Taboo Love With Alpha and Demon Wolf King

"An Excerpt of the book"

It was a Sunday morning, I and many other people will never forget. Though, for different reasons.

To most people, it was an amazing, beautiful day which was perfect for a wedding ceremony of two love birds.

To me, it was the worst day of my life.

I was in a well decorated room, with love shaped balloons everywhere. The room was rowdy and filled with ladies carrying happy and excited faces. They were all dressing and adorning me with expensive jewelries made of several precious stones.

At last, when they were done with embellishing me, they all cheered and urged me to stand and display my beautiful wedding gown, expensive heel, and exorbitant jewelry. Making comments like; "Give us a twirl, pretty."

"You look amazing". "You're such a beauty."

And so many other nice comments which didn't seem to lift my mood, but rather made me feel more miserable.

I stood there, staring at the tortured image at my front, and i lost awareness of time.

When I finally regained consciousness, I found myself alone, still standing helplessly at the front of the mirror.

I felt gummed to the spot and was forced to look at my devastated image. Although it was sunny outside and the temperature was a steady twentyeight degrees, I felt as cold as ice. My teeth were chattering and my entire body was trembling badly. I struggled so much to keep my eyes open, but they were just too heavy for me to open.

Despite my struggle, my eyelids shut themselves and left me in a familiar darkness. After a few seconds, warm tears escaped through my shut lids and fell all the way down to the floor.

I whimpered and cried silently for a few minutes, until my body sensed the presence of someone else. Someone who made my heart beat again, a person who was capable of bringing light to my darkness. I felt him around me. His presence intoxicated me. I could feel his hands on my shoulder and his fingers slowly trailing my body, leaving electric sparks. It moved from my shoulder down to my hands and then his firm hands gripped mine. My tears stopped and a soft smile appeared on my face.

I fell back and rested on his muscular chest, a place which I had felt at home so many times.

The heaviness in my eyelids disappeared and I slowly opened my eyes, only to see the opposite of what I had felt. IT WAS THE DEVIL HIMSELF. He smiled at me and said softly to me, "Who were you thinking of, bitch?"

I immediately lifted myself from his chest, and felt the worst kind of irritation. He was the exact opposite of who I had lost.

"Answer me!!!" He yelled.

I looked directly into his eyes and said "I was thinking of a person you can never dream of being, Bastard."

He slapped me hard on my face and I staggered until I was resting on the mirror. He walked to me and forcefully tried to kiss me but I bit his lower lip until it began to bleed, he retreated and winced in pain, as blood flowed from his lip. He cleaned the blood with his fingers and glared at me, his face red with fury, "Bitch!!!" He stormed towards me ready to pounce but before he could touch me, his mother had walked into the room and yelled, "Stop!!!"

He stood there for some seconds, with his fist up and directed at me, until his mom pleaded on my behalf.

At last, he dropped his fist and dashed out of the room, kicking several balloons away.

Both I and Mrs. Lockwood watched him walk out of the room, before we took in deep relieving breaths.

Afterwards, Mrs. Lockwood gave me a long look with disgust written all over her face.

I was about to explain what had happened but was shut up by a dirty slap which left me deaf for a few seconds, before I was able to hear the words Mrs. Lockwood mouth were making.

"…you slut. You truly have no shame, do you? After all we have done for you, you have no gratitude towards us. Whether you like it or not, you'll pay what you owe us by several means and this marriage is just the first of it."

Those were the last words I heard from Mrs. Lockwood before she left the room.

I straightened my wedding dress, and to my own surprise, laughed out loud. From everything that had happened, I had found an escape from my nightmare. An escape to a place where I wouldn't be anyone's object or furniture, a place where I would wait for him, the light to my darkness, no matter how long.

I walked into an adjoining room, and shut the door. The room had an amazing view of the green fields and beautiful gardens. The room door which led to the sunny gardens was opened and the mild summer breeze blew the white curtains beautifully. I didn't bother to close the glass doors as I enjoyed the breeze.

I walked to a long table, which on it were drinks and a large beautifully decorated cake which had both my name and the Devil's name on it. I smashed the cake with my fist and pushed it off the table onto the hairy white rug. I picked up the little knife which was placed on a napkin near the area where the cake was once on.

I took in three deep breaths and whispered silently to myself. "I'll see you again, Dylan. Not here, but somewhere else." Those were the last words I said before I slammed the knife into my delicate and fragile skin. Then I fell to the ground, my blood staining the expensive rug.

I smiled until my eyelids began to close…and then I saw my heartbeat. He was just above me, his hands stained with my blood and his eyes wet with tears. I couldn't hear anything anymore but I read his lips. He was screaming my name and was shedding tears, that was the first time I saw him cry or display any form of weakness.

I watched him rip his cloth apart and apply pressure on my open flesh, which spiraled pain throughout my body. No one needed to tell me that I was bleeding badly, as my hair was soaked in my own blood.

As he lifted me up like a baby, I felt at home again. I felt peace and LOVE. Staring at his desperate figure, and feeling my unbearable pain,  my mind went back to how I had met and lost the only good thing in my life.

ELEVEN MONTHS AGO

"Are you Hillary?"

I cleaned my teary eyes with the back of my palm, took in a deep breath, and turned around to see who it was.

Oh my! In front of me was a stunning beautiful girl, with ocean blue eyes and long curly blonde hair. She was obviously my age, but she looked way more–I wouldn't say beautiful but rather sophisticated than me.

Apparently she had noticed my teary face and my silence didn't help her feel comfortable. "I'm sorry for bothering you...I'm just going to sort it out myself..." She said,

"No worries, I'm fine...and yes, I'm Hillary. How may I help you?"

"Are you sure? It's nothing I can't handle." She said still feeling uncomfortable.

"I'm really fine. Ignore my face. So, what's the problem?"

"I heard you're the person hosting the party?"

"Well, there's a little problem." The blonde girl said.

From her countenance, it was obvious that the problem was far from little.

"What happened?" I asked nervously.

The sound of the loud music was still very audible from the woods where I had hidden. My hands began to quiver and my palms became sweaty. If anything happened, I'll have to take full responsibility for it. My stepfather, Steve Harrow would finally see a perfect reason to murder me. My mum would be totally disappointed and shocked, as I wasn't the party type. I never attended any parties apart from school parties, so me hosting a party at home would be a shocking surprise to my mum.

"I think it's better you see for yourself." She said,

"Fine." My mind went haywire. Something terrible must have happened.

She led the way as we walked through the dark woods. I had not gone too far into the woods, so we soon got back to the house.

The garden and walkway were filled with empty alcohol drinks and several trash I couldn't recognise.

We pushed our way through the jampacked door and into my house.

The stench of alcohol and cigarette filled the living room.

The disco lights and the loud music made me dizzy and I was sure that I wouldn't make it through the living room without collapsing. The alcohol and dense air made me feel like vomiting.

She must have noticed my state as she grabbed my hand and led me through the living room and up the stairs.

We walked into my room, and she guided me to the toilet to vomit.

It took me some minutes to vomit the stench of alcohol off my mind and my system.

I was whimpering and shaking and mumbling curse words when I noticed her laughing. "What's making you laugh?" I asked, offended.

"Nothing," she managed to say, as she was almost choking with laughter. "You didn't even drink alcohol, yet you vomited your full guts out, which makes me wonder what would happen, if you had gotten drunk."

I don't know why her utterance annoyed me. It was patent that she meant it as a joke and her laughter served as evidence. Maybe, I was annoyed because she looked really pretty and classy, just like my fake friends Clarissa and Janette and all the other girls who made fun of me, the only difference being that she was way more beautiful than them, which made it even worse.

My mum had a funny saying about girls like that; 'The prettier and more dressed they are, the higher the tendency of them being bullying bitches.'

Stupid, right? I know. But it didn't sound stupid to her. To her it was the perfect way to help me—like I needed any help.

To cut to the chase, her perfect plan hadn't worked as I still disliked them and all it did was increase my hatred for them. Now they were in my house, drinking, smoking, laughing, kissing, and doing other crazy things that normal people like them do, sending me away from my house, into the woods to face my nightmares all by myself.

I made up my mind that the girl standing behind me and watching me vomit was no different from the rest. By the way, she looked just like them, even better dressed and prettier than them. So, she must be even worse than the rest. She had to be.

I turned around and faced her. Her glistening blue eyes fixed on me. I cleared my throat and asked in a firm voice, "So, what's it?"

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"What do you care?"

"Whatever, follow me." She said already feeling my negative energy.

We walked out of my room and towards my parents room. I felt like jumping out of my skin, as we arrived at my parents room door.

She opened the door and walked inside. I stood by the door frame with my mouth agape and eyes wide open. I couldn't believe my eyes.

It was Clarissa and Janette with a girl from school and two boys I couldn't identify. They were seated all over, on the bed and on the chairs in the room. Apart from some fallen pictures and the rumpled bed sheets, there was nothing physically wrong with the room, and it was the least of my problems at that time.

