Prologue + Ch 1 - Things To Hide

Prologue 

All I could smell was the scent of sex.

Everywhere I looked, bodies twisted and writhed in pleasure, moans filling the air.

Heart pounding, I ran, the sound of footsteps growing closer, chasing me.

The trees came alive, their branches resembling snakes, swiftly closing in on me.

One branch ensnared my leg, coiling around me, rendering me motionless as I fell into the mud.

I tried to scream, but no sound escaped my lips…

Then, a soft touch wrapped around my waist, a whisper brushed against my ear. "You shouldn't have run."

I turned my head, locking eyes with Marcus.

Another hand grasped my face, turning it towards an angelic face I couldn't forget.

"Choose me," he murmured, his lips hovering inches away from mine.

“She is mine." Derek's voice cut through the air as he positioned himself between my legs, his lips tracing a path up my inner thigh, inching closer.

I trembled, my breath catching, anticipation coursing through my veins.

Before I could react, another face blocked my vision, the long scar across his face getting darker as he leaned in. His lips crashed against mine.

My heart pounded, my body ignited by his touch as he pulled back with an intense gaze.

"You know whom you belong to," he breathed, a dangerous edge to his voice.

And suddenly, those hands and lips were no longer waiting for my answer.

They explored my flesh, igniting a trail of sensation. My back arched, and my throat ran dry.

“Make your choice," they whispered.

I blinked. Everything faded.

I found myself stripped bare, wrists bound to a bed, my heart still pounding just as hard.

And that’s when four pairs of hands and lips began their enticing crawl, tracing their way up my trembling, aroused form.

Little did I know, I had unwittingly stepped into a web of seduction and submission. 

