Chapter 01

My feet hurt as I wandered out of the woods, it was late at night and up ahead of me, I could spot a light.

Finally! Hope rushed through me as I saw a caravan. My stomach grumbled, reminding me of the fact I hadn't eaten all day. My barely covered dress was torn and dirty, and my wounded arm trickled out blood as a result of falling in the wood earlier while running.

I approached the caravan, being alert and guarded as I scanned my surroundings. I saw two men coming out of the tents behind the caravan. Both seemed engrossed in the conversation they were having and didn't notice my presence.

"Please... help me!" My voice cracked out, getting their attention, and they turned their heads towards me.

"Who goes there?" one of the men asked, and I stepped forward into the light.

"Pl-please, spare me water and food," I begged, and the other man with a scar on his right cheek snickered.

"Get lost, here is not a charity home," he scoffed.

"Please... help! Even if it's ju-just water," I pleaded hoarsely, feeling my throat get dry beyond limit.

"I said get lo—"

"Bring her here!" A deep voice with authority came from the largest of the three tents in the vast land.

"Aye, master," the man responded with a grunt.

"Move," he told me, and I nodded.

We got to the large tent and the two strong men behind me forced me on my knees at the entrance of the tent. I heard heavy footsteps approach me and when I looked up I saw a tall hefty man with broad shoulders, he was about six feet four, cladded in a dark brown leather coat with black furs at the sleeves and neck collar.

His black hair was packed in a ponytail, and a gruesome scar ran at a diagonal across his face. His sharp, icy gaze settled on me and I swallowed.

This must be the leader. I said to myself.

"Well, who do we have here?" He grinned, crouching down to my floor level and I trembled, afraid to look him in the eyes.

He grabbed my chin suddenly, forcing me to hold his eye contact. "I asked a question, don't let me repeat myself," he sneered.

My throat went dry, and I swallowed the lump stuck in my throat, "I-I... my name is Aki-Akira," I struggled to say.

"Mm, Akira," his black eyes fluttered to my lips, then slowly trailing down to my exposed cleavages. They lingered longer than expected.

"What a rare sight." He murmured.

"You seem lost, where are you from?" He questioned.

"Does it matter? I was attacked, and I ended up here," I yanked my face away from his grasp and he gave a low chuckle.

"Mm, I suppose it doesn't, you've come to the right place for help, I'm Jager, master of this fine caravan," he smirked, but there was something sketchy in the way he spoke.

"Thank you," I muttered regardless.

Jager snapped his finger and a guard walked up to me with a waterskin and handed it to me. I opened it immediately and gulped all the water in a go... cooling my scorching throat.

I was taken into the tent and was offered food, it was grilled meat and a stick of bread.

I dug into my food while I watched other men from outside troop into the tent. I got curious, nasty stares from some men and I scoffed inwardly.

Bastards!

They chattered amongst themselves around the fire and I overheard Jager mention the Redmoon pack, and my blood pumped furiously through my veins at the mention of the pack's name. Judging from the way they spoke, I figured these men were slave traders.

"Redmoon pack, you say?" I questioned, trying to feign interest in their conversation.

Jager stared at me from where he was, amusement glistening in his eyes as he tilted his head at me. "Yes, we have a profitable business to carry on there." He revealed.

My jaw clenched, profitable in the sense they would sell women and small children to pack of Redmoon.

"Mm, okay," I mumbled.

Jager stood up from his group of men and marched toward me, stopping over an inch away from me.

He squatted right in front of me, reaching out to my left shoulder blade, squeezing firmly but gently with his bristly hand.

"You should rest... we leave at dawn," he said.

"Okay," I replied, and his lips curled up at the corner before he straightened himself and walked away.

Minutes later, my eyelids started to get heavy and every attempt to keep them wide open failed, and I surrendered into the tempting arms of sleep.

I don't know how long I fell asleep, but I felt a strong hand running through my legs and I snapped my eyes open.

A gasp left my lips when I saw Jager close to me, his dark eyes held some certain kind of hunger I couldn't explain, and I was surrounded by all his men.

"Wh-what is happening?" I inquired, my eyes darting around, calculated as I watched his men encircled me.

Jager sneered, stepping even closer, "Do you think we would keep still watching a beauty like you stay in our nest and go for free?" He chuckled.

I knew from the onset these men were nothing but bastards.

'Are we to fight?' Tova my wolf asked, yawning and stretching from her deep slumber.

'No, not yet.' I said to her.

"What do you want?" I asked, getting on my feet. There was no way I could run from these vicious men if I wanted... I was trapped.

I just need to stall time before he gets—

"A taste of you, after which I will have my men here take their turns," he smirked.

"Please, you don't want to do this," I begged and Jagger scoffed while his men laughed as if my threat was empty.

"Or what? A puny cat like you would cause us no harm and is helpless amongst us men," he growled.

"Grab her!" He ordered and the brawny man I had met earlier with a scar on his right cheek came up behind me and grabbed my arms while I fidgeted, struggling to jerk myself free from him.

I felt him press his lower body behind me, his bulge sticking through his pants as he poked me from behind, and I felt irritated, "You should have gotten lost when I told you to, now I can't wait to bury myself in you," he whispered into my ears.

"You will regret this!" I spat at Jager while I still struggled against his crazy man holding me in place behind.

"Oh, no! We won't but don't worry by the time we are done with you... you won't have to walk to Redmoon, you'll arrive in chains," with that said, he lunged forward and ripped my dress apart, and my breasts sprouted out and the rest of his men cheered lustily.

Jager's eyes grew with an insatiable desire and just when he was about to touch my breast, a wet liquid splashed on my face, it all happened so fast.

The laughter from his men died and was replaced by a wet, choking sound.

Jager's gouged-out blood from his slitted throat, I could see the shock in his eyes at the last moment of his life, and his mouth opened and closed in stunned horror, a sly smirk appeared on my lips as he tried to reach out for me, but his body fell to the ground with a loud thud.

A big giant wolf stood on Jager's corpse, its fur black as the midnight sky, and its eyes shined in fury in a reddish-golden color.

The air grew eerie as the man holding me left me at once, and I stepped forward, each man freezing in their spot.

I ran my tongue over my lips, tasting the blood splattered on my face, and smiled as I patted the giant wolf's head.

I glared at the men.

"You should have listened," I said in a deadpanned expression.