"We can't keep harboring you, Riley. You're old enough to take care of yourself and it will be best if you leave now."
Nothing shocked me more than hearing Beatrice tell me that a few days ago. She was the head of the orphanage center that I grew up in. The same orphanage center that raised me since I was a kid after my parents died. Except now they can't afford to keep taking care of me.
Like every other day since I was forced to leave the orphanage center, I find myself walking around aimlessly in search of a job or something to sustain me. This was the harsh reality of life I was made to go through now.
My legs are weary already from the long walk and I was sweating profusely. I couldn't stop though. I just couldn't. But the sudden sound of my stomach rumbling brought me to the realization that I still haven't had anything to eat all day.
It is at that time that I catch sight of a place where people were trooping into. The aroma of cooked food coming from that direction hits my nostrils and I know I have hit a jackpot.
Quickly I begin to walk in the direction of where the supposed event was taking place and I sight two huge men in corporate wears guarding the entrance.
I didn't even care about them as I moved to enter until one of them uses an arm to block me from going in.
"No card, no entry," he announces and then pushes me aside.
There was no way I could fight my way through two hefty men like this. I just have to figure something out because this looks like my only chance at having something to eat today.
Ten minutes later, I was inside the event. And it wasn't through the entrance. Let's just say I have a pretty good skill at climbing my way through scaled fences.
This location seems to be packed. Obviously they were having some kind of high class event judging from the expensive wears a lot of them have on. But that's not my business. My business here is to fill my hungry stomach and that's what I set myself to do. Surely they won't mind an extra hand.
"Give me this, and this, and that," I say cheerfully to the caterers in charge of the meal after I approach them and they do as I requested, filling a dish up in no time.
I couldn't contain my excitement when I'm finally handed the plate. And as I walked away from there after shoving a spoonful into my mouth, I didn't fail to notice the weird stares I received from the caterers. Who cares?
Instead of finding a place to sit so I can enjoy my meal, I decide to have a view of my environment.
Maybe I shouldn't have done that because I somehow noticed how literally everyone around was either making out with the opposite sex or looking like they're about to get laid. How didn't I notice this when I first got in?
Amidst the whole erotic showdown going on around, what caught my interest was a particular man who didn't look like he was going to participate in whatever was happening. His expression was stoic but he had his eyes fixated on me like he could see deep within my soul.
To my surprise, the man walks over to me.
He doesn't say anything for a long while, but instead keeps staring at me with those eyes that looked like he yearned for something.
I can't really explain what his expression depicts but it had this longing in them. More like he wanted me. I could swear that I was feeling a bit aroused and uncomfortable at the same time.
"As much as I hate doing this, I'll just say it," he pauses. "You're my mate."
My face is instantly lit up with confusion. "Come again. Is this your attempt at flirting?" I have to ask.
He finally responds to my question: "Look, I'll give you the option of accepting or rejecting the bond now. Let me know where I stand from this moment."
I'm still not on the same page with him which is why I ask in my still confused state: "What bond?"
He looks a bit frustrated at this point but I should be more frustrated knowing I have no damn clue what's going on here.
That didn't faze me though as I calmly said, "I don't even know what you're talking about."
For a while he says nothing. He just stares as if scrutinizing me. The longing in his eyes was still there, and this time more sensual than before.
When he takes a step closer to me, I respond by taking one backward.
"I think I get it now," he finally speaks. "You're human." He says the last word with a bit of disgust attached to it. Makes me wonder if he's crazy or something.
"Aren't we all?" I ask. "Aren't you?"
"There's obviously a lot you don't understand."
"Am I supposed to understand that a crazy man has been asking me questions and talking about weird stuff that makes no sense? Or am I supposed to understand that there's a lot of kissing going on around here?"
I expected a good response to my supposed confrontation. Instead I get a much weirder response.
"Come with me."
"Well I don't want to talk to you again. In short, I'm leaving. You can have this place to yourself."
"I'm sorry but you're not."
That is when I see him gesture with his hand. Almost at the same time did two men begin to walk toward us from both sides, building up an unknown fear in me.
From the corner of my eyes I begin to plan an escape route. But I'm not able to come up with anything as those the man signaled to were already coming toward me.
The men charge at me so I quickly defend myself by throwing my plate of food at them, slowing them down for a bit while I seize the chance to run out of this place for good. And as I do, I could feel them hot on my heels.
I didn't let the fear of the fact that I was being chased down overwhelm me as I swayed past different bodies. And when I thought I had finally found a route out of here, I found myself bumping hard into someone, sending me crashing to the ground.
When I look up, I am surprised to see it's the strange man that I bumped into. How did he get here so fast?
I was surrounded now and I knew there was no way out of this for me. I have to resign to my fate while hoping he doesn't hurt me.
In a trembling voice, I ask, "What do you want from me?"
"Nothing. But until you accept or reject the bond between us, you are mine," He then looks toward his men. "Take her!"
