CHAPTER 3

~ Darius ~

Fucking hell, the traitors were right. When I woke up, everything about me felt damn different.

My skin hairs had erupted. My nails had grown longer. My beast clawed inside of me, trying to break free. My body thrummed like a blasted wolf in heat, and damn, I was truly burning.

Whatever potion they used on me, it worked. I craved for a release now. My cock strained so much inside my pants that I, for a moment, worried it would burst out on its own and break the zipper.

Luckily, it didn't, but it was so tight, it was agony for me.

Grunting, I left the ground, hauled my petty ass upright, and took off my blazer and shirt. The garments worsened the heat inside me. It was better to ditch it and let myself get cooled by the night air.

When this was done, pictures of women flashed before me. Their breasts, their nipples, their long legs that spread wide and exposed what they called 'the Downfall of Men.' Huh. I abhor them all, but I fucking found my mind and body needing to touch them...taste them. Now.

Damn it.

"Briggs, Carlos, I am going to kill you for this!" I growled against the tree in front of me. It was a gigantic one that had thick barks and fat roots. Hoping to drive the women's pictures and my unwelcomed craving away, I hit my forehead against it repeatedly.

I was aiming for pain, but it was nonexistent. I failed. The tree couldn't cut my skin. It couldn't even bruise me. I should have known it was pointless throwing my hopes in it.

The burning still remained, and I felt it heightening by the second.

'A woman... we fucking need a woman!' my beast inside demanded.

"No! We can't give in to the potion's effects!" I shouted and clenched my hands. "We won't be reduced to this!"

I unzipped my pants with my left hand and almost instantly my cock sprang free under my boxers.

"This has to work," I muttered through clenched teeth. "It never failed me every year during the Frost Moon, so today is no different!"

Just as my palm wrapped around my shaft, I groaned. Fucking hell, the feeling was so good. I closed my eyes and started pumping; reveling the magnificent feel in every stretch of my cock, every squeeze of my hand, and in every tremble of my balls.

My beast was delighted too; even whimpered inside my head and howled again and again.

We were both in the zone in less than a minute.

I shut off all my senses connected to the outside world and focused solely on pleasuring myself...in ending this plight of mine. I grabbed onto the tree, instantly making a few splinters out of it with my claws, and pumped more and more and fucking more.

When I finally came, I came hard. I could feel my hot semen exploding out of my cock, wetting my hand, the tree and the earth.

There. Done.

I thought I was free now of the potion's effects, but as I came to my senses, I realized it was still there. I still craved for a woman, and damn, it was stronger than before.

'Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck!' I cursed in my mind.

'A woman,' my beast stated.

'I know! A woman!' I answered, snarling. 'Even though I don't like it, our body needs a woman! But we can't! I'll fucking wank a hundred more times if it means we'll be out of this—'

And then I paused.

A smell so sweet, so inviting, and so sensual filled my nose. It was the scent of a woman—a she-wolf—and she was nearby...

Instantly, my head fogged.

Why she was here in the deep forest and at this time of the night, I didn't really care. All I wanted was to take advantage of this sweet situation. I didn't want to, but I found myself too lost with the potion's effects to even think straight.

With my heightened hearing, I heard her heart pound like crazy and, with my sense of smell, I could scent her arousal. She must have spied on me pleasuring myself earlier. That could be it.

"There's no use hiding, little wolf, I can scent you." And I liked it, my traitorous thoughts added. I liked her smell.

She apologized in response, but she actually thought me in trouble! Huh!

What a laugh.

"Me? In trouble?" I stated, cocking a brow, finding it ridiculous, but after reassessing myself and what I had turned to, in a way, I agreed with her. "Hm, maybe you could say that."

I rushed to erase the distance between us and even though I had two hundred and five pounds of muscle and bones, not a sound was heard from the dried leaves when I walked past them. Stealth was part of me being an Alpha; an ability of mine useful on a number of occasions.

Like now.

