Chapter 15 Lauren gets close and narrows her eyes. “It…it wasn’t Colt, was it?” I can’t help my eyes widen. “Hehehe…no, no…” She gasps knowing I am lying through my teeth. “Spill it! Now!” “Nope! I have stuff to dust!” I run away. “Yeah, the Alphas mouth apparently!” she shouts. I gasp and turn around. “SHUT UP STUID!” I whisper in a growl. “You are going to tell me everything!” She shouts. Nope. I turn back around and run back into the house but I have no intention to go dusting anything again. Instead, I go hide in one of the closets for another half an hour but the whole time all I can think is about Colt. The things that he says to me, the way he treats me now, the way his lips taste, and the way he touches me. This goes on all day until I finally go home where…my thoughts are also still consumed by him that night and I can barely sleep. I wake up very early feeling more tired than usual. The sun has barely come up. I get ready as I always do but Lauren and James seem to be much more chatier than usual. I hear them in the living room and it annoys When I come out, I almost flip over when I see Colt sitting on the sofa, having coffee while they all talk. “What the hell?” “Good morning, Angel,” Colt says with a smile. He did not just say that in front of Lauren and James! My face heats up and I am sure it turns all shades of red. Lauren and James look at each other with confusion. But soon a stupid smile plants itself on Lauren’s face while James still looks just confused. I am sure Lauren has not told him anything. Lauren doesn’t tell him about my private stuff and […]
Chapter 14 He stares at my lips. This makes me nervous. I feel like this is going to be a repeat of last night but we are not in a completely private place so anyone could walk in…then again, we were in the forest last night where anyone could have walked in as well. I need to say something to fill this silence and distract him. “So, you seemed quite irritated with your siblings back there,” I say. He finally looks away from my lips. “They know nothing of the world. They live in their own bubbles and act like nothing bad can touch them. Naive kids.” “You have been through a lot, haven’t you?” I whisper. Quietly, he looks up at me and nods. He looks so vulnerable right now. “And what you said about mates…” He looks down so I stop from finishing my question. His hands go through his hair and then he looks up at me again. “I told my father and everyone here that Skye died at the rade. But that was a lie. She was taken prisoner just like me.” I stay quiet as he starts to tell me what happened. “Warrick…Alpha of the Dark Fang Pack…” Warrick? That’s his name? I don’t think I have ever heard “He has these groups of women, three. They are all his mates. He offers them riches and an easy life. I can’t say if they all have been willing but…Skye was.” I hold my gasp. “Why would she…she left you for him? But…you two seemed so happy.” “I thought we were too but she only wanted me for what I could offer. In her own words, she said she didn’t want to be with me anymore because now I was a prisoner, I could offer her nothing. I was pathetic and had no power. I promised her that we would get out. That I had a plan but…she refused. She was drawn in by the power that Warren dangled in front of her. I know that she was also hurt
Chapter 13 “Uh! How the hell is this so much better? Dusting? DUSTING! How is this better?” Molly–who has been leading me to the billiard room–because apparently, the pack house has a billiard room–finally stops in front of double doors. Everyone else got better and real jobs than this. “You will start here. Dust everything especially things that are on the wall and shelves. Then continue to the other rooms in this hallway. Don’t break anything.” she says. “That’s it?” “Yeah.” She turns around and leaves. I look at the duster in my hands. “This is so stupid,” I mutter. “At least out in the gardens, my work mattered. It benefits the pack. This…this is stupid work. “So you don’t like it?” squeeze my eyes close and sigh before turning around and facing Colt whose voice I recognize. “I haven’t even started but no, I don’t think