Chapter 5 : An Attack on the Pack

*Arealla*

"I would have to hunt you," he said. "My wolf would demand it and allow absolutely nothing less. I would lose myself as a human, I would become the wolf completely. And I would hunt you until I found you. And I would have no control over myself then. Make no mistake," he warned me clearly, "I will do it. My life will not end because of you. I won't allow it."

I swallowed hard. His words bore into my mind. I was sure that I would remember this forever.

I had no idea what he was going to do next, and I was sure that there was nothing that he couldn't do at that moment.

"So," Marcus said again, straightening up, he looked like he had more control of himself. "You will sleep on the bed. And for tonight, I will sleep on the floor. But only for tonight. We are mated, and I won't force more than this on you, but this much I will demand."

I wasn't sure what to say. I wasn't sure what he would do tonight. So I simply nodded. It was as good as I was going to get tonight, and I could live with the solution he gave right now.

Tomorrow would be another story.

I didn't wait for him to say anything else, I was terrified that he would just change his mind. So I quickly turned away from him and lay down on the bed, pulling the covers over me. I didn't even bother changing. Not that I would know where I could find anything, in any case. I had no idea where anything that I was supposed to use was.

It was really the last of my concerns, but somehow, it was the only thought that was on my mind as I drifted off to sleep.

***

I had no dreams that night, nor any nightmares. But there was only one overarching thought that was on my mind. All through my sleep, the only thing I could see was a wolf in front of me.

And even though I had never seen him shift, I just knew that it was Marcus.

I awoke the next morning with a start. Marcus was moving quickly around the room, not caring for the amount of noise he made.

I thought of saying something to him, but he noticed that I was awake before I had the chance.

"Get dressed," Marcus told me swiftly. "There's another pack circling our territory. You're going to be escorted to a safer room in the center of our territory. I won't look weak to our enemies by allowing you to be hurt the first day we're mated."

Well, wasn't that kind, I thought wryly.

But I got out of bed nonetheless. I had come here preparing to live with wolves, but I had thought that things were more civilized than this. I hadn't expected to just walk into a war zone.

I didn't want to just get dressed. I didn't want to go to another place I didn't know.

I just wanted to leave.

"I don't know where my clothes are," I told him flatly.

"Here," Marcus said, touching a single wardrobe door that looked like it was built into the wall. "When this is over, I'll have someone come to show you where everything is."

"I don't want to be shown where everything is," I told him, folding my arms across my chest. "I want your guard to escort me back to my home."

Even if my stepfather was probably going to beat me for leaving, at least it would be a human hitting me and not a wolf tearing into me with claws.

"We really don't have time for this again," he said urgently.

He spoke quickly, and then he turned to the door.

A moment later, it opened without warning, and someone I didn't know yet strode through.

"There's been a breach at the border of the territory," a wolf said to Marcus, speaking quickly. "It looks like a wolf from Frost. But I can't say for sure. Maybe a scout."

Marcus cursed under his breath.

"Scan the area!" Marcus ordered. "They're looking for a way in! And get the Luna to safety, now!"

Two wolves came into the room and stood behind me.

"I'm not done talking to you!" I told him, my arms folded over my chest.

"Well I'm done talking to you!" Marcus yelled at me. "This is your fault. Before you came here, no one would even have dared to challenge me like this! They see that I have a weak human for a mate, they think my power is slipping. This is all because of you!"

"Then let me go!" I told him with frustration. "If I am such a problem, then just let me leave! I don't want to be here."

Marcus snarled then, and without warning, turned and punched the wall right next to my head.

"You know very well that I can't do that." He growled at me, his face inches from mine.

I could feel his hot breath on my face, but I didn't back down. I knew that it was nothing more than plain stupidity, but I just couldn't make myself stop.

"Why not?" I demanded, my voice hot too. "Why can't you just let me go?"

