Chapter 2: The Hero

Selin POV

After the man left, I had this strange feeling that seemed unexplainable; I felt a bit unsettled. Apart from how I was feeling, I was able to discover that they are wolf shifters.

At first sight, I perceived something to be fishy. Not fully sure, I decided to find out some information about them. I needed to know something: they are troublemakers, and I clearly saw that they had been watching me all day, but I just tried to overlook it.

I was able to find out their names later on. “I hate those,” I said annoyingly.

I went back inside the local pub. Heading to the counter, I noticed some customers at the bar who had ordered vodka and beers.

While trying to serve, I had a feeling; I felt strange, having intertwined thoughts about the man who had come a while ago, even when I didn’t give a f**k about him.

But still, it seemed more than a feeling, like I was drawn towards something—affectionate about the man who came.     

"Hey, where are my drinks?” a man at the bar called out to me. “Almost there," I said as I went to serve the people who had requested some drinks at the bar.

I knew I needed to get my damn mind straight with whatever I was feeling, so I tried to concentrate on my work.

I said to myself, “I can’t have time to think of something irrelevant while I've got other important things to worry about. That son of a bitch, I have to make sure I pay my rent soon. If I had the chance, I would have skinned him alive."

I knew I was frustrated at the moment as I headed to face my job.

“Hi there, I’d like to have some shots," I heard a person talking to me. I turned to face the person and saw it was another boozer who needed a drink. "You look beautiful and sexy,” he said.

I focused on what I was doing, trying so hard to avoid his audacity. All of a sudden, he tried to touch me. I spilled the drink into his face to avoid creating a scene. 

"How dare you! What the hell do you think you are doing?” he snapped at me.

Trying to compose myself, I said to him, "Oops, I am sorry that had to happen." I smirked.

“That serves him right,” I whispered beneath my breath as I handed him a tissue. He collected the tissue from me, but his face was full of rage; I did not care.

He walked away, feeling a bit embarrassed.

I thought to myself as I ran my fingers through my hair, "I can’t make any mistakes today. I've got to make sure I end my shift at the bar today so I can get paid. I really need that money to pay off my rent."

And that would do; I would be free from the landlord’s taunts, at least when I get paid today. “Son of a b***h," I said as I rolled my eyes.

---

It was 6 PM already; it was evening, and dusk would come soon. The sun was starting to set gradually, and it would be night any moment now, I noticed.

I went to check the inventory and also restock the drinks. As it was about time, I cleaned up the bar; it was getting late already.

Although there were always bound to be missing bar tools, I moved the seats to set some of them up in the right order.

Unaware, some guests had come in, but I found out eventually.

"Late-night guests," I murmured beneath my breath. "I have to go attend to the guests that arrived immediately because I have to head home soon," I said to myself.

With a warm smile on my face, I approached them.

“Welcome! What would you like to have, please?” I asked the guests. They asked for some beers and liquor, so I served them. Moments later, I was done handling the guests, and they were gone. It was night, and the weather seemed to get cold. I was almost done cleaning, so I decided to go clear the trash.

As soon as I stepped out to throw the trash, I sensed something. It was quieter than usual. Some people were around the street. I knew the troublemakers would be lurking around.

I saw the panther shifters, and I could tell from their movements that they were up to no good.

I wasn’t afraid because I had it in my mind that I would handle them if they tried to strike.

Deep down, I knew their names. The atmosphere was beginning to get intense as one of the panthers, who was ready to attack me, growled low.

His eyes flickered towards me as they darkened dangerously. I stood watching how each of them began to transform into their panther form.

The street felt like a graveyard with hurried shadows as silence filled the air. The moon hung low in the sky, casting its silver glow on the street. The atmosphere was a bit foggy. There was literally no one here as I examined the environment, except for the shifters who were ready to attack me.

      With a deep breath, I was ready for them—ready for whatever their next move might be as I looked around.

“This is gonna be fun and chaotic,” I said, a defensive look on my face.

The panther shifters began growling as they moved closer. Oh jeez! I despise their sound to the core, I whispered to myself. Suddenly, I was attacked by a panther; it tried to pounce on me aggressively. I raised my hands against its force, as I had to use my magic to drain its energy.