I like it.” I tell him. He has his hands in his pocket while looking at me. “Give it a chance. This will benefit many. Some people are stuck doing jobs they don’t like and I want to change that.” He says which surprises me. “You…want to change things?” He nods. “This pack is divided and I think it’s the reason we can’t move forward. If we want to defeat the Dark Fang Pack one day, we need to change things here.” “…People say that our pack and the Dark Fang pack are similar and that is why we are both feared.” “No. In no way has my father been running this pack right but it does not compare. Our pack is feared because we have been fighting them for so long and have been able to match them in battle but the way we run or pack is completely different. Trust me…” He stops talking and
Colt’s POV. I watch Cass leave the office. My stomach turns when she is near. I can’t believe this girl gives me butterflies when I see her. F**king butterflies! “That’s done but what are you up to? And why?” My father asks taking me out of my thoughts. “You know why, and also I want to see how well can the pack adapt to change.” “Mh….and that girl? Are you sure?” He asks. I nod. “I want her close. “1 “Son, I don’t understand your need for this woman. You are doing all this just to have her close?” “…Yes.” “But you won’t tell me why she is so important to you.” I stay quiet. I have told him almost everything but this, this I keep to myself. Besides the damn butterflies she keeps giving me, she has something else that I am interested in too. “Hmh. You could have your pick of the pack.” he says. “And I did pick. I want her.” “Okay, but then what is the need for all of this? You can just take her if you want her. No need to play games or wait.” “No. I want her to want me too. I want a genuine bond. Not one based on her being forced and hating me for it.” He shakes his head. “You are to be Alpha, no she–wolf in the pack would pass that opportunity. She won’t hate you.” I almost laugh because of how much he doesn’t know her. “Oh yes, she would. She is different than all the other women in the pack. She doesn’t like being told what to do.” “That can be easily corrected.” he says. “Why would I do that? I like that about her. She has a will of her own. A defiant little minx who will not just follow the herd like a sheep.” “Alright, fine. I don’t really
Chapter 11 Colt nuzzles my nose slightly. “He should know better than to mistreat his goddess–given mate. What he is doing to you, is unforgivable.” He says in a soft voice. “C–Colt.” “Yeah?” He whispers. His warm breath tickles my lips. I just called his name because I was nervous and now I don’t know what to say. But it did stall him just a bit. “What–what are you doing?” I ask him. He smiles. A real smile. I haven’t seen him really smile. “Kissing you.” He whispers. He knows that is not what I meant but before I can say anything else to distract him, his lips touch mine and I lose all my senses. All I can think about is how soft and warm his lips are. They feel amazing on mine. I completely give in. I can’t fight it. I don’t want to fight His body crashes on me. It is warm and encompasses my whole smaller body. I feel him completely. I have never felt a man’s body like this. Warm, firm, and soft at the same time. His hand caresses my shoulder and slides down until it cups my bare breast. All manner of feelings rise inside of me and my body starts to burn. His lips start to travel to my neck and the kisses stun me. It feels so good that I don’t want to move because I don’t want the kisses to end. His hands then start traveling down. He caresses my waist and it is fire. My insides turn to mush and I feel wetness between my legs. His hands now keep going down and when I realize what he is about to do, I snap out of it. I close my legs and slightly push his shoulder away. “Stop.” I whisper. He backs up and looks at me. I shake my head. “No more.” He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and nods. I sit up while he backs away and I quickly cover myself. “I already saw everything.” He gives me a cheeky smile. “Shut up.” I say shyly. I can’t even look at him in the eyes.
