I quickly scrambled to my feet and shuffled away from the intruder. He looked at me skeptically and raised his hand in gesture to show that he meant no harm, but I wasn't about to fall for his trap and let my guard down.

I squinted my eyes to get a better look at him and then the realization dawned on me. I've seen him before, more specifically; he has been chasing me for months now.

There was no way that he came in here without the intention of capturing me and offering me to the highest bidder.

"I'm not here to hurt you" he said in a calm voice taking steps closer towards me.

"Don't come any closer" I said in a panic, holding out my hands before me ready to attack if he tried anything.

"Look, you are not safe here" he sighed straightening his posture and running his hands through his hair.

"No shit" I deadpanned.

"They know you are here. They have known for months now" he said in a serious tone.

"No one knows where I am... Apart from you of course"

"They know. They have just been using the time to make a machine that they can use to control you. They don't want you dead. They want to use you as a machine to wipe out their enemies" he explained.

"Why are you telling me this? Why are you here?" I asked still not convinced.

There was just no way that a complete stranger who has been hunting you for months just randomly showed up out of the blue to warn you.

"For months I thought that you were the enemy. They brainwashed everyone to see you as a threat, but I know the truth now"

"And what is the truth?" I asked intrigued.

"You didn't kill those people on purpose, did you?" he stated it as more of a statement than a question.

I remained silent after his question. This was a very touchy topic for me, and frankly I didn't want to talk about it.

"Well I guess I have my answer" he said looking at my distraught face.

"Why are you really here?" I asked wiping away a tear before it fell.

"My brother"

"Your brother?" I asked confused.

"He doesn't know me, but I heard that you are his mate"

"Jayden" I whispered, taking a closer look at the man before me.

"Yes. If you don't get away from here now, they're going to use you to kill him"

At hearing that, my chest constricted painfully at the thought of killing my own mate. I know that we might never be together, but that didn't mean that I would ever want him dead.

"I don't know what happened between you two, but I'm sure you don't want him dead" he said stepping closer.

"Don't come any closer" I gritted out.

I wasn't about to be fooled by this man, whatever his name was. He could be here to lead me into a trap for all I know. I've never heard of Jayden having any siblings, so this just didn't make sense.

What if he was stalling?

What if this was all a diversion to get me to let my guard down?

For all I knew he could be the one that they sent to get the job done. I wasn't about to just sit back and let him full my head with lies.

"You know what? Get out!" I shouted pointing to the entrance.

He smirk at this and instead remained where he was. Something was not right here. He seemed off. I needed to get out of here now.

My senses weren't as heightened as they were before. I no longer had any form of communication with my wolf, which led me to the conclusion that whatever I was injected with all those months ago probably killed her.

The intruder started moving in my direction and I reacted almost immediately. I put my hands before me and used my power to push him back.

The only difference with all this was that he didn't move. In fact, it didn't seem like I had access to my powers anymore. My hands weren't glowing that golden glow it always did when I used my powers.

I tried again and again, but it still didn't work. I didn't understand what was happening. He was just approximately five steps away, and I still couldn't use my power.

"What did you do to me?" I accused him and he smiled in response.

"You see, while we were here 'talking' I used the distraction to drain your powers" he said bringing out a metal container from behind him.

"That's impossible. You can just take my power away" I argued.

"You're right. I can't take your power away, but I can drain you of your power just long enough to do this" he said and shortly after a powerful blow was delivered to my head from the container knocking me out.

...

Slowly opening my eyes, I blinked a few times to clear my vision. In a panic I tried to move, but was unable to do so. I looked down and saw that I was strapped to something, something I've never seen before.

"Oh good, you're awake" a man dressed in a lab coat said fixing his glasses and writing down something on his notepad.

"Where am I?" I croaked.

He didn't respond, he just kept on checking me and writing down stuff. He shined a bright light in my eyes and on reflex they closed on their own accord.

He kept this up for a long time, just walking around me and writing down things. If his lab coat was anything to go by, I think he was studying me.

He turned away for a second and I was able to summon my power in my hand and as I was about to knock him out so that I could break free the worst thing happened to me.

