Chapter 4

“Ah, the little wolf.” A hint of a smile appeared on his bloodied lips as he took a step towards me. 

I hunched down on all fours until my belly grazed the grass. To get away from him, I took a small step back, but in the blink of an eye, he was right behind me. I yelped, turned to face him with a growl. That hint of a smile appeared again on his face as he began walking in a circle around me, looking at me as if I was a bug that had just crash landed in his drink.

“Little wolf, little wolf,” he said as he encircled me. “What to do with you?” 

I didn’t think he actually wanted an answer, so I did my best to stay low and keep my eyes on him. 

“I should kill you,” he said, but this time he sounded like he was talking more to himself. “Can’t have you running and telling your alpha about the big, bad vampire.” He clicked his tongue as he shook his head, still walking around me like a shark waiting for the perfect moment to strike. “Though, by the look of you… I don’t think anyone is going to miss you. Kind of pathetic looking, aren’t you?” 

His words hit me hard. My stomach twisted with a touch of self loathing. Hating that feeling, I growled at him.

The vampire stopped in front of me and this time he smirked down at me, not even bothering to clean the blood from his lips and chin. “It’s only fitting. I give you the chance to say your last words. Go on shift.” 

The vampiric compulsion washed over me, causing me to growl some more. If I hadn’t already exhausted myself trying to get free of the hunters, I might have had a chance. I moved around a tree for some privacy before I knew what I was doing. While I shifted back and got dressed, I desperately tried to come up with some idea of how to convince this vampire to let me go. Perhaps, for once, being insignificant would work in my favor. 

I walked from around the tree and as soon as I was in front of the vampire, the compulsion lifted. “Well, you are just a pup,” he said, looking me over. I also took this time to look him over. He wasn’t very tall, maybe an inch or so taller than me. His hair was dark brown, cut short and his face was square, with sharp angles everywhere. As he looked at me with his dark, ruddy eyes, his expression was that of one looking at an insect they were trying to dissect.

His clothes were also dark, but dirty and aged; not is in they were from another century or he didn’t take a bath, but dusty and moth eaten, like he’d gotten them out of a long-lost closet or something. The most off-putting thing was, he only looked like he was a year or two older than me. If what people say was true, the ones turned when still young were the craziest of all the vampires. How is it possible that this day went from bad to worse?

My heart thumped hard and loud in my chest, something I knew the vampire had heard it. So I swallowed and tried to master myself. “Yeah, a pup,” I said, my voice coming out breathy as if I’d just ran fifty miles. “And one that wants no trouble with your kind.”

A small smirk appeared at the corner of his mouth. “As if what we wanted ever mattered.” He began circling around me like a shark about to strike its prey. “I’m still going to kill you,” he said when he was behind me. His voice in my ear made me jump, and I spun around to face him. With a chilling, bloody grin, he added, “But I will make it quick.”

“You don’t have to do that,” I said after a quick spike of panic. “I won’t cause you trouble.”

“And I’m to believe that. Why?”

“Well… because…” I stalled, trying to think of a reason that would convince him. After a second, I decided the truth was my best bet. “Because you saved my life. Why would I cause trouble for my rescuer?”

A single eyebrow lifted slowly as he stared me down. “Save you? Rescuer? Can you be that naïve? I didn’t save you. I was merely hungry and hunters make for an easy meal.”

Again, I swallowed. “Well, whatever reasons you had, the truth is you saved me and the least I could do is not cause you trouble.”

“You expect me to believe you’d have more loyalty to me than to your alpha? I don’t think so. I know your kind very well.”

“My alpha?” I couldn’t help it; I laughed. “My alpha doesn’t even know I exist. I’m an omega. Even if he took the time to listen to me, which I doubt cause not even my family does that, he wouldn’t care. No one cares what I have to say.”

The vampire scoffed. “Don’t lie to me, wolf. I detest liars.”

“I’m not. Can’t vampires hear heart beats? What does mine tell you?”

“It’s racing quite quickly.” 

“Well, yeah, but that’s because I’m smart and afraid of you.” 

That got me a little smile, but it vanished as soon as it appeared. “Perhaps you are right,” he said with a shrug that almost made him seem like a normal teen. “Yet I can’t take that risk. Your kind has betrayed me once already.” He took a step towards me as soon as the words left his mouth and my death shone in his eyes.

I backed up and held out my hand. “Wait, please. I swear I won’t tell anyone I ran into you.”

“Nothing you will say can change my mind,” he said, still walking towards me.

“Please, I… I can’t die like this.”

The vampire halted for a moment. “Like this?”

Guilt and shame swelled up inside me. “Like… this… invisible, unimportant, insignificant.” I lowered my arms and hugged myself. “No one would notice or remember me. I can’t die like that. So yeah, I swear. I won’t tell the alpha about you. Never. If need be, I’ll swear on the memories of my parents that I won’t breath a word to him.”

The vampire was silent for a long moment, not moving in the slightest. “Alright, I will spare your life, little wolf.”

I stared at him in shock and elation. That worked? He was going to let me live!

“But,” he said, freezing my elation and I stared at him. “I have a condition.”

“A condition? What kind of condition?” What kind of condition could he want from me, a nobody?

“Yes,” he said, stuffing his hands in his pants pockets as his eyes held on to mine. “Since I’m putting myself at risk, I demand you compensate me.”

“How?” What the hell was he going on about? Did he miss the part where I told him I was totally unimportant?

“I want you to work for me.” 

“What? Work for you?” I didn’t like the sound of that. Also, it was one thing to not tell the alpha about the vampire I ran into, but to work for one? That was a whole other thing in of itself. That would definitely get me into trouble if he found out.

“Yes, work for me,” he said, then took out a hand of his pocket and looked as long nails that still had some dried blood on them. “However, I am more than willing to just kill you if that’s a problem.” He looked up and flashed his fangs at me. 

“Uh… what is it you want me to do?” I asked, feeling like I was going to regret this.