Chapter 10 I watch as the Alpha talks but I am still in my own head. What is going to happen now? Now that he is back. Will Colt be the one now to be Alpha next? I look at Kaecy and I know he would have no problem with that. You can even see it. He claps with a huge smile and–for the first time in nine years–looks relieved. Colt has not said a word. He is quiet and has that serious expression he always carries. I can’t decipher what he is thinking but this is not the Colt I remember from my childhood. This is also another reason why I didn’t recognize him. He is different but I am guessing that whatever he went through must have had a hand in that. The celebration continues once the Alpha is done with the announcement. Many pack members make their way to Colt to talk to him and tell him how happy they are that he is back but not me. I watch Lauren and James do the same as the others but I stay back because I can’t face him now knowing that he is Colt. I am so angry at myself and embarrassed that I was lusting for him. That I told him that I wanted him to kiss me. I feel so stupid. It almost feels like a prank he would pull back in the day. He was playing with me this whole time…they all were, weren’t they? Ugh! I don’t want to be here at all anymore. No one will care if I am not here. I turn around and walk towards the forest. “Where are you going, Curls?” Dash suddenly says walking over to me. I stop but before I turn to Dash, my thoughts go to the fact that he and the others knew. They knew and they all lied to me. This is why I don’t trust, I can’t trust. I am always taken for a fool. Anger now leads in me and I slowly turn to him. Dash immediately notices the change in my mood and for some reason, he takes a step back as if I could actually hurt him. “You! You don’t talk to me! You liar!” I shout at him. “You all are a bunch of liars! Men like you all, all they do is lief I don’t want to talk to or see any of you again!” He puts his hands up. “I am sorry Curls. we didn’t mean to lie and to be honest, it wasn’t really a lie.” Omitting information is still lying. I hate people that lie. Then again, my anger is leading right now so I might be acting a bit childish. I turn around and whisper. “I’m warning you. Leave. Me. Be.” I almost feel feral and I am sure that warning came from my wolf. She is just as pissed as I am. He doesn’t say another thing and just watches me leave. I enter the forest and start walking but soon my walk turns into a run. I make it to the house but I don’t go in. Instead, I take my clothes off and fold them, leaving them on the porch. I feel a sense of relief that now I don’t have to look over my shoulder and worry about Niles. I don’t feel sorry for what happened to him at all. He deserved it. I shift and start running. This is the only time I feel all my problems disappear. When I give my wolf control. I can easily take Cotronl back but most of the time I don’t. We take turns and I let her have her moment first. Once she is tired, she’ll give me back control and I will have my fun. I can’t communicate with her but I can feel how she feels just like she can feel how I feel. Even though I have been treated not so nicely for so long, I can’t say that I have felt alone, at least not since I turned eighteen and had her. I might not be able to talk to her but I have felt her there always. The last couple of years we have been through things together and maybe it was because of her that when Ezra turned out to be my mate, I was hopeful. Because she hadn’t experienced what I had experienced growing up but she got a taste of it and now, we are one and the same when it comes to Ezra. I hate thinking about him but I do. He is my mate whether I like it or not. I wish he would reject me so we can be done with this. Doesn’t he want to find a mate, someone he wants? Why keep going at this for so long? He could have any she–wolf he wants in the pack. Why won’t he just choose someone? Why does he have to be so cruel? What have I done to him that is this horrible? As I am alone with my thoughts and enjoying the solitude of the night and forest, I don’t notice that hours pass. The moon passes over me, stars shift and the night gets colder. I hear owls and all manners of night creatures roam the forest. To me, these are peaceful sounds. the It must be way over midnight but I know Lauren and James are not worried about me. That’s why I left my clothes on the porch. They’ll see it and know I went out to run for the night. When Niles was still alive, I did not stay long but I am not afraid anymore. I can enjoy the solitude of the night without fear. At least that’s what I thought. I turn around feeling something but there is nothing there. Maybe a coyote? I ignore the feeling and I stride a few more feet until I find a stream where I take a drink from. Again, I feel someone behind me. I turn but there is no one and I do not hear anything. I’d be really concerned if I was at the edge of the forest where our pack ends but I am not. I am still close to home and we live close to the pack house. This still does not ease my nervousness. Also if we were being attacked, we would know. Our borders are well guarded. I decide that maybe I should head back home so I start to stride only to stop because this time I did hear something in the shadows. I give my wolf control so that she can assess the situation. Her instincts are much better than mine in this form. She watches the dark corners and whatever or whoever this is, is circling us. I know what is happening here. I am being stalked. This has to be a pack member…right? Maybe their wolf is playing with me like a predator does with its prey. If that is the case, then I shouldn’t really worry. Maybe it’s even Ezra f**king with me. I realize how wrong I am when a big dark wolf that I do not recognize walks out of the shadows. I immediately panic and choke but not my wolf. She instantly takes off running and the big wolf gives chase. I might not be strong in any way like my pack members, but I am fast. I have always prided myself on that. I am small and fast. But this wolf is catching up on me. He is big and also has speed. I know now that this has to be a Beta or an Alpha. It doesn’t matter who it is, I don’t want to stop because whoever this is, it is their wolf in control and our wolves are unpredictable. If it is pissed, it can hurt us and this wolf chasing us does not look very happy.