From looking for a meal to help with my hunger to being forcefully seized and taken away to somewhere I don't know. It seems my whole day didn't go as planned. It's been hours. Maybe about a day since I've been locked up in a room that has the qualities I can only dream of having. I've tried to look for a way out but it was clear that whoever built these walls made sure no one had a chance to escape. And the thought of being locked in here forever made me worried. Worry would be an understatement. I'm scared. When the door opens all of a sudden, I half-expected it to be the maids or whatever that have served me two different meals since I was brought in here — Meals that I reluctantly ate to my satisfaction. Until I looked up to see it was the strange man that caused me to be locked up in here in the first place. He doesn't waste time striding over to where I'm seated, which is the only chair available in this room. I should stand but I can only glare at him with hate while I maint
DAMIEN: "So how did it go with her?" That question is thrown at me as I close the door behind me after entering inside my private study. I approached a free seat swiftly because I needed to relax my body. The questioner is my beta, Xavier. He's my second-in-command as well as my right hand man. "She understands now that she has to be here," I say. "And she wants to reject me." For a long while nothing is said. Gives me a moment to reel into the whole frustration I had to go through while trying to convince the human girl to stay. "With the look of things, you didn't let her do that, right?" Xavier asks and my eyes are on him instantly. "Why would I? I finally get a fated mate after years of waiting and you think I will just let her go? Never." "But she doesn't want to be here..." "She'll adapt. She has no choice but to adapt." Xavier looks worried. And whenever he has that look, it's clear that he doesn't agree with me on what I'm doing. "You're not thinking of the Luna, Dam
RILEY: "You're kidding, right?" I ask, apparently expecting the man named Xavier to say he is. But he doesn't say anything. I shake my head. A part of me wants to believe he's telling the truth but another is pointing out the fact that he could be playing games with me. Even Damien too. "How can you all be wolves? I mean, take a look at you," I point a hand in his direction, withdrawing it almost as soon as I do so. "You look as human as you can be. Hell, you look like every human out there." "This is the form we make use of to blend among your kind. No one knows of our true identity except us. And we intend to keep it that way." I give him a side-eye. "But you've just told me what you are." "That's because it seems you'll be here with us for a while. Since that's the case, why not get to know about us?" He confirms my fear. Damien doesn't want me out of here. He wants me rot in here for the rest of my life and he's going to find a means to make that happen. How could someone I
RILEY:There was absolutely no way out of this place. Guards upon guards flocked around the main compound and I could see that thick bushes surrounded the premises. Not just that, there were other buildings around making up the compound. It would take a miracle for me to make a clean escape out of here."This is the premises of the Alpha quarters. Mostly anyone you'll find here belongs to the Alpha's family or has sworn allegiance to the Alpha," Xavier explains, giving me a foresight of what this place entails.I couldn't help but ask, "Do you live here too?""I don't. I might be Damien's second-in-command but I am not a part of his family. Neither am I one of the guards or the maids. I have my residence outside this premises just like every other pack member and that is beyond those gates you can see from afar."I had to strain my eyes just to catch the sight of the gates he was talking about. They were far off from where we stood."Let's take a walk, shall we?" Xavier offers and I d
RILEY:Yesterday, I can't say the number of places Xavier took me to. It was a lot and it looked like the pack or whatever it was called was run like any other town or city around.Nothing looked odd except for the fact that it was just their kind that stayed here together. And according to him, other beings like them had their own pack to themselves in other locations.To be honest, it was I who instigated the whole process of him taking me to a lot of places. It was my way of taking a mental scan that would help me navigate through the pack easily. It looked like it was a successful idea but my legs suffered for it by the end of the tour around.Today, as early as 7:00am, he came to my room, stating he had something interesting to show me. And here I was, standing and watching bare chested men fighting against each other in what seemed like a training. At least that's what Xavier called it."Do they do this everyday?" I couldn't help but ask Xavier. This was after I witnessed one of
DAMIEN:Whatever Carmella was doing, it looked like she didn't want to be disturbed. A closer look at her made me realize she was actually bonding her hair in a way and this gave me the cue that I could actually move close to her."Can we talk?" I ask in an attempt to grab her attention even though I know that she was aware of my presence.She nodded but didn't stop what she's doing for my sake. And with a deep breath which was the only way for me to relax my nerves, I began to speak."I know you're not comfortable with everything going on," I start with that. "But I want you to be open with me. I want to know how you really feel because I feel I owe you a lot of explanation."She says nothing but keeps bonding her hair with her eyes fixated on her reflection in the mirror. The fact is that I'm actually surprised to see her do this herself when she usually calls for her personal maids to get it done for her or sometimes her Gamma.Eventually, her hands are off her hair. And while stil
RILEY:A bang erupted in the air and it affected me so much that I fell to the ground. Meanwhile I was sitting when that happened.I couldn't fathom what was going on except that I could see members of the pack running around like something was chasing them. And when I see Xavier approaching me swiftly with a worried look etched on his face, it made me realize something was wrong.Another bang erupted in the air just when he got to me and helped me up to my feet."What's going on?" I had to ask, my mind trying to draw out the possibilities of what could have gone wrong around."We are under attack!" he hurriedly says as he holds my hand in an attempt to drag me away from there."By who?""Rogues!"That was a word I didn't understand. However I'll come to understand the levity of the situation we're in when we had to stop all of a sudden. Our path has been suddenly blocked by two men dressed in clothings that didn't seem to match what I've seen around here.The Dark Moon pack had a uni
RILEY:I wasn't sure what to be worried about. Maybe it was the fact that I happened to be attacked or that I witnessed the transformation of a real wolf into a man that turned out to be Damien.I was going insane. And I was sure that in no time, I'm going to be crazy from knowing how stressful everything seems to be."Stay put, Riley. Let the doctor clean that up," Damien says as I withdraw my arm from the supposed doctor who was about to add something to the scratch I have on it. This probably resulted from the aggressive push to the ground in Xavier's bid to protect me."It hurts!" I snap."It has to. And it will only get worse if you don't let him clean it up now. So just stay put and let him finish his job or I'll be forced to hold you down myself."I glare at him. "Don't you dare come any closer to me. I'll rip your eyes out!" I threaten.The little distraction gives the doctor the chance to actually apply the ointment on to my arm and I almost yelp at the sting I felt from it.