Chapter 3

Lily's POV

I wanted to wake up from this nightmare. I wanted someone to pinch me so I could wake up back in the plane or back in the house with my beloved family. But I suppose life wants me to suffer and to be scared for my life.

I didn’t know what else to do. Alice, Chris, and I are backed against the wall surrounded by big scary wolves with Marcus standing there observing our actions with a smug look of satisfaction on his face.

“Last chance you two, hand over the human and I just might let you two live.” He negotiates with a hint of sarcasm. Either way, it’s a loss for us.

“Why don't you go fuck yourself Marcus.” Chris lowly growls, with his fists clenched so tightly you could see the veins popping out starting from the back of his hand all the way up to his forearm. "Because we're not going to hand Lily over to you, not while I'm still here."

Though I couldn’t see Chris's face since I was behind him and Alice, but just the way he stands with his large stature and his chest rises and falls from his slow heavy breaths intermixed with growls was enough to explain how mych they all despise this crooked man. Marcus was a sociopath who took satisfaction in causing pain to others. Look what he did to poor Alex.

“Fine.” Declares Marcus. Crossing his arms and tilting his head in a taunting manner with a smirk. “Have it your way.”

Marcus and the three rogues slowly inch their way towards us. There was nowhere else for us to escape, and reinforcements still haven't showed up. It looks like we were done for.

I look at the back of Chris and Alice's heads, nausea and guilt stirs within me at the thought. Chris and Alice were going to get killed by wolves and I am going to get abducted for a second time in under 24 hours.

I shut my eyes tightly so I wouldn't have to witness the horrific scene happen before me. I felt so weak and useless under this situation. But what person wouldn't be if they've never been in a situation such as being attacked by supernatural vicious creatures.

Before I could hear the rogues take their chance to pounce us, a loud but clear growl echos from the other room, interrupting their moment and causing us all to freeze. I open my eyes out of confusion and curiosity. There was something about this one sounded different than the rest, it was more light pitched and clear instead of rough and 

And before any of us had time to process, a huge wolf leaps out of the kitchen and attacks the rogue that was closest to us away. With a powerful kick with its hind legs, the wolf launches the rogue back hitting the wall with suck force leaving a crack on the wall.

The large creature falls down to it's side right beside Marcus, who did not look pleased in the slightest. Instead, irritation and anger mixed in his face causing his eyes to change slightly darker. But Marcus did not move closer.

I look back to the wolf that had saved us, examining what made it different from the rest.

It was a beautiful shade of silver-grey and striking golden yellow eyes like the rising sun. It was large, broad, and upheld an aggressive stance. But it looked nicer than the rogues beside Marcus.

Though they were all from the same species, the rogues were slightly larger and more menacing with their darker coat color and sharper canines dripping with their saliva. Their appearance was more rabid and messier.

Without wasting more time, the second and third rogue charge at the silver wolf, continuing their fight in front of us. Blood splatters everywhere with snarls and whines of their pain filled the room. It was too much for me to process that two abnormally large wolves were fighting in the same room as us, I felt like we were going to be caught up in the fight if we didn't get out of the house quick.

Chris quickly leads Alice and I towards the nearest broken window that the third rogue had jumped through. “Run girls! Get away from here!”

“W- wait! What about you!?” I look over concerned after Alice helps me down since the window was a little too high from the ground.

“Don’t worry about me Luna, just run! GO!” With that, Chris leaves back into the house, following the sound of clothes tearing and what eerily sounded like bones cracking. The sound of growls grows louder with the ruckus of furniture breaking more from within the house.

"Come on Lily, we have to get out of here! It isn't safe for us here anymore!" Alice takes me by the hand and pulls me away from the house, leaving Chris and Alex behind in the house as we keep running.

“Wait Alice, what the hell is going on? Who was that guy? What do they want from me? And why were those wolves freakishly huge?!” I bombard her with all these questions as we ran for our lives.

”It's like we explained so far Luna, and we'll explain the rest later. But for now keep running!”

The speed of Alice running was slowly accelerating to the point that it was making it a bit hard for me to keep up. So much that I was almost tripping. It felt more like in those animes where one character grabs the other character's hand and runs so fast that the other  character becomes a ragdoll. Any faster from Alice and I will become that ragdoll.

We were only able to make it halfway through the long dirt driveway, and it wasn’t long before more rogues pop out of the woods, stopping us in our tracks. They surround and slowly close in on us. Alice does her best to shield me but there were too many outnumbering two women.