I felt an excruciating pain in my back. There was something inside me that felt like I was being drilled with a thousand needles. I let out a pained cry struggling against my restraints until the pain subsided.

When I no longer felt the pain, I let out a relieved sigh. I've thought that I've felt pain in my life, but this time it was different. It couldn't be compared to all the pain I have felt in my lifetime of abuse. This was far worse and I honestly didn't want to feel it ever again.

"Now if you behave, I won't be forced to do that again" the man said turning around to cast a deadly glare in my direction.

"Why am I here?" I asked.

"Research purposes" he responded taking up a syringe and walking over to me.

"What are you doing?" I asked panicked, pulling against my restraints.

"I can't have another slip up like that happen. I can't exactly take your power from you, because apparently given enough time you'll recharge" he said and stuck the needle into my neck.

I looked at him with blurry vision, not being able to see clearly. Whatever was in the syringe worked really quickly.

I felt numb. I couldn't feel a thing and I couldn't move. I tried to talk, but no words came out. My body was not responding to my brain. Nothing worked.

He took this time to cut my stomach opened. I looked at him horrified as he cut me open. I couldn't feel a thing or voice my protest, so all I could do was lay there and let this crazy man examine my insides.

His brows furrows and he looked a bit disappointed as he inspected my insides.

"You're just like a normal person. There isn't even anything different about you apart from the fact that you have powers" he frowned.

I wanted to laugh at his disappointment. Did he think I had a tree growing inside me or something?

I was cut short from the sarcastic remarks running through my head when he reached in and grabbed something.

"If the legends are correct, then you shouldn't die if I pull out your heart and if they are incorrect... Well then" he said pulling out whatever it was that was inside me.

He held it up in his hands and I was horrified to see that it was heart. It was beating erratically in his grasp as he held it close to his face to examine it, I assumed. My heart had a red glow to it and there wasn't even any blood present. It looked like something out of a fairytale.

"Wow. I have never seen anything like this before" he said with a victorious smile, like he just won the lottery.

For him, this was probably the most amazing thing to happen in his life. The only question running through my mind was: why wasn't I dead?

"So the legends are true. You can survive without your heart inside your body" he smiled and looked at me.

"I wonder if I were to squeeze it, what would happen" he said looking at my heart in his hand.

I was confused as to what he was talking about, but because I couldn't voice my concerns I had to remain quiet and see what he would do next.

Just when I thought he wasn't going to do anything, he squeezed my heart. I could feel a sharp pain in my chest where my heart should be. It felt like the more he squeezed the closer I was to death.

He squeezed my heart even more, to the point that I couldn't breathe. I thought that this would have been my last moments, but boy was I wrong. A strong surge of energy was released from my heart, sending the man's body flying in the glass, which shattered into many tiny pieces.

Seeing the man unmoving on broken glass brought a feeling of de ja vu. It reminded me of what I had done months ago.

Not wanting to dwell on the past, I focused on getting my body to move again. After trying multiple times, I gave up. It was no use.

"Over here!" I voice shouted and then I heard footsteps.

I perked up at this, praying that they weren't here to run more tests on me, but rather to save me. Just as I thought about this, I realized that I had no one to rescue me.

They were probably in here for that crazy man and not me. With all hope lost, I looked up at the ceiling and awaited my fate.

"Fuck" I heard a familiar voice curse.

I knew that voice from somewhere, but at the same time I couldn't put a face to the owner. Instead I waited patiently to see who it was.

"Why isn't she healing?" that same familiar voice said in a frustrated tone.

"We don't know" someone replied.

"Is that- Is that her heart on the ground?" the familiar voice asked again. By this time I could have seen who it was by now, but instead I kept my eyes cast upwards.

"It is" and not too long after did I see someone over me with my heart and then the person put it back inside me where it belonged.

"Sew her up now. We have to leave before the rest of them get back" the familiar voice commanded.

The person walked over to me and took my hand kissing it, but I still couldn't feel a thing. He looked at me with guilt and remorse. I was surprised to see those sorts of emotions swarming through his usually cold eyes.

Still not being able to say anything, we just stared at each other not saying a thing with him still holding my hand.