Chapter 2

From looking for a meal to help with my hunger to being forcefully seized and taken away to somewhere I don't know. It seems my whole day didn't go as planned.

It's been hours. Maybe about a day since I've been locked up in a room that has the qualities I can only dream of having.

I've tried to look for a way out but it was clear that whoever built these walls made sure no one had a chance to escape. And the thought of being locked in here forever made me worried. Worry would be an understatement. I'm scared.

When the door opens all of a sudden, I half-expected it to be the maids or whatever that have served me two different meals since I was brought in here — Meals that I reluctantly ate to my satisfaction. Until I looked up to see it was the strange man that caused me to be locked up in here in the first place.

He doesn't waste time striding over to where I'm seated, which is the only chair available in this room. I should stand but I can only glare at him with hate while I maintain my position.

Seems he doesn't care about what I feel. He just goes ahead to say, "My men tell me that you bypassed them to get into the event," he stares into my eyes for a few seconds before he asks, "What's your name?"

It took me a lot of control not to stand up and tear at his face. I hate the way he looks and I hate that he seems not to care that I shouldn't be here.

"Am I supposed to say my name to the man who kidnapped me?" I ask through gritted teeth.

"I didn't kidnap you..."

"So bringing me here against my will doesn't look like a kidnap to you?"

"Have you been hurt in any way?" After about a minute of me not responding to his question, he urges me, "Speak."

"No," I managed to say.

"Have you been well fed?"

I mutter a "Yes" to that.

"So you're not my prisoner. I only brought you here so you can give me an answer. Once I get an answer, we'll know where to go from there."

"Well, we'll start the introductions properly. And maybe a bit better than the last time," he says. "My name's Damien. What's yours?"

Reluctantly, I tell him, "Riley."

He nods in return. "It wasn't that hard, was it?"

I sneer at him for that. Not like I could do anything else to express just how I feel right now.

"So, Riley, tell me something. Why were you there?"

"I was hungry."

"A mating ritual was going on," he says, so simply like I was meant to understand it.

"Here you go with the 'mate' thing again. And what do you mean by ritual? Are you in a cult? Are you going to sacrifice me?"

"No. We are all members of the same pack. At least most of us. And don't worry about being sacrificed. We don't do that here."

"Your words have no meaning to me."

He ignores my statement and says, "So let me make a brief summary of what you did. You're human, and you were hungry. So to feed your hungry stomach, you stumbled upon a mating ritual and you thought you've had your chance to get a free meal. Instead you ended up getting... me."

"I didn't end up getting you. You trespassed into my personal space."

"And you trespassed into an event that doesn't concern you or your kind."

This doesn't look to be progressive. Obviously I'm not going to be out of this whole situation in time if he doesn't give me the actual reason he brought me here.

"Please, just tell me what you brought me here for so I can be on my way," I plead with him. I'm not comfortable anymore with this whole showdown and I really want to be somewhere I have my peace. Not like I actually have someplace to be.

"I already did."

"But I don't even know what I'm supposed to answer to."

He stands up. I do the same because of how worried I am. "You just need to accept or reject the mate bond. Once you accept, you'll be mine and I'll be yours. But if you reject it, you'll be on your way."

"Then I reject it. I don't want to have anything to do with a crazy man like you," I swiftly tell him.

"That's not how this works, Riley. If you're going to reject me, you have to say the words the right way. Only then will you be free from the bond that we both share."

"I share no bond with you, mister. I don't even know you."

"You already know my name. So I think you do know me," he says and that is when I notice him staring hard at my chest which was very embarrassing to me. "That necklace…"

Realizing he was talking about the necklace I have around my neck, I quickly put a hand over it. "It's mine. I didn't steal it!"

There was no way I was letting him take the necklace from me. It's the only thing that reminds me that I once had a family.

"I never said you did. Who are your parents?"

"They are dead!" I scream that at him and it seems to stun him. At least that's what I think it does with his lack of response to my declaration. "Is this how you rich people do?"

He seems confused by my sudden question. "What do you mean?"

"You prey on the common men and then force them to do things according to your own will. That's how you rich people do."

"I'm not forcing you here—"

"Then why don't you just let me go already?" I snap. "You said I would be free once I reject you but you don't even want to let me go."

"You can't be free of me unless you say the words the right way. Even if you leave now, I'll still find you. So just reject me the way you are meant to."

"Then teach me the words."

"I can't."

"Why?" I was already exhausted when I asked him that.

"Because you'll have to earn the right to be taught the words. Until then, you'll be here."

I slump down back to the chair, my head already going through a lot of distress.

"You really have no plans on letting me go. Next thing I know you'll turn me to your play thing," I utter those words with deep regret. My life is taking a turn for the worst and, as usual, I have no way of navigating it.

"I'm here trying to protect you, Riley. You disrupted a mating ritual yesterday and a lot of my pack members are now on your neck for what you did. Until the whole situation dies down, until I find a way to keep them at ease, this is the safest place for you."

I look up at him. "Does being locked in here against my will sound safe to you?"

"Believe me, it is," he states. "And when you earn the right to reject me properly, you'll be set free from here."

He doesn't wait for me to say anything else and then begins to head toward the door to leave the room.

It wasn't until he arrived at the door that I asked the question which has been eating me up since.

"Who are you? What are you?"

"I'm Damien, Alpha of the Dark Moon pack. And I'm no human like you. I'm a wolf."

Those were the words he said as he looked at me from over his shoulder. And as he walks out, I coincidentally look down to see his fingernails elongated into what seem like claws. They became long to the point that they were pointy and shiny.

A chilly wind blows in the air at the same time, increasing the fear that has already creeped into me. I know for a fact now that he is no human as claimed. The old stories I heard about his kind were right after all.