Chapter 9 Within a few minutes, I make it back home. “Where did you go? Lauren asks with concern. “Uhm what is this celebration about?” I ask. “Oh, we don’t know. But we are all instructed to attend.” I stare at her clothes now noticing that she is wearing a dress. “It should start in
Chapter 8 “NO!” I scream. I make it hard for him as I thrash around while he attempts to take me to the hall. I kick him on the knees where I can only reach but he doesn’t budge. Using all my strength, I latch onto the bars of one of the empty cells as I continue to scream in hopes that someone outside will hear. I hear growling and the bars shake. Alexis, Dash, and the others pull on the bars but they are too weak at the moment and those bars were made to hold werewolves. They might be able to get out but it will take them some time and I don’t think I have that much time. Niles seems to give up on taking me out and now pushes me down to the ground. “Fine. I’ll take you right here. An audience will make it so much better!” I scratch his face and punch but nothing seems to work. Real panic sets in when he attempts to pull my overalls down. “NO! NOOO!” I continue to scream. Until his hand groaps my breast. It is a shock and it makes me stop. The fact that this man is touching me in this way makes me feel enraged but I react by not reacting. I stop moving, motionless and disgusted. I suddenly start to enter an abyss of emptiness and darkness. I feel calm as if I know that everything is going to be fine. I can see his eyes and his horrible face and as I look into his eyes, all I think in my head is… death. I want him to die. I want his heart to stop. I envision in my head his heart–stopping. He pulls away with a disgusting smile. Die…” I hear myself whisper. “Dic…Die!” I now scream. I feel like it is almost an illusion. His hands stop wondering my clothes and his eyes widen. I lift my hand up to his face and start scratching at it but he does nothing to stop it. All he does is clutch his chest. I scratch and scratch and then his body falls over mine as if he has lost consciousness. I immediately get him off and sit up but when I take a look at him, he has his eyes opened and I know he is dead. I scream and slide back, hitting the wall, feeling horrified. My shaky hand cups my mouth trying to muffle my scream. I look at Alexis and Dash. They all look shocked but they don’t look at Niles. They look at me. “She’s-” Dash starts to say but Alexis interrupts him. “Yeah…” “You knew?” Dash asks. Alexis shakes his head. “No.” My lips quiver and my whole body shakes. “I…I killed him…” I stutter. “I killed him…I…” I stop as the options of what will happen to me flash through my mind. “I am dead. I am dead! The Luna and Alpha will kill me!” It won’t matter that he was trying to hurt me. They will kill me for this. “Cass…Cass!” Alexis shouts. I snap out of my panic. “Get the keys.” He says. I blink a few times at him. Tears now run down my cheeks. “Cass!” He says now in a shout again. This catches my attention. I look at him as he kneels down to my level. Dash seems a bit concerned when Alexis does this. “I am dead.” I say. “They will kill me.” “No, they won’t. Get the keys.” The way he talks to me now with so much calmness makes me calm down too. I look at Niles and see the keys hanging from his pocket. Shaking, I crawl over to him and quickly grab them. I slide back to the wall, hitting it again and clutching the keys on my chest. Alexis does not attempt to take them. I feel his eyes on me. I look at him and then hand him the keys. He gets up and starts to open his cage. I start to feel a dizzy spell come over me but I try my best to stay alert. “Is it time?” Dash suddenly asks. “Yeah.” Alexis replies. He opens the cell and walks past me to where Niles lies. He kneels down and then holds his head with both his hands on each side. Then, he twists the head and breaks the neck. Alexis looks back at me. “I killed him.” He says. My eyes start to hurt while the room starts to spin. I suddenly remember that I have felt this before. “But… but… they will kill you now!” I say, shaking my head trying to stay focused. “No, I won’t lie! I won’t let you…die for me!” My voice seems to be getting weaker. He smiles and this really catches me off guard. “You are too good for this pack.” He whispers getting close to me.
