Chapter 3: You're not one of the Bailey's

Giselle hurried home only to find her apartment was empty.

The apartment door did not seem broken. No one was around. Yet, there were lots of other wolves' scents. And the smell was horrible.

Giselle shakingly opened the door to find her small flat in pitch black. The inside was strangely quiet. However, she could sense a creeping feeling run along her spine, causing her to have goosebumps. As soon as she swung the door open, the scents of Edsel’s men flooded her nostrils. Those unfamiliar scents made her stomach churn. She felt nauseous, and her head was dizzy as well.

What an unpleasant stinky smell!

Yet, this wasn’t the time for complaining about those horrible scents.

Giselle mumbled: “Mom?”

She was quick to realize her voice was a little bit small. Giselle cleared her throat, calling out a bit louder: “Mom?”

No one answered.

Giselle’s inner wolf was raging. She couldn’t help but think of the worse.

She turned on the light. The pitch-black flat quickly lit up. Giselle took a closer look at her flat. She frowned, seeing that there was no trace of her mom. Her apartment was as neat as usual. Fortunately, that showed no traces of any fight, either. Her mom couldn’t fight with those men of Edsel. She would have been beating up at any minute.

Giselle trembled as she made her way to her mom’s bedroom.

The door to that dark room was slightly open. Giselle turned on the light. No sight of her mom. Giselle walked to her mom’s bed to find wrinkles on the bedsheet. Her mom’s bed was still warm to the touch, too. It meant her mom had just left not long ago. On the other side of the bed, there were pilows, her mom's blanket, and meds scattered all over.

Giselle looked around at the empty bedroom. She didn’t see her mom’s phone. Giselle bit her lips, trying to call her mom again. To Giselle's dismay, there was a ringing tone under the bed frame. Giselle kneeled, picking it up.

Giselle looked at the list showing loads of missed calls from her. Anger washed over her body like a tidal wave that never seemed to retreat. Her heart clenched as Giselle gasped for air. Yet, she couldn’t cry. Her tears didn’t make their way out. It left her with unbearable pain.

Giselle couldn’t help but grind her teeth. Her inner wolf was roaring in anger.

Her heart raced fast under her heavy chest. Both of her feet and hands were icy cold.

“That bastard!” Giselle grunted.

Only then did Giselle understand why Edsel had told her to stay put and control her attitude if she wanted her mom to be safe! Giselle thought he was only threatening her. But who knew,

it was only because of Tina’s marriage that he dared to kidnap her mom!

Giselle took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. She would not want to lose control over her inner wolf. Otherwise, her inner wolf would run to Edsel, fighting with him till death. It would only make the situation even worse!

She knew for damn sure her Omega strength could not fight over an Alpha. And even if she did win over an Alpha, she could not have had got out of his mansion alive. She was not a fighter.

She thought of the worse. If she ever did fight back, would a bunch of Edsel's hungry wolves spare her? Obviously no.

At this point, Giselle did not know any other way than to call Edsel, agreeing with his devilish request. She needed to take back her mom. Only then could Giselle come up with other plans.

However, it was like Edsel had a predicament about this. He called Giselle first. Without hesitation, Giselle picked up her phone.

Edsel spoke up from the other end, his voice full of triumphant: “I told you so.”

 “Where’s my mom?” Giselle gritted her teeth.

“Somewhere safe,” Edsel replied.

Giselle didn’t buy his words. She scoffed: “If my mom isn’t anywhere near me, then she isn’t safe! Where is my mom?”

“Marry to Marcus. Only then I release your mom.” Edsel firmly said. He sounded like he would not take no for an answer.

Giselle looked at the calendar near her mom's bedside. There was a day that her mom circled red beforehand. If her mom’s heat cycle reached, her mom must stay with her so that Giselle could ensure her mom was safe. But if her mom was in Edsel’s hand, Giselle did not know. She could not think of anything else! Her mind was a mess then!

Giselle knew she didn’t have any choices then.

“I want to see my mom first!” Giselle said.

Edsel let out a dry laugh. He knew he got Giselle.

“Not until your wedding is done.”

“No!” Giselle gritted.

“It's a no from me, too!” Edsel said. He had to make sure that once Giselle got her mom back, those two wouldn’t run off and leave him with a hot mess behind.

They are his puppet. They needed to stay put in their play.

“I know your mom’s heat cycle is near. My man saw the day. If you don’t hurry up, you know -- Your mom is still a hot wolf that I’ve ever set eyes on. Tery thinks so, too.” Edsel slyly said.

It was what Giselle worried about!

She clenched her hand into a fist. Were there no other ways?

“The wedding day is two weeks later. Your mom has three weeks before her heat reach. Your decision now.”

“At least let me talk to my mom first.” Giselle pleaded.

Edsel hysterically laughing out loud: “No, no, no. You’re not talking to your mom until your wedding day.”

With that, Edsel hung up.

Never in her life that Giselle ever felt so helpless like then. She wished she had been a fighter. If Giselle had been a fighter, she swore on her life, she would have had protected her mom better than this. Sadly, she was just a normal wolf. She could not fight against them.

