Worry about her friends stirred storm inside her and she broke down to tears. A few members of the house were placed to guard her door. Even if there were no guards, Selena wouldn’t dare to leave this place without her friends and if it’s true that she is a werewolf, she might survive the escape attempt but her friends would be torn into pieces if something goes wrong.
When Orion came down, Selena’s friends were already locked up on the ground floor, in her old room.
“What now? We can’t keep them like this forever” Orion asked Zade, in a calm manner. He rubbed his hand against his neck in frustration and let out a low sigh.
“Let her calm down a bit and I will talk to her. For now, let’s get through dinner and arrange something for her friends to eat.” Zaden took just a few steps away when Orion voiced from behind.
“She needs to eat too” Zaden turned around and cocked an eyebrow at Orion. He is not comfortable with Orion’s attachment to her.
Selena is too precious for him and the pack. Attachment equals empathy, empathy equals escapism.
“No one is allowed to talk to her except for Grandpa Kai and me. We have to be careful with the information given to her, for the sake of our pack. It’s an order, do you hear me?” he boomed with his alpha tone, making Orion shrink back, bowing his neck, and agreed to him.
One by one, people had started to gather at the yard, placing trays and trays of food on the buffet table. Selena could see them from her room. Zaden came out to greet and join them in dinner, as usual. Once she saw him, a tremor erupt within her, and Selena shrunk back to her room, sat on a single bed placed against the wall.
Grandpa Kai came earlier with a guard to bring her all her necessities and even some new clothes. He tried to soothe her but nothing worked as she ignored him and stared outside the window.
Gradually, people started retreating home from the dinner buffet and Selena peeped out hoping Zaden wouldn’t spot her, but she saw her friends coming out, accompanied by Orion and two other guards. They were nervous as they were talking something with Orion.
“The second floor, that’s where your friend is resting. She is provided with everything necessary and taken care of as long as you guys don’t create any haywire.” Orion explained to them with a hint of threat. They looked up at the second floor but couldn’t see Selena but Selena saw them clearly and she placed her palm on the window, hoping to touch them.
“Having fun?” a deep husky voice behind her spooked her to the core as she flung around in freight to see Zaden standing at her now shut the door with a plate of food. She must have been too preoccupied with watching her friends that she must have missed the door opening.
“Civilized people would knock on the door” she spat out the word with a scowl. If only she had a knife, she would stab him right in his heart. He glared at her in return.
” I’m not in the mood to argue, Selena.” His temper is slowly rising as he gritted his teeth
“Good!!! Then you can leave” she crossed her arms around her chest and turned her back at him, looking out the window.
Her friends are not there anymore.
There is burning anger in her chest. She heard his calm, composed footsteps approaching but she was not in the mood to be coaxed and Zaden knew that, as well. He grabbed both her arm from behind, twisting them back to him, and tied up her hands together with his leather belt. Selena struggled to release herself, but she couldn’t even loosen his hand’s grip on her. When she turned around, he had already backed away.
“What the fuck?!?!” Selena screamed at him
“Watch your mouth, baby girl”
“I am not a baby and I am not your girl, so stop calling me that!!!” she shouted at him. He leaned on a table in the room with a smirk on his lips and a twinkle in his eye.
“Then how would you like me to call you? Sweety? Honey? Or maybe my love?” her death glare narrowed with confusion at the familiarity of those last words.
“Come here” he signaled her but she didn’t budge. So, he walked over to her with the plate, set the plate down, grabbed her by her hip, and lifted her up, making her yelp. With little effort, he placed her on the windowsill.
“There!!! That’s better” he cut into the chicken, dipped it into the sauce, and feed her.
“Sorry, I had to tie you up. I don’t want to be stabbed by a dinner knife.” He thrust the chicken into her mouth. She ate without protest, not wanting her face to be smudged by the food and also because she was hungry.
“We need you to be healthy and intact when Ozrain Samrat comes here” Selena’s eye widened in freight
“Who is that?” she asked
“Possibly your great great great grandfather” he gave her broccoli, but she pushed her face to the side and jumped out of the windowsill
“Huh… Not a fan of broccoli, I guess” he mumbled.
“Look Zaden, I won’t tell anything to anyone, lets erase this past week from our memory. Don’t give me away to a group of werewolves. Please!!! I’m begging you” Zaden’s heart broke into pieces at her words. His face dropped instantly as he swallowed down an empty throat.
“You can really do that? Forget this week? Do you really WANT to forget this week?” he asked looking at the floor while his hands are holding on to the windowsill. Selena was lost, she didn’t get what he meant.