Chapter 7 “He…hates you…” he mutters pondeing my answer. Still looking into his eyes, I continue. “He says I am an embarrassment…among other things.” “And you haven’t accepted his rejection?” “You assume he rejected me. It’s more the other way around. He won’t reject me or accept my rejection even though he doesn’t want me.” “Who the hell is your mate?” I suddenly hear Dash from behind Alexis. “What a fucking prick! Tell me who it is. I’ll kick the living shit out of him!” “You’ve been awake this whole time…” I mutter and I would squint my eyes at him if I could but instead, I close my eyes riding another wave of pain and once it’s done, I take in a breath of relief. “I’m a Runt. He’s one of the sons of the Alpha.” I explain. “I have to admit, that is not a good match at all.” I lower my head. “Maybe this is all a joke the moon goddess has played. To be mated to one of my childhood bullies….how funny is that? “You are mated to an Alpha?!” Dash asks with surprise. He has every right to be surprised. These things don’t happen often. The Omega Runt of the pack being mated to an Alpha, it is unheard of but it does happen. and this is why Ezra hates it. When I look up, Alexis stares at me with a bit of shock as well which surprises “I…I am sorry.” he says. His response confuses me. “You….are sorry? Why?” “Cass…” The way he says my name sounds so familiar to me. As if I have known him all of my life. I feel a connection to him and it draws me in. But why? “You don’t deserve to be treated like this…” He whispers. He looks away and gets up, letting the rag on his crotch fall. I quickly look away but not before I get a good look at his buns when he turns and walks to the cell bars. I swear I can hear Lauren whisper in my ear as if she was here right now. Something along the lines of “I’d eat those buns every damn morning if I could.” “My goddess Cass! Not the time and place!” I say in my head to myself. “Guards.” Alexis calls into the hall. The guards walk over. “She is done with me.” he says. “But I am not.” I utter. He ignores me as they get him out and take him back to his cell. I can tell that he is not up for any more conversation as he settles in his usual spot. “Here. At least clean those wounds yourself.” I say giving him the rag from in between the bars. He takes it and gives me a nod. I lie back down trying to sleep but my mind is filled with him, them. How can these men be the enemy? They are from one of the most feared packs in the country yet, they don’t act like monsters. They even treat me better than my own pack does. The next morning I wake up to clean up again. Now I clean the rogue’s cell since he never came back and then the other guys are moved from their cells for me to clean as well. In the afternoon, I head to the kitchen to get a tray of food. I am surprised that I am still allowed to move around like this after everything I said. to the guards last night. But they did tell me that the others won’t eat for another three days so this will only be for me. “Here you go.” Matilda hands me my tray of food. I look inside and see enough for myself. “Thank you.” I smile and watch her leave but I can’t do it. I can’t go and eat in front of them while they are being starved. It is dinner time so most of the cooks are in the dining room serving the food. I look around and right in the corner, I spot a basket of apples. Chapter 7 Without even thinking twice I make my way to it. My heart beats as if it were to escape my chest. When I see none of the remaining cooks looking at me. I take a few of the apples and put them inside my tray, quickly closing the lid. I run out of the door and out to the back. “Watch it, runt!” I immediately lift the tray and avoid slamming into Bryn and Kaecy. Bryn pushes me to the ground but I hold my tray as if my life depended on it. My knees and elbow get scraped and my hip gets a good beating as it hits the ground. “Watch where you are going, idiot!” she shouts. “S–sorry.” I quickly say. Not something I would say to her in fact, if I was really angry, normally I would get up and push her back but I don’t want them to see what is in my tray so I bite. my tongue.