She flopped on the cold, harsh floor, her knees tucked in front of her chest. Her two arm’s crossed, hugging herself. Her shoulders were trembling. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

Why was she Edsel’s daughter? She did not want to be that wicked man’s daughter!

Giselle felt so helpless. She hated herself also.

A while later, when her feet started to feel numb, Giselle decided to head out. She felt so overwhelming. She couldn’t be inside of this apartment any longer.

She staggered up, took her car keys and wallet, and left the house. Giselle needed something to ease this overbearing feeling.

Giselle pulled over at that one bar on the West side of the city. She didn’t bother to look at its name. She just went in and ordered a shot.

The batender handed Giselle her drink. She emptied it instantly and ordered a new one.

The bartender oddly looked at her. Yet, he poured another shot for her.

After five drinks, Giselle still wanted more. When she reached out for her sixth shot of the night and was about to drown it down at one, without warnings, a hand reached out tapped on her left shoulder. Giselle stopped at her track, turned to her left side to find a strange man standing by.

Giselle was stunned for a while, unexpected. To her left side, a black locks handsome man with Greek Gods features showed up. He smiled at her. His facial expression was warm and friendly. The strange man acted like they had known each other before. Yet, Giselle did not seem to recognize the man.

“Hey.” He scratched his nose while sliding to the vacant seat beside Giselle, and then he turned to the bartender. “A shot like her, please.”

“Who are you?” Giselle asked.

He seemed like a normal person like any others at the bar. However, there was a dominant scent emitted from him, which made her inner wolf bewildered. Her inner wolf told Giselle to get close to that strange man, to submerge herself in his comfy cedarwood from him.

“A stranger.” He wittily replied.

Giselle rolled her eyes at his nonsense answer. Although her inner wolf was unsettled because of him, she didn’t find it in her to talk to him.

“I can sense your distress.” He said.

Giselle let out a dry laugh: “Are you a dog or what?”

“Maybe.” He said, receiving his drink from the bartender. “Are you wandering around?”

Giselle looked at him, her eyebrows furrowed: “What do you mean?”

“You are not one of the Bailey’s, right?” He said, knowingly.

“You knew the Bailey’s?” Giselle looked up from her drink curiously asked.

The strange man laughed out loud: “I’m one of them.”

“Oh,” Giselle replied, unbothered, turning back to her sixth drink.

“You sounded bored?”

“Does it bother you?”

“Nope.” The strange man shook his head. Quickly, he added: “However, it’s a friendly reminder that you should go home after this drink. I’ll get you a taxi.”

“What? You owned this bar?” Giselle snorted. She could not help but laugh at his words.

“He is the owner.” The bartender overheard their conversation from the beginning and decided to chime in.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Giselle exclaimed. What a coincidence!

The strange man laughed, nodded: “Indeed. And as one responsible owner, I'll get you a cab. You should head home now. It's late, and there are some people over the corner- Don’t look!”

He saw Giselle peaking over to look at those men at the back and quickly turned her vision back. He did not want those men to notice that he and this strange woman had known they were watching.

He saw them for a while back, even before Giselle walked into the bar. Those lone wolves had been everywhere in the city. He was surprised to find them here in his bar. He knew what they had been here for; those men were lurking for their prey. Unfortunately, they set their eyes on Giselle the moment she had walked into this bar. Judge from a quick look, he could be sure that Giselle wasn’t a fighter. She seemed weak. She couldn’t defend herself from those hungry monsters.

So, he decided to step in.

Although this girl didn’t belong to his pack, nor did she live on this side of the city. However, if he had ever been an Alpha in the future, then he should have had stepped up to protect her whatsoever. Protecting her meant protecting the whole pack. If she was not a lone wolf, and somehow, she got hurt in his area, he was so damn sure her pack would not let him live in peace. He was about to get married soon. Therefore he could not be reckless.

“Let’s head out, shall we?” He offered again.

“I don’t want to go home.” Giselle was being stubborn. She did not want to go home.

“Why? I can’t be here with you all day.” The strange men asked, confused.

“Do I ask?” Giselle retorded, her eyebrows furrowed. She was drinking alone when this strange man showed up out of nowhere. She didn’t know the men. He is probably with those people, too.

“No, but if you’re in my territory then I have to protect you. You’re not a lone wolf, aren’t you?” The strange men asked.

His overly excited got Giselle pretty much annoyed. She sighed, drowning her shot down, and told the bartender to check her out. However, just as when she was about to pay and leave, the men stopped her.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He concerned.

“Don’t think so.” Giselle rolled her eyes, handed her credit card out. She did not think she wanted to talk about her problem after all. No one would understand what she had gone through.

Giselle walked out of the bar. But, the strange men just could not leave her alone. He followed suit.

“Oh, come on. I can’t stand when my customer left with a sad feeling. You know, the bar is a fun place.”

“Not so fun anymore,” Giselle grumbled, making her way to her car.