Damon: The Cursed Alpha

Lyla’s Pov

My eyes opened slightly, rebelling the light that penetrated towards it. I tried lifting up my body from the cold hard floor but I couldn’t. I looked down to see my hands had been tied tightly together with my legs as my back was resting against a wall.

“Lyla, are you okay?” I looked beside me to see Pearl with a deep cut on her mouth. She was also tied down as much as I was tied down like an animal about to be used for a sacrifice.

“Where are we?” I asked her, feeling the taste of blood in my mouth.

“I don’t know, Lyla. I woke up to see us like this. My head fucking hurts, the last thing I remember was being at the mall”

Then it clicked, I had gone to the mall with Pearl during the day to get us some nice dresses for the family dinner she’ll be attending with Lucas, her boyfriend later in the week.

We then went to the library to get a book for my brother. We had gotten halfway when the driver suddenly stopped and before we could say flapjack, the driver got down and other men took over while two men joined us in the back seat. Before we could scream for help, I was hit with a hard object .

I closed my eyes and opened it once more, trying to confirm if I was really locked up in a place smelling like a…

“This place smells like a fucking horse urine. if Aurora was here, she would’ve thrown up a million times” Pearl said, confirming my thoughts.

If the situation had been different, I would’ve had a good laugh but now the thought just wasn’t coming to my head.

“Who do you think could have brought us here?” Pearl asked.

“Maybe the cult” I replied with the only answer I could get.

My brother, Henry and his friends; Sebastian, Derek and Lucas, who happens to be Pearl by force boyfriend, have been against a big time Cult group in town for years now and this could properly be them retaliating.

“What cult?” Pearl being so chatty at this time made me wonder how well she was taking the situation. I hate to admit it, behind my jovial, playful and always smiling character lies a fragile and scared child who lost her parents way too early in life.

“The same ones…”

I was about replying when the door suddenly opened, it had been pushed strongly enough to bounce against the wall and echo around the empty room.

A tall giant came in, walking with a cane supporting his movement, his face was scarred and he looked nothing less than 60 or maybe 65 years old.

“Why are there two girls?” He asked, turning to the guys behind him.

The two guys replied to him in a language that I don’t quite understand.

“So you’re telling me that this one” He said pointing to me, “is a mistake” He turned towards the guys with the guns and they nodded.

“Get me Damon. Since we don’t need her, we can as well waste her” My body tenses up at his words. Waste, as in kill.

How did I get here?

My heart pounded as tears rolled down my face, I wanted to free myself and as much as I tried getting the rope off my hand, it didn’t work.

“Lucas must think himself lucky to have such a beautiful lady like you” The man touched Pearl’s face and she spat on him.

He held her tightly by the hair and slapped her almost immediately.

Still holding her by the hair, he said,“Maybe Lucas didn’t tell you a little bit of his past, Young lady. If he had told you, you would know I’m not someone to mess with”

“Fuck you, you hear what I said, coward, fuck you a million times”

Angrily, the man threw her to the other side of the room, her head hitting the wall. She screamed out at the impact.

“You better give yourself some senses, girl or else I’ll call my boys and watch them take turns with you over and over till your tiny body gets so exhausted that you’ll beg for death” He threatened as he hovered over Pearl. She wasn’t moving and she was scaring me. I wanted to call out her name but I knew I couldn’t.

He turned to look at me angrily.

“What’s your name?” He suddenly asked while cleaning his hands off.

“Lyla” I replied through tears.

“Such a nice name. It’s such a shame that I’ll have to waste you. You know why?” He asked and I shook my head. “You’re just an unexpected abduction. She was the target and not you. When you see God up there, tell him to make you lucky in your next life”

Not understanding what he was saying, I kept looking at the floor asking for a last chance from God.

The door suddenly opened for the second time.

A really nice smell hit my nose, making me wonder where such a nice smell was coming from. This place wasn’t smelling this nice when I first got here and now I have to embrace the wooden smell, that was just like the way books smell which draw me to the library each and every time.

When I looked up to trace the smell, the first thing I saw was a gun, whoever it was was holding a gun. I couldn’t possibly run, so I crouched into the wall more, hoping it’ll open up and swallow me.

The old man in front of me stood up and walked towards the man who had come in with the gun.

“Waste her” He instructed him.

The guy didn’t waste any time in lifting up the gun as instructed. I looked up in the direction at which the gun was lifted.

Our eyes met and mine widened in shock. His deep blue eyes penetrated mine, shaking me to the core. I suddenly wanted to run towards him and pull him into a tight hug but I couldn’t as the situation doesn’t warrant it.

The gun still pointed at me, he smirked, dropped the gun back down and swore terribly.

“What’s the matter, Damon? Kill her” the old man screamed at him.

“I can't,” he simply replied.

“Why?”

Mate

My eyes widened one more time when I realized he hadn’t opened his mouth to say a word and yet I heard the word, mate.

Damon’s POV

“We heard Callister was kidnapped last night” The motherfucking snowfall Alpha, Alpha Xander was sitting in front of me asking me that stupid question with a smug on his face.

I’ve been in a meeting with this man for hours, going on and on about the pack's politics and security affairs. He’s hellbent on knowing everything going on here all because he was sent by the werewolf committee of leaders to do an internal inspection of our pack.

Ever since he arrived here, he had been hellbent on knowing more about every pack member, those living in the pack house and those who decided to stay in their own apartment. I’d also given him the honor of going through our financial system, yet, this man deem it fit to still look down on me.

“Why is Callister any of your business, Alpha?” I asked, annoyance fixed in my words

“You do not talk to an Alpha like that Damon” He threatened

I smiled at his stupidity.

“Callister is one of my dogs and my most loved pet. I don’t know where you got the information to make you think Callister is one of my men but in case you need to know, Callister wasn't kidnapped, it just lost its way and as it had been trained to look after itself, be rest assured that he’ll be fine” I replied with the stick of cigarette between my fingers.

