CHAPTER ONE

Adrian walked through the clearing, his gaze scanning for intruders. It had been twenty years since he had escaped from Mount Zero, and he had settled in a castle not far from a local pack called Red-moon.

The castle he is currently residing in was abandoned a few centuries ago because it was thought to be haunted by the spirits of the last royal family who were killed there.

This occurred over a century ago, when the supernatural world was still ruled by kings and queens, but the people revolted along the way because they believed the royal family wielded too much power. To overthrow the royal family, the various leaders of each region banded together, and the council was formed, with one supernatural representative from each region.

The Royal family, as expected, did not stand for this act of treason and decided to fight back and reclaim their rights, but they were killed and everyone still believes that the castle is haunted by their souls, which Adrian thought was bullshit.

Adrian came to a halt when he heard footsteps approaching and hid behind a tree. The intruder smelled like a fresh honey lemon, and it was quite intoxicating. Adrian took a deep breath, still hiding behind the tree and keeping a close eye on her.

Aside from her honey lemon scent, he noticed something else about her scent. He could smell witches and lycan blood from her, indicating that she was a hybrid. People saw hybrids as abominations and alienated them wherever they went, so they kept to themselves.

When she got close enough, he jumped out of the shadows, grabbing her neck and lifting her off the ground, slamming her against the nearest tree.

"Who are you? And what are you doing on my land? ”. He asked, his grey eyes glowing in the moonlight as he gazed at her.

The lady shook against the tree, her eyes widening in obvious fear at how big he was. Her lips trembled as she spoke. "Please, let me go, I had no idea anyone lived here or that this land belonged to someone, I was passing by," she pleaded, her eyes darting in terror. But her gaze was not on him; rather, it appeared that she was looking past him and over his shoulder.

"Stop shaking, little one, and tell me your name," Adrian said. He couldn't help himself because she smelled so fucking good. He pressed his nose against the nook of her neck, inhaling her scent.

"S...Serena, sir," she stumbled.

"We have a problem, Serena; I can't let you go—"

"Please, please, please let me go, I won't tell anyone what I saw here, they're going to find me," Serena begged.

"I can't do that, trusting you or your kind was my biggest mistake," Adrian growled, trying to keep his lycan in check; his human form could tolerate black lycans, but his lycan could not.

He was bigger and stronger than her, and he could easily overpower her if she tried to flee. Before she could blink, his hands left her neck, and she was thrown over his shoulder like she weighed nothing.

A few minutes later, she noticed they were in the dungeon of an abandoned castle a few miles away from her pack.

Her captor threw her into one of the cells, locking it as soon as he was on the other side and putting the key in his back pocket.

"Please let me go! I won't tell anyone, Sir! Please let me go. I need to get out of here! " Serena said as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I can't do that Serena, your very existence fixed your fate the moment you entered my land," Adrian said briefly before walking out of the dungeon, leaving her alone in the dark dungeon.

Adrian ran his hands down his face, his thoughts returning to his prisoner, why did seeing her cry make him uneasy, she was a black lycan for goodness sake, she was his enemy, why did he feel sorry for her? He could still hear her pleading with him to let her go, making his heart ache.

Serena slumped in defeat on the cold concrete floor, staring up at the cemented ceiling, after screaming for about a minute, pleading, and receiving no response. Why did she feel compelled to take that shortcut? If she had taken the longer route, she wouldn't be in this situation, locked in a cell by a man who appeared to want to strangle her.

But, fortunately for her, he had left her backpack and all of its contents intact, letting out a quick sigh. She got down on her knees and laid a blanket she had packed before leaving on the ground.

The food she had packed was almost gone, and she was hoping to have found a nearby town to eat in, but that was not to be her fate. She was now imprisoned in some dungeon with an unknown captor. Nonetheless, she would rather accept this fate than be with her psychotic mate and his father.

Flashback

Three years ago …

"There's my beautiful girl," Jackson said evilly as he entered the room. His gaze was drawn to a chained-up Serena. She was being punished once more for breaking his father's, the alpha's, rules.

"Fuck you!

" Serena yelled, but it came out as a whisper because she had been screaming for the past two days, causing her throat to hurt. As they whipped her, the enforcers injected wolfsbane into her body to prevent her body from healing as quickly as it should.

Serena heard him laugh at her expense as he took steps towards her, he raised his hand slapping her across the face, causing his Alpha ring to leave a cut on her face, blood slipped down Serena's face as she stared up at her sorry excuse of a mate, she then snarled as she spat the blood in her mouth at his feet.

"Come on, Serena, I just washed this pair after our last encounter. But why am I surprised? A freak like you will never learn. If you were normal, like any other lycan, you would have had a great life with me, but you're a bastard freak! " His voice was a mix of pity and disgust.

Serena's eyes welled up as she stared into her so-called mate's emotionless blue eyes. Why was she giving a mate like him? Serena pondered as she continued to observe him.

"Do you realize how humiliating it is to have an abomination like you as my mate?"

