get up abruptly to leave.

"I'm going to go rest for a while," I announce.

Guru nods.

"I'll come with," Valentina offers.

"No." Her brows furrow in confusion. "I think Guru, Ganzorig and the other tigers of Sanctuary will feel safer if you stay here, Valentina."

With that, I leave. Not even turning back to see Astrid's reaction, though it tempts me despite knowing full well that she is probably staring daggers into the back of my head as I open the front door to leave.