Where boundaries blurred… and choices had dire consequences.

~~~

Chapter 1 - Things To Hide

“Carlos’ name is on the blacklist!”

“Carlos’ name is on the blacklist!”

“Hehe… Carlos’ name is on the blacklist!”

As I rushed out of the college gates, the echo of voices followed me, bouncing off the tall brick walls that enclosed the college campus.

I didn’t want to be here for whatever trouble there was about to ensue.

I ran toward Nyx, "There's another name on the Blacklist. I don't want to be here when shit goes down." 

Nyx rolled her eyes, her head full of red hair shook along with it, 

“The shit can go to hell or heaven, I don’t care. I am not going anywhere until I see Alpha Marcus and his friends at the college today.” All the while that she spoke, her finger kept scrolling up the screen, showing me thousands of pictures and videos filled with Marcus’ and his three friends, Ares, Derek, and Kai’s faces.

“Why do you even like someone like him so much?” I groaned with disgust, “seriously Nyx, he and his friends, all are a bunch of bullies! The entire pack is terrified of them and this blacklisting tradition.”

“He is cute.” she stomped her feet, thrusting her phone in my hand, “He is the alpha of this territory. Of course he can do whatever he wants”

“I have never seen someone as evil as him.” I gritted out, “all he does is bully the people weaker than him and take pleasure in it. Only cowards do that.”

“Nyx Jo!”

The voice was scarily familiar. Nyx eyes met mine, and then widened. “I should run.” she whispered.

“Don’t even think about it!” Mr. Logan, our product design teacher approached us quickly “We have found questionable things in your desk, Ms. Jo! You are coming to the principal’s office.”

I kind of guessed what those questionable things were. In fact, if a word like ‘questionable things’ existed, it probably did because of someone like Nyx. Naked pictures of popular stars, printed copies of fanfictions written on her favourite people existing on earth, you name a weird thing, and she had it. 

“Keep it safe!” she hissed, and shoved her phone in my hands and made a run to hide from Mr. Logan.

Standing alone with a phone in my hand, I stared blankly at the now empty space. Sighing aloud, I tried to lock the screen and go back home.

Suddenly, a hand snatched that phone out of my grip while the other hand grabbed my wrist, forcefully snatching me closer.

I realized, I stood with my body against one of the ‘greek gods’, Derek Ray.

With broad shoulders, jet-black hair that was tousled and wild, falling to his shoulders, and a chiseled face that commanded attention, he stood before me. His piercing green eyes bore into mine.

But all of that didn’t catch my eye.

I recognized him from that sly smile on his face. The one that curved upon his lips whenever he was about to do something evil. It was a smile that sent a chill down my spine, hinting at a darkness within him that both intrigued and unnerved me.

As I jerked back to reality, I noticed that he was scrolling through the screen of Nyx’s phone.

People had started making a crowd around us, attracted by the four men surrounding me.

Shit!

“I found a crazy fan, Marcus.” Derek announced very loudly.

“I’m not a crazy fan.” I quickly said, trying to snatch the phone back. “Check the Apple ID. My name is Milli, not Nyx. Give that phone back please.”

He smiled slightly. And then he threw the phone back in the air, “What a Stalker. Little Milli here is obsessed with you.”

My eyes followed the phone and watched in horror as it landed in another pair of hands. My heart stopped when I saw the face of the man holding the phone. 

The one who had caught the phone was Marcus Nightingale. I knew at the very first glance. I had seen that face so many times in the past month from every angle on Nyx’s phone to not recognize him.

He wasn’t exactly as I had seen him in pictures. The light brown hair was a bit more messy, and the dark brown eyes seemed to have a bit more color. But everything else about him was the same. The vibe that screamed danger, the tattoos that went from his wrist to his neck, and the look in his eyes, everything was intensified now that I was no longer seeing him through a screen.

And now, he was right in front of me.

He was looking through the phone, his eyes moving over the thousands of pictures in the gallery.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” he finally growled, his face filling with anger. 

“It’s a misunderstanding.” I tried to say but the voice came out unclear and scratchy. I tried again, this time louder, 

“It’s a misunderstanding. That’s my friend’s phone.”

Marcus’ steps halted when he was barely one step away from me. 

I stopped thinking at that very moment because his body suddenly bent down. His face slid to the side of my face and his lips touched my ear. I swear to god, I felt him inhale deeply as his face bent closer to my neck.

He whispered, “Stalker.”

His lips rubbed against my ear when he said those words. The tingles that shot through my entire body were strong enough to make me gulp so hard that it would bury the moan that tried to come out of my throat.

I was not thinking. I was not even breathing. I just stood there as the closeness of his body and the scent of his skin made my knees weak. He moved back just as quickly as he had approached me, and then turned around and walked away.

I had never felt this broken and shaken to the core.

I watched with a blank stare as all four of them got inside the BMW and drove away. It took me many more moments to finally let out the breath that I had been holding in and blink.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” I buried my face in my hands and screamed bloody heaven through a suppressed voice.

It took me an entire hour to walk from college to my house. Usually I would just unlock the doors and walk straight to my bedroom. It had not been more than a month since I had come to know Uncle Hector after my family was murdered, so our interactions remained minimal and awkward. Though now it has become easier to talk to him.

The moment I reached, I saw bags packed and placed near the entrance of the door and Uncle standing next to them. The moment he saw me, he pushed the bandana off his head by running his massive hand over his forehead. The curly hair fell overwhere on his head down to his neck as he shook his head side by side like a guerilla. 