I didn’t explain any further because I didn’t owe him any explanations because I know he would have realized just how stupid he was.

“If that is the case, then I hope your dog will be fine” he shifted uncomfortably in his seat before he continued talking, “I wish to discuss a business deal with you and I need to ask you this paramount question, can I trust you?”

He was already getting on my nerves with his stupid questions and assumptions.

“You do know I have no obligation to sit here and answer all of your questions, right? I’m just been considerate because you’re a friend to my father. My father is the one who’s supposed to be here, listening to your rants and You come into my crib to talk about fucking trust. Should I remind you of who I am?” I yelled, right into his face.

Losing my temper is one of the many fine attributes I’ve got and I’m glad it always comes at times when I need it the most. How can this man come into my home and ask me about trust?

“I don’t want to know who you are, Damon. It’s not necessary for you to remind me of what you are. I know you and I’ve heard so much about you. You’re Damon; ruthless, heartless, and evil, but yet, you walk in the shadows of your father. You’re a coward, which is no surprise about how you ended up being a fucking Beta” He spat and o lost all control.

My claws came into view as I walked toward the Alpha as a predator walked toward his prey.

Before he could block the impact of the hit that I was about to grace his face with, it landed on his shoulder and I heard a crack before his face wrinkled in pain.

He was an Alpha; he wasn’t expected to show pain.

I moved closer to him, pulled him up by his shirt and threw him against the wall.

“Need I remind you that I’m not only the son of an Alpha but also the son of two Alphas. I’m much faster, stronger than you, Alpha and if you piss me off, I will break your bones, one by one, pack it up in a bag and send it to your family. Do you understand?” I growled.

He nodded.

“Very well! Good you know that. It’ll be best if you stop asking me about trust. If you want to put your money and your life on the line, good luck to you and if not, use my door, other packs will receive you and your business deals willingly” I replied.

The man kept on looking at me as if he was pondering on what to do next while still on the floor, breathing heavily from pain. I ignored his stare and placed my cigarette in my mouth, drew a deep one and blew the smoke into the air.

“I heard you were cursed while you were still in your mother’s womb” I smirked.

I wouldn’t be surprised about how news spread in the werewolf pack, I mean, we move faster than regular people, so obviously our news should spread.

“By your fucking goddess, yes. I heard too, Alpha. It was a really unpleasant curse but you know one thing, I loved how the spell was spoken and placed. Damn! That woman must be related to Williams Shakespeare” I said referring to the goddess.

For each and every pack, the goddess is worshipped in different forms, while others think of her as the sun goddess, we worship her as the river goddess.

“You’re a psychopath”

“You won’t be the first person to tell me that, Alpha. Let’s get straight to business, when are you leaving this place?”

His head whipped up in surprise. It was the first time in his life that he would be walked out of a pack. I don’t care if the fucking elders summon me to a disciplinary meeting, it wouldn’t be the first I’ll attend, and neither will it be the last one.

“Only when the elders want me to” I nodded

“Well, why don’t we send you back to the elders without your legs? At least, they’ll know you didn’t try to leave on your own accord” I stared hard at him so he would know I wasn't playing.

Thinking I was joking, he looked at me amusingly, until I reached down to the bottom drawer of my mahogany desk, and brought out a chainsaw with blood stains on it.

“You can’t do that, Damon” he yelled

“I already told you to leave, Alpha but you refused and now, I have to do what I have to do”

I said walking towards him.

“I have uranium”

That made me stop in my tracks.

Uranium was an element used in the olden packs, years long before my great grandparents were born to hide out pack from the outside world and that is why we have been able to coexist with humans while staying fitter away at the outskirts of their town but these days, Uranium has been scarce to find and difficult to use as this leads to the exposure of many packs to humans, hunters, and vampires.

“It’ll be delivered to you by tomorrow, tens of it, just make me stay here for one more night”

“If you are lying, you know what the consequences would be right”

He nodded. I helped him up to his feet and walked him toward the door.

“Your wife and kids still stay on that private island of yours, right? The one you brought a few years ago from that Italian, right” I threatened.

The Alpha angrily nodded and walked out of my door with his suitcase in his hands.

White angel is the name of our pack. My father was supposed to be the Alpha till I was seventeen. Once I turned seventeen, I was supposed to perform some rituals to be able to become an Alpha, but due to the curse that the goddess placed on me and because of my hatred for her as well, I refused to take the oath of allegiance and there, the goddess rejected me as an Alpha.

Sadly..

Not…

That was exactly what I wanted to happen.

“Damon, the girls are here” My gamma, Tunde, rushed into my office and informed me. He was my closest friend in the pack ever since I turned eleven “The Alpha wants you on base 9”

“Girls?” I asked surprisingly.

It was supposed to be one girl and I hadn’t even expected the one girl to be here. I’d sent a message to that son of a gun called Lucas to make sure he protects his girl with everything but he had been so careless that he still let her slip away like this.

“Have you seen Bagon?” Bagon was the guy I sent to deliver the message to Lucas and I hadn’t heard anything from him ever since.

“His body got washed offshore this morning. We couldn’t tell you because you were in a meeting”

“Shit!” I banged my hand hard against the table in front of me.

“Let’s go” I grabbed my car keys and hurriedly headed to base 9.

Base 9 is a training ground for the pack warriors and a place of death for any stranger taken into base 9. Nobody enters base 9 and leaves the same way they entered. It was forbidden and if any member helped them to escape, he’ll have to pay with his life.

“They took another girl with them, she was with Lucas’s girl in the car and they had to bring them together. The Alpha wants you to eliminate the girl” Tunde explained.

“Why should I be the one doing the killing at every time?”

“You know how the Alpha is, he loves it when someone else has their hands in innocent blood than his. You don’t want to kill the girl”

“I don’t fucking give a damn about any other girl. Killing her would be easy”

I was on the edge of losing my sanity. Whoever had killed Bagon had known of his mission, but one thing I wasn’t sure of yet was if the person knew it was connected to me or whoever the fuck that asshole who thinks he can mess up with me was.