Marcus held my gaze. His eyes bored into mine like he was trying to force me to understand. But the truth was that I didn't. I wasn't born a wolf; I just didn't understand.

"Because without you," Marcus answered me fiercely. "I would die."

I rolled my eyes. This again. How many times was he going to keep coming back to this one thing? We had been over this already; I understood the point.

"I'm not talking about breaking the bond," I told him, my hands on my hips. "Just letting me leave. If I'm gone, then you don't have to worry about other packs attacking you because of me."

Marcus looked at me like I had just lost my head. Or grown another one. I wasn't sure which.

"You bear my scent," he stated angrily. "And if I let you go now, any wolf with a half-decent nose would be able to track you. You think we live in packs like this for fun? It has purpose and meaning. We are protected when we are together. We are weaker divided."

I ground my teeth together.

"I," I snarled at him, "am not a wolf."

A pained look crossed his face then.

"I know," he said. "Believe me, I know that more than I know anything else in the world. But you are mated to one. And that is how you are going to have to live."

I closed my eyes. Why were we still arguing over the same few things each and every time. Why couldn't we just move on already?

"I am not mated to you," I told him, and I knew I should let the subject go, but my stubbornness was part of me. "But you are mated to me. Even your Elder said so. You are keeping me here against my will, and I am not even bound to you."

He expected me to just understand who and what he was. Without even being willing to hear even a modicum of what I was, and what I needed. How was this fair?

"I don't have the time to be arguing with you about this," he told me, waving his hand. "You refuse to understand pack laws and politics, and there is only so much I can explain to you."

He spoke looking down at me, like he was done with me, dismissive. I had a good idea to just leave without telling him, anyway. Let him go insane. Let him hunt me down. I didn't care.

I just wanted him to suffer in that moment.

A part of me thought of running out just then. And just waiting and seeing what he would do. But I was smarter than that, and even though I wanted to get away, I knew right now was not the time, right now something bigger was happening.

"Alpha," another wolf came into the room with us. "There's a pack attacking at the border. It's a full-on fight, the guard wolves need help."

Marcus snarled then. But he really must not have had any time for me, because he didn't even bother speaking to me again. He turned to the wolves that had just come into our bedroom.

And was this a common thing that happened? Would I not even have a private space in my own bedroom?

'Wait, what?' I thought to myself. When had I started thinking of this space as my bedroom? I was trying to get away from here, not settle down.

No, I shook my head, this was a guest room–a prisoner's room, in fact. I was being kept here against my will. I had tried so many times to get away now. But all of it had been gentle. Each time, I hadn't pushed more than what was necessary.

But so far, nothing had worked.

It was clear that I was going to have to get a little more creative if I was going to get away from this pack. Today would have been a perfect opportunity. But I hadn't had the time to prepare just yet.

I needed to think of a plan, so that when the next distraction came, when the next attack happened, I was ready to just leave.

"Protect her," he said to his guards. "Stay with her here and watch her closely. If it becomes too unsafe, take her to the fortress. Drag her if you must. She dies, I die," he turned to me then, his words coming harshly. "And I don't want to die."

So this was the mate bond then. This was the full power of a union blessed by the Moon Goddess herself. He didn't even care about me. All he wanted was to make sure that he could survive. It was the only thing he cared about.

Himself.

And all I was to him was a weak extension of that. Something he wished he could get rid of.

"Yes, Alpha," one of the wolves answered, speaking for all of them.

They were five wolves that made up Marcus' personal guard. It was for no flashy reason, it was just a requirement.

"I will stay with her, too," Liana told Marcus as he passed her on his way out.

I hadn't even noticed her coming into the room.

Marcus clasped her on the shoulder and nodded.

"Thank you," he told her, no doubt grateful that she was covering this one weak area of his.

And then, just like that, Marcus was gone out the door. He was probably going to fight for his life. And then I was alone with six wolves, all focused intently on me.

It wasn't even a minute later, when the door to the room banged open, and five wolves burst through.

All of them snarling.