Chapter 2

Maliyah

Did I just defy death?

Dimitri ended up sending Alonso to meet with the other Alphas he’d talked to about not agreeing with the union the Midmoon was about to propose through the assembly. And knowing Alonso, he was not going to stop until he’d had everyone in agreement.

When Alonso walked back into the crowd and approached another group. Dimitri kept his hands behind his back and stood there for a few more seconds before he started stepping back and maneuvering into the room.

I held my breath.

And then he turned to me. A smirk played on his regal, godly-looking face. “He wouldn’t be able to tell you’re here,”

My eyes circled at his claim. “Uh—”

“I don’t pry and god knows I hate wolf drama as much as the next guy, all the she-wolves are out there but you’re here,” he supplied, leaning on the desk with his arms crossed.

I gulped but my nervousness didn’t stop him from prompting me. “Tell me, did you not clean the chimney or wiped the kitchen squeaky clean?”

I was actually looking for you. “No,” I said.

“So, what, you just normally liked hiding from Alonso?” The tone of his voice was starting to ignite a fire in me. All the men always spoke in some sort of common condescending tone and it was always my biggest trigger.

“You don’t want to know,” I muttered, sheepishly. Why did I think going to him for help was a good idea? He was just another Alpha.

It was wrong of me to think that he was different just because he’d been treated differently by others. Dimitri was one of the rare white wolves, cursed to not find a mate. When they turn twenty-one, it was almost impossible to mate with someone with the kind of connection that was supposed to hit you at eighteen.

I’d heard tales that Dimitri hadn’t found his mate. And he was likely to not be mated with anyone.

That seemed to be a big thing among us werewolves. Because apparently, to prove you were worthy, you had to be destined for someone. And I knew what it was like to keep fighting for a spot. Sure, I wasn’t leading a pack or anything on top rank, but the struggle was all the same.

So, I thought that even though he was on top, he’d be the kind to resonate with my struggles.

But the way he was amused by all of this just proved me wrong. Extremely wrong. And it was my fault to have resorted to him as an option.

“Poor little thing,” he sighed, rubbing his index and thumb together.

“I’m not a poor little thing. I have a name—I’m Maliyah Lovegood and I prefer to be addressed like that,” somehow it felt like my spine of steel coming out of him seemed misplaced. But I couldn’t trust him fully yet. He needed to know I was able to hold my ground.

“Alright then, Maliyah Lovegood,” his tone was sardonic. “I wouldn’t waste a mountain ash to drive Alonso away from you if I didn’t want to know,”

“A mountain ash?” I almost gasped. The mountain ash was the kind of plant that hid the werewolf scent from others, but it was hard to find and rare in our territory. “How’d you get that?”

“I’d tell you if you tell me why you’re hiding from your Alpha,”

I inhaled a sharp breath and gulped. I looked down and felt fire burn through my veins, just enough to awaken the she-wolf in me, and prayed that I wouldn’t shift into a full-blown wolf in this room.

Shifting was always a tricky feeling. But I knew I only had to show him one thing. So I focused in order to shift halfway. To only show him my eyes. And so when my fingers tingled and my nails grew, I looked up at Dimitri.

His eyes widened at the sight of mine. Dimitri pushed himself up from the table and walked towards me. I took a step back by instinct and he kept on going. Soon, my back hit the corner of the door, which Dimitri gently closed behind me.

His arms were long enough to cage me in them. I turned my head to avoid his gaze but it wasn’t enough to evade his odor, which was surprisingly different from other Alphas. Dimitri actually smelled good. His scent didn’t linger like the musky masculine stench most Alphas had.

Was it because he was a rare white wolf?

I pictured him to have the softest white fur but the same piercing brown eyes and ivory teeth. Dimitri probably looked as elegant as a wolf as he was now in his human form.

I felt his warm finger as he tipped my chin up, boring his eyes into my different ones.

“They’re the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen,” he muttered under his breath.

I was paralyzed for a moment as the thud in my chest started to beat louder. I cleared my throat and stirred from him.

“Well,” I said, “Everyone thinks it’s dangerous,”

He scoffed, “They aren’t shooting lasers, why would they be dangerous?”

“Because I can see the future,” I told him. Plain and simple. Dimitri froze for a second before he gave me a look.

“And why should I believe you?” He prompted.

It was like I wanted him to ask this question when my lips finally formed into a smirk.

“Because I know that you didn’t turn down Alonso’s invite four times because it bothered you,” I began supplying. “You wanted him to be desperate for your presence by being the only person who has the guts to reject him a couple of times,”

“Well, anyone with more than half a brain can see that. I know you’re smart, doesn’t mean you can see the future,” he smirked.

“I know what you’re planning, Dimitri,” I said, “I know that you want Alonso on your side not because you want to make friends. But because you want to pull him down from under his nose. You want to take over Midmoon and release us—his slaves,”

His gaze was sharp enough to kill a man. But it wasn’t going to faze me. I was viewed as a threat for this reason, right? So why shouldn’t I use that to my advantage?

“You can kill me for knowing this,” I added. He looked like he was contemplating it, “Or you can use me to accomplish it,”

He looked at me like he can’t believe what he was hearing. Gone was his amusement and was replaced by curiosity.

“And why would you help me?”

“Alonso’s going to kill me to steal this curse.”

“Curse?” He repeated.

“Yes, curse. This damned ability,”

He scoffed. “Maliyah, you can see the future. It’s hardly a curse. It’s a gift,”

Now it was my turn to scoff, “You don’t know what it’s like to live with it—to be shunned and be thought less of while being viewed as a threat. I’d been walking on eggshells because of this curse,”

I couldn’t help but feel the overwhelming pain of what life had been like in the past year. Ever since I shifted, instead of learning more about myself, I’d learned to loathe parts of me that I couldn’t even control. I never asked for this ability. I never even asked to be one of them.

“That’s because you’re running with the wrong pack,” he said, matter-of-factly. A part of me wanted to believe it, but I knew no one was going to run with me. Not unless I’d presented myself as an advantage.

“So, will you let me run with yours then?” I asked, hopeful. And I’d hated asking for help. But if I was going to save myself, I had to swallow my pride.

“Say you’d help me, what’s in it for you? How would you benefit from this?”

“Your protection,” I firmly answered. “From Alonso, the pack,”

“Easy enough,” he sighed and stepped back, placing his relaxed palms from the insides of his pocket. “Are you ready though?”

“Ready for what?” My brows furrowed in confusion.

Dimitri smirked and tugged my wrist, placing me back against the door and caged in his arms again, “What are you doing?”

“Maliyah Lovegood,” my name rolled off his tongue in a breath, “I can only truly protect you if you give yourself up to me—become my mate and receive my mark,”

My eyes circled at his statement. But he looked sure that I was going to agree. What bad would come out of it? Dimitri was already half better than Alonso since he’d been planning to take over the pack to release us, the slaves.

I’d like to think he’d treat me better if I’d give myself up to him. At least as basic and cordial as he was with the other members of the pack.

“Are you ready for that, Maliyah? To give yourself to me and only to me?”