On the small coffee table was a powdered substance which Janette and one of the guys were sniffing from. Clarrisa was laughing hysterically and on her nose was also the same powdered substance which was also on the nostrils of the rest.

No one needed to tell me that the powdered substance was some kind of hard drug, as it stunk like something burning.

When they noticed my presence at the door, Clarissa laughed again and said to the rest, "Is there any of the good stuff remaining because it seems like our dearest friend, Hillary would need some."

Janette lifted her face from the pile of drugs on the table and stared at me. "Come right over, baby. The party just began. By the way, your house is lovely. You never told me you had such a massive house... not like I would have believed you."

Clarissa giggled. "Who would believe that a mansion like this would be built by the edge of the woods. Crazy right?"

My chest rose and fell as my body was crammed with fury. I stormed towards them and angrily wiped the powdered drugs off the table.

Janette stood up angrily in reaction to what I had done. She looked at me with her eyes burning with anger, but I wasn't having her crap that day. "You idiot, what did you just do?"

I stared back at her with my eyes flaring like fire. "Get out! Now!"

"Or what?" Clarrisa said as she rose up from the bed and moved towards me. "Are you going to beat us or kick us out? Don't you wanna be friends with us? Remember Hillary that being friends with a loser like you is a favor which we gave to your mum, so don't mess it up."

I tried shutting their words from my head but the attempt was futile. They got to me again, but this time I didn't cry or run away, I transformed my pain into anger. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!"

The two boys and the other girl had stood up and were about walking out but Janette stopped them. "Feel comfortable, by the way this is mommy's house too."

Clarissa said. "Yea, and it seems like mommy is way nicer than you, Hillary."

I felt like grabbing Janette by the shoulder and hitting her face with my clenched fist, and that was what I was about to do when the pretty blonde girl came to my rescue.

She stepped in front of me and was now face to face with Janette. From the look on Janette's face, it was evident that she was intimidated.

She said in a soft but authoritative voice. "If she wants you to leave her house, I'll advise you to leave before things get messy."

"And who are you?" Clarissa asked.

"Someone who is ready to punch your stupidity out of you. I call it the deliverance method." She said,

Janette laughed frantically. "Fine, we'll leave, but remember, Hillary, she'll save you today but before tomorrow I bet she'll figure out that you're nothing but a dumb, stupid and worthless loser who has nothing to offer, and she'll will quit from being your shield, leaving you back with us...your true friends."

Janette walked out laughing and so did the rest. I collapsed on the bed and took in deep breaths.

She sat beside me. "Are they always that stupid?"

I laughed. "Yes, they are." I looked at her but immediately looked away when I saw her ocean blue eyes fixed on me. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For what you did earlier, standing up to them for me."

"Yea." She took in deep breaths. "I hate when people try to bully others. I have a history of my own."

I stared at her in disbelief as she now had her eyes on the floor. "I doubt that anyone can ever bully you."

"Why's that?" She said as her eyes met mine, I tried looking away but it was already too late.

"You look too confident and strong to ever get bullied."

She smiled. "I don't think that's why but you're right, I've never really been bullied but I know someone who was..." Her voice faded.

It was clear that the topic wasn't really a happy subject so I changed it. "Damn! I really have to get this place cleaned up." I said, rising to my feet.

"Yea, you're right. Let me help." She also stood up.

"Thank you, you're so nice."

"Trust me, I'm not."

I chuckled. "OK. That's cool too." I stood up and began picking the pictures.

In a minute I was done setting the portraits correctly. I turned around and was startled by a tattoo which was at her back, it was exposed as she bent to arrange the sheets.

It was strange. It looked like a weird tattoo of a big dog's eyes...no, a wolf's eye.

She stood up and turned around. "What the hell are you looking at, Hillary?"

I stood there frozen to the spot. There was something about her that changed. Her eyes didn't spark with friendliness anymore, rather they looked hard and stern. Her voice wasn't the soft confident voice but was strict and unfriendly.

I wondered why she took offense to me looking at her tattoo. A tattoo which I thought was really cool. "Nothing." I uttered.

"You are a terrible liar, Hillary, and trust me you don't want to know what I do to humans who dare lie to me." She took a step closer to me and I simultaneously took a step backward. "Let the dumb cat out of the bag, Hillary."

The fact that she used the word 'humans' to address me made me more frightened. What did she mean by that? If she isn't human, then what is she, some kind of Godzilla? Whatever she was, I wasn't taking any chances, although my life was crap, I still wanted it.

I cleared my throat and happily let out the cat. "Well, I saw a tattoo of a..."

"Shut up!" She barked at me, making me jump in fright. "That's right, shut up, Hillary. Now listen carefully, you didn't see anything like that, okay? You saw nothing."

I nodded my head frantically. "Yes, I swear I didn't see anything."

"That's better." She straightened her top and walked towards the door. She stopped at the door and turned around. "Hillary, if you ever say anything to anyone about me and the tattoo, YOU'RE DEAD."

That was the last thing she said before she walked away from the room.

I once again collapsed on the bed. For a brief moment, I had believed that we could have been friends, but again my mother's rule proved correct. The more pretty and better dressed girls always turn out to be the worst bullying bitches.

I couldn't believe that she had threatened to kill me, the only people who have ever threatened me to such an extent was my family.

I laid there on the bed with my eyes open until the party died down. From the wide beautiful window of my parents room, the sun slowly vanished and left the world dark. I was so interested in watching the light of the sun give way to darkness. I hated watching the sunset but I was still interested in watching it. I had this stupid idea in my head, which made me think that the sun setting to night is just like light surrendering to darkness, and like good surrendering to evil.

For like an hour and a half, I watched nature display its wonders, until I felt the creepy feeling of darkness around me. The monsters from my nightmares were already out and searching for me.

I stood up and reached out for the lamp switch and I flicked it on, the sight of light bringing me back from my delusions. My mind was still pondering on nature when I heard the landline phone ring loudly. I hurried out of the room and down the long spiral steps to the lounge where the phone was placed. I picked the call and asked who was on the line.

It was my mother. Her voice was quivering and it was obvious that she had been crying. She told me that they were close, and that she hoped I had made dinner because both she and Steve were starving. It was then it came to my mind that everywhere was a mess. I replied with a couple of yeses and okays before I dropped the phone.

My heart was in my mouth, as I knew that I'd be dead in less than an hour if Steve found out about the party.

Fortunately, I had prepared dinner—or something edible at least. In our family, dinner, breakfast and lunch had no difference, as long as they were edible, we were fine with it.

I knew that panic wouldn't lead me anywhere so I took in several deep breaths and began working like a Trojan.

To my own surprise, in less than five minutes I was done with the inside of the house, so I hurried outside. As I opened the front door, I was pushed back by the wind. It was going to rain really hard, and might even turn out to be a storm.

The wind really helped in blowing away most of the trash outside, and luckily, most of the alcohol was in cans, which made it easier for the wild wind to blow away.

As I picked up some trash which couldn't be blown away, I heard a loud roar...more like a howl. It felt so close... almost like it was in the woods close to my house. I attempted running back into the house but I slipped on the wet grass, instantly dislocating my knee. I yelled in pain, as I couldn't move and was helplessly waiting for the beast in the woods to come and find me.

For the first time in my life, I wished for my parents to come back quickly, at least if they were around they could get the guns inside and if not kill the beast, they could at least scare it away.

But that wasn't the case, they weren't around the one and only time I needed them in my life. They just happened to be late.

The sounds of the beast became clearer and louder, until I saw something incredible before my eyes. It was a giant white wolf, with beautiful blue eyes.

But how could there be a wolf in the woods? I had grown up there my whole life and I hadn't seen any wild animals.

I slowly retreated, wincing in pain as the wolf came closer to me. I had an awkward feeling about the wolf... it was almost like I knew it. I had seen it before, so many times, I had experienced this moment before but I just couldn't remember. I was in this same stupid blue jacket and black pants and I had broken my knee, it was also raining, so I was able to  anticipate every clap of thunder. This was a familiar experience which I had witnessed before...but when? Or rather, where?

It was a couple feet away from me, its legs pounding on the short trimmed grasses.

It was now so close to me, that I could feel it breathing on me. Both I and the wolf stayed like that for a few minutes which felt like a whole lifetime to me.

My quivering hands raised itself without me thinking about it and softly brushed the mane of the wolf.

Then, I experienced the impossible. My body was glowing and so was the wolf. The light which emanated from both our bodies became brighter but not hurtful to our eyes. I lost vision of everything except myself and the glowing wolf. Then, the light became brighter and brighter and so did our glow. I felt so excited like alI the adrenaline in my body was being pumped, I got more and more excited, and...I BLACKED OUT.

I struggled to open my eyes as  bright headlights were beaming on me. It was still raining so my eyelashes were soaked with rain.

I heard a vehicle door open and I heard footsteps. Lo and behold, it was my stepfather, Steve. He stood right above me and watched me on the ground for a while before he said with his calm but wicked voice."So what are you doing outside, Hillary? Playing in the rain at your age?"