We have our backs against each other's so that we would keep our eyes on all of them, seeing to it that they wouldn't inch closer. We catch sight of Marcus once again in the direction where we ran from, striding towards us with the same smirk on his face.

“Honestly human, did you really think that you were actually going to get away? Stop wasting time and give in already.”

“What did you do with Alex and Chris?” I confront him, dodging his demands.

The leader gives a lopsided shrug. ”Probably dead by now, but why would you care? I mean you've only known these people today. And all they've done is brought you here against your will.”

”Well look who's talking, you're trying to do the same thing. I may have just met them an hour ago, but I trust them more than you. So I'm not going anywhere!” I grip Alice's hand tighter as I stand my ground.

There was no explanation for this sudden feeling of courage. But if anything, I refuse to let these guys take me that easily, not without a fight. Even if that means I have to fight these large deadly rogues.

"Fine, have it your way human. Just because Ian wants you alive, doesn't mean I can't rough you up a bit." My stomach sinks at the way he said those words so nonchalant.

With that Marcus raises his hands, ready to snap his fingers to give his signal to these scraggly killing machines.

But before he could have the chance, Marcus loudly curses and swiftly dodges a brown wolf which appears from within the trees in time before it could grip his head with its powerful canines.

Like an epic scene where the saviors rescued the trapped civilians, more wolves pounce out from the woods taking us all by surprise. Outnumbering the rogues by twenty, they surround them all before attacking.

It was a bloody warzone all around us, one by one, rogues fall motionless while others scatter desperately to get away.

Too much was happening with me and Alice right in the middle of it all, I was too scared to move without getting attacked or in the way.

"Lily look out!" Alice cries out. Before I knew it, two wolves that were fighting land right in between Alice and me, causing us to separate.

"Alice!" I yell out desperately as I attempt to make it back to her, but with the fights happening around us, it was making it difficult. It was all too much, I was terrified for my life. Not sure if I were to make it out of this bloodbath alive.

I was too frenzied and caught up in my panicked state that I was not able to see a rogue managed to make it past the others and strike at me mid air. There was no way that I could dodge such a beast when it was twice my size. My eyes burn the terrifying scene into my mind to the last detail of the vicious creature. Adrenaline kicks in, I cover my face with my arms and let fear take over my vocal chords.

A loud agressive snarl fills my ears like it came from behind. And what feels like a sudden strong gust of wind knocks my off my feet and I fall to my knees as a dark shadow hovers over me for a second. I look up to see what had happened and the rogue that attacked me was being tackled by a wolf.

But something about this specific wolf has captured my immediate attention. Something about this majestic creature appeared familiar to me, as strange as that sounds.

This wolf was larger unlike any other I've ever seen with it's fur coat as black as the night. It moved swiftly and was very strong as it effortlessly slaughtered its opponent and flings it at a group of other rogues. It was a brutal scene, but I could not take my eyes off this black wolf.  I watch as it fought its way through with ease with the help of its companions alongside.

They way they were all working together was astounding. I felt like I was in one of those nature documentaries that was unfiltered and very violent.

“Fuck!” I look to Marcus who had cursed out of frustration. He and the last few of his rogues that have not fought yet had no choice but to fall back. Marcus glares to me with yellowish glowing eyes of anger. He points to me before speaking once again.

“This isn’t over human. We’ll be back for you, so watch your back.”

With that he turns around to run. As he turns, his body began to change abnormally. The sound of his bones crack and shift around in an unpleasant way that made you shudder and cover your ears. This was the same bone cracking I heard from back at the house afer Chris left us. His body grows rather large as his skin turns into fur, with the color a mix of brown with hints of black and white in some areas.

I watch as Marcus completes his jaw dropping transformation and runs away with insane speed followed by his rogues taht made it out alive. Other wolves chase after them. And just like that, they were gone.

I stand there flabbergasted, stunned, in utter shock at what I had just witnessed. I just had the biggest shock of my life.

A man had shifted into a werewolf right before my very eyes!

“That guy just turned into a werewolf....” I quietly breath out without looking away from the spot where Marcus had stood with two legs before standing on two more.

“Lily, are you okay?!” Alice asks in concern as she checks up on me from top to bottom. "I'm so sorry I couldn't reach you in time. Lily speak to me!"

I look at Alice and point to see if she saw what I saw, waiting for a reaction. She didn’t seem fazed at all from what Marcus just did. So this could only mean one thing.