“What about Lucas’s girl?” Tunde asked

“Until we get there. But whatever happens, before we get there is none of my business” I groaned.

We got to base 9 and passed through the heavy gates before we walked into the building where one of my father’s boys led us to the room where they were holding both girls hostage.

Tunde gave me my gun before I walked in alone. I saw my father crouched down before a girl and when I looked at the other one, she was sitting in a corner, her eyes everywhere, reminding me of a wild animal.

Not one glint of fear passed through her face as she glared at my father, oblivious of my presence.

“Waste her!” my father walked towards me and pointed to the girl he had been talking to.

I watched her move closer into the wall behind her while whimpering. Her gingerred hair was what first caught my attention. I ran my eyes down her delicate figure.

She suddenly lifted her head and our eyes met. Her eyes widened in surprise as if she knew who I was. My breath hitched and for the first time in a long time, my heart started breathing rapidly. There was something about this girl that kept me captivated. It was as if her big green eyes were ready to swallow me whole, making me feel different or maybe the beautiful scent coming from her was keeping me trapped.

Not bothered about how she knew who I was, I lowered my gun and for the first time, I was ready to break a rule.

What’s the matter, Damon? Kill her” my father screamed at me.

“I can’t,” I said

“Why?”

Mate My wolf growled.

Lyla’s POV

“Mate?” I whispered out not loud enough to hear. I slowly turned my head to look at Pearl for the second time and tried to see if she'd understand what he meant by the word “mate” but I realized she was still crumbling onto the floor, oblivious to what he had said.

“Follow my instructions Damon and kill this disgusting human” The old man yelled one more time.

Pearl suddenly lifted her head, looked at Damon with surprise evident on her face as if she knew him, and then back at me, as if trying to send a word to me.

“You know them?” The old man asked Damon

”No” Damon dropped his gun and walked towards me.

He lifted my chin up and made me look into his eyes and through the dark, his bright blue eyes still shone out his color. His cold and empty eyes scared me to death and made my heart flutter uncontrollably. His eyes were as good as dead, there was nothing living in it.

“What’s your name?” I looked at him surprisingly.

“You’re Damon, right? Lucas told me about you. Please don’t hurt her, please” Pearl screamed at him from the other side of the room.

Almost immediately, Damon pulled the trigger of the gun and shot at Pearl, I screamed out until I realized he had shot at the wall and not directly at her.

“You speak when spoken to” He threatened. His voice sounded different, he talked as if he rarely opened his mouth to make a speech.

“What is your name, Bunny?” He asked gently.

“Lyla” I silently replied, not being able to stop the tears from falling.

“Cute” He simply replied and stood up to face the ruthless old man.

“Why are you hesitating, Damon? You never bring out a gun without pulling the trigger. You know the rules, Son. Once the gun is out, a person must die”

Bang! Bang!!

Damon shot one of the other guys twice in the head and I screamed out as I watched the guy fall flat on his face, with blood pooling around his head. Pearl was already shaking on a spot with beads of sweat dripping down her face.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Damon? You just kill your own people” The man asked.

“Hice lo que me habías dicho” Damon replied in a language that I didn’t understand. (I did as you had instructed)

“Eso no se suponía que iba a pasar. deberías haberla matado a ella y no a él” The old man banged the wall hard before turning to glare at Damon who didn’t even flinch from any of the man’s actions. (That wasn’t supposed to happen, you should have killed her and not him)

“I didn’t want to because I didn’t feel like” Damon turned to look at me once more and began to walk out of the room.

“What am I supposed to do with her then? She is a mistake and you know we can’t take her back”

I was still shaking from the fear and I couldn’t take my eyes away from the guy that was on the floor.

“Send her to my house Unhurt”

After saying that, Damon walked towards the door and once, he turned to look back at me with a smirk before walking out of the room, leaving me with the others.

“You’re not deaf, you heard what he said, llevarla a su casa” The man said, screaming at the two guys left in the room. “And tell some of the boys to come to clean up this mess”

The two guys walked toward me and I began to move further away from them. I couldn’t possibly move any further than the room, they grabbed me and I tried moving out of their hands.

Seeing that I wasn’t cooperating, one of them yanked my hair and forced me to face him.

“Stop fighting it, idiot”

For the first time that day, Pearl was in tears.

“Lyla” She screamed out as I was being dragged out of the room.

I couldn’t scream because the pain from my hair being pulled was becoming unbearable and painful. All I could do was wave my hand at her for help.

I was roughly pushed into a car as one of the guys blindfolded me. Scared, I began to shake furiously. I couldn’t stay put, I couldn’t think straight as the car began to move towards an unknown destination.

Few minutes later, the car abruptly stopped and once again, I was pushed out of the car. The blindfold was removed and I looked around, trying to adjust my eyes to the light that was shining brightly toward it.

“Move, Perra” One of the guys pushed me towards a door. I looked around to see there was a mansion standing in front of me, the fence surrounding it was so tall that I couldn’t see the surrounding environment.

“I said move, don’t play games with me, Puta” He opened the door and dragged me in.

As we entered, an old woman in an apron walked towards us.

“Tell Damon his visitor is around” The guy dropped my hand, untied my legs and threw the ropes towards the other guy at the door and almost instantly, they both walked out of the door, leaving me with the old woman.

“Come have a sit, my child” The old woman who happened to be the nicest person I’d seen all day, gestured for me to sit down at one of the expensive cushions placed in the center of the house.

“Will you drink some water?” She asked and I nodded trying to check out where I was.

Once the water was served, I took a sip. As it touched my dry throat, I felt sad all of a sudden. It was as if the calmness that came with the cold water brought with it reality.

I busted into tears. As I was still crying, I lifted up my hands to see it was badly bruised and so were my legs. I cried harder as I remembered that Pearl was still stuck in God knows where. I don’t even know where I am not to talk of what my fate would be.