Chapter 6 The guards lead me inside the cemented structure and the first thing I see is three guards and Green–eyes strapped to a chair. He looks like he has been beat up a bit but it is nothing he doesn’t seem to be able to handle. “Why am I here?” I ask. I don’t want to see him like this. “By order of the Luna, you are to be our little helper today.” “What?! What do you mean?!” One of the guards suddenly swings a hammer at Green–eye’s hand, smashing his fingers. He creams in pain and I scream too. With no pause, another guard swings at him with a small whipping stick that has strands at the end of the stick with blades attached to the end of the strands. “Stop!” I scream. “Stop?” The guard laughs. “These are enemies. Our job is to get any information from them in whatever way we can. The guard holds my arm, pulling me towards green–eyes and then he puts a pointy metal tool in my hands. “By order of the Luna, you are supposed to help. “No!” I scream. They all force me in front of Green–eyes. I look into his eyes and he looks into mine. There is calmness in his green seas. He doesn’t look afraid but I am. One of the guards holds my hand tight with the metal tool in it and pulls it to stab Green–eyes in between one of his fingers and his nail. He hisses when the tool pierces his skin. I use all my strength to pull back but they are too strong. I manage to free my other hand and scratch one of them. right on the face. That makes him pull back and I am able to free myself and Chapter 6 immediately I throw the tool on the floor. “NO!” I scream at them. The hand of the man I scratched swings across my face, slapping me. “This is your punishment! You are to experience what happens to those who are considered enemies of the pack. The Luna said that if you didn’t do what you were told, you would be punished even more severely.” I look at the guard with so much anger as I rub my face. Usually, I would try to contain myself but this time, I let my anger lead me. “The Luna can go and fuck herself for all I give a shit! Hurt me if you want to but I will not cause him pain! No one deserves this kind of treatment!” One of the guards gasps at my words but the other two just look at each other. “What now?” one of them asks the other. “The Luna thought this would happen. She said to let her watch. We don’t have a lot of time tonight so let’s hurry up.” I shake my head but one of them grabs me from behind and holds me close enough for me to see what is being done to Green–eyes. I close my eyes but hear everything. “STOP!” I scream as I try to get out of this guard’s grasp. But of course, they don’t stop just because I tell them to. “Talk!” the guard that tortures Green–eyes shouts. Green–eyes stays silent and continues to take everything they throw at him. Yeah, he sometimes screams and groans but he does not budge and still looks calm. As if this is something he is used to. Tears start to come out of my eyes. I hate this. I feel desperate to help Green–eyes but there is nothing I can do to stop them. “You feel for this man? He is the enemy.” the guard that holds me asks. “All I see is just a man. No faction, no color, no good or bad. Just a man.” Η The man torturing Green–eyes points a knife at me. “Naive little girl. You have no idea what these people are capable of.” “You are right! But that is because all I see is what this pack is capable off” I Chapter 6 a bad man but deep inside I don’t feel like he is. I close my eyes but find it hard to sleep but eventually, I do. However, in the middle of the night, I am woken up by the guards again. They open my cell and throw Green–eyes at me. “Clean him up since you are so fond of him!” I gasp when I see the blood on him and even though I can see that he has an expression of pain, he still looks like he is in control. Another guard brings in a bucket of water with a few rags and then they leave. but they stay in the hall. Dash lifts his head up. “Are you good?”