He bent and reached out to the collar of my jacket and violently raised me up to my feet. "Answer me, scumbag."

I tried to wriggle my way out of his tight hold but he was too strong for me. I finally gave in to tears, and cried out. "It's not what you think, something else happened?"

"You better have some good and believable story to tell me, if not, you're toast." He released his grip and pushed me down to the wet grass.

My mum hurried from the car and picked me up from the grass. She had some new bruises on her face and no one needed to tell me how she had gotten them. "Are you alright, honey?"

"Yes."

"Perfect. After your explanation to your father..."

"You mean Steve." I backfired. I never referred to Steve as my father. Although I didn't know who my real father was, I always imagined him as some superhero who must have loved and cherished me—unlike my mum and Steve.

"Whatever, Hill. I have some good news to break out to you."

She smiled and guided me back to the house. I wondered how she could still manage to smile despite the level of suffering and pain she received and rendered.

My mother wasn't as nice as she displayed herself to be. She was a coldhearted demented person who had a crazy view of life, that was one reason why i never pitied her whenever she got beaten by Steve. She was just like him, an insane person.

The warmth of the house made me feel a lot better. Steve was in the dining room with a bottle of rum in his hand. My mum dragged me to the dinning, pulled out a seat and forcefully pushed me down to sit.

He turned around and gave me a deadly look with his eyes glaring. "What is your explanation, Hillary?"

I cleared my throat loudly and fabricated a lie. "After I had received mum's phone call, i... I went to...my room to shut the windows because of the rain. As I was shutting it, my wrist watch got hooked by the window and as I attempted to free it, it fell off outside. So, I went outside with a torch to search for it."

"Okay, that makes sense, but... how does that explain why you were sleeping on the grass while it was raining."

I thought of how to continue my lies but nothing came into my mind. I knew that for Steve to believe me I had to tell him some part of the truth. Because if he found out about the party, I was sure that I wouldn't  see another sunrise. "While I was still searching for the watch, I heard a howl in the woods, very close to me. I ran for the house but I dislocated my knee, so I couldn't walk...."

Wait, what! But how on earth was I able to walk back inside the house? I reached out to my left knee and to my surprise there was no dislocation or pain. I looked at them but it was obvious that they hadn't noticed that error in my story.

Steve looked at my mum then back to me. "Did the wolf get you?"

"Did it see you?" My mum said with her voice quivering.

The sudden fear in their faces was striking. "Yes, it saw me."

"What happened?" They both asked simultaneously.

"Nothing." I lied.

"What do you mean by nothing, did it just see you and leave you alone." Steve asked with frustration and fear written all over him.

"I don't know. I blacked out, and the next thing I saw was your vehicle headlights."

He stared at me for a long while and then turned around, went to the small cabinet which held many of our pictures then he angrily wiped them off the table. "Impossible, this can't be happening." He walked up the stairs, yelling curse words on no one in particular.

My mum was shaking and mumbling inaudible words.

"Mum, what's wrong?"

She didn't respond.

"Is everything alright?" I asked again but still got no response. "Mum, please talk to me, I..."

"Shut the fuck up!" She yelled. "You have no idea, do you?"

"No idea of what? Is it the wolf?"

She held her head with her two hands. "Too many questions, you ask way too many questions, Hill. Questions which I'll never answer, even if you put my neck on a goddamn blade."

I didn't get it, why were they behaving like this? "Mum.."

"Don't call me!! You are the one who called them, you want revenge, don't you?"

I didn't know what she was talking about, what revenge was she talking about? For sure, i knew i couldn't tell them about what happened between the wolf and i, the strong connection we had, the fact that I had witnessed it before. They'll go gaga, if they ever found out.

"Did you see only one wolf or was it a pack?" My mum asked with fright in her voice.

"Just one."

"Did you...feel connected to it?" Steve said from the staircase with a shotgun in his hands.

My eyes were fixed on the gun for some seconds and then moved up to Steve's red face.

"Answer me!!!" He said cocking the gun.

I didn't know what to say, my head had gone blank after Steve had appeared with the gun. Several horrible memories came back to my mind. Memories of the times I've been tortured with the gun, memories that date back to when I was very little then to latest ones.

The charming golden lights in the dinning became blurry, my ears rang and the room began to swirl around. I felt lost and alone for a while before I was knocked out of that by the sound of a gun cocking close to my face.

Gradually the blur vanished and I regained my sight, only to find a shotgun directed to my forehead.

I staggered backwards until I was resting on the mahogany dining table.

My mum was trembling with annoyance as she pointed the gun at me. "Answer the goddamn question or I'll blast your brains."

"Please don't shoot! Don't shoot!" I pleaded.

She gave out a short laugh. "Hill, I think you should know better by now. I don't care if you die or not, seeing your dead body will be nothing else but pleasure."

I stared at her shaking eyes and deep down I knew she really meant it, so I did what was best for me. I spoke out. "No. I didn't feel anything."

Steve threw one of our glass vases away and yelled; "Why did it take you so much time to spit that out, Hillary."

"I don't know...I...guess I was just...frightened, you know? By the gun." I said.

My mum pressed the gun on my forehead with so much force that gave me an immediate headache. "If I find out that you're lying to me, you will be truly sorry."

She dropped the gun on the floor and fell to the ground. She suddenly began to cry and yell out loud. Steve went over to her and comforted her.

"She wants me dead." My mum cried. "She hates me just like her sister does."

I watched her cry and yell curses at me. She cried louder and louder and accused me of certain things I had no idea of.

"What are you looking at?" Steve spat out. "Get out of our sight, before I use the gun on you?"

I quickly ran out of the dinning room and up the spiral stairs. I started from up until Steve's wicked eyes caught me. I ran into my room and slammed the door shut.

I climbed my bed, covered myself with a soft blanket and awaited the worst.

I laid there, trembling and weeping until it was dawn. After I heard the first cock crow by 5:45a.m, I decided to give sleep a try, and in a few minutes I found myself in dream land.

The next day was a Sunday. I woke up with my alarm blaring madly. To my surprise it was 11:32a.m, and my alarm had been blaring since 6:30a.m, some minutes after I had decided to sleep.

At first, I hurried out of bed and into the shower. In a couple of minutes I was out. I got into one of my large Cinderella ball gowns which were oversized and with a big scarf, I tied my hair like I was a Saudi.

I didn't look at the mirror like most girls do, mainly because I didn't care about my looks, I couldn't recall the last time I had looked at myself in the mirror—it was uncalled for. By the way, I was extremely late to church, and that was something my mum never tolerated.

I dashed out of my bedroom and hopped down the steps to the sitting room, but they weren't there. I went outside to check the patio, but they still weren't there. I returned back inside and checked their room and still nobody, but they had slept there as their scent was still very sharp.

Yes! That was another strange thing about me, I had an awkward sense of smell; I could even trace a person if I got a good sniff of that person. The last time I had told Steve and my mum, I had regretted it as they took offense in it and banished me into the dark, old basement for two days without eating. From that time I had learned to keep my lips sealed concerning myself.

In defeat, I walked down the spiral steps and into the kitchen. Damn! They must have gone without me.

As I was about to open the fridge to get something to eat, I noticed a small piece of paper pasted on the fridge. In it were boldly written words which said;

Hill, I want to apologize about Yesterday, I was really boiled up and out of my mind which led to me saying a lot of things I didn't mean. Hope you forgive me and get it out of your head.

Anyways, your dad and I are going out to someplace far away and will be away for two weeks. We wish you the best and we pray that God bless you and that you remain the responsible and good child that you are.

Stay safe and know that mummy loves you.

I scoffed irritatedly as I read the last paragraph. Mummy loves me? Love? Love and I had nothing to do with each other. All my life I had known nothing but hatred and insanity from my two guardians. The only person who I had loved and cherished was my twin sister, Maribel, but she had also betrayed me and had left me for dead in this house.

According to what my mum told me, she had committed suicide but deep down I felt that was a lie. I felt a connection to her. Somehow I knew she wasn't dead, it was either she had escaped from this hellhole, leaving me behind to rot, or she had been captured by my parents and taken away to a faraway place—maybe the same place where they always went to every now and then.

I had cried for months until I realized that she was never coming back again. Though I still cried occasionally it wasn't as tedious as it once was but it was still hurtful. She had gone almost three years ago when I had just clocked fifteen.

I gave a sigh of relief and joy as the thought of them not being around for two weeks sweetened my heart. I opened the fridge and picked as much junk food as I could get, and I felt good, at least I was breaking the first rule of being responsible.

Sunday passed quickly but not without me doing a lot of fun stuff. I even drove out in one of my dad's trucks—he had quite a number—to the supermarket to get more junk food and red wine, which was something I secretly enjoyed.

I slept happily and woke up to a sunny Monday morning. Today, I woke up immediately the alarm blared. I brushed and got into the cold shower. I enjoyed how the cold water sprayed on my soft, even toned skin. It made me forget about my problems for that moment.