The old woman returned with a plate of food minutes later, took me to sit at the dining table, and almost begged me to eat. I was in terrible fear of the unknown and food wasn’t just as appealing as it used to be to me.

What if the food was poisoned?

“Where am I, please?” I pleaded, asking for some clarity.

“You’re safe, my child” She replied, probably not wanting to disclose the location to me.

“Eat your good before it gets cold” The older woman instructed and left. I didn’t do as instructed, rather, I kept on looking at the food, while the tears still didn’t stop.

“Stop the tears! Now!!” I turned to see it was Damon. He was walking towards me with his killer looks and immediately, I swallowed the tears and cleaned my face.

I quickly stood up, scared of him and what he could actually do. After witnessing him killing a guy tonight, I was sure he wasn’t the person I know.

Damon walked towards me and suddenly held my face in his hands and made me sit back.

“Eat” He simply said. That was enough for me to sit back, grab the fork, and started shoving the food down my throat.

“Good bunny” he complimented while patting my hair down. I wanted to cry but the tears wouldn’t come out of fear.

“Do you know me?” He whispered in my ear. His cold lips making contact with my ear made me shiver.

“No” I shakingly replied, dropping the fork. I couldn’t look him in the eyes out of fear.

Liar He turned my face to him and I knew his lips didn’t move when he called me a liar. I shake the weird thoughts coming into my head.

He looked into my eyes intently as if reading me.

On closer look, I noticed the thin scar that ran across his face, starting from the base of his right eye, passing his nose and stopping right at the top of his upper lip.

“Where do you stay, Bunny?” He asked

“California” I replied

“You stay with your family, right? Father, mother, and siblings”

He picked up the fork and placed a bit of the food in my mouth. I quickly collected the food and swallowed it.

“Yes,” I quietly replied.

“Strange, right?” He suddenly asked and I nodded confusingly.

“The bath is ready, Master” The old woman announced upon her arrival. Damon stood up and dragged me by the hand after him.

We got into a room, it was painted blue and almost everything in the room, including the bedspread, the curtains, the wardrobe, and even the tables were blue. He suddenly stepped back a little from me while I continued watching him, placing his hands into his pocket, he said,

“Strip”

What!

“I want to see if you’re worth this foolish games that the goddess is about to start playing with me”

Lyla’s POV

“Strip” He repeated, growling at me this time. I trembled and shivered at the loud and strange sound.

It resonated across the room, making me jumpy and scared. I clenched the hem of my dress tightly, as silent tears rolled down my face.

“Do you want me to repeat myself?” He asked and I began shaking my head furiously.

“No? No, to removing the dress or no to repeating myself”

“No” I just replied silently.

“No? You dare defy me, Bunny” he started walking slowly toward me. I walked away from him as he got nearer until my back hit the wall of the room and I couldn’t run any further.

A murderous look was etched on his face and it wasn’t until he was closer that I saw the scar that ran across his face.

“You dare say no to my request,” He said softly, making me look up at him. Once I did, I saw a hint of amusement on his face.

“You don’t have to remove the dress, keep it on. I just needed to find out how unwillingly you can be under pressure” He said, moving away from me.

He brought out a gun from his pants and pointed it at me suddenly while his right hand banged the wall beside my head, and he caged me with a gun at one side and his hand on the other.

Once the gun touched my head, I shivered and tears again started rolling without control, my mouth was shaking out of the mumbled cry.

I thought he said it was okay!

He suddenly started moving the gun down to my neck, used it to caress my lips as I prayed silently that the trigger should not be pulled.

He stopped at my breast, smiling. Suddenly, he looked me in the eye and I turned, avoiding his gaze. His lips suddenly caressed my cheek before moving dangerously close to my ear.

“Were you trying to protect this? Just asking out of curiosity” He asked, referring to my breast. “Or………” he trailed off as he traced the gun down my body and below he could get right between my stomach, I pushed him off.

“Stop, please” I begged with my eyes closed, becoming uncomfortable with his lunatic actions.

open your eyes and look at me

I didn’t know if those were his words or his voice that I keep on hearing in my head but I know I obeyed, I opened my eyes slightly to look at him.

He suddenly touched my eyes with his finger before replacing it with his lips. I shivered at the sudden contact and I felt goosebumps all over my body. It was relaxing yet uncalled for.

Damon moved back, took a big look at me, and commanded, “strip” surprisingly, he walked closer, brought out a towel and turned his back at me, probably waiting for me to strip.

“Why?” I asked, my voice shaky from crying for so long.

“I’m not comfortable with your smell. So, strip, take a fucking shower, put on my shirt and get to bed” he commanded, his back still turned to me.

I stood rooted at a spot, not wanting to move or strip myself of my dress because I didn’t quite understand what the hell that was going on.

“Do you want me to force that cloth off your body just to get you to strip? I’ll fuck you till both of your legs until you can’t walk anymore if you piss me off. So, don’t get me mad at you, Bunny, and don’t make me repeat myself after this. Strip!” He suddenly turned, facing me now.

Embarrassingly, I began stripping. I looked at him pleadingly once I saw he wasn’t going to respect my privacy. He only etched his eyebrow at me and urged me to go on.

“What are you waiting for?” He asked

“For you to turn” I replied.

“When I did that, you didn’t listen” He suddenly strides towards me but before I could move back, he suddenly turned.

“Make it snappy” he growled. I didn’t wait for further talks before I removed my dress and wrapped the towel around myself.

“I’m done” I called out.

He turned to face me and pointed to a door.

“Go in there and take your shower. Meet me out here in five minutes. Don’t you dare try to run through the bathroom window, there are shards of glasses on the floor right outside and I am not promising it won't reach up to your knee once it enters your legs” he said, scaring me off.

As if waiting for another clarification, my feet stayed rooted at the spot. I couldn’t move, I was too scared to take a step past him.

He had already turned his back to me as he was busy unbuttoning his shirt, and when he peeled the shirt off his body, my mouth opened on its own accord.

Apart from the tattoo covering up half of his body, he is almost a god with that wellsculptured chest and wellbuilt arms.