“Well, I can’t and I don’t want to” he added along making Selena straightened her back with a frown on her face.
He let out a sigh, still facing the window.
“Fine. I won’t let him know till I’m 100% sure that you are his granddaughter. I promise… Now would you finish your dinner like a good girl?” she smiled gently accompanied by great relief. She walked back to him and turned, facing her back to him.
“And I promise not to kill you. Not yet, anyway” a smile crept up his lips as he moved closer to untie her hands.
She rubbed her wrist once he was done, took the plate to the small table, and sat down to eat. He came and sat on a chair opposite her. She took her own time, with small bites to finish her meal.
“Why is it so important for you to hand me over to the Samrat’s?” she asked while taking another bite
“It’s a long story” he ran his fingers through his dark hair
“Do I look like I’m about to launch a rocket for NASA?” he let out a low chuckle at her sarcasm, even at times like this.
“See, the werewolf is believed to be moon goddess blessing but Samrat’s are believed to be direct descendants of the goddess herself” Zaden began, simplifying facts as much as possible.
“Moon goddess as in the moon up there?” Selena pointed to the night sky and Zaden nodded
“Because of that, they generally have great powers, strength, and longer lifespan. For example, you.” He pointed at her, touching her nose. His answer drifted away.
“How am I an example?” Selena.
“Have you ever noticed? How come your skin is like a 12-year-old but you are already 24? And why your skin radiates like a newborn baby when the sun hits? Or why your lips are still as soft and pink as a newborn? That they would probably bruise if I pinched them together?” saying that he really did pinch her lower lips between his thumb and index finger, making her lips drain out of the blood and turn white as she frowned in pain. She hissed and rubbed her lips when he let go.
“Normal werewolves age slower than humans but Samrat’s age even slower than werewolf. They are said to be powerful because they can command any werewolf, regardless of which pack they are from.” He explained further
“Command?”
“Ya, alpha’s can command their pack members and they can’t disregard it but the same alpha can’t do so to another pack’s member. Samrat’s can!!! Hence making them the king. The only downside is, they take forever to find a mate and when they do, they are always blessed with one child”
“Mate? ” Selena’s question made Zaden realize how ignorant she is to their life and being in this situation to explain mate bond to her, made him blush as he ran his fingers again through his hair. Thankfully, it was dark enough to cover his pink cheeks.
“Mate is like a lover, only, it is decided by moon goddess and not the lovers themselves. It’s the most beautiful thing ever. You don’t know when or where your mate is going to show up but when they do, they take over you like a storm. You can’t control yourself, you would give up anything to be with them and to make them happy or to protect them. Marking your mate, I mean marrying your lover, makes you stronger. Your mate will be the one holding the missing piece, the element that you need to be complete. Breaking the mate bond can be deadly for most wolves. From what I heard, it feels like someone ripped your heart from your chest, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it. Some who survived are left with scars within them for the rest of their life.” he looked at her, hoping that she would be as impressed as he is but instead, he got more to a confused frown
“What?” Zaden with down turning tone
“I don’t buy it” Selena shrugged
“What? Why not?” Zaden
“See, from your point of view, it’s the moon goddess’s gift. From my point of view, it’s chemistry and hormones clicking together. And to summarize what you just said, they are forced to be together for the sake of sex or because the so-called ‘moon goddesses’ decided to play a mix and match game. I agree that they might bond sexually but that’s not love. It means they may move on when they get bored with the sex, but they can’t because of the fucking mate bond. Simple!!!” Zaden’s jaw dropped down as he went into a trans. He searched frantically through his brain for a way to deny her, but nothing came up.
She is now done with her dinner and wiped her mouth, pulled her knees onto the chair while she lazily wrapped her hand around her knee
“Are you the alpha?” her question snapped Zaden back from his thoughts.
“Hmm–yes” he fumbled a tad
“The day you found us in the forest, we were actually attacked by a group of large–no wait–extra-large wolfs” she tilted her head focusing her eyes on Zaden
“Yes, I know. That was us. We felt threatened that someone is breaching the territory, but we retreat when none was found. I knew we caused you guys to delay and it will be dark before you guys get to mountain foot, so we shift to human form and came to get you” Zaden finished
“So the large black wolf is…” she hesitated to complete her question. He rosed his palm, admitting that it was him. Selena gasped as she closed her mouth with her palm
“Seriously? You are large, like beastly large, do you know that?” Zaden just chuckled at her child-like reaction. Sensing more questions to come, he stood up from his chair, took off his shirt, and laid on the couch that is right next to his chair. He placed his head on the armrest and crossed his arm over his forehead.