Dressing up wasn't a problem for me, I opened my wardrobe and picked out the first thing I saw, which was a baggy straight jean with a pale white top with no design on it. I picked up my backpack from my room and went to the kitchen to take some food and snacks which I take in school. Then, I took a few dollar bills and stormed outside.

I took my time locking the house before taking off on my bicycle. I didn't take a truck because I wanted to enjoy the beautiful morning. I wanted to feel the mild morning sun on my skin and also feel the mild breeze blow through my long, wavy ebony hair which I let loose for the first time ever.

The journey to school was quite long and I could have gotten there with the truck in 25 minutes instead I used almost an hour to arrive.

The first two periods of school went well. Then I had a free period.

I went outside to the school compound, sat down on one of the benches and I watched the morning birds chirp excitedly, until... I got pied in the face.

I stood up in shock and frantically cleared the cold pie off my face.

"Look at her." Janette laughed.

I got really pissed off, I was having a really good day before she and Clarissa just had to come to ruin it for me.

As it was also a free period for most senior school students, I had a lot of prying eyes on me. Most of the students were laughing and taking pictures of me, they were probably going to post it on their socials, with the caption "pied in the face." Or "Summer Pied face."

After clearing the pie off my face, I glared at Janette and Clarissa. "Why did you do that?"

Clarissa chuckled and said babishly. "Oh sweetheart, as your bestie, I wanted to knock you out of your daydream. What better way to do that than blessing you with a frozen pie."

The others laughed along with them, making me feel like an idiot. "I hate you." I murmured under my voice.

"You said what?" Janette asked.

I didn't respond, I just stood there helplessly.

Clarissa walked around me and toyed with my hair. "You have such nice hair, Hillary. Why do you always braid and pack it like a stupid lunatic."

I didn't respond. I just wished the ground would open and swallow—not me—them up, all of them.

Janette chuckled wickedly. "Hold on, how are we sure it isn't a wig?"

"Let me see." Clarissa grabbed my hair and pulled it roughly, making me yelp in pain and embarrassment.

"Oh sorry." Clarissa said. "It isn't a wig, it's truly your hair. Do you think it's pretty, Hillary? I'm sure you think it's pretty, don't you?"

Janette giggled. "Of course she thinks it's pretty. Maybe next Sunday, she could leave it loose and put on some of her pretty princess dresses and then she could look like Rapunzel."

An uproar of laughter burst out, giving them more encouragement to make ridicule of me.

Clarissa still wasn't satisfied. "Honestly Hillary, your hair is really...really pretty." She signaled to some of the girls behind her, who came beside me and forcefully held me down. "But the issue is....I think your hair is too pretty for a loser like you." She looked at Janette and whispered to her, and to my surprise, Janette brought out a pair of scissors from her backpack and handed it over to Clarissa who delightfully collected it. "Now, princess Hillary, let me give you the hairstyle that befits you."

I tried to wriggle myself out of their hold but that came out futile and left me with some bruises from their sharp pointed fingernails.

I shut my eyes and gave in to defeat but to my surprise, I heard a loud thud and screams following it. I opened my eyes as the grip on me was released and I was really shocked.

On the ground was Clarissa, yelling and holding her face, the rest were far away and were running as far as their feet could take them.

Before me, was the blonde girl I had seen in my party two days ago.

She held out her hand, and I had no other choice than to grab it. She pulled me up and hugged me. "Are you alright?"

"Yes. Thank you...again."I managed to say. I didn't want to let go of her as I clung onto her. Apart from the fact that she had saved me again from being bullied by Clarissa and Janette, she smelled great...like Lavender.

At last we separated from each other's arms and she graced me with a smile. "Hope they didn't hurt you?"

"No, you came just in time."

Her smile faded and her face became tamed. "I really want to tell you something."

"What?"I asked curiously.

"Hmm..about what I said on Friday...I'm sorry."

"Oh." I remembered the death threat. "It's okay. I'm sure you didn't mean it."

She frowned. "I do."

"What!!!" I said out loud, blinking my eyes more times than I needed to in a whole day.

"I meant it, Hillary. But I hope we won't be in that situation where I'll be forced to inflict harm on you."

My eyes were fixed on her. She had really meant what she had said. Oh my! What the hell is she? A savior or a killer?

She added. "But as long as you never say anything about what you saw, then we will be cool...we could even become friends. So what do you say, Friends?"

"Of course...friends." I smiled sheepishly.

She gave me a brief hug. "OK, Hillary...I'll see you later, I really have to go back home...I only came to register my...younger brother. So ciao." She turned around and began walking away.

I watched her walk away, her hips swaying beautifully. Then I remembered something. I shouted. "Hey, hey."

She turned around.

I cleared my throat. "I never got your name."

"I'm Ava."

A week had past since I had met Ava and yet it still felt like yesterday.

She was nice and a fun kind of person. We spent most of our time playing video games, causing trouble at malls, viewing movies at cinemas, and making Janette and Clarissa pay for their previous actions.

Everything had been going perfect between us until I met him.

It was another Sunday and we had gone to the cafeteria to have some food after a long day at the salon—which she had convinced me to go to.

I had never seen myself so pretty before and although I didn't say it out, i felt supremely confident and beautiful.

We were talking about one of the ladies at the salon who we thought would do better as a standup comedian than a salonist, when he walked into the cafeteria.

My eyes caught sight of him immediately and I lost interest in what Ava was saying and in the entire world in general.

For a moment, it felt like the whole world was paused and only him and I were still moving.

He looked dazed as he looked around until his eyes caught mine. Normally I would have looked away but I didn't, I just couldn't.

He slowly began to walk towards me with a style which enticed me the more. I watched his every move and his every step and my heart began racing faster than ever.

When I was sure that he was indeed walking towards me, my mind went wild with several thoughts; 'Why is he walking towards me? 'What am I going to the when he approaches me? Does he feel the same way?

But then, all my questions were answered at once as he tapped Ava from behind and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

I felt like I was just shot in the heart. I looked stupidly at them laughing and saying probably happy things to each other. One of his hands were on her shoulder and the other playing with her beautiful newly trimmed hair.

As for Ava, I had never seen her so happy before. Her eyes glowed with excitement. Her smile was perfect. and did well in exposing all her white pretty teeth. She was truly happy and....I wasn't.

Fine, it's okay for you to judge me but I can bet that if you were in my shoes you will feel the same.

Ava must have noticed my mood as she touched my hands gently and said to him. "This is Hillary Hunter, the girl I told you about."

She talked about me to him. That brought more questions to my head, like 'what kind of things did she talk about? Good things? Bad things? Did she tell him I was a loser who couldn't stand up for herself? Did she tell him that I was the school laughing stock? Oh my!

Like she read my thoughts, she quickly added. "Don't bother, only nice things." She laughed and I corresponded nervously.

He was staring at me with an amazing smile on his face. It felt like his golden brown eyes could see right inside me, probably pry into my thoughts and find out that I liked him, definitely not as a friend. He was the first guy I had ever acknowledged despite the number that came after me. Most of the guys that had gone after me in the past had been put off by my intentional weirdness. Now, they all saw me as a creep, and never bothered me anymore. Good riddance to bad rubbish, anyways.

He stretched his hand out and graced me with a smile, which sent chills all over me. "Hi, I'm Dylan."

His eyes were still fixed on me, making me partially paralyzed and numb. I rubbed my sweaty palm on my trousers and anxiously shook his outstretched hand.

"Hi." Our first touch was magical. The feeling of our hands touching sent sparks all over my body. It wasn't a strong handshake, it wasn't soft, it wasn't too long neither was it short but it was plainly perfect.

Our hands maintained the same position with our eyes fixed on eachother until Ava gently separated us. "Hey, what's going on here? That's enough." She said jokingly but I knew she didn't like it.

"You have really soft hands."He said still staring at me.

His compliment almost gave me a heart attack. "Thanks." I struggled to utter.

"What about me? You never commend me." Ava said with a babyish voice.

He laughed. "Your hands are as hard as a rock, Ava."

"What! You're a liar."

We all laughed.

"Take that back, Dylan." She said poking his muscular arm with her manicured finger nails.

"You see, your hands are hard but not as hard and cold as your heart." He said.

She gave him a funny hard look and then looked at me with a smile on her face. "Well Hillary, say something nice about me to prove him wrong."

I giggled shyly. "Uhm...you are..."

He interrupted me. "Don't think too hard Hillary," He placed his hand on my shoulder, renewing the sparks. "there's nothing nice about her.

She tapped his hands off my shoulder. "Don't mind him Hillary, you were about to say something really nice about me, right?"

"Exactly. Well, I think you are very friendly unlike most beautiful girls I know."

"Ohh, that's so sweet. Thank you, Hillary." She said.

He scoffed. "Beautiful? Ava? She's just plain, the only beautiful person here is you, Hillary."

I almost choked as he uttered that. I wish the ground could open up and swallow me this time. Did he really mean that or was he just joking. Whether joking or not, I felt happier than I've ever felt since I was given birth to.

Ava was still smiling but it was obvious that she was getting a bit jealous, which was natural.