“Waiting for me to turn fifty before going into the shower” His humor came strange to me.

“What?” I asked, my Brain not processing the current situation after seeing the body of a god.

“Into the shower, now!” He yelled at me and I scrambled away into the bathroom. As I ran past him, I saw a word tattooed on his back; Lycan amidst us. I wondered what that meant but decided against it as it was none of my business.

The bathroom happened to be like a place of relief, I sat on the tiled floor, rested my back against the bathtub, and kept on asking myself how I ended up there.

My body trembled as the first bout of tears started, I was confused, angry, and frustrated. How did I end up in the house of a man who looks so much like my Damon but not him? Where am I?

My brother, Henry would have gone through so much trouble by now. The old man had mentioned that I was an unexpected Abduction, confusing me. Once I remembered Pearl, My heart cried for her.

Not realizing a presence in the bathroom, I was suddenly lifted up from the floor. I screamed at the sudden intrusion and tried fighting off but Damon was too strong to be fought off.

He suddenly dropped me in the bathtub, and turned on the shower, still holding my hand tightly. He took the bath gel and a soft sponge, poured a little bath gel into the sponge, and began washing me.

With a towel still wrapped around my body.

“I can do it by myself” I was exhausted and angry.

“Like I asked you to talk! Listen and listen well, Bunny. When I tell you to do something and you do not follow my instruction to precision, there’ll be consequences and if I do not tell you to talk and you do, I’ll put a bullet straight in your head and watch life escape you. Do you understand me?”

i would never put a bullet through your head, not now, not ever

I replied through the water running down my body, despite the other sentence that I heard “Yes”

He walked out of the bathroom, leaving me alone in there.

Once I was done, I walked out of the bathroom with the towel wrapped around me. As I walked out, he was right outside the door. Before I could walk past him, he pulled me back and buried his face in my neck.

“Now you smell better” he replied before walking into the bathroom to take a shower.

I sat down on the bed and held on to my torn dress, waiting for a miracle to happen and probably stitch itself back.

When he walked out, he threw a shirt at me and without questions or words, I knew I had to put it on.

“Get into bed” he commanded

“Why?” I questioned, scared of what could happen if I got into the bed like he had said.

He laughed hysterically, “I do not know how to take a woman by force. If I’ll be fucking you at all, you’ll be the one who begged for it. Now get into the bed with your little ass and tight pussy before you get me mad” He demanded and I quickly jumped into bed, crawling to the farthest corner.

Switching off the light, I felt his weight on the other side of the bed, and before a few seconds, he was breathing heavily.

During the night, I heard wolves howling and I became jumpy as the last one sounded right outside the window. Through the rest of the night, my eyes were wide open, hoping for a miracle to happen or maybe for something to capture and kill me.

But none of it happened and I didn’t have a choice but to sleep a little bit waiting for what will happen the next day

I watched as the tiny, shy girl walked into our apartment, a red rose in her hand. She was looking at the ground even though her mother was holding her hand as she walked in.

“Mary,” the woman exclaimed upon seeing my mother. My mother rushed out of the kitchen and went on to hug the woman before looking down at the pretty girl that was busy hiding behind her mother.

“What’s your name, pretty child?” My mother asked.

The girl slowly walked out from her mother’s behind and opened her mouth to tell my mother her name.

“That’s such a pretty name, darling. Come here and meet my son” My mother, oblivious that I had stopped playing the video game and was already enchanted with the beautiful princess who just walked in, came towards the sofa I was sitting on.

“This is my son, Damon. He’s a nice boy just like you. You can play with him while I talk to your mother, okay baby?” She smiled and nodded at my mother, revealing her pretty dimples.

“If you need anything, I’ll be right there,” her mother told us and followed my mother back to the kitchen.

“Would you like to play?” I asked and she shook her head, meaning she wasn’t interested in my game.

“Why?” I asked, blinking at her.

I might have been seven but I wouldn’t lie that I like this girl very much. She was pretty and the color of her eyes is the same as my favorite color; emerald green.

“I don’t know how to play” she replied with her melodious voice that sounded like a song to my ears.

“Can I teach you?” I asked and she looked at me strangely.

“You’re not a teacher” she replied, almost making me laugh.

“I’m a big boy. My mother told me I was old enough to take care of myself when I turned seven last month. So that means I can teach you how to play too. How old are you?”

“Five” She replied, showing me her five fingers.

“Okay, Princess. Can I teach you now? The game is called rocket league” I asked, already getting impatient.

“Princess,” she said and sat right beside me, a sign that she was ready to be taught.

“Yes, Princess. You look just like a Princess to me and I’ll call you that every day” I informed her, making her smile at me.

We began the gaming lessons and I taught her everything that I knew about the game including how to start it and how to play, not caring if she got everything I was saying or if the teaching was too much for her. I just wanted to keep staying beside her, and listen to her talk about her favorite movies, color, and friends.

By the time it was evening, she was ready to leave with her mother. She promised to come back again after that day while I tried to contain my sadness and look forward to seeing her again.

She kept her promise and kept on coming back with or without her mother.

The last day I saw her was on a Friday, a year after our first meeting, she came to our place after coming back from school in her father’s black car usually driven by their driver and we decided to go out to the park. My mother said I needed it, I needed to mingle with friends since I was homeschooled. She told one of her father’s bodyguards to go with us.

My father had forbidden me from going to school, he said it’ll corrupt my mind, and change me from following the family’s legacy. He said it’ll soften me and make me cry like a girl.

I didn’t know what school looked like and I haven’t been to one. I didn’t have any friends other than my beautiful princess and with her, I don’t care about anybody else.

By the time we got to the park, it was evening already. The first thing we saw was a swing. She sat in one and I stood behind her, pushing her the other way, making her giggle and laugh.

She was laughing so hard and I was glad she was happy. I was also glad I was the one that was making her laugh and not someone else.

It got into my head and I began pushing her more than usual. She told me to stop or slow down but I didn’t listen, I thought she liked it, so I continued.

