Chapter 2

THE MESSAGE

DAWN.

I burst into another fit of loud laughter at my human best friend, Lyla before she hits me on my back awkwardly causing me to glare at her. She always hit me whenever she laughed or was embarrassed, a weird human trait.

“Must you always hit me when you laugh?” I ask as I shove her playfully. She snorts at me and runs from my side, knowing fully well that I would want to take revenge.

“I’m used to it, Dawn. You know, I’ve tried to stop too, but you caused this one. Stop cracking all these silly jokes,” I glare at her, as she ambles briskly to the fridge in our apartment.

We have been living together for two years now, and Lyra has been so sweet and nice to me. She is aware that I’m a werewolf and would die keeping the secret for me. Living in the human world for two years hasn’t been easy, but Lyra has been more than a great help to me all the way.

She has been my savior.

“What’s your plan for this evening?” She asks me, her voice filled with anticipation as she hands me a bottle of apple cider and slice of cake.

“I know what you're about to say, and noooo, Lyla. I’m not clubbing tonight. We’ve had a very hectic week, and I just want to sleep all through,” I inform her, falling back to where she sat, offering her a glare on my face.

She grabs my cheeks and squeezes them cheerfully before letting go. I shake my head at her antics before facing the dessert. We sit there in comfortable silence and just enjoy the food when my phone vibrates with a message.

I open it immediately to read the text before groaning loudly. I chuck the phone towards Lyra, who takes it and reads it out.

“This man and his unscheduled jobs!... He should have told you earlier or asked someone else...” she complains, frowning at my phone.

“You should reject it. Now," she says. "You need to rest, like you said just now...” she advises me as she begins typing sine reply. I grab the phone from her and stand up quickly, getting away from her.

“I need the money, Lyra... you know this. Others rejected the job, that’s why I got it,"I say.

"But, isn't the recipient that Demon Wolf?" She asks.

"Yes and The Demon Alpha will not kill me.i have been making packages into pack territories before and have gotten out unscathed. I will deliver the package and sneak out of there. No biggi," I say as I head to my room.

Lyra jumps up after me and follows me to my room where I stroll to get my shoes. “You know what you’re saying, right? You told me that no rogue would dare go close to that gate... You call it the demon's pack. You are not part of his entourage or royal guards... he killed his mate! Listen to me, Dawn!” She yells at me as she pushes me softly to get my attention.

I ignore her and put on my shoes instead. My boss had given me ten minutes to pick up the package, and I need to be fast. I would have preferred to run in my wolf form, but this is human territory, I can't risk it. As I reach for the knob, I shrug at my clearly worried friend and smile at her.

“Lyra, I’m a werewolf too. If anything gets worse, I will run as fast as I can. I’m sure I won’t even get to see him... Come on! We need this money, the pay is high... our total week's pay in one day!” I remind her.

She shakes her head in uncertainty before giving in and steps away from the door. I give her a tight hug and a kiss on her cheek, grateful for her existence.

Lyra is really the only family I have since I lost my parents at the hands of my previous Alpha.

The human world is not my home. I escaped from my pack two years ago when my Alpha, Alpha Elias of the Vale pack, imprisoned my parents for years until they died in his dungeon.

As if that wasn’t enough, he started making lustful and public advances at me. Immediately after they died, he summoned me and threatened me to marry him or lose my life.

I could not tolerate that, so I took to my heels and ran as far as I could. I know he is still searching for me, but I will rather be a rogue forever than marry that heartless and selfish man.

“Hey... don’t strangle me,” Lyra protests playfully, escaping from my tight grip. I sniff back my tears and pout coyly at her.

“It’s okay… just, please be careful and don’t be late,” she tells me. I reach for our door and step outside. The job of delivering a package to the Black Acres extate is a very difficult one, but I will take my chances.

I need the money. Our house rent will be due in a few days, and our landlord is not the nice type. Getting on my bike, I start the engine at once. From the door, Lyra waves at me, and I wink at her before speeding out of our compound, my heart pounding heavily.

---

My luck didn't shine as bright as I thought it did, because I drove my bike right into the Demon Alpha's presence. He was also returning from somewhere with his full entourage of security men.

My black and very loud bike is very hard to miss, so I know he heard me. He was walking into his mansion but stopped abruptly to face me, his face hard and cold.

I take in a deep, fortifying breath as everyone went silent at once. He looks so angry and frustrated for some reason, scary too. But I can not deny the fact that he’s devilishly handsome. Almost godlike.. At once, I stop my thoughts from going haywire and force my wolf to settle down.

“I have never seen your face here before... Did my guards let you in?” He asks me, moving closer to where I stand. I shuffle backwards away from him until I hit my back against another stern-looking and hefty guard.

“I... I’m a delivery woman... I... sent on an errand to deliver something... Not an enemy, the guards checked me thoroughly,” I stammer, reaching for my work identification card. With my shaky hands, I stretch it out towards him to see.

Another man standing closely behind The Alpha King beat him to it and jerks the card from me with so much aggression. He looks it over and throws it back at me.

Sheesh, angry much?

“It’s all clear Alpha, she’s an ordinary delivery person... you can go in now...” he was saying to the Alpha when I hear the word. Everyone hears it, including the cave man that is talking.

Mate.

“Mate!” He says again, loudly this time and begins walking quickly with a firm and menacing stride towards me. His eyes never leaves mine. I try to move away again, but he catches me by my waist and takes in my scent deeply.

“You are my mate!” He growls again, as if confirming it to himself. “What’s your name and how did you get here?” He asks me, his face searching mine. From where I stand, trapped in his hands, I can hear clearly, the whispers and surprised gasps.

People can be seen coming out of the pack house to witness what was happening, and the whole big and beautiful compound was filled with noisy chatter.

I open my mouth to respond, but a very sharp pain flashes through my chest and head. I wince loudly at the sensation, never having felt anything like it before. Then I realize it is the mate bond, my wolf had also sensed him to be our mate. I grab my hurting chest and fall into his arms.

“Mate...” I gasp out weakly, my eyes dropping as I fall into darkness. The bond was too strong for me; it took away my strength at once.

Before I fall into total unconsciousness, I hear someone speak.

“Alpha Axel... give her to me, we need to question her please... this is suspicious, how did she get here and how is she your mate?” I recognize the voice. It’s the other man who had looked at me with so much hatred and disgust.

The aggressive one.

“Tobias, I will take her in myself. I also want to question her...” Alpha Axel responds, moving with me.

Tobias.

That is his name, my brain registers. I don’t know why, but I instantly dislike him. Fortunately my wolf also agrees.