He must have noticed the awkward vibe as he quickly changed the topic.

The rest of the evening went well, we discussed about various topics and we all laughed, until it was late.

Ava who was the least person having fun as her mood had changed after Dylan's comment, was the first to notice that it was a few minutes past ten.

We paid the attendants and walked out of the cafe.

We hadn't taken ten steps before it began to rain. Ava hurried to her expensive car which was twoseated. She urged Dylan to come in but he refused. "We can't leave her here." He said.

Ava said. "We have no choice. It's cold out here and it's late, we need to go home."

"It's alright, I'm fine." I said, hugging myself as the cold rain pattered hardly on me.

"No, you can't go home all by yourself, apart from the rain, it's late and it's dangerous for a girl like you wandering the road alone." He looked back at Ava. "You know what, how about you drive her home and come pick me up here, I could wait inside the cafe... or I could even go home myself."

The fact that he wanted me safe, made my heart scream with joy.

It took Ava a while to process it. "No, Dylan. The road to her place is awfully bad. Only a truck can get there."

"OK. Go home, Ava. I'll drop her myself."

She looked defeated. She hopped into her car, slammed the door and drove off with speed.

He placed his hand on my shoulder as we walked to my place. Regardless of the downpour and the cold which made me shiver, he still found ways to make me laugh.

It took us about an hour and a half to get to my place. He had carried me on his back most of the way as I had gotten cold from the rain.

He carried me into my house and asked for the direction to my bedroom, and I relunctantly told him with my teeth clattering and lips shivering.

He walked into my room and dropped me on my bed. He helped in taking off his jacket which he had placed on me earlier. He advised me take off my wet clothes, have a hot water bath, amd put on some comfortable dry clothes on, while he waited downstairs.

He was right, so I adhered to his advise and did exactly what he had said. In fifteen minutes I was done with it, so i shakily walked to the corridor and told him I was done and that if he wanted to, he could sleep on the couch in my room.

He walked upstairs and into my room

with a balm in his hands. He had also gotten most of his clothes off, except a white shorts which was really short. It was so inappropriate for him to dress like that in front of me—a church chorister who was also the assistant head of the abstinence club in church. If my mum found out, I'll be finished. But he looked extremely hot, with his abs and muscles glistening and flaunting under the dim golden lights, I didn't mind, I like it.

He applied it slowly and gently on my body and when he was done, he carefully tucked me in bed.

As he was about standing up, I grabbed his hand and said softly. "Thank you, Dylan."

He looked at me with genuine care. "No problem, Hillary. By tomorrow you'll be fine."

He stood up and began walking away, but he stopped by the door.

I looked at him curiously and asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yes....but." He turned around. "This sounds really crazy, but have we met before?"

"No, we haven't." I said, shocked by his question. If we had met i would surely remember a personality, face and body like his. I don't forget people with good personalities—they happened to be really rare in my life.

"But, I'm sure we have met before." He said with certainty.

I managed a laugh. "Maybe you met someone who looks like me, but I'm Aldo sure that you and I haven't met."

He stared at me for a while with doubt. "OK, Hillary. Good night."

"You can stay here with me." I spat out without thinking about it. "The couch here is way more comfortable than that in the sitting room."I said trying to cover up for my earlier statement.

"Never mind, I'm fine." He hesitantly walked out and shut my room door.

I switched off my side lamp and shut my eyes to sleep but I couldn't. My mind still pondered about what he had said.

What of if he had seen my twin sister, Maribel, before and thought I was the one. No way!! Although Maribel and I were twins, we didn't look alike in anyway. She had dark brown hair, I had ebony hair. She was 5 '6' I was 5'9'. She was fleshy while I was slim. She had a thick, bold and loud voice while mine was calm and soft. She had more boobs and butt than I, so it was almost impossible to substitute one for the other. Our differences were too vast for anybody to mistake one for the other.

I was still awake, rolling in my bed, and thinking deeply when Dylan knocked on my bedroom door.

I switched on my bedside lamp and said lazily "Open up."

He walked in with a charming smile on his face, and then the next statement he said blew up my imaginations. "I saw you last week, under the rain, in a blue jacket and black pants."

What the hell! "How do you know that was what I was wearing? Where you in the party?" I asked more curious than ever.

"No Hillary. I'm sure it wasn't raining during the party, was it?"

"No, it rained later in the night. Then how did you know what I was wearing?"

He smiled. "I was the wolf you saw, Hillary...and from the connection we shared, you're...my mate."

I looked at him and I laughed frantically. "That was funny, Dylan. Really funny."

His smile went away and he looked at me seriously. "I'm not joking, I was the wolf you met on Friday."

"Hold on, but how on earth did you know about the wolf that attacked me?"I asked.

"Attacked you? I didn't attack you and I'll never attack you, Hillary."

"Dylan, quit the joke. I guess Ava must have told you about it."

"Wait, you told Ava about our connection? Why would you do that?"He said in annoyance.

"What connection are you talking about? Are you crazy?"

"Hillary you must have felt something, that's how it always is."

I began to reason the possibility of that being real since I had indeed felt a strong absurd connection to the wolf, but I immediately concluded that it was unreasonable and he was just cracking a joke. "Aside from the joke, if Ava really didn't tell you about the wolf, how did you know I saw a wolf on Friday?"

He feigned a frown. "Hillary, how on earth can I prove it to you?"

"Prove what, exactly?"

"That I'm the wolf."

It wasn't funny anymore, it was rather frightening. "Enough with the wolf joke, and ......you know what, goodnight Dylan."I turned around, backing him and facing the window. I knew he was still there, as I didn't hear the door close.

What was he doing? Watching me sleep in the dark? That was really creepy.

Scary thoughts came into my head. "What if I had brought a creep into my house—or worse, a psychopath, and I was alone, in the night. Even if I screamed no one would hear me as we lived miles away from the rest of the town and even if I had a chance before, it was gone as it was raining heavily outside and if someone was standing outside, the person still wouldn't be able to hear me.

"Hillary,"He said, almost growling. His voice had changed, it wasn't hard nor masculine...it didn't sound really human, it was more like that of a dog, no...a wolf, mixed with human.

"Look at me."He said.

Cold sweats formed on my head as I trembled under my blankets.

"I'm not going to hurt you in any way."He said.

I didn't know why but I believed him, so in slow motion, I turned around and to my greatest surprise, I saw the unbelievable.

It was still Dylan for sure, but his golden brown eyes were now shiny blue wolf's eyes. I backed away from him, until I was resting on the wall of my room, and with a perplexed voice, I asked, "What are you?"

"I'm a werewolf, Hillary."

"Werewolf...as in movie kinda werewolf?"I asked.

"Sometimes, movies tell true stories, Hillary, and our kind are one of the true stories."

"Wait....you said 'our'. You mean...Ava?"

"Yes, Ava is also a werewolf and... so are you."

"Excuse me. What!"

"I don't know how to explain this to you."His eyes went back to normal and he drew out my reading chair and sat down. "The connection you and I felt, simply means that you're my mate."

"Mate? What does that mean?"I asked frantically.

"In simple words, it means that...you and I are meant to be....together."

I didn't know whether I should be happy or scared or annoyed. It all seemed so absurd to believe, it was too much to accept in such a short time. I was highly pressured, so I laughed out with fear clearly present in my voice. "You are insane. I don't know who you are and what is going on, for all I know, this may be some silly prank or...maybe you are a member of an occult group or something. It's okay if you say Ava is one of you guys, at least her socalled tattoo explains that."

"Hold on, Ava has a tattoo?"

It was at that point, I realized that I had messed up. I spilled the beans unconsciously. And if what Dylan was saying about Ava being a werewolf like him, then I was sure that I'd be dead. I could remember the death threat clearly

Flashback: "Hillary, if you ever say anything to anyone about me and the tattoo, YOU'RE DEAD."

"Did you just say that Ava has a tattoo? What does it look like?"Dylan asked again.

I looked at his inquisitive face and I dumbly shook my head like a little kid lying to her momma. I knew that I was terrible at lying, despite several years of training by my sister who was the master of the lying arts, and the chief fabricator of stories. "I never said anything like that. What tattoo? I know nothing about tattoos?"I ranted.

"Hillary, don't lie to me. Did she have a tattoo of a wolf's eye on her?"He said, suddenly boiling with anger.

"What are you talking about? You're frightening me, okay? In fact..."I looked outside and luckily it had stopped raining. "...I would like you to leave my house immediately."

"Hillary, fine, I'll leave but first tell me about the tattoo."

My pressure level had reached its limit and it could not withstand any more pressure, so I exploded with distress. "I DON'T WANNA HEAR ANYTHING ABOUT WEREWOLVES, YOU OR AVA, AND I NEED YOU TO GET OUT OF MY HOUSE BEFORE I CALL POLICE. GET OUT!!!"

He seemed shocked by my outburst. I thought he was going to say something, but then he stared at me for a while and then walked out of my room. In a few seconds, I heard the sound of my front door open and close, and I knew he had left.