Suddenly, she was thrown off the swing, landing with her face flat on the ground. She cried out in pain and I quickly ran to her side.

“You hurt me, Damon” she cried out.

“I’m sorry princess, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m sorry” I held her tiny hands and kept on apologizing.

I had hurt my princess and I’m a monster.

“Why are you crying, Damon? I’m the one who’s hurt not you”

“I’m hurt because you’re hurt, Princess. That’s why I’m crying too”

She cleaned my face with her dirty hands, told me to stop crying, and threw her hands around my neck, hugging me.

“I know you didn’t mean to hurt me, D. It’s okay” I smiled at her and she smiled in return, with tears on her cute face.

“I promise I’ll always protect you, Princess”

“Okay, D” she replied and hugged me back.

I made that promise thinking I’ll always be there right beside her, protecting her, keeping her close, I never knew she was going to leave that same night without a goodbye.

It seems I never kept any of my promises, not to her, not to my mother, and not to myself.

Damon’s POV

I woke up startled, drenched with my own sweat even though the A.C. was on, confused at first but then got angry at myself for having that nightmare again.

Ever since she left, I’d always dreamt about our meeting but never about her leaving. Guess this night was a different night then.

After she left, I cried, whined, and begged just for me to see her again and when my father got tired, he threw me into the dark room for two days, without food or water. I was dying not knowing what I’d done to deserve such a punishment.

Even when he, later on, thought I’d forgotten about her, I didn’t.

A figure came into my sight and when I turned, I realized it was my mate that I’d saved earlier on that was curled up in a corner of the bed like a ball, sleeping soundly like a baby.

I moved closer to her, and removed the hair that was covering her face. She looked so beautiful with her long eyelashes and pouty lips. I thought of how those soft lips would feel against mine. The thought sent signals right to my dick, making me hard all of a sudden.

Calm down, big man! She’s out of limits! For now!

Unlike other werewolves who had the ability to communicate with their wolves, I couldn’t. That was the price I had to pay when I refused to say the oath of allegiance.

I can’t deny the fact that my mate was beautiful and how much her eyes reminded me of that of my princess but I know if she was the same person, her life would be in danger.

Gently I kissed her forehead and her shoulder before standing up to leave the bed, in fear of what would happen if I stayed.

I wanted her, I wanted to mark her and make her mine but I know I should be careful with her, she’s fragile and I know I shouldn’t touch her.

I need a run!

I took one last look at my mate, before walking out of the room, stripped my cloth off my body, walked into my closet, and shifted into the curse that I was.

Lyla’s POV

I opened my eyes slowly as light streamed into the room through the slightly opened window. I closed my eyes back, to try and get a clearer vision.

Who dared open my window during the night? I might end up skinning someone alive today if care is not taken.

“Should I close the window, madam?” The strange voice suddenly got me opening my eyes quickly.

Who is that?

It was when I looked up that the whole memory of what had happened the previous day came rushing back. My senses became alerted when I looked around and took in the surroundings. I was in his room, on his bed, in his shirt but…

Where is he?

Inwardly, I hoped he had died during the night in his sleep and his body had been abandoned on the mountain so that vultures and other wild animals could feed on it.

“Master said you should take your bath immediately you wake up” A young lady said. She looked a little bit older than me or probably she was my age.

“What if I don’t want to?” I asked her, while I was still lying on the bed.

“I’ll be punished for it, Madam. So, please stand up and take your bath” I grumbled out loud and cursed my fate for bringing me to a place like this.

“What’s your name?” I asked while standing up.

I picked up a towel that was already placed on the dressing table and started removing my clothes so as to wrap the warm towel around me.

“Grace, madam”

“Can you stop calling me madam? It’s a request, please” I begged

“That was what the master requested that we call you. If not….” I didn’t wait for her to complete it before I did.

“Your master would punish you, right?” She shakes her head while smiling lightly at me.

“No, he’ll get mad and you don’t want to see him get mad” She replied.

I ignored her plea to help me in the bath and locked the door before she could enter after me. I took the bath hurriedly not knowing when the dragon will walk in and breathe fire all over me again.

As I ran the sponge down my body, I suddenly remembered what happened last night in the shower. I moved my hand back to my nipple and pinched it, trying to see if my body would react the same way it did when Damon touched it, but it didn’t.

I quickly cautioned myself, came back to my right senses and took a bath. Once I was done, I walked out of the bathroom.

Grace was no longer in the room when I got out. A pale pink dress was already spread out on the bed with a pair of sandals at the edge of the bed.

After I finished dressing, I left my face void of any makeup, despite the number of makeup kits that were left on the dressing table.

Makeup is the least of my concern right now. I need to find Pearl and know that she’s fine. All I know is about myself but I need to know that Pearl is also safe or even more safe than I am.

“Good morning, my child” The old woman from the other night greeted and smiled at me as I walked down the stairs.

“Good morning ma’am” I replied, trying to be polite.

“Call me Ruth, dear and put the courtesy aside” I nodded. “Come into the kitchen” she instructed and I followed her.

As I stepped into the kitchen, I realized other girls were in there as well and yes, the kitchen is almost three times the size of a regular kitchen. This is almost every Chef’s dream.

When I went to culinary school years ago to become a chef, I dreamed of having to cook in a kitchen like this, but after spending one out of the supposed three years, I got bored and went back to college to study Astronomy.

“Don’t drop your jaws on the floor” The woman joked and I smiled.

“The kitchen is massive. I mean, this is amazing” I told her.

“That's what I said when I first saw it too” Grace added. “If I had been a chef, I would’ve paid everything to work in a place like this”

“Let me introduce you to everyone here,” Ruth said, stopping me from looking around and focusing on everyone. That was when I noticed someone had already joined in.

“This is Fiona, that’s Selene, you already know Grace and of course, that’s our chef, Adam. He has been on a trip and he got back last night” She finished introducing them all.

