I snorted. “Very important, huh? What is this important item, and why can’t you retrieve it yourself?”
“I’ll tell you that in due time, but for now, do we have an agreement?” He extended his hand out for me to shake.
I stood there thinking about all that he had said, about all of my options. Should I trust this strange man? Trust him with my freedom? With my life? And what he is asking me to do?
My brows furrowed as I thought of something. “Wait, there’s one thing. What are you?” I asked cautiously.
A grin spread across his face as he opened his mouth to reply, but before he could get a word out, the bedroom door flew open with a bang, and Cain came charging into the room. He bolted in my direction and shoved me out of the way; Cain shoved me with so much force, I flew into the wall, smacking my head against the hard surface. I fell to the floor, clutching my head. I lowered my hand to eye level and stared at the blood that now stained my palm. I looked back to Cain, and the last thing I saw was him lunging at Demetrius before everything went dark.
I was running through the forest, the dark, silent forest covered in mud and blood. I ran as fast as I could, yet for some reason, I couldn’t shift into my wolf. I couldn’t feel or hear her. Panic began to rise from the depths of my belly, and my chest heaved with each stride. I could hear someone closing in on me, but who? Why did this feel so familiar? Why do I feel like I’ve been here before, in this exact situation? I stopped, needing to catch my breath and inspected my body, noticing that I was covered in blood; there were also various scrapes, cuts, bruises and bite marks? Suddenly I was knocked to the ground, hitting my head on a rock; everything became fuzzy and disoriented.
A prominent figure loomed over me, but I couldn’t make out who it was; my head was pounding. I wanted to scream, to fight, to do something, but I couldn’t seem to find it in me to do so. Then, finally, the person leaned down, closing the distance between my face and theirs. “Nice try, little one, but you are mine, and there is no escaping from me.” They whispered.
Wait, was it Cain? No, the voice was different, a voice I hadn’t heard before, raising more alarm bells within me.
Finally, a surge of strength blew through me, and I began trying to fight, throwing punches, but the man held my arms down and started to laugh. “So weak, so pathetic. I will enjoy sucking every ounce of fight left from your body until your heart ceases to beat.” His tone was promising and sinister.
Fear coursed through my body and consumed my thoughts, paralyzing me where I lay, unable to move. Finally, the man lifted his head away from me and opened his mouth, displaying his deadly fangs. Then, I felt his sharp teeth brush against my skin just before I jolted awake.
I woke in a panic, covered in sweat, my heart pounding and unable to catch my breath. I closed my eyes to calm myself, taking slow, deep breaths. After a moment, I began to feel calm and relaxed.
I opened my eyes and looked around, realizing I was in what looked like a hospital bed. Machines and other medical equipment surrounded me. I could hear people talking just outside the room; one of the voices sounded like Cain, another sounded like Calyx and the third voice I didn’t recognize.
I attempted to sit up, but upon doing so, my head throbbed. I placed my hand to my head, cradling it, and that’s when I felt the large bandage wrapped around my head. The concern over the dressing quickly faded as my head throbbed painfully again. This headache was worse than a hangover. I sat back down and listened to the voices nearby.
“She will be fine, Alpha. It’s a nasty bump, but no real damage or anything serious. She will make a full recovery.” A woman’s voice explained.
“Good, thank you for everything, Rose.”
“Of course, Alpha. Is there anything else?”
“No, that will be all.”
I could hear someone’s retreating footsteps before the conversation continued.
“Man, you’re a fucking idiot. What were you thinking?” Calyx voiced, a bit too loud.
I heard a low snarl. “I didn’t mean to fucking hurt her, Calyx. I just wanted to get her away from that fucking leech. Speaking of which, how the fuck did he get past the gates and the patrol guards, Calyx? You were supposed to be out there handling the situation, which you said you had handled?” Cain seemed agitated and quite pissed off with his brother over Demetrius’ intrusion.
“I don’t know, Cain. A few of the guards were found unconscious on the Northside of the border. Somehow, he got the advantage on them. I thought I had it handled; everything was in the clear; I’m sorry, Cain.” Calyx sounded to be feeling very guilty and overwhelmed with remorse.