I let out a loud cry, and I rolled round and round the bed, holding my head. I felt really bad. I knew I was rude and harsh towards him but everything was too much to handle. I didn't even know from where to start thinking from; was it the fact that he had shiny blue wolf's eyes or the fact that he claims to be a werewolf or the fact that he claims that Ava is also like him, which explains why she had referred to me as 'humans' because she wasn't human, she was a freaking werewolf!

Crazy!! Everything was crazy! He had even said that I was a werewolf too and I was his mate. Ridiculous!

I made up my mind. I was going to keep away from them and if they approached me again I would tell them that I wasn't going to be a part of their occult group or whatever it was.

I had my own living hell to bear and I didn't want to add another to it. Although the fact that I won't see him hurt me a lot, I did what I thought I needed to do. For Christ's sake he had glowing wolf's eyes, I didn't even want to think that he was truly a werewolf.

I didn't believe in the supernatural —at least not anymore. I once believed when I was younger that I was a werewolf, or some kind of beast because I usually have highly realistic nightmares of me changing into a wolf under the full moon and then I would wake up naked and exhausted in the middle of the forest.

My mum was always around, and waiting for me to wake up with my clothes in her hands, which made me wonder if she was like me because in my nightmares, I wasn't the only wolf, there were three of us; me, my sister and my mother.

The only time I had summoned up courage to tell her about my curiosity concerning the wolf thing, she had shouted on me, hit me severally, locked me in the dark basement for a whole week and when I was released, she had warned me never to say such nonsense, that her daughters aren't monsters and that I was just suffering from nightmares and it was nothing out of the ordinary

After that day, I had never questioned her or myself about it mainly because I didn't want to get beaten and locked in the basement again.

Now, I fought against the possibility of that being true. I didn't want anything causing trouble for me. By the way, I already had a plan to run away from home after my graduation from High school and my eighteenth birthday, which was in two weeks.

Even if I were a wolf, I was going to be a lone wolf.

Five days had passed since my encounter with Dylan and Ava, and I had received nothing less than a hundred calls from them which I didn't pick and after a while I switched off my cell as I really didn't need it anymore, by the way, my mum and Steve always called our landline phone at home.

It was the second to the last day of school, and it was a very emotional day for most students, but not me though. It was a happy day for me, I had no friends that I'd miss, I had no teacher that I had liked to the extent of crying that I was leaving.

I waited after school, to look around the school for the last time as I knew that I wouldn't be going for the graduation party the next day.

With my fantastic results in my hands, I wandered my highschool over and over again.

I had taken the truck because I wasn't going back home, I was going to run somewhere faraway just like my twin sister had, run to a place where my mum and Steve would never find me.

At last, I walked outside and into the truck. I hadn't taken much, apart from my two small bags which I kept some of my clothes and some pictures of myself and my twin sister, Maribel. I took nothing that belonged to my mum nor Steve, I didn't want to remember that they ever existed.

I took in three deep breaths and then shifted the gear to drive....it was then I felt the presence of someone in the car but it was already too late...I had been injected and put to sleep.

My eyelids shook severally as I struggled to open my eyes. The room swirled around for some seconds until I finally retained my sight and was shocked with the human figure at my front—Dylan Woodluck.

He was seated at my front with a tray of food in his hands. Despite the amazing aroma that emanated from the food, I felt dizzy and irritated as hell. The only way for me not vomiting was if a miracle occurred, and if you know anything about me, it is the fact that things like miracles and luck were never on my side.

In other words....I vomited.

He placed his hands on my back and rubbed it gently. "You're alright, okay."

"Get off me!"I said, shrugging his hands off me.

He retreated, picked the chair which he had been sitting on and moved it closer to me. He reached out for the tray and sat down, placing the tray of food on his lap. "How are you feeling?"He said with his nice soothing voice.

"Where the hell am I?"I asked, ignoring his question.

"Hillary, you are somewhere safe."

I scoffed. "Somewhere safe? And my home is what, exactly?"

"Dangerous."He said.

"You kidnapped me and now you are telling me that my home is dangerous."

"I know that abducting you wasn't the best way to bring you here and for that I'm truly sorry...but you and I know that your home is bad for you, with those crazy people as your..."

"Don't you dare say such things about my parents...I mean my mum and Steve Harrows."

"You see, you can't even call them parents..."

"You know nothing about me, Dylan."I said.

"Yea, you're right, but what I do know about you is that you're very stubborn, which is both good and bad, and the bad side of your stubbornness is what's making you unable to accept that those people are deranged and unsuitable to live amongst normal people, especially not you"He said.

"Then I guess they better live with you, since you're as crazy as they are."I said angrily. I hated it when anyone talked about my family. Although I detested my mum and Steve, I never showed it outside. It was meant to be something I'd hide forever, because it was a highly disturbing matter for me, so I always kept it private. And now, I felt like Dylan was invading my privacy...I felt embarrassed.

"I'm sorry,"he said. "But when I found out about the abuse, I became annoyed and I just couldn't control my feelings."

"Why do you care if I get hurt or not? It's none of your business."

"You're my mate, Hillary...you mean everything to me!"

Those words slammed my heart and immediately flushed all my anger away. Did he really mean that? Or was he trying to get me to trust him? Either way, it still made my heart jump in excitement.

"I need you to trust me, Hillary."

I scoffed. "If you really need me to trust you then I guess you had better quit drugging and abducting me, and then maybe someday...you could 'earn' my trust."I said, laying emphasis on the word 'earn'.

"Once again, I'm sorry for drugging you, but I needed to bring you here to meet my father... the alpha of my pack."

"Why?"I asked curiously.

"He's sick and he really wants to see you."

"I still don't get it. Why me?"

"Because, you are my mate....and if my father doesn't make it....I'll be made the next alpha and you'd be my Luna."

I managed to laugh despite my nervousness. "You're nuts. You really need help, Dylan...and I can help you, just let me go and I could probably get you like four psychiatrists and six shrinks to help you."

"I'm not insane and you know that, Hillary."

"All I know is that you are abducting me, Dylan and if you don't let me go now, the police will hunt you down, arrest you, you'd be imprisoned and you'd spend a whole lot of years in prison."

"You aren't forced to stay here, Hillary."

"Okay, then I think it's best for me to.leave, right?"

"Hillary, you're not a prisoner here."He said.

"Then let me go!!!"

"I will, but first...you have to meet my father...the alpha."

I calmed myself down by taking in three deep breaths. "OK, but you'd have to promise me that immediately I see your father, you'd free me."

He shot me a sharp glance and said. "Sure thing, Hillary...I promise."

He stood up, dropped the tray, and began making his way out of the room. "Come along, Hillary, this house is very enormous and you could get lost."

It was when I began rising up that I noticed the fact that I had vomited on the floor and I felt really really filthy. "Hold on, Dylan."

"What's wrong?"He said turning around. "Oh...is it the...don't worry I'll have someone clean it up."

"Also, I'll have to clean up as I feel like a trash can right now."

"Okay... the bathroom is that way."he said pointing to another door in the room. "I would have someone drop you some new clothes before you're done."

"Okay."

"I'll be waiting downstairs."He said as he opened the door and closed it.

I exhaled and hurried into the bathroom. I rinsed my mouth thoroughly and after I took off my clothes and hopped into the bathtub.

I dipped my head into the water for a few seconds, it was my method of getting rid of unnecessary thoughts.

When I raised myself back up, I was startled by someone standing by the door. I swiftly used my palms to rub off the soapy water off my face to get a better look at the person.

I took a sigh of relief when I saw who it was. "Ava, you scared the hell out of me."

She looked at me with fury and extreme annoyance. Her face was red and puffy, like she had been crying for a very long time. The usual spark in her beautiful ocean blue eyes was gone and her eyes looked duller and she had a growing eye bag under her eyes, like she hadn't slept for some days and had spent her sleeping hours weeping. Her blonde curly hair was rough and uncombed. Her lips were quivering and she had a look of hate on her face.

I rested back a little bit. "What's wrong, Ava?"

"Everything. Every single thing, Hillary."She said as she moved into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

I became really scared. I hoped she hadn't found out that I mentioned her tattoo to Dylan. "Ava...I swear I didn't tell him..."

She drew closer to me and squatted beside me. She had a maniacal smile on her face. She gently touched and massaged my hair and scalp. "You know they weren't lying, Janette and Clarissa weren't lying at all...your hair is really really pretty, Hillary."

I began to tremble.

My body trembled as her finger left cold shivers as they massaged my scalp. I felt like crying but I was too scared to do anything but plead. "What are you talking about? I don't understand. Whatever it is ...I'm sorry."

"No you are not sorry, Hillary."She said as her fingers gripped my hair with more force. "If you are sorry, then why are you here?"

"Here? I never meant to come here. Dylan abducted me and brought me here."I said with my voice quivering.