”That guy just shifted into a freaking werewolf!!!” At this point, the hardcore werewolf fiction loving nerd withing me has taken over. “Oh my God! This is insane! I-I just witnessed a man shift into a wolf like in the books and movies!”

Alice and the other remaining wolves watch as I pace back and forth with a surprised smile plastered on my face. My mind was blown,  I snap my head back to Alice to get more answers.

“Wait, so everything that you have told me, that Jackson has said about you all being werewolves, is really true? You’re a werewolf?”

Alice nods. “Yes Lily, I am. Listen to me, you've just been through a life threatening experience. I'm going to need you to sit down and-”

I gave her no time to finish her sentence. I was too caught up with the rush of thoughts circling around my head, needing more answers.

“But that’s impossible, it can’t be possible! How is that even possible? Holy 'H' 'E' double hockey sticks, so then that means that Jackson really was telling the truth. And that he really is a-…!” My expression changes drastically when it clicks.

'Oh my goodness, no way...'

A low growl behind me snaps me out of my thoughts. I turn my head and come face to face with the gorgeous black wolf that saved me earlier. And boy are these wolves huge, they were all nearly past eye level with me.

I stumble back into Alice out of shock and panic. “Agh! What’s it doing? What does it want from me?”

“Lily, it’s okay.” She reassures me with a calm tone of voice. “Just look into his eyes and you’ll know exactly who this is.”

"Wait- You want me to go near it? Are you crazy?! What if it bites me?" I push myself back against her, attempting to hide behind her. But her surprising supernatural strength holds me still.

"Trust me Lily, he's not going to harm you. Now relax and look into his eyes."

Much to my objection, Alice gently pushes me towards it. Without any other choice, I take a few deep breaths and look up to the big wolf. Even though the wolf looks so soft and fluffy, giving me the urge to pet it, I didn’t want to risk getting bit. I nervously back away again.

The black wolf inches it’s head closer to me but I back away to keep my distance. I was afraid, although Alice assured me that the wolf wasn't going to do such a thing, I still couldn't shake the fear of it wanting to harm or eat me. But all those fearful thoughts go right out the window when it begins to whine and lowers its head down to the ground without breaking eye contact.

I look into its eyes, it was then I notice something. Its eyes were  brown, that oddly reminded me of someone. Something in its glistening eyes made me understand what it was trying to tell me. I slowly raise my hand to it, and I speak out.

“Jackson? Is that you?”

On command, he nods and moves his head closer. Allowing my hand to touch the top of his head and he closes his eyes as he moves closer, nuzzling himself against me and licking me on the cheek.

I feel like I’ve gone insane. After everything that’s happened today, this knocks the ball right out of the park.

“Werewolves do exist...”

I anxiously laugh aloud before allowing myself to faint.

I wake up to the sound of muffled voices growing louder and louder from the silence of my sleep. I see two blurry figures standing near a door. I blink a few times to clear my vision and focus. The two figures were Jackson and an older Hispanic man in his late forties with black hair with natural strands of grey on the sides and a neatly tamed beard. He wore a white coat and glasses, no doubt that he was the doctor.

I look around the room and realize that we were in a hospital.

My awakening interrupts their conversation when Jackson was first to notices me moving.

“Lily!” Jackson rushes to my side as the doctor stands to my other side. “How are you feeling?”

“Okay, I guess.” I reply as I attempt to sit up.

“I would take it easy if I were you Luna, you've been through a lot today.” The man suggests.

I look to the man. “Who are you?”

I am Dr. Victor Torres. I am the Blood Stone pack’s personal doctor, my Luna. As well a dear friend to Jackson's father.” The man introduces with a bow and his hand reached out.

”Nice to meet you. I’m Lily Stephens.” I politely shake his hand.

"Well Miss Stephens, it’s come to my attention that you were attacked by the rouges earlier. And Jackson rushed you here as soon as you had collapsed." He explains.

I let out a quiet 'oh' and look to Jackson who was looking at me with a slight concerned expression. Then a concerned thought runs across my mind.

“Wait! Alex and Chris, are they still alive?” I look to them both.

“Don’t worry, they’re okay.” Jackson answers. “Those two are my best fighters in the pack. They’ve been in worse fights than what you’ve seen today.”

"And no one else died?" I ask again, to which Jackson calmly reassures me.

I let out a sigh of relief that they were alive. “Thank goodness.” I honestly almost believed Marcus. The good thing is that no one died for my sake.

Dr. Torres pulls out a tiny flashlight from his side pocket and turns it on. “Please look here Luna.”

