4

The sun rises.

It’s about time.

I expected huge noise and chaos coming from the pack house, and yet it was eerily silent as I walked out of my bedroom. It gave me chills, seems like every member of this pack is obedient to their Alpha.

Nothing is going to be postponed today. I thought with a slight bitterness.

Triss remains a step behind me, guiding me from the pack house and out into the woods. At first, I didn't feel much of anything, until we got further into the barely lit trees, far enough that Alpha Hardin began to show through the space in the distance.

My legs falter.

"Stand tall, chin up, shoulders back," Triss whispers to me, adjusting my rigged posture.

I nod faintly, keep my eyes forward, and step steady, unwavering beneath curious eyes. Like Triss said, the male wolves look at my bare flesh without a blink, while the female wolves stare at me in awe or jealousy.

“See? Such a small change to my choice of clothes and this is the difference it brings.” Said Triss.

But I think the pack’s reaction is based on the fact that their beloved Alpha is choosing me, not on what I look.

The pack separates like Moses separates the sea for me to pass, leading me straight to a tall freestanding stone building. Huge pillars are holding up a stone slab over the opening. Green moss crawls up the sides of the brittle stone, intricate designs once covered the place but age seems to have taken its toll.

“This place has stood for almost four hundred years,” Triss says in a quiet voice, then she stops walking.

Understanding I have to go inside alone, I slowly climb up the large steps. The small bits of crumbled stone dug into the soles of my bare feet, which hurt.

Despite the dusk mid-morning sky, it didn't provide much light inside the building. The only thing visible is at the far end of the huge building, a large square missing from the ceiling, held up by four huge stone pillars. Resting in the center lays a slab of rock, and Alpha Hardin stands right next to it.

"Come," He states.

In my mind, I thought I would feel less terrified being face to face with him, but it isn't.

But I know I should never anger the Alpha in a place that is sacred to him and his pack. So I quickly overcame my fear, like I suppressed all my feelings in the past, and hurried my steps. Hesitantly, I place my shaky hand in his colossal outstretched one, allowing him to pull me closer. My heart beats like a drum. I stiffly stare up at the barely lit sky above us, trying to shift some of my fear and anxiety away.

The warmth of Hardin's body seeps into my cold skin as his proximity closes in on me, one deep breath, and our chests press together.

His looming presence fills my vision as he towers over my smaller frame. I finally see his face clearly. In the dining room, I was so afraid of my parents, that I didn't even look directly at him once. Alpha Hardin is the most handsome man I have ever seen. His black, thick hair hangs naturally aside his basalt cheek and jaw, creating curved lines like Greek God status. His sea-blue eyes gazed at me, I could see a million little faces of me reflecting on the surface of his iris, which somehow ignited a slowing-burning flame that made my blood run up to my forehead. I lower my head immediately to his muscular chest so I don’t wet myself.

"The more you resist it, the more pain it will bring," Hardin warns me in a much softer voice. It’s like he can read my mind.

My palms are sweaty palms, and my body is shivering, so I only nod my head. I couldn't speak, the words gluing themselves to my throat, stopping me from responding.

Hardin brushes my perfectly curled hair behind my shoulder, his rough fingers pressing under my jaw, tilting my stiff head. I can’t move, knowing he wants more from me.

“You are mine now.”

This is the last sentence Hardin said before his canines bite into the crook of my neck, piercing deep into my tender flesh with absolutely no remorse. At first, it wasn't too painful, only what I expected it to feel like. I relax my shoulders and arms, allowing myself to simply let it happen, to give him what he wants.

Yet the pain grows, like a sudden match being lit inside my mind. I felt the presence of another, the pressure as Hardin attempted to force his way into my mind.

Burning fire boils over my skin, my skull throbbing with electric currents that take my breath. It hurt, more than I thought it would. The pain quickly becomes agony, forcing me to squeeze my eyes shut and lock them in place.

Somewhere through the excruciating torture, I hear Hardin’s growling, rumbling off the ancient stone walls. The agony prolongs itself, still not letting up despite Hardin pulling out his carnies. His bite is causing it, he is forcing the first stage of mating on me, yet something inside me simply isn't allowing it.

"AAAAH!"

I wanted to smash my head onto the concrete, anything to release the agony pulsing within my skull. As if my head is splintering, and repeatedly cracking into half.

My body violently shakes under the agony, and it isn't long before I feel myself weaken. My legs are the first to give way, the pain knocking me to my knees, right before everything goes deathly silent and empty. Then I felt Hardin's warmth is back again, his arms were around my shoulder, slowly let me lie down on the ground.