I knew that in a few minutes, I would have begun to bleed from my scalp, so I used my teeth to reach out to her neck. She tried pushing me away, but I was lucky and fast enough to get to her wrist. I took a deep bite into her wrist until I felt hot blood ooze out of her skin and into my mouth. I quickly withdrew and spat out the blood.

Ava was whimpering and moaning as she held her wrist.

I almost jumped out of my skin when I saw the damage I had done to her. She was bleeding badly and her wrist looked like they were hanging and like they might fall off soon.

But how? My teeth couldn't have done so much damage.

I reached out to my teeth and was surprised when I touched my canines. They were long, sharp and pointed. I screamed in fear of my own self.

Despite her pain, Ava wasn't done with me yet, she abandoned her left hand which was useless at that moment and grabbed my hair with her right hand. She yanked my head downwards into the tub and held me down.

She was going to drown me. I was sure of it. I shook and used all my strength but she was way stronger than I was.

After a while, I gave up. I surrendered to her torturing hands and choked on the water.

But before I drew in my last breath, her grip on me was released and my head was pulled out from the tub.

I vomited the water out of my mouth and coughed continuously. My eyes were red and wide open.

Dylan was pulling Ava who was yelling and crying at the same time, away from me and out of the room. I heard other voices which I guess assisted in escorting her out.

I watched the whole drama unfold until Dylan came back. "Are you alright?"he asked.

"Yes. I'm fine now."I rested back into the tub to conceal my body from his flaring eyes.

He watched me for a while and then handed me a towel.

I grabbed it from him. I expected him to walk out but he didn't, his eyes were still all over me. "Would you excuse me, Dylan."

"No, I won't."he said bluntly.

"What!!"

"The last time I excused you, you were almost killed. I'm not taking my eyes off you."

I scoffed. "This is ridiculous. There's no way I'm getting out of here with you staring at me."

"What's the issue with me staring at you? You're my mate."He asked.

"The issue is that I love my privacy and lately it seems like you've been invading it. So pleeeaaase excuse me."

He turned around. "Well, this is all the privacy you're getting."

I rose from the tub and quickly wrapped the towel around me. My heart skipped a beat as my eyes met his curious blue eyes staring at me.

I held the towel closer to me, as a flush of embarrassment traveled all over me. "Did you...?"

"Yes, Hillary..."He said as he walked slowly to me. "And I'd say that you're indeed the most adorable lady I've ever set my eyes on."

With every step he took towards me I made a step backward, until I was resting on the walls of the bathroom.

I felt intoxicated and high by his closeness to me, like I was under the influence of hard drugs. I felt really high that I didn't know when I uttered. "And how many ladies have you set your eyes on?"

He chuckled. "More than you think? But none of them have ever made me feel this way."He reached for my hand which was holding the towel, and gently released my grip from it. "None of them have ever been so beautiful."He said as he let loose the towel.

I bowed my head as I watched the towel fall to the floor. I could feel his ravaging eyes wander all over my naked body and I didn't have the courage to look up at him.

Like he felt my fears, he slowly raised my head with his finger and said softly, "You don't need to be scared, Hillary, just...feel, okay?"

I nodded my head.

His fingertips began to trail my bare shoulder and ran down slowly to my chest. His hands drew closer to my bare breasts...and I pushed him away.

"I can't..."I muttered silently, catching my breath. "I'm sorry..I just can't."I bent and picked the towel and wrapped myself with it.

"It's fine, Hillary "he held my face gently. "We have all the time in the world to get fond of each other."

He patted my chin and walked out of the room. It took me two to three minutes to get control of myself. I couldn't believe my emotions, I had really wanted him to touch me however he wanted but I was just too scared and paranoid.

At last, I moved out of the bathroom and changed into a dress I saw on the bed. It was a short wrapping flared gown with beautiful sunflower patches on it. It wasn't my type of gown, as it was way higher than my knee. I looked at the mirror for a while, admiring the beautiful gown which showed my curves–curves which I've always hidden in my baggy pants, floortouching skirts and Cinderellalike gowns.

I sat down on the bed and exhaled loudly through my mouth. I couldn't believe that so much could happen in less than thirty minutes; I had been tortured, accused and almost drowned by Ava Saints, a girl who I thought was my friend, and also what transpired between Dylan and I.

From the window I saw a small yellow tweeter hitting the window. I stood up and walked over to the large glass and mahogany framed window and opened it.

The beautiful bird had somehow gotten stuck in the wet clay of one of the vases which had beautiful flowers in them. It was young and beautiful and it suited the beautiful weather. I helped it out, and I let go of it...but it didn't fly away, instead it climbed onto my outstretched palms and chittered beautifully.

While I was still focused on the amazing tweeter, I didn't notice Dylan walk into the room. He walked to my side and said softly. "It likes you, doesn't it?"

I shook a little bit and the beautiful bird flew from my hand. "Oh, no."I exclaimed, but then it perched on my palms again.

He laughed. "Like I said, it does like you."

"Maybe."I giggled.

"Just accept it, Hillary, why is it always so difficult for you to accept love?"

My smile faded. "Because it's not real, Dylan. It's something formulated and it's never true...at least even if it was, it never comes to people like me." I said as I lifted my hand and urged the bird to fly away. It flew away and I shut the large windows.

"That's not true, Hillary. Everyone has a shot at true love and unlike humans we werewolves are lucky to always know our mates. So all you have to do is to accept it."

I looked into his deep golden brown eyes and tried to see if he meant it, and from the way he looked at me I was almost sure he did.

I looked away. "So, where's your dad? The alpha."

"Follow me."

We were in a massive superbly decorated and furnished bedroom which had several pictures around, most of which were of Dylan and another girl who looked like Dylan, but was obviously younger.

On the bed, was an elderly man with long gray hairs, full gray beards and black shining eyes. Although he was old and his face was wrinkled and folded, he still looked strong and bold. He had the look of a leader, now I knew why he was the Alpha. His old eyes were focused on the ceiling, when Dylan and I walked in.

We went beside the bed and Dylan interrupted the old man from his daydream. "Dad."

The old man shook from his daydream. "Is she here?"

"Yes."Dylan said.

The old man groaned as he shifted his body to face me. His black eyes were fixed on me for a short moment, which felt like a whole year to me. I stood there confused and had an awkward feeling. I was tense until his wrinkled face gave in to a wide smile which exposed his old crooked teeth. He patted the bed beside me and told me with his old and shaky but bold voice. Come over here, sweetheart, don't let this old man make you frightened."

I hesitantly sat beside him.

He reached out to my face and rubbed it with his wrinkled but strong hands. "You're so pretty. What's your name, Angel?"

"I'm Hillary...Hillary Hunter."I said nervously. I wasn't used to being around nice old people, I never had grandparents, the only family I had were Maribel, My mum and Steve Harrows.

"Hunter....."He looked at me, and pity was written across his face. "I knew your father, Anthony Hunter."

The old man held my hand and wrapped it with his large hands. "You have a lovely name, Hillary."

"Thank you, sir."I said sheepishly.

"C'mon, don't sir me. Those days of me being overrespected are gone and over, right now, I'm just an old man who wishes the best for his son and his pack, and an old man who impatiently awaits his newly made friend named Death."

I looked at him pitifully. From the strongness and hardness of his palm and his hands which must have been really muscular some years ago as they weren't sagging like most old people's hands did, I was certain that he must have been a man of many amazing virtues and now he was chained down by age and illness.

He must have noticed my sympathetic face as he laughed happily and continuously until he began to cough. "Dearest Hillary, don't even think of pitying me. Today is a day which i have waited to witness for years, the day that my beloved young boy will find a mate who will be with him forever, and now I was blessed by the angels to witness my only son find His mate with not only a beautiful and intelligent child like you, but also the beloved daughter of my late friend, Anthony."

"You knew him well, didn't you?"I asked as I resisted the burning urge to request for the old man to tell me everything he knew about my father, every time they laughed and played together, everything they had witnessed, how he was so unfortunate to meet my mother, how he had felt when Maribel and I were born. I wanted to ask him to possibly say how my father felt every moment of his life, but I didn't.

"Your father was my friend and was the Alpha of this pack, Hillary."

He cleared his throat. "Yes, he was the Alpha of the pack... before he died."

"Really?"

"Yes, Hillary. He was also my friend. Now, let's do away with the history and welcome the future."He held my hand tighter. "Hillary, I have dreamt of this day for many years and I can't believe that it's right in front of my eyes."

Dylan glanced at me and smiled and I reciprocated.

The old man clapped and smiled happily. "You guys truly love each other...don't mind me I'm.old fashioned, most of you modern youths hate using the word love and prefer 'really like', right?"

I replied with a smile although I felt like screaming.

"Yea, I thought as much. I can't wait...let the Alpha ritual be done by midnight. Dylan, alert everyone about it, it's going to be amazing."

"OK, dad."He said. it was obvious from his countenance that he felt uncomfortable.

The old Alpha rose up and gave me a Peck in the cheek. "Margaretta!!"He yelled with his old crooked voice. "Margaretta! MARGARETTA!!"

