Chapter 5: You are Mine!

Selena’s POV

“Selena,” he rumbled as if tasting the sound on his lips. “Like the Moon Goddess. I see the resemblance.”

I couldn’t help the warm memories he awoke inside of me. It had been my mother’s idea. When I was born, my hair was even lighter than it was now, and my eyes looked dark blue. As I grew older, my hair grew darker and my eyes lighter. It made my mother even more resolute that my name should honor the Moon Goddess.

Selena…

My mom had always been the one who showed me what it truly meant to love someone. My father had always been gone for his job and there were times when I grew up, I was convinced that he didn’t love me. He was always happy when mom was around, but whenever it was just me and him, he would ignore me.

My mom was different.

She would spend her nights reading bedtime stories to me. Brush my hair and braid it. I sat down to have tea with my dollies and would spend hours in the forest.

I used to love being in the forest.

My mother was a great mom. Even as the sole Luna of a large pack, she always had time for me. I knew she and Dad wanted more children, but when my mom had me, she’d had major complications during child birth and had to have a hysterectomy.

I think Dad never really forgave her for that…

He held it over her that all he had to show for in an heir, was a weak human girl. That she couldn’t give her a male heir – and one that could shift.

He never let me forget that!

Never let me forget that I didn’t have a wolf. That I wasn’t the son he truly wanted. So he left most of my upbringing to my mom. She made me strong, independent, and determined. She was the one who instilled my sense of right and wrong, my sense of justice. And so if I ever disobeyed my father, gave him any trouble, or pushed back, he would blame her.

He always did.

He tried to break me, by punishing me for all the things my mom taught me. He began to beat me in his weak attempt to control me. It got worse as he got angrier and angrier. But the angrier he got, the more determined I became. He wasn’t going to take away the only part of me that ever truly meant something to me.

That’s when he resorted to other tactics...

Before I knew what was going on, Rain reached out for me. On instinct, I flinched away from him. So sure and used to having men hurt me, I just didn’t expect anything else...

He paused mid-motion, with a hurt look in his eyes.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he tried to reassure me, slowly retracting his hand again. “I killed the men responsible for hurting you.”

Say---

“What?!” I exclaimed, wondering why the hell he was fucking with me like this! I mean--- Sure, he was rumored to be bat shit crazy and dropping his own men like candy on the street, but surely, he wouldn’t do that for me.

Right?

“I killed them,” he repeated himself, leaning back, turning his eyes heavenwards, as if he was discussing something minorly bothersome, and letting out a long sigh. “One of them, anyway. The other one is serving his punishment.”

“Why?” I asked because of my natural curiosity – something that I was sure was going to get me killed someday...

“Because they broke my rule,” he replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “No human in my pack is to be hurt.” His deep, dark eyes landed on me again, heating me from the inside out. “They hurt you, so they have to pay.”

I knew this…

The werewolf world was bloody and brutal. One wrong step could easily cost you your life on a bad day. Your life was disposable on an alpha’s whim unless you somehow were valuable to the alpha himself. And normally, humans ranked last on that list...

Why was this rogue alpha protecting humans?

“You--- You protect humans?” I asked cautiously, wondering what kind of game he was playing at. What kind of sick and cruel plaything he’d turn me into? “Why?”

“I don’t protect anyone,” he grinned, probably having guessed my thoughts. “Other than my own interests.”

Yeah, I had a feeling about that. Werewolves were just barely civilized people. Sure, they would act the way any moral standard of society demanded, but that’s all it was. An act! At their root, werewolves were driven by their animistic nature; the wolf ruling their minds and hearts. So when Rain Blood, the most ruthless and heartless rogue alpha ever known to the werewolf kind, said that, it really didn’t surprise me at all.

But it did leave me with a very important question...

“What do you want with me then?” I questioned, trying to figure out why he thought I'd be of any value to him. And if it in any way could keep me alive long enough to figure out a way to get me out of here alive...

“I was looking for you,” he replied, and a mysterious look of longing and love filled his dark eyes. “And now I’ve found you.”

“You were looking for me?!” I gaped, now wondering if he had mistaken me for someone else. But how? Wolves didn’t just recognize people by their looks, it was their scent that mostly drove them. Not a million plastic surgeries could ever change someone’s scent, so---

“Why?”

Nothing was making any sense with this guy!

He leaned forward, studying me. A part of me wanted to lean away, not wanting this apex predator too close to any vital parts of me. But I remained in place. I’d been around werewolves long enough to know that they’d pounce if they sensed any kind of weakness. Sure, not all of them were jerks about it, but in my experience, it was best not to give them an opening.

His dark eyes connected with mine and again, there was a sense of familiarity about them. But try as I might, I couldn’t remember where I’d seen them before. But then again, perhaps when I wasn’t too occupied with surviving, I’d have the brain capacity to think beyond the fear that I was barely keeping at bay...

“You have no idea who I am, do you?” he murmured, looking way too pleased with himself. Like someone had just offered him a good hunt and he got to play chase. “Well, let’s play a game, shall we? I like games.”

“I’m not into your sick games,” I snapped, trying to put some distance between us. My heart rate was rising again, as my mind went through all the possible scenarios that this game could end. Was he going to force himself on me? Was he going to force me to play along with his fantasies?

“It’s not sick,” he sighed, as if he was arguing with a 3-year-old. But to my relief, the hungry hunter-like gaze left his eyes and he leaned back, suddenly looking casual and in full business mode. “You’ll get to be healthy again, and I’ll get to keep you around.” He then gave me the most wolfish, shit-eating grin I’d ever seen on a person before: “But you’ll have to stay around until you’ve guessed who I really am. Is that understood?”

Erm…

No!

But why did I also suddenly feel like Little Red Riding Hood? Alone and at the mercy of the Big Bad Wolf! Only I wasn’t sure what the hell this wolf wanted with me...

“As alluring as it sounds getting to be your fucking chew toy, I’m going to have to pass,” I gripped, wondering when my attitude was going to truly get me killed. “I’m not anyone’s property!”

“No, you’re not,” he agreed--- to my somewhat surprise. Werewolves were extremely possessive, considering their mates and kids to be theirs and theirs alone. Although I did get that, I could never truly understand the extremely close and strong bonds they formed. It wasn’t possessiveness the same way ordinary humans thought of people being possessive. Werewolves were possessive because, to them, they were guarding the very essence of their soul.

The concept of an individual was almost inconceivable…

But the same thing could be said about their enemies. The privilege of killing their sworn enemies, their families, and even packs, was more than just a duty to perform. It was a need in their blood and bones.

So yeah!

For this alpha to agree so easily that I wasn’t anyone’s property was surprising, to say the least…

Suddenly, he was so close to me that I could feel the heat of his body wrap around me like a soft embrace. But before I had a chance to react, he reached out, and before I knew what was happening, he caressed my non-bruised cheek so gently and carefully, that the motion had me gasping in surprise. An electrical current traveled from his touch and straight to my nipples, making them tighten under the cheap hospital dress.

“But know this, my blue-eyed angel,” he murmured softly, so close to my ear, I could feel his breath on my skin, making the hair on my neck stand to attention. “You will be mine! And only MINE!”