" He laughed, "it's a joke really, I was so disgusted when you appeared in front of me during the mating ceremony," Jackson said, slapping Serena across the face again, deepening the cut on her face.

"Just let me go; you'll never hear from me again, and I'll gladly accept your rejection!" " Serena said through gritted teeth, her eyes gleaming with hatred for the jerk.

"Oh, honey, that will never happen." Where is the fun in that? What if you run into another man's arm? " He said as he grabbed her face, his fingers digging into her skin as he held on to her chin, making me wince. "My father would never allow that." Oh... and before I forget why I came here. I have a mate. Isn't that exciting? Unlike you, she deserves the title Luna! "

Serena's blood ran cold at the mention of his father; he was a pig worse than his own son. Serena's most recent encounter with him was not pleasant. She tried to push the memories deeper into her mind, but it was futile.

*Flashback ends*

Serena awoke screaming, sweating profusely as she examined her surroundings, trying to recall where she was and how she got there. She was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she didn't notice Adrian staring at her from afar.

Adrian looked at the girl, puzzled as to why the fuck she was screaming like a starled banshee. He thought he could finally sleep peacefully after the screaming stopped, but that moment was short-lived as she began screaming again. He finally gave up after tossing and turning on his bed and went to check on her, only to find her asleep.

And just as he was about to leave and let her sleep, thinking she had calmed down, she woke up screaming again. To top it all off, her fearful expression when their gazes met was unmistakable. It reminded him a little of Mount Zero.

"What were you screaming about?" Do you want to attract more intruders so you can watch me slaughter them? Adrian yelled angrily.

"I - I... when did you arrive?"

" Serena inquired, taken aback by his presence.

"You were so out of it that you didn't see me come in, why is that?" Adrian inquired, his brow furrowed.

"Nothing, forget it. I'm sorry. You can go," Serena said, lowering her gaze to avoid his piercing stare.

"You don't tell me what to do, mutt, so choose your next words carefully!" Adrian took his seat, watching her every move. "Who sent you?" Adrian inquired, watching her body movement for any change that would indicate whether or not she was lying.

"No one, I swear, your grounds were the quickest route out of Red-moon territory—" Serena replied truthfully, knowing that lying to this man would be futile.

"Serena, have you heard of the Alba lycans?"

”

"Yes," Serena replied, "but I don't know much about them; they died out a century ago."

"Is that the story your people are telling you?" You're all disgusting to me! You've turned against your own species and have the audacity to twist the truth! " Adrian yelled angrily.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about; I didn't betray anyone," Serena said, puzzled.

"Never mind, that'll be a story for another day, that's if you live that long, my Lycan grows impatient with you every time you take a breath, you should be grateful he hasn't killed you yet," Adrian said, his eyes still on her. He had thought he had made a mistake before, but now that she was here, he could smell two scents coming from her, lycan blood and witches blood.

"What are you?" Adrian inquired, even though he already knew, and the fear in her eyes grew.

"What do you mean, I'm a black lycan?" scoffs Serena, trying to keep her cool so he stops asking questions. When she looked into his eyes, she saw no sign of him believing her. How could he have known who she was?

"You shouldn't lie to me, mutt; I know you're not fully a lycan, so tell me what your other half is and don't think of lying to me again," Adrian said menacingly. Serena panicked silently, wondering how he knew what she was!

"You shouldn't be worried about how I know, you should be telling me what you are." His eyes had changed from grey to pure white.

"You have no right to ask me that question, I don't know who you are!" " Serena said, knowing it was a stupid idea to push this lycan to the brink of death; he already resented her for what she was, and if she tells him she is half witch, he might kill her before she has a chance to escape because people hate hybrids like her.

"You shouldn't test me, mutt, I can kill you without lifting a finger, so answer my question! What are you?!" Adrian growled. The council didn't know this about him, he was able to control a person's mind, he didn't know at first but the power manifested itself during his last year in Mount Zero and it was the reason why he was able to escape that God forsaken place.

"Why do you need to know what I am so badly? It won't change anything; you'll still kill me anyway, so get it over with and kill me; you'd be doing me a favor!" " Serena yelled at him, not caring if she frightened him.

Adrian's self-control had worn thin, and his Lycan broke free. Blinded with rage, he used his mind control powers on Serena, making it difficult for her to draw breath, slowly suffocating her.

"W - what are you d - doing to me, I — can't breathe," Serena gasped for air.

"He warned you, but you didn't listen, you just had to act like a spoiled brat!" Shadow growled, baring his teeth at her, still in human form.

"Please, I - I can't breathe," Serena begged, struggling to maintain her conscious state. Serena had passed out due to a lack of oxygen before Adrian could take over.

“Fuck!" Adrian yelled as he approached the cell, opening it to check for a pulse. He put his hand on her neck; thankfully, she had a pulse, but it was very faint, so he put her back on the blanket, then used his super speed to go upstairs and get another blanket, which he placed on her before exiting the cell and locking it behind him.

Something about her made him feel conflicted, and he was going to find out what it was.