Fiona and Selene are blondes, the pretty ones you’ll see on the runway in America and not as Maid in kitchens here where I find myself living in a mansion with absolute strangers. These people are tall and beautiful

Grace has long shining black hair and her strength of beauty lies in the black scar that’s on her cheek.

Adam looked like a sexy, hot man on the cover of a playboy magazine. His black eyes were what fascinates me about him. He’s tall, almost 6ft and has a broad shoulder. When he smiled, it was as if the whole world stopped for a minute.

I stopped ogling him when I saw his attention fixated on me. He raised an eyebrow and smirked. That made me come back to my senses and shook hands with them and we continued our conversation about the kitchen.

Adam wasn’t saying anything, so I decided to engage him in the conversation.

“So, from a chef’s perspective, what do you think about this kitchen?”

Ruth was about to say something but I watched the three girls suddenly walking away with fear evident on their faces. Ruth’s eyes widened, as she froze in a spot looking right behind me. I noticed the four of them bowing their heads, almost revealing their neck.

When I turned to look in their direction, I froze myself. I wanted to move but my legs weren't working.

“Did I pay each of you to talk to any stranger I bring into my house?” Damon thundered, shaking me right to my bones.

He suddenly turned to face me, I swallowed hard and started walking away from him, in fear of what he was about to do.

Damon’s POV

The meeting with Alpha Xander to discuss the Uranium that he said he had with me started quite earlier than I’d predicted. When I walked into the room with my friend, Tunde, the Alpha was already waiting with his Beta.

Tunde is supposed to be my Beta if only I'd taken up the Alpha position and even though I thought my action would’ve pissed him off, he felt I was really cool by rejecting the oath of allegiance.

“Alpha Damon,” His Beta, stood up, bowed his head in submission as I walked into the room.

“I’m not an Alpha, my father is the Alpha” I replied, before walking over to sit opposite his Alpha.

“Please proceed, Alpha Xander, What is the occasion?” I asked as if I didn’t have an idea of why we were all seated in the meeting.

“I already informed you yesterday that I have access to a reasonable quantity of Uranium” Alpha Xander said, a smirk on his face, obviously proud of himself.

“And?”

“This can make both you and I into some really powerful men and billionaires” he proclaimed, an aura of power exuding out of him, making his Beta and Tunde bow their heads in submission.

“How?” I relaxed more into my chair, calculating how I was going to pounce on Alpha Xander if he actually opened his filthy mouth and said what I was expecting him to say.

“By selling these Uranium to every pack out there. Imagine selling eighty kilograms of Uranium to the three hundred and seventy five werewolves packs that exist in the world. Try to imagine just how much we’ll make with that”

Tunde snickered from right behind me and I knew he was probably wondering how a man could be as selfish and complicated as this Alpha.

“I never knew you were this greedy, Alpha Xander”

“This has nothing to do with greediness, Damon. Trust me, you’ll become a billionaire by the time we’re done” he added.

“Need I remind you that in the city of California, I have two shopping malls, a library and at least four apartments which I receive it’s proceeds each and every year. I might not be a billionaire, Xander but never will I stoop so low as selling things that can save my own people to them”

His eyes suddenly turned red at my words.

“You are the most selfish Alpha that this world has ever made and I don’t give a damn about what you think you’re going to do with those uranium but trust me that I’ll find it’s source and I’ll take it from right under your nose and give it to each and every packs free of fucking charge” I yelled at him.

“You act as if you’re righteous, Damon. You act as if you’re not aware that your father, Alpha Victor is running a gang right on this territory; a gang that’s involved in drugs and woman trafficking. I do not see how you and I are so different”

I fisted my hand as a wave of anger hits me.

“That is one of those reasons why I decided not to take over my pack as their Alpha”

“What have you done other than act like a weakling who can only but do as daddy says?”

I smirked as I realized that I shouldn’t let his words get to me. I stood up ready to leave when he suddenly stopped me with his words.

“The council of elders has summoned you for questioning about why you had to use an extreme force on an Alpha yesterday” I turned to look at him glaring at me. “I might have sent them some pictures of me from last night”

I removed my hand from my pocket, walked closer to him and signaled Tunde to stay alert of what my next move would be.

“Really? I don’t actually remember using any force on you yesterday, I mean I didn’t leave any mark on your face but since the elders have summoned me,” I scratched my forehead with my hand; that was a sign that my monster had taken over me and I was no longer my normal self. “Why don’t I make that real?”

Almost immediately, Tunde brought out his gun, shoved the Beta to the floor and placed the gun right into his head. “Don’t try and move Beta, a silver bullet might find its way into your head if you do”

“What are you trying to do, Damon?” Xander yelled, moving away from me slowly.

“You asked for it, Xander” I replied, striding towards him slowly.

“I will not give up without a fight”

“You shouldn’t, honestly. I’ve actually heard about how you’ve bullied other Alphas that their regions were supposed to be inspected by you into total submission with your greediness and stupidity but you know what, you came into the wrong pack and I’ll so make you regret ever taking up that letter of assignment from your desk and traveling all the way down here”

Before he could get to the door, I quickly opened my hand to reveal my sharp claws and pulled him back toward the desk. I looked over to see that Tunde still got his Beta in control.

“How about I claw out some part of you, Xander and make you into the animal that you are?”

I felt a strange movement underneath my arm and I knew what was going on.

“Don’t you dare shift, Alpha? If you try that shit, I’ll pluck out your eyes and remove your heart before you finish that transformation” I threatened, my voice changing already.

Xander’s eyes were almost bulging out of its socket as he looked in shock of the half shifting that I was going through. My inner beast was about to come out and for his sake, I was keeping it in control.

I held on tightly to his throat, to weaken him and stop him from shifting. I lifted my other hand, revealing my claws and smirked at him.

“When you get to the elders, show them that the beast they’ve always hated fucked you up”

I slashed his chest open with my claws as blood splattered all over the desk and on my face, making Xander scream out in pain, before digging the claws into the sides of his head, making a mark that’ll never leave until eternity.