I cooperate and he shines it on both my eyes. "Now tell me, how are you feeling now?"

”Alright. A bit lightheaded though.”

”Have you injured your head in any way?”

I shake my head lightly. "No."

"Have you taken any medications in the past 24 hours?" He continues as he hears my heartbeat with his medical tools.

“No, but I was drugged by this guy right here.” I point to Jackson.

”What was the drug? An injection? Pill?”

”It was a liquid substance that I put in her drink.” Jackson answers.

”And how much of this substance did you put in?” Dr. Torres cocks up a brow.

Jackson thinks for a sec. “I don't know, like a few drops maybe? It was a tiny bottle, so probably almost the whole bottle.”

”And how long was Miss Stephens out for since you gave that to her?”

Jackson thinks long and hard before hesitantly responding. “I gave it to her around seven in the afternoon, and she woke up at ten this morning. So... Sixteen, seventeen hours?”

“WHAT!?” Dr. Torres and I blurt out in disbelief in unison, making Jackson jump in his seat.

“I was passed out for seventeen freaking hours?!” I stare into his eyes.

“Y-yes?” He slumps his head in his shoulders in anxiousness from my outburst of shock.

I grip my head as I try to process this unbelievable information. My mind was in a bit of a panic.

“Oh God." I rub my eyes out of frustration. "It was the last shot he gave to me before I left the airport. But that was after he and I had a lot of shots yesterday." I fill in Dr. Torres on the incident that occured. "What I don't understand was why he used up the whole bottle without knowing the correct dosage. What the Hell were you thinking Jackson?!”

”My thoughts exactly.” Dr. Torres sides with me. We were both pissed. Well, I was more than him.

”I didn't know that it would affect you that hard. It was a tiny bottle, I thought it would put you out for just a few hours.” He says in defense.

“And you didn't think to notify me of this as soon as you brought her here? About an unknown liquid substance that you just got? Insolent boy! What if that dosage was too much for her body to handle? And with alcohol combined? She's human, with that combination it could have put her in a coma, or worse, dead!”

As Dr. Torres gave Jackson a good scolding, I sit there with my arms crossed and nodding my head to everything he was telling him. It was relieving to hear somebody put this guy in his place after everything he’s done to me. I look back to Jackson to see his reaction to this but was taken back. He had his head lowered with a stern pained look on his face. His hands were tightly closed into fists, you could see the veins popped out and his knuckles white. Jackson doesn’t argue ack with the doctor. He just sat there, taking all the blame.

Seeing this reaction, it made me feel bad. Something in me wanted to comfort him. I was confused. One side of me wants to have this guy in prison for abduction, drugging, and harassment. But another side wants to cling onto him and never let go.

I look to Dr. Torres and speak up. “Dr. Torres, I understand that what Jackson did to me is unacceptable and unforgivable. But I believe that he gets the message now. So could we please hurry this along so I can leave? I want to go home.”

Dr. Torres sighs deeply and nods. “As you wish my Luna. But I will have to run a few more tests to make sure that the substance is out of your system completely.” He looks to the both of us. “I will leave you two to talk things out for a moment.” He excuses himself, leaving us alone in the room.

Neither of us say a word, we both just remain in our spots. I felt awkward, I didn't know what to say or do. Would it be pointless of me to get up and leave the room? I bet it would. I place both hands on my lap as I stare at them, thinking about the predicament I was in.

Jackson inaudibly mumbles that catches my attention.

“Huh?”

Jackson reaches out and grabs both my hands on my lap and holds them tightly, but not enough to hurt. Then he stares deep into my eyes. What throws me off guard is that tears formed in his eyes.

“I'm so sorry for what I did to you Lily. I didn't mean to put you in harm’s way by drugging you like that. I just didn't want to lose you after I've found you because you are my mate. We are meant to be together. I know this is something that you never expected, and I’m putting a lot on your shoulders. But I promise that I'll make it up to you. I’ll give you anything you want and need. I’ll go out of my way to do whatever I can if it makes you happy. I just hope that you can forgive me.” I watch as his eyes turn watery as he brings my hands up and plants a kiss with his soft but shakey lips.

This kind of makes my heart ache. Never in my life have I heard such a heartfelt apology from a guy this hot. But I knew I couldn’t accept his apology; it would mean that I’m accepting him in a way. I didn’t want that, as ridiculous as that may sound to any werewolf fans.