“Get in the car. We’re leaving.”

I frowned, “Where?” 

“To the pack house.” he answered, calm as a peach but even then his voice was booming, “Alpha needs me. Alpha has specifically sent some people to invite me to live at the pack house. They asked me to help the investigators in finding out more details about the case… about what happened to your family and who did it.”

Nodding my head, I swallowed the lump that was in my throat. Even though I never had a perfect family, they were the people who took care of me in their own ways. 

Within half an hour, we were out of the house and inside the SUV, seated in the backseat as the driver raced through the dark streets of the small town.

“SHIT!” I suddenly sprang upright, my heart in my throat.

“The fuck?” Uncle Hector almost dropped the coffee cup that was in his large hand. It was a venti, but in his hand it looked like a shot glass.

“We should go back.” I said, voice barely audible. “Let’s go back. Can I go back?”

This is the worst. 

No, this is worse than the worst. This is hell. Literal torture.

How in the fucking world can I forget about such an important thing?!

All of those four alphas will be there!

They had already branded me as a stalker. My entry under their turf will be like putting a ‘stalker’ stamp on my forehead confirming their doubts.

“We are here.” The driver said, pulling over to the curb.

Coming out of the parking lot, the first thing I saw was the huge, white house standing in the middle of nowhere. There were woods on each side of the house, woods in the back, and only one wide road leading to the house. 

It was creepy but mystical at the same time.

“Hector,” A man stood right outside. Just like all the warriors of the pack, he wore his dark hair short and had a muscular form. For a twenty something guy, he looked like the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. 

“Zach.” Uncle greeted him. 

Jogging over to us, Zach continued, “Sorry about this, but I need you to come with me to check on something.” Sliding his gaze to me without waiting for Uncle’s answer, he asked, “Your room is on the first floor, second… first one next to the stairs.” his voice was rough and cold, “would it be alright for you to head in first?”

Despite my instincts screaming at me to refuse, I nodded my head in agreement. 

Shuddering a little, I headed inside the house. 

The fear in my chest evaporated slowly as my gaze roamed around the white walls of the massive mansion. There were paintings of nature, wolves, and modern art on the walls. 

Upon reaching the first floor, I took a deep breath of relief and headed toward the bedroom. Zack had said second…? First room?

First room, right.

Pushing my palm against the heavy wooden door, I entered right in. 

I turned around to lock the door behind myself. My suitcase was still with the driver. 

Taking my feet out of the slippers, I took off all the clothes, leaving only the bra and panty on. I walked to the nightstand, turned the lights off, and then threw myself in the middle of it, facefirst. 

The aroma of something heavenly filled me immediately. What… the hell is even that? It smelled like spice and forest and a softer scent of some shampoo probably. I swear I felt like I could orgasm just from the scent of the bedsheet.

Taking deep breaths with my eyes clenched shut, I remained still as a dead body, engulfed by the bed of my dreams.

The next thing I knew, something was wrapped around my ankle and dragging me down the length of the bed, just like the heroine in a horror movie getting snatched by the axe murderer.

When my knees slammed into the footboard, I whipped around to my back and gave a small scream. I saw a huge shadow looming over me in the dark and I opened my mouth to scream, knowing that whoever had murdered my family had found me and this was the end.

My life was done, finished, ended and I had not even lost my virginity yet.

My ankle was released just before I could scream, but two hands grabbed my hips and forcefully pulled me out of bed. I was suddenly placed on my feet, but before I could regain my balance, my wrists were seized and pulled tightly behind my back, causing me to whimper in pain. In the next moment, I was roughly slammed against a hard body.

“Talk,” a deep voice demanded and I could smell spice, forest and shampoo.

It was Alpha Marcus.

Shit, shit, shit.

Either I had really bad luck or someone was trapping me in a deadly game with these alphas.

“Two seconds,” Marcus warned.

“Marc- Alpha Marcus, it’s me. Milli.”

The hands on my wrists loosened but didn’t let go.

“What the fuck?”

I took in a deep breath which pressed my breasts further into his chest.

I explained, quite hastily, “Zach told me that this is the room I will be staying in. He said First room from the stairs. Uncle Hector said Alpha invited us to live here.”

Marcus took a moment to let this sink in.

“Which Alpha?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why have you been stalking me?”

I decided to play dumb. There was no way I was going to admit about that phone or push Nyx under the bus to save my arse because that’s just not what besties do.

“What?” I asked.

“You heard me,” he answered.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Then he said, “All right, I don’t have anymore patience to talk about this with you. You have two choices. Either you talk to me about why you have so many pictures of me in your phone or I tell you how you are going to pay me for that entire shenanigan of yours.”

Even though this was my first ‘talking’ encounter with him, he clearly had no intention of having any mercy on me.

I licked my lips and looked at him., “Alright fine. What is it you want from me as a payback for those pictures?”

I had barely let out the word ‘pictures’, when he moved again.

And I had no time to think about why and how he always managed to move so fast because the very next second, the hairband on my ponytail was gone, his hands were on my ass and then I was lifted up. My behind settled on the table and Marcus moved in. Both of his arms wrapped around my back, I had no choice but to spread my legs or get my knees gouged with his abs. His arms snatched me to him, my nether regions pressed to his crotch. 

And then he bent his head and kissed me.