I stood up, shifted back fully into my human nature and walked out of the room feeling glad about what I just did.

“I told him to treat it the human way as he can’t survive your attack thinking he’ll heal normally and fastly like a regular wolf” Tunde said, as he walked right beside me towards the car.

We made a quick stop at base 9 where I took a bath and changed into a new shirt and trouser that I’d kept at the base Incase cases like that happened.

“Your father wants to meet with you,” Tunde said.

“Why?”

“It’s about the girl you took yesterday. He wants you to return her to him”

“Over my dead body”

“It’ll endanger the pack, Damon. We need to get rid of her”

“I SAID NO AND YOU WILL NOT QUESTION MY AUTHORITY”

I barked out the orders, making Tunde bow his head quickly. My beast was still in charge.

I knew my anger was uncontrollable for me and I might end up doing something I’ll regret but I could control it if I try to.

Control was the key until I got to my mansion, saw my mate ogling my chef, did hell break loose.

Lyla’s POV

Damon grabbed my hand suddenly, turning me to face him right in front of the kitchen. His eyes pierced into mine, taking my breath away and it was as if he was reading through my mind.

To avoid getting too affected by him, I closed my eyes. His grip on my hand was beginning to hurt. No matter how much I tried to remove my hand, he didn’t lessen his tight grip.

“You’re hurting me, please stop” I pleaded and when I did, I felt him tighten the grip causing blood to stop flowing through the spot he was holding.

“Please, Stop” I screamed out in pain as I couldn’t take it anymore. Tears flowed down my closed eyes.

“Open your eyes” he instructed and I shook my head.

“Please”

“Open your eyes, Bunny” He commanded again.

Are you disgusted by my scar? Do you hate how I look that much, mate? It was that voice again.

I struggled to get him to release my hand but he only backed me against the wall and held both hands.

“Open your eyes and don’t make me fucking repeat myself, Lyla” He growled into my face.

Trying not to push any further, I gently opened my eyes to look at him. Once our eyes met, an emotion flickered across his eyes.

“I hate tears, I fucking hate tears. You’re scared to look at me, right? Because you think I’m ugly and despicable, but you can go all mushy on my handsome chef. You are no different from other girls. I can’t believe I thought you were better” he spat those harsh words to my face.

“You don’t even know me, so why think I’m better than any other person out there. I just want to go back home. I don’t even know where this place is. I don’t know why I’m here or where I am. I don’t even know where Pearl is. Please, I’m begging you, let me go back home” I cried out, pleading through tears.

If anyone had told me three days ago that I’ll find myself in a strange land, kidnapped and separated from family, I would’ve slapped such a person seriously in the face and tell whoever it was to swallow their words and shove it up their ass.

But here I am, begging a strange man to take me back home to my family even though my heart hurts at the feeling of separating from him.

“You want to go home, right?” He suddenly asked, almost disappointed and I nodded.

He moved his face closer to mine and took in my scent. He moved his mouth closer to my ear and whispered, “In your wildest dreams”

My eyes went wide at his statement. Words dried out from my throat and all that came out was tears of frustration.

“Where’s Pearl? Can I at least see her?”

He angrily dropped my hands and moved back.

“You don’t understand, do you?” He asked and I was confused.

“That place that I took you away from is a place of no return. Just because you successfully left that place does not mean any other person would leave there alive. Your friend, Pearl is dead. If crawling, she’ll be dancing in the stars right now” He screamed at me.

I don’t know where the strength came from but I knew I lifted my hands to slap him.

He held my hand before it could get in contact with his face. His face etched with surprise.

I roughly removed my hand and I started kicking, pushing and biting him.

“You killed her! You killed my best friend. I swear to God, I’ll kill you” I continue kicking while crying.

“Stop being crazy. Okay? Stop” He screamed at me, getting me to stop my actions and left the scene.

I slumped into the floor and hugged my legs tightly to my chest. Memories of how Pearl, Aurora and I had been so close as sisters ran through my head. I just can’t fathom how she could get killed just like that. How can she just die like that?

“It’s okay, child. It’s okay” I suddenly felt someone hugging me from behind and I knew it was Ruth from her voice and how she called me a child.

“She can’t just die like that” I cried out.

“He killed my friend. He killed her and I hate him for that. I can’t even stand the sight of him” I declared.

“Talk quietly child, he’s still somewhere close. Your words might piss him off and make him do worse. Damon is a nice man, but you shouldn’t try and see his other side” She instructed.

“I don’t care if he hears me or not, I don’t even care. All I care about is the fact that he's a murderer. He killed my friend and may he burn in hell for that” I cursed out.

“Stop talking and don’t put yourself in any more trouble, Lyla” She used my name for the first time since I got here.

“You shouldn’t stop her from talking, Ruth. Let her say her mind. It is actually good to let it all out” Damon interrupted and almost at the same time, Ruth stood up and left me on the floor.

I turned to stand up and face him but Damon was already on my side.

“You know why your curse wouldn’t work? That’s because I own hell myself. It’s time I let you get that same death that you wished for” he said and smirked at me.

It was an evil smirk and I knew he had a devilish plan set aside.

I watched as two hefty men walked into the house towards my direction.

“That’s her. Take her back to base 9 and according to the rule, you know what to do before you eliminate her” What!

I turned to face Damon but he just placed a finger on my jaw and told me that I got what I asked for.

Thinking if I begged for my life, Damon might spare me but on the other side, I knew that was what he wanted. He wanted me to beg for my life so he would spare me and take total control of my life but I didn’t.

Closing my mouth tightly, I smirked back and followed the guys out of the house. When I turned back, he was watching me intensely, waiting for me to say something which I did.

“Dying is better than living with you because life would’ve been more miserable. Thank you for giving me the chance to live for at least a day more”

A lone tear dropped from my face as I said that.

Before I could say anything further, one of the men pushed me into the car, covered my face with a black bag and I noticed that the car started moving.

It was moving towards death!