Sure this was a werewolf fan's dream come true, but I’m not sure if they grasp the realism of the situation that I’m in. I was attacked and cased down by freakishly large werewolves that were trying to kill me. I don’t know anything about surviving a werewolf attack. There’s a survival guide about pulling through getting lost in the woods, surviving the zombie apocalypse, Armageddon, nuclear war, the list can go on; but not for this.

“This is crazy.” I begin. “This whole ‘werewolf’ thing is impossible to believe right off the bat. I’m having a hard time processing al this and you’re asking me to just accept this and stay?” I look to him in question.

Jackson remains silent, he didn’t know what to say. So I continue my case.

“As much as this feels like a fantastic dream come true having a hot Alpha as a mate, I don’t think I want this. I would rather be back home and be with my family and live a normal life with my books and movies of werewolves.”

I quickly get up from the hospital bed and head towards the door. And of course, I don’t make it far because Jackson blocks me from the closed entrance.

“Jackson enough. Please don’t make this more difficult.”

“No Lily.” He puts his foot down as he looks down on me. Though he was still emotional, he was very persistent. “This isn’t something that you can just walk away from and forget it happened.”

"Move Jackson!" I demand.

"No Lily! You belong here with me. I am not letting you leave after finally finding you!" He raises his voice to assert his dominance, to which I had to admit was very attractive it sent chills up my arms as I cowered a little. But I was at my exhausted emotional limit.

"You can't do that!" I argue back. "That's abduction!"

"If that's what it takes for you to stay, then so be it!"

“But I’m scared to be here!” The sudden raise in my voice startles Jackson, but I wanted to get my point across. “I don’t want to live a life where I’m having to live in fear everyday. I don’t want to be stalked by killer wolves and hunted like I’m some prey or treated like a trophy because of some stupid title. I am a human being with no supernatural powers for crying out loud! No speed, no crazy strength or reflexes, no shifting, nothing.”

I turn my back on him, gripping my wrist and bringing it close to my chest as I look to the white marble floor. Saying all this was emotionally hurting me.

“Don’t you see? This isn’t going to work. This is all just a big mistake. I would at least encourage you to try and fine someone else who is more like your kind.”

I quietly sigh and close my eyes tightly. The feeling in my chest was hurting, but not like chest pain. This felt more like an emotional and soulful pain, it was like my chest was being tightly pressed by an unseen force.

The feeling was slowly growing stronger, it was almost unbearable. I feel like I was about to have a panic attack. But the feeling instantly goes away when I feel strong arms gently wrap around my smaller figure. The sensation against Jackson’s strong figure against my back had caught me off guard.

I lightly gasp from the sudden action, but he quietly hushes me and talks in a calm soothing tone. “Calm yourself Lily, you’re having a panic attack. Just breath and relax your mind.”

I was surprised. “How did you-?”

“Know?” He finishes my sentence. “My inner wolf can feel your emotions. Whatever you feel, I feel, and vice versa.”

I was at a loss for words, but I give in to his words.

“There’s so much that I want to show you of my world. And I really want you in my life. I understand that you’re scared, so am I. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you, I won't let it happen. And I won’t let them take you away from me. I’ll protect you with my life if I have to. I don't want another as a mate, please understand that. Because that's not how it works for us. So just please reconsider.”

While I listen in to every word he was saying, I take notice of how my body was reacting to him. My heart races with anticipation as I felt butterflies in my stomach. His gentle warm touch with his soothing deep voice had put me at ease in an instant. He holds me very closely to him, I could smell the cologne he was wearing. I wasn’t sure if this was intentional or not, but it smelled of pine forest mixed with rain. But that didn’t matter though, This scent smells so good I wanted to smell it forever.

I take a deep breath and slowly exhale as I relax into him. Jackson lets go and faces me, gazing into my eyes. “Better?” He wipes away tears from my face I didn' realizse that I was crying.

I nod without breaking contact, deeply focusing on his dark chocolate eyes. “Thank you.”

“Good. Now let’s sit back down and wait for Dr. Torres to come back and finish the tests.”

"...Okay." I reluctantly nod with a monotone voice.

Jackson leads me back to the hospital bed and sits me down with him sitting beside me. He hands me a cold water bottle from the nightstand beside him, and I graciously take it and drink it. 

As we patiently wait, I remain deep in thought. I couldn’t believe this was real, but all I want is to go home to my family. But what was I going to do now? How was I going to deal with a situation that I thought was just in fictional stories? And how will I survive all this?

'One thing at a time Lily. So in the meantime, you need to stay strong.'