CHAPTER ONE

"Grrah!!!" The voice scared me, nearly hitting me toward the wall. I had to be looking around to see who or what was behind, but I couldn't trace anything or anyone.

Where was that coming from?

I had just dashed out of the house. As usual, the air blowing from the strong wind outside was just too much for me to endure. Whenever it was that stormy, I would have to close the partially tight window behind me.

It was getting darker. The wind suddenly stopped blowing, giving a chance for an unexpected silence. I didn't notice at first until I took my hands off her ears and remained outside.

Here I was in the woods, the dark world of Arleta, the spookiest place I ever knew.

My eyes got cleared off dust. But that was when my nose grew scratchy, and I released a sneeze. I didn't know if going back in was the right thing to do.

Arleta wasn't a space to live in without being observant.

Not at all.

Its nearby snowy mountains were many, and not just many, but dangerous. The trees covered most part of that land. It was often haunted by the strange beasts and some wolf rogues who paid visits and always came on a mission.

Suddenly, I heard a sound. It echoed above me, but there was no high place, which was as close to me as my local bedroom, so I thought it came from the mountains.

"Who's there?" I managed to ask, my voice light and cool. I didn't want to react, but my mind was unruffled by the climatic change and the sound.

Nothing.

Just silence.

Then, I locked my window from outside, slid down the soft sheet I usually secured the room with, and I was ready to enter any time.

In a twinkling of an eye, I felt kicked away from the spot. I felt the hands that flung me like a piece of paper, so I looked around. I couldn't trace my house anymore.

I heard a voice.

"Who did I touch just now?" That voice, deep in a masculine way, echoed like a bell in my ears, louder than just a lone wolf's snarl. I felt his touch again, this time, around my shoulders and reaching the chest.

"Argh!" I exclaimed, my chest beating uncontrollably. My eyes grew larger than before, almost leaving my eyebrows unseen. I couldn't even point to a path, as the entire place got darker and darker.

"Just come close," the voice re-echoed, tracing me backwards. It happened that the man's hands were larger than a normal human's hands, so that he could easily bounce me away from my house.

"I can't see anything…" I managed to complain, my hands standing firm by my thighs. I began to feel colder than the weather. I nearly froze.

I moved closer and could see him. He was tall, a blue-eyed, muscular, hairy, very strong, and handsome man. I didn't know which kingdom he had come from, but what got me shocked was that he wasn't a giant.

My eyes weren't just interested in turning away from him.

"Ellie, be calm..." I said to myself, forcing a smile on my face to make him feel at home, at least. I kept yelling on my wolf inside me. "Remember you must never forget where you are going to."

"You?" The stranger asked, his eyes blinking from side to side and casting a glaring display of his handsomeness. I was attracted to him immediately.

"From where?" I asked him back, shunning his own question.

"I live in Arleta here…" he responded, laying his right hand on my shoulder. I felt that same weight, and I knew he was so strong but wasn't a giant. He returned, "And, you?"

"Same." I reciprocated.

"Why are you staying alone?" He questioned me, shrugging with his long and weighty hands.

"I don't have anyone to converse with, and again," I revealed, my voice spelling clear pity. "I can not go to the mountains, as well."

"The mountains are safe, my dear." He explained, his voice suddenly widening like the increase of a sound volume. "I play there all the time with my friends…"

With my face turned to him very closely, I interrupted him. "Who are those friends?"

"My pack members." He said.

"Are you a wolf?" I reverted, shifting away from him.

He grabbed me to himself and bulged his eyes at me. "What if I am your destined soulmate? What if I can kill your pains?"

"Can you kill my past?" I rapped as I stared at him.

"It's not a beast." He replied, looking around as he demonstrated his powerful moves. "I can end the life of a thousand enemy beasts at once…"

"My past?" I reiterated, expecting a direct and suitable answer from him. I wasn't joking with him this time. After all, I didn't know him before.

"With my words, I guess I can…" he muttered.

"If you are able, I can also warm your veins." I said, my voice sounding softly and sweetly to his ears, as I thought.

"Wait." He called, holding my shoulder again, with a single hand of his. "What do you mean by that?"

"I am to warm your veins while you kill my past." I replied, my hands suddenly touching his arms. I felt strength in him, as if I was loaded with gravels.

"How's your past?" He asked me, his eyeballs rolled around the socket to watch out. He probably was watching out for the innumerable enemy beasts of the mountains.

"It's more than I can tell at once…" my soft voice swept the aura, casting a lovely tone in the air. He was attracted to me, too.

Unexpectedly, he moved closer and whispered to my ears. "Do you want me to be yours?"

"Who knows if you are the one sent to kill my past?" I questioned myself, as I kept explaining. "I have been in this forest for many years. My life had been lived in fear until I grew with it, seeing the dark as norms. What if you're my saviour?" I expected no answer and no objection from him. I nodded and smiled at him.

"Huh?" He wondered, his eyebrows raised above, almost touching his brows.

"I can't help it." I continued, my face drenched in the thin tears that slowly dropped down my chin. "I was badly injured by some wolves on the mountain."

"When?" He asked, his voice raised louder than he had been talking earlier. "And, how? How did that happen to you?"

"Before I reached here, I was encaged by their Alpha…" I started again, as though I was going to narrate a long story to him.

"Alpha…?" He retorted, interposing my halfly uttered statement. "Is that why you asked me where I came from?"

"Yes," I replied, my voice rather cold and stiff. I was tired of saying any other thing, especially if it had to do with my past.

"Did he really injure you?" He asked, his brows suddenly squeezing to a deep frown as he walked up and down in anger. He turned to me again and hugged me.

"Huh!" I sighed, feeling cold and more comfortable in his arms.

"Keep warming up my veins!" He exclaimed, his voice tense and deep. He was grabbing me from behind as he drew more closely, tightly to my side.

"Angus…" I blushed.

"Ellie, I hope you later discover why you have come to know me." Angus revealed, stalking about with stomping feet, his hands dipped in his pockets.