3. THE KIDNAPPERS

~YULIA

My heart was hammering hard as I ran out the exit door. 

It took a lot of time to get my breathing to be even. It did not help that I was still running even after leaving the club. Street lamps were my only form of light since the crescent moon was not bright enough. 

I could have stopped in front of the club to wait for a cab but I was too worried that the mysterious gentleman would follow me outside and easily find me. 

It was a miracle that I had escaped him despite feeling all these emotions. And I was sure that if he somehow showed up before me again, then there would be no way that I could resist him. 

"Damn, no one told me that older men were this delicious," I muttered to myself.

My phone buzzed again and this time, I stopped to pick up. After all, I felt assured that the mysterious man could no longer find me again. I had given the club enough distance that I could no longer see it. 

"Mr Rogers," I began the moment I picked up the call.

"Where are you, child? You have us all so worried!" He exclaimed. 

I sighed heavily. It was annoying that they were all treating me like an egg which was going to break with the wrong move. 

"I was at Club Purple this whole time," I answered.

"What?" The lawyer exclaimed. "Do you realise how dangerous that is? There's been reports of those human traffickers around that area. Are you trying to get yourself kidnapped or worse, killed?" 

I rolled my eyes at him. There was no way that I was going to get taken. I was too smart for that to happen. 

"You're exaggerating. I can take care of myself. I am an adult now," I stated as ran my free hand through my hair in frustration. 

"I'm coming over to pick you up," Mr Rogers announced. 

I scoffed. "You do not have to!" I exclaimed but he already ended the call. 

I released a frustrated growl before tucking my phone into my pocket. And as if the universe was against me, it suddenly began to rain out of the blue. 

"Very funny, Moon goddess!" I called sarcastically. 

That was when I felt a shift in the atmosphere and my wolf stirred with alarm. I felt the hair at the back of my neck stand. A feeling began to build up at the back of my mind, almost as if someone was stabbing a thousand spikes into me. 

It was accompanied by the feeling of being watched. 

I looked up from my pocket and stared around the space. That was when I caught sight of red crimson eyes watching me from a far end of an alley. 

My heart skipped triple beats and my wolf sank to the deepest part of my core. I looked away immediately and my body started trembling. 

Who the fuck was that and why were they watching me?

My heart started hammering again and I dared another glance at my stalker only to see that the eyes were gone. 

Had I imagined it the first time or it was really there?

My wolf suddenly flinched and I noticed a group of men coming my way. 

"Shit!" I cursed before breaking into a run. 

"Get her!" On of them roared. "She'll make a good sell!" 

My heart shattered when I figured out who they were. These were the same traffickers that Mr. Rogers had just warned me about. 

I picked up my pace as I started running through the rain. I had no idea where I was going. My body began to tremble violently and I thought that this was it for me. 

"Surround her!" I heard another say. 

I gasped. This was not good. If they surrounded me, then there was no way that I was going to make it out. 

I increased my speed as I ran blindly down the empty streets. I wondered how late it was for the streets to be this dry. 

My wolf was jumping around my head as she fueled me— forced me to keep running.

I thought about my sweet mother who had always protected me, while I insisted on being a rebel. I thought of her lifeless body when I found her that morning. 

They said she suffered from a heart attack and I blamed myself for not being in the house with her to help her when it happened. 

Was this my punishment? Was she finally getting back at me from the heavens for being an irresponsible child?

"Gotcha!" A man said as he appeared before my face. 

I flinched and fell back immediately. 

Laughter scattered across the space and I realised that I was now surrounded. 

"It was a sweet chase but this it where it ends," Another said. 

"I still don't understand why she's in high demand. Didn't the mother just die?" Another asked as I continued trembling on the ground.

"I overhead them talking about a certain Moonheart bloodline and she being connected to it," a third man said. 

"But what do we care? All we do is make sure that the package is delivered and this one here is the most expensive package we have ever come across," the first man said. 

My heart hammered hard against my chest. My head was jumbled with multiple thoughts. What was this they were saying about a certain Moonheart bloodline? What did it have to do with me and why was I the most expensive package? 

Who were they planning to sell me to? And why was anyone willing to pay for me?

Suddenly, gunshot erupted through the night and one of the men dropped dead. I screamed in horror. 

Another shot sounded and one of the yelled. 

"Fuck! We're under attack! Grab the girl!" Another said.

A car suddenly came to a stop before me and the door came open. "Yulia! Get in!" 

It was Mr. Rogers' voice. 

So as one of them made to grab me, I instantly shot to my feet and ran so hard. I had never run as hard as this my entire life as adrenaline shot through my bones. 

"Don't let her get away!" I heard them say.

I was almost at the car when one of them grabbed me. "You're coming with us, bitch!" He yelled. 

"Let me go!" I screamed as I started thrashing around his hold. 

"Hey, asshole!" Mr Rogers called. 

That was when he revealed a gun and shot the man. He went limb immediately and dropped to the floor with a hard thud. 

My tremors intensified as shock left me frozen on the spit, unable to move for a split second. 

"Yulia! Get in!" He roared and it snapped me out of my trance. 

That was when I resumed running again. The moment I launched myself into the car, he shut the door and zoomed off.