Chapter 3

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, Damien," he says. "She's not going to like it. You're only causing more problems for yourself by keeping the human girl here."

I counter him without hesitation: "Carmella knew what she signed up for when she agreed to be my Luna. She knew that one day I was going to get my fated mate. It's not my fault that it's happening now."

"Still you have to consider her feelings before pursuing whatever it is you're pursuing. If the human girl says she wants nothing to do with you, then let her be. It's obvious she can't feel the bond between you two."

"Because she's not like us. She's not a wolf and that means she can't experience whatever it is we're experiencing."

"Of course. And there's nothing you can do to change that."

"You think?"

He knew I was on to something. "And what do you intend to do?" he asks.

"Mark her maybe. Feed her a bit of my blood and hope it makes her turn to one of us," I tell him, clearly explaining what I believe I can do to change things.

"You're not thinking straight, Damien. There's a ninety percent chance that she dies from the unnatural turning."

"And there's a ten percent chance that she won't. I'm willing to risk it and take my chances."

He shakes his head in disapproval. "This isn't right. Deep down you know it isn't."

"Clearly we have to make a few wrong choices in order to arrive at the right option. This is my wrong choice. But who knows, it might be my right option."

Xavier looks at me like I'm a mad man. Maybe I am. I tend to take stupid risks sometimes but this one might be the stupidest of all.

"No matter what you do, the pack members won't be willing to accept her as the Luna. She's not like us. And even if you turn her, she still won't be like us. We already have a Luna. Let's just stick to that," Xavier states in an attempt to make me see the bigger picture.

I won't lie that got me thinking for a bit. He was right and at the same time he wasn't.

"Who am I?" I ask him.

He narrows his eyes at me as he flashes me a weird look. "What has that got to do with this?"

"Just answer the question," I insist.

"Damien."

"Damien what?"

"Damien Rustov."

"And what am I to you... to the rest of the pack?"

He was already aware of where I was getting to which is why he sneeringly says, "The Alpha."

I stand up from my seat, oozing a dominating presence for him to feel. It was a way to let him know I was serious.

"I am the Alpha, Xavier. And as the Alpha, whatever I say goes whether anyone likes it or not. The human girl will be here and this is where she will be until I have a genuine reason to make her leave. That is until then."

He doesn't say anything. I don't expect him to. So after my speech of putting him in his place, I tell him one last thing.

"From now on, you'll see to it that she finds comfort in her stay here. You're dismissed."

*****

RILEY:

I didn't sleep well last night. I had a nightmare that kept me up most of the night.

I remember being attacked by a pack of wolves only to be saved by a much bigger wolf that turned out to be Damien. The nightmare made me question myself about how true it was if he was indeed a wolf like he claimed.

The sight of his nails turning into long claws was still fresh in my head. The thought of those nails clawing into my flesh and ripping my heart out of my chest was scary and it has made my stay here worse than it already is.

I have been racking my brain trying to figure out who I am a prisoner of. I have already deduced that he's not a human, at least that's what I think from what I saw him do. But I feel it's my intuition messing with me.

He couldn't have tricked me into seeing what he did. It was crystal clear and I have to admit that it was real. But knowing that whatever he did is real doesn't change the fact that he is holding me against my will.

I have been given something to eat this morning but it didn't even go well down my throat. I simply forced myself because I wasn't sure when I was going to get the next meal.

While in my reverie, the door opens, interrupting my thoughts. I look to the side only to capture the sight of a man much different than anyone that has ever come in here. He's not the one who got me locked up and he's neither one of the maids that have been attending to me since yesterday.

"Good day, my lady. I'm Xavier," the man says, introducing himself to me. "Damien sent me to you. I'll be something like a help for the time being. At least until you feel you don't want me around you anymore."

I assess him with a once-over. He's not as tall as Damien but he seems to be as built. He has brown curly hair in contrast to Damien's dark hair. And he seems to have a more approachable expression.

"What are you to him? His friend? His butler?" I have to ask, trying to know what I've been set up with.

"More like his assistant. Here I'm called the Beta because I'm Damien's second-in-command. So others address me as Beta Xavier instead of just Xavier," he explains.

"Beta Xavier. Alpha Damien. What's with all these weird terms before your names? Does everyone around have titles to their names?"

"Only those with positions around the Alpha."

I'm confused. Alpha? Beta? Those are terms associated with symbols in the Greek alphabet. Who exactly are these people?

In my desperation, I ask, "Who really are you? I don't want to say 'who'. What are you?" My voice is a bit low when I ask the last question. It was as if I was scared of being heard outside this room.

"Damien didn't tell you anything?"

"He did. But I need to know the truth. Who are you?"

The man sorts of sighs, shaking his head as he does so. It sounds like he has a huge burden resting on his shoulders and he wasn't sure how to tackle it.

I look at him with curious eyes, hoping he will say something. I don't want to be left in the dark longer than this.

"I'll just say this one time. And when I do, I hope it doesn't freak you out," he pauses to gauge my expression which hasn't left him one bit since I asked him that question. Instantly he looked more stressed than before.

After shaking his head one last time, he announces, "Wolves... that's what we are. Not humans, but wolves."

I was already crazed out of my head before I knew it. What in the bloody hell did I just hear?

"I know this is crazy but from the look of things you're going to be our future Luna."