An elderly woman in an apron around her came in. She brought with her a tray which had a cup of chinese tea and some unleavened bread on it. She dropped it aside on a bedside table, took off her glove and dusted her apron. She had a nice and welcoming smile on her face and she graced me with it. "Old Jodan, what else do you need?"

He grumbled. "You're calling me old, like you're not old yourself."

She laughed. "Jodan, you and I know that I was still in the 5th grade when you were done with college, so let's not argue about age now, shall we?"

"Fine, but you look just as old as I do."He said.

"Hmmm, yet I'm not the one on the bed who can't do anything else but eat and sleep."She said jokingly.

"Whatever, you won."He said, surrendering to her. "Anyways, 'young' Margaretta, I would like you to prepare this angel of a lady..."He said addressing me. "For her ritual to become a Luna, can you do that? Or are your bones too weak to move around?"He said taunting her.

"Joke's over, Jordan, insult me one more time and you'd have anchovies on pizza as food for the next five days."

"OK, I'm done. But seriously, I'd like you to prepare her and dress her like the angel she is."

He looked away from Margaretta and stared at me. "Honey, I'm really grateful and I wish you all the best. Now, I think it's best if you get ready and prepared for the ceremony."

Dylan placed his hands on my shoulder and aided me in getting up to my feet. "Thanks, Dad. We better leave you to enjoy your meal and your chat with Aunt Margaretta."

"Sure thing, Kids. Margaretta's is feeling too good of herself and I need to change that, by the way."He waved happily and continued his chat with the old lady.

Immediately we left the room and Dylan shut the door, I asked him. "Nothing like that is happening, and I don't know how you're going to tell your dad that, but you'd have to deal with that. Right now, all I want to do is to leave here."

He stared at me in disappointment and said. "Of course, he walked down the long and wide stairs. The house was indeed enormous and was almost like a fivestar hotel. There were several people moving around, some of them kids, some youths, some were couples , many were in their teens and many were as old as Margaretta.

There were so many eyes on me and some of them even smiled and greeted me.

Everyone looked so happy and it looked like they were all one big family.

Dylan escorted me out of the villa which was situated in the woods, but not the one close to my house.

We finally arrived at the road which led out of town.

"Goodluck, Hillary."

"Yea, I'd really need that."I said as I managed to smile.

"So, you're leaving town, aren't you?"It was obvious that he was sad.

"Yeah."

"Whereto, Hillary?"

"As far as possible."I said.

"OK.."He said reluctantly. "If you ever need help, feel free to contact me", he handed me a slip of paper which had his number on it.

I collected it and squeezed it in my hand. "I better leave, now before My Mum and Steve get back, i t would be better if I had some hours advantage over them."

He sighed and he hugged me. "Hillary, I hope the next time we meet, you'd be less stubborn and more...submissive."

I laughed. "Dylan, I can bet that we'd never meet again, but it was nice knowing you. You taught me something very relevant, at least I now know what I truly am, and also I know some things about my father."

"Hillary, fate is stronger than you think. Fate brought us together, so no matter where you go, how far you travel or even if you go to the other end of the world, Fate would still bring us back together. It may take years, decades or it may even be sooner than you can ever imagine, but I'm sure that you and I will be together someday and I hope it's soon."

I smiled. "I don't believe in Fate, Dylan, so goodbye."

When I arrived at the car, I cleaned a teardrop which had escaped my eyes. I took in three deep breaths, each having significant meanings, the first breath was for me saying farewell to my past, the second was saying farewell to My sister, Dylan, Jodan and to the old me and the third one was for welcoming a new life and future for myself.

After my usual deep breathing ritual, I opened the car door and i... froze.

In the front seat was Ava Saints and in the back seat was my mum and Steve Harrows, both of whom were pointing guns at me.

"Seems like you're going somewhere, Hillary?"Steve said, with a wicked smile on his face.

"Get in the car, now!."My mum spat out.

I slowly hopped into the truck and prayed that my head wouldn't get blown with a gun from behind.

"Now Hillary, let's go back home."My mum said with a cold voice.

My head went blank and my body felt frozen. I didn't know what they'd do to me, but I knew that it would be the most horrific thing ever. I slowly shifted the gear to drive and I drove slowly to my waterloo.

We arrived back at the house after twenty minutes of silent driving.

I got out of the car with shaking legs. Ava, my mum and Steve also came out and led me back into the house.

At that moment, I had no idea of what to do, I didn't know if I should cry or I should plead or I should even give up on living.

When I had left the house earlier in the morning, I had promised myself never to come back under any circumstances, but now I was back to the hellhole I had left for good.

I stared at Ava with anger, I didn't even know how she had met my parents but what I knew was that she was one of the people who didn't wish me well, and that she had a hand in my current predicament.

She looked back at me and gave a naughty smile and waved at me.

My mum had gone out the back door and Steve had followed her. I had no idea of what they were doing but I was sure that whatever it was, it wasn't in any way a good thing for me. It had to be some kind of torture or extreme punishment.

Steve came back from outside and walked upstairs, panting like a wild animal. He came back down after some seconds with a very large chain, he stopped at the end of the stairs, glared at me and stormed out of the living room and through the back door.

Now, it was just me and Ava.

We were both staring at each other, but the difference was that she had a victorious look on her face with a smile which I had once thought was beautiful but now all I saw in it was Evil–pure evil, and I had a look of fury and rage which made me look like a sorry loser.

Finally, she broke the silence with a loud laugh which echoed in my ears over and over again. "Hillary, don't look at me like that, it makes you look stupid."

I didn't have time for her silly comments, so I simply ignored it and asked her the question which was aching inside of me. "What the hell are you doing here, Ava?"

Her smile faded and the look of hate which I had seen earlier at the pack house came back. "I think you should know already?"

"All I know is that you're a crazy person who should be nowhere else but behind strong and thick bars of a prison cell."

"Yes, you're right. But the main reason I'm here is to finish what I have already started."She giggled. "You have no idea what I have planned for you, Hillary."

And she was right, I had no idea what she had planned for me, but I knew that it had to be extremely horrible and unimaginably hurtful.

She chuckled as she swiped away a teardrop which had escaped her ocean blue eyes. "Hillary, do you know what happened after Dylan came in to rescue you?"

I didn't respond and I didn't even move. I just sat in the chair like I was a doll.

I looked at her and all I saw was pain and hate.

She cleaned her tears with her long fingers which still made me shiver after remembering what had occurred in the pack house, how she had tortured me with those sharp manicured finger nails.

She stood up and walked to me.

My heart began racing as I anticipated the worst.

She sat beside me and held my face with her fingers. "You stole the love of my life from me, Hillary, and if you know anything about me, then you wouldn't have."

She applied more force on her fingers and they pierced my soft cheek, resulting in a small stream of blood from both my left and right cheek.

I winced in pain as her fingers dug deeper into my skin.

"Ava, I don't even want to be anyone's mate nor Luna, I promise that if you let me go, Dylan would never see me again. I would go someplace far away that no one from here would know."I said, shivering.

She looked at me for a while and then burst into laughter. "That was funny, Hillary... really really funny. So, in your dumb and childish brain, you think that I'd let you go...after you have ruined my life. Yea, you think I'd let you go, and maybe you'd find a human boyfriend, give birth to as much children as you wish, have a family and die one day looking at your lover in the face, while I would forever be alone, faraway and hated by the only man I love and will ever love."

Her fingers reached my eyes and circled them slowly and gently. "If you think so, then you must be really stupid like Janette had said. I would make your life a living hell, I would make you suffer until you'd beg for death and then I'd make you wish you were never born."She gripped my face with her hands and attempted to use her fingers to press my eyeballs but luckily my mum stormed in and prevented her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, lady? My mum said.

Ava looked around, then dropped her hands from my face. "Nothing ma, I was just telling her that running away from her family isn't the best thing to do."

"Please help us educate this blockhead of a daughter we have here because we have tried everything we can."Steve said.

He made a way to shake Ava but my mum pushed his hand away, and gave Ava a stern look. "Don't you try fooling me young girl, I know you hate my daughter and I don't give a shit to know why...but don't you try hurting Hillary because you have no right to, she's my daughter, my property, so leave me alone to torture my slave the way I want to."

It wasn't like I didn't know that my mum hated me, but still her words felt like I was being stabbed with a long blunt sword through my chest. A couple teardrops fell through my cheeks and my mum slapped them away.

"Now get your lazy ass up, Hillary."She pulled me up and held me roughly by my neck. She looked at Ava and said; "Thank you, you spared me a lot of money, it would have cost me some dollars to buy a new pet...and even if I had gotten a new one, it could never have been a human being who my blood runs through."

Ava smiled. "Don't mention it, it's my pleasure. But I would like you to do me one favor."

My mum smiled. "Whatever you say dear.I owe you one by the way"

She held my face and kissed me on my cheek. "Well, I'd love it so much if you keep her indoors for a while."

My mum laughed. "If that's what you wanted then I'd say you wasted that favor, as I have already planned to keep her in a place where she'll never see the sunlight until she's as old as I am."