“Yea, you think! And obviously, everything was not in the clear, nor did you have the situation handled. So we are going to have to increase the number of guards around the border, and she is not to be left alone; I won’t let anything happen to her.” He shouted through gritted teeth.
Why did Cain sound so sincere and concerned? Wonder if he hit his head too. I laughed internally, or so I thought.
Things went quiet for a moment. “I think she is awake; I’ll leave you two be.” Calyx said.
I could hear footsteps again retreating, then the door to my room opened, and Cain walked in. I rolled over and pretended to be asleep to avoid interacting with that man.
He sighed loudly. “I know you are awake, Freja. How are you feeling?”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine,” I said plainly.
“Are you in any pain?” He asked with worry.
“No, not really.” I lied; I didn’t want any sympathy or help from him.
Cain exhaled heavily. “Listen, I am sorry for what happened. In the spur of the moment, I just reacted without thinking, and it was not my intention to harm you in any way.”
He sounded like he was being genuine and sincere, but honestly, I didn’t care at that moment, and my interaction with Demetrius was the only thing I could focus on right now. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” But it wasn’t ok; none of this was ok.
I continued to lay on my side, facing away from him. I didn’t want to look at him right now. I know he had his reasons for his actions but still didn’t make it right, and I didn’t have to be happy with it either.
“Is there anything you need or want?” He asked softly.
I laid there, thinking for a moment. Then I sat up, looking straight at him. Cain stood there and examined me with his green eyes, taking in my state. He looked taken aback, and regret spread across his features. The look of remorse on his face made me feel sorry for him.
“Yes, I want to know why you did that?” I didn’t understand why he had attacked that man as he did. I mean, I understood that he attacked an intruder, but it was the way he did so and the look on his face when he saw Demetrius standing there.
He looked away for a moment. “That man was not a man. He is a vampire.” Cain replied with distaste.
My brows furrowed. “A vampire? But they don’t exist anymore.”
Cain snorted, “They very much do exist and are very dangerous to our kind. Who told you they don’t exist anymore?” He asked with a brow raised.
“My father. He used to tell us tales, that the vampire race was wiped out years and years ago, that we didn’t need to worry or live in fear of them.”
Cain shook his head. “Well, your father needs to check his facts. They are still alive and doing very well for themselves. But, unfortunately, their numbers have been increasing tremendously lately, and they aim to wipe our species out.”
“What did that man want with me?” I questioned, seeing if Cain knew of our conversation.
“I don’t know; I’ve never seen him before. But whatever it was, I assure you, nothing good would come of it.” Cain had a distant look on his face now as if remembering something terrible.
“I’ve seen him before. He was here the other night.” I shrugged.
His posture stiffened. “What? Where?” He asked angrily.
“He was standing within the tree lines outside our bedroom. The man just stood there staring at me, with a creepy grin on his face.” I reminisced on the encounter.
Cain didn’t say a word, just left the room in a huff, leaving me to sit there confused. Why were vampires such a danger to us? Father said we used to be allied with them long ago, but he never explained what went wrong and why they were supposedly wiped out.
After a few moments, Cain returned with a livid expression on his face. “After you are released from here, you will no longer be left alone. You will at all times have a guard with you until we can take care of the situation.” He informed me.
“What if I don’t want someone following me around? Cause I’ll tell you right now, I don’t need one.” I said firmly.
Cain closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. “I do not care if you think you need one or not; you will have someone with you at all times, whether you like it or not. Do not argue with me on this, Freja, because you won’t win.” He said with certainty.
“Yea, we shall see about that.” I scowled at him.
He growled and then stormed out of the room. I could’ve sworn I saw smoke coming out of his ears, making me giggle to myself.
I laid down on the bed and thought about the man who called himself Demetrius. What did he want from me, and why me? Why is he willing to risk helping me escape from Cain? Especially when he is one of the most feared Alphas around, and so is his pack. I needed to figure this out, but I wasn’t sure how I would when Mr. Grumpy pants increased security. As much as I hate to say it, I hope Demetrius returns.