Chapter Four: Lurking Dangers

“Then you must know who I am,” I said, holding onto the door to the passenger's seat.

“Of course, you must be his mate, or perhaps his rejected mate.” She chirped in her birdy tone.

“Julian…” Jonathan called, but it sounded as if he was cautioning her. 

“Is Dominic at home?” She asked, but her gaze was fixed on me.

“Yes,” Jonathan replied.

Without saying another word, she headed towards the house, humming a lullaby.

“Tell me, it had been planned that he would reject me even before he met me right?” I asked Jonathan, but deep down I already knew the answer. He didn’t reply to me, and he entered the car, starting it immediately.

I closed the door to the passenger seat and went to the back seat. He opened his mouth to protest,

 “Nothing will make me sit beside you in front,” I beat him to it. 

He figured I wouldn’t listen to him regardless, so he moved the car and we left the pack.

I felt betrayed, not because I was rejected by him—but the fact that he already had an arranged mate, and I wasn’t part of his plans, regardless of who I was. 

We finally arrived at my house, and I stepped out of the car. 

“Lila,’’ Jonathan called out to me, so I lowered my head close to the window of the passenger’s seat. “Don’t take what happened earlier personally. It’s in the interest of everybody. Keep living your life like our world never existed, as you’ve been doing before.’’ That was the longest word I heard him say.

“You should talk more often, it makes you more approachable.” I turned and walked home.

It was already past 10, I was sure my mom would be fast asleep already. 

I was wrong.

“Where are you coming from?” she asked, holding a lighted cigarette in between her fingers.

I was about to tell her but I knew she wouldn’t believe me, and the fact that she placed me in that mess in the first place, only made me angry. 

“You don’t have to know,” I replied, hoping she’d take that as a cue to stand up, since I have to use the stairs she’s sitting on.

“The next time you go out and stay out beyond 9:30, especially on days you are not on night shift, consider yourself evicted from this house.” She said, throwing the cigarette on the floor.

She used her leg to crush it, stood up, and headed for her room.

“You know I pay the rent, right!?” I screamed after her.

I already had some frustrations to deal with, so I concluded fighting with her wouldn’t be the best thing. And luckily my night shift was starting the following day, but I plan to go to work in the afternoon. I can’t spend much time at home, to avoid bickering with my mother.

I went to bed and I had that dream I hadn’t had in a long time, this time it was vivid and clear. 

******

“Your night duty is starting today right.” My supervisor asked me, not looking away from the chart she was reading.

“Yes,” I said, adjusting my glasses. 

“Then why are you here this early?” She looked at me.

“It’s boring at home.” I smiled.

She didn't press further, I guessed she was used to me being like that. 

I was heading down the pharmacy, but not without me constantly looking beyond my shoulders. I’ve been getting that feeling of being followed since I left home before noon. At some point, I was certain I was being followed, but I couldn’t see who the person was. 

I’m not the popular nurse in my workplace because of my antisocial personality. I don’t get along with the other nurses, and I don’t entertain my patients for long. They knew I had a problem, but since they are all professional they could tell it’s psychological so they didn’t press further. 

“You’ve got a letter, Lila.” Judith, a fellow nurse in my department said, handing me a small letter with ‘Alpha Dominic’ written boldly on it.

“Meet me in the woods behind the hospital by 8 pm.”

From Dominic.

He rejected me yesterday, but he was seeking me out already.

“Alpha? Is that your boyfriend’s pet name?” Judith asked, curiosity glinting in her eyes. 

“No, it’s a narcissist guy I know.” I smiled at her.

Judith and I don’t talk much, but she’s one of the colleagues I’ve worked with that didn’t stress me. She understood the fact that I always wanted to be alone, and I didn’t like it when people asked too much about me. So our conversations were always ordinary and minimal.

It was 8 pm, and I was still contemplating going into that dark wood to see Dominic. Maybe I should reject him properly this time. He told me to forget about his world, but he was there in the woods, lurking around my world. 

I was standing for over ten minutes before I heard footsteps from the woods. He sure did keep to time, I was sarcastic in my mind when I noticed he might not be coming alone.

But before I could react, they were there already, hefty men, six of them. I moved back as fast as I could, but they surrounded me even before I knew it. And their movement made me realize they were werewolves.

“Did Dominic send you guys?” I asked, afraid he might have decided to just kill me instead of letting me live.

“Our boss requires your presence, it’s either you come with us gently or we handle you the rough way.” Wolf one said, his voice thick with irritation.

These people are evil. Then I did one stupid thing my instinct suggested, I started screaming.

“Help! Somebody help!! He..” A sharp blow to my stomach intercepted my shout, throwing me up in the air, I landed on my back.

They had super strength, and I already knew I had no chance with them.

“Don’t make things hard for yourself, human.” The second wolf spat, dragging me by my hair.

“Leave her alone.” It was Judith’s voice.

The wolf left my hair making me fall to the ground. “Are you here to die for her?” He said, walking towards her.

“Judith, get the police.!” I yelled from the ground.

But before she could even reply, they started shifting into werewolves, but what made my breath cease was Judith shifting into a pure white wolf before she launched at them.