I wounded the panther as much as I could using my witch abilities. I scratched my fingers on its chest, yanked it, and pushed it across the floor, leaving it a bit wounded. The panther attacked me again, hitting me against a wall. I felt the pain, and this made me so mad.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!” I shouted out loud. As the fight continued, I grabbed the panther and threw it on the ground in front of the others, thinking they would retreat since I had injured one of their pack. But it didn't seem so, as they began to attack me in numbers.

    I was grabbed by my hair and yanked violently. The harsh grip of the panthers stumbled me to the ground with force.

I could not contain my anger at that moment; I hated them to bits. I was already getting enraged.

Sooner or later, they exposed their teeth, which were definitely not normal.

I wasn’t going to back down, but I could see they were increasing in numbers. I stood my ground.

Their eyes glowed bright yellow, and they had evil smirks. They were signaling among themselves as they tried to beat me up, but I resisted their touch and used my abilities to try to escape from their grasp.

“You are soon dead," one of the panthers hissed, his voice grating with beastly hunger. I scoffed, "I don't think so,” I spat back. In the back of my mind, I knew I could not outnumber them because I was already surrounded. It would have been much better if I had been able to shift, but I couldn't. I hadn’t undergone the training, I thought.

    The brawl continued as the panther shifters hit me across the face, leaving a mark. When my body hit the ground hard, I felt something rushing down my face. I touched my head, and when I saw my hand, it was covered in blood.

I had been wounded. I tried to stand against them, but there were too many.

"They might kill me if I don't do something, but what should I do?" I thought to myself. As one of the panthers growled at me loudly, it lifted me above its head and threw me meters away from the local pub. My back hit a wall across the street; I couldn't breathe well, and I couldn't move; I was frozen in place.

The atmosphere became foggy; I wasn’t able to see properly. I tried to get up, but I was stopped as two of the panthers pinned me down. They were hell-bent on wounding me.

I was getting weak and faint already as I could not overpower them. I was losing blood and needed to be saved from something or anything. I could hear some voices talking, but they were not audible.

They planned to take me down finally with a last strike; that was what I could notice from their actions.

The panther shifters kept hitting me vigorously; I was being beaten so hard.

Suddenly, someone yelled in the distance. I remembered that voice, but who had come here? What the fuck? I tried to say something, but unexpectedly, the same person who yelled made a deep, dark growl.

Who could that be? I thought to myself.

I spun around, my eyes widening, completely shocked and surprised to see him—or was I dreaming? I thought for a moment. I finally realized who the person was. He was the same man who had come earlier today: the Alpha wolf. My breath caught faintly. “You.”

I exhaled slowly as my mind raced with all the reasons I didn't know why he had come back.

I could see him fighting off the shifters; he is so fast. He clutched one of the panthers by the neck and tossed it against a car's windshield, while another was smashed to the floor. He growled loudly as he was bitten by one of the panthers, making him feel engrossed in finishing them all. His eyes were filled with anger and disgust.

I had been fighting for hours before I got wounded. As time went on, the shifters began to reduce in number as the wolf Alpha fought them. Even though I wasn't able to do anything or lift a finger, I could faintly see what was going on around me and how the wolf Alpha took down the shifters effortlessly. I felt drawn to him.

I have this strange feeling of attraction towards him. He is an Alpha wolf, and I feel a bit different after seeing what he did. He saved me from those shifters, I guess.

While on the ground, I could barely move. I met his gaze. Why is he so close to me? Why do I feel so attracted to him? 

“Hey! Are you okay? Can you hear me?” he asked softly as he came closer to where I was.

My eyes were scanning the environment; I found no one. He had finished off the panther shifters, I thought, as I scanned through the street.

He transformed back from his wolf form into a human being. He bent towards me, looking a bit pitiful at my condition.

The entire place was already a mess due to what had happened. There were bloodstains and prints on the floor, and this occurred because I was bleeding during the attack.

“You need a fix,” he muttered. I saw how he was gazing at me and looking at my whole body.

“You are wounded.”

“No!” I cut him off.

He smirked. “Really? Take a clear look at your condition. You were not able to fight against those shifters, and you have been injured—badly injured,” he said. He turned my back to the side to see where I had been wounded. 

   “Don’t be stubborn; I have no time for this, and I can't leave you here in this damn place. I've got to patch your wounds up, okay?" he said with a serious look, and I nodded