"But haven't you realized you're in trouble now, too?" I stated, and then smirked at her. As the moonlight hit us, I found myself examining her features.

She was a tall woman by standard, but compared to my frame, she was still petite. Her head filled with grayish-blonde locks reached only my collar bone. Her lips in line with my chest. I could crush her easily—like an ant to a bee. But I couldn't deny it. I found her attractive. Her hips leveled with my waist perfectly, and the tip of cock pointed to the right direction.

Hell, what an advantage this was indeed.

And hell, what madness.

She also did an examination of her own; her emerald eyes flickering as she traced my pack tattoo. This should tell her who I was. Certainly, the news should have scattered by now about an all-male pack with this mark on their chests.

"You...you have that tattoo. You're a member of the Silver Moon Pack."

There. She said it and how lovely her voice sounded—damn my traitorous mind again.

"Yes, good observation, little wolf. I should reward you."

And by reward, I meant taking advantage of this situation. The potion's effects had fully controlled me. All that remained was for me to take this woman hard and end my suffering.

'Fuck, no! I will not cave in!' My sane side cried out, and I agreed with it. The potion may control me, but I would never touch a woman without her consent.

But is it really without her consent?

It was mixed with fear, but her scent of arousal was still present. She was attracted to me...

"Hurt you?" I stated in answer to her statement. "Oh, no, I won't do that."

Before I could stop myself, I grabbed her shoulder and sandwiched her between me and the tree she hid. I knew she would try to fight back and free her ass, but I tightened my hold, showing her I alone had control over our situation.

I lowered my head, held her fiery gaze, and stated the words I never would have expected to say to a woman.

"You don't know how much danger you just placed yourself in simply for nearing me, woman. You don't know how much I am in a tight mess and you innocently arrive with a solution."

They were all truth, and I expected her to be scared. However, instead of begging to be released, she did what I never thought she'd do.

Hit my god-fucking balls.

Pain immediately shot through me. The kind of pain that twisted my gut and squeezed all air out of my lungs. I groaned and quickly nursed my balls. Well damn me. She could hit!

I was supposed to be enraged by this, but the pain, I realized, helped with my dilemma. The control of the potion instantly disappeared, and the fog in my head lifted. I was finally myself again.

The woman didn't run away after what she did to me. She instead stood before me like an executioner.

I looked up and saw her face fill with fear for a moment. Then it was replaced with anger and determination.

"You're the Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack," she stated, her voice slightly quivering.

"I am," I admitted, and even though my balls were still howling in pain, I stood up to my full height with my chin lifted. "And you just hit me in the balls."

"Serves you right!" she shouted. "You brought so many children orphaned!"

I cringed. "What the fuck are you talking about, woman. I never sired a child."

"Your pack. You killed so many people...so many mated couples and as a result, their children end up alone!"

Ah, yes. The rumor. The rumor that had been going on for years now.

It was said that my pack hates mated couples, hunts them, kills the male and rapes the female. Kills their children too, but on rare occasions, leaves a kid or two as a reminder of our brutality.

A total bullshit to me, but it seems she believes this in every fiber of her being.

However, I got to hand it to her. She thought of me as the Alpha of this so-called rogue pack. She should be running in fear, but instead, she's here with me, reprimanding me.

Huh.

"What pack did you say you were on again?" I asked, simply because I was curious, but she read it wrong.

She took a step back, and this time visibly trembled. "I will never tell you. You will not destroy my pack!"

"Such fierceness in your eyes, woman." I held her gaze and for the first time, I felt no sense of hatred toward her as the opposite gender. Instead, mild amusement replaced it. "Whether this will cause your death or save you, remains a mystery. You are lucky I am in a good mood tonight."

Good mood, as in, I wanted to thank her because she just saved me from ruin.

I morphed into my lycan form, held her surprised eyes with my golden red ones, and then growled. Roots crunched as she took a step back.

I gave her a once-over and a huff before fully retreating and running back to my pack. This was my way of thanks, leaving her still intact in all sense of the word. Making her think the big bad alpha spared her life.