Chapter 002

The next day and for the next few months, Ikaros Alexandrovich often came to our apartment. He had some complicated business with Jay, and it seemed they were struggling with a big project. While he was in the apartment, he didn't speak to me. Sometimes I felt his gaze towards me was insulting. I felt that he secretly mocked my style of dressing, it made my heart ache and upset at the same time.

Oh my, I should've just acted casual. It was just a hook-up. Every university student has done it at least once! But still, my heart felt hurt. I can't explain it to you, but since that day, I couldn't forget that man. And since he touched me, my body always craves him again and again. Sometimes I go to sleep, close my eyes, and his face is the one that appears in my mind. As a result, I started hating myself. Damn.

And after two months of heartache, I decided that I needed some peace. So I went to the bar and came home late at night. In a heavily drunken state, I leaned against the hallway wall and rummaged through my bag to find the apartment key, only to find the apartment door open by itself in front of me. I looked up, and instead of seeing Jay, I saw that man.

"Your smell is disgusting," he said, standing at the doorway with his arms crossed.

He's the one who opened the door for me? Damn.

"Shut your mouth. Your own smell is like a dog," I hissed. Actually, I wasn't quite aware of what I was saying, and I felt like vomiting because of the smell. But Ikaros's scent did remind me of my beloved husky dog back in Vancouver.

I entered the apartment, ran to the bathroom inside my room, and vomited.

After washing my face and taking some anti-nausea medicine, my drunkenness subsided, and I found the man standing in front of my bathroom.

I startled. "What are you doing in my room, Ikaros?"

"I came to ask you to leave New York City. You moved here without my permission."

"Your permission?" I asked to make sure I didn't mishear. "Do people need your permission to live in New York City?"

"Only the Werewolves," he replied calmly. His sensual lips moved only slightly as he spoke. As he spoke unclearly like that, I felt a strong urge to kiss him. Oh God, what kind of animal am I? This guy has insulted me, and all I can think of is kissing him? Okay, not just a kiss. The truth is, right now every inch of my body is desperately craving his touch, and it's tormenting me.

I swallowed spit and turned away. "I don't understand what you're talking about, and please get out of my room," I muttered.

"Don't pretend not to know, Azalea," he said. "When moving to a new area, you must submit to the Alpha who leads the werewolf pack in that area, as well as the rules he sets."

I sighed, frustrated. "Fine, whatever," I said. I pushed him to step aside from my path, only to find his body unmoving, and I was wedged between the bathroom door behind me and his large body in front of me.

"I haven't told you that I am the Alpha," he said, staring at me sharply.

Okay, he got me boiling. "What do you want then!? Money? I'll report you to the police, okay?"

"Just report me," he said calmly. "Many of werewolves from my pack work there, and their positions are quite high."

Something about the calmness and seriousness in his eyes left me stunned. "I don't understand what you mean," I said for the umpteenth time.

"I know that you are a werewolf who transforms outdoors every full moon for the past few months. Just so you know, that's not allowed here in New York. You almost blew our cover. I should've caught you and banished you from my territory, but I didn't do that," he said.

I furrowed my brow. "Listen, Ikaros," I said. "I swear I don't understand what—" suddenly the button of my shirt that fastened my chest area came loose, and I turned momentarily away from Ikaros to refasten it. Since a month ago, whether it's just my perception, the size of my chest has increased, so none of my clothes fit me anymore.

As I turned back, Ikaros was already looking at me with disgust. "You're disgusting," he said. "You wore that tight shirt to the bar and flaunted your body to everyone. God, it's cruel to pair me with you."

He said that as if he believed in God.

"Oh, shut up. You act disgusted, but in reality, you were the one who attacked me first, remember? And don't bring up God's name. He never instructed you to touch me without my consent like that," I snapped.

It seemed like my last sentence had an effect on him.

"I touched you only because of my wolf instinct," he said. "The truth is, I don't want you. You're not worthy of being with me. You're not worthy of being my Luna."

"You're crazy, and I don't know anyone named Luna," I said harshly.

Although I responded harshly and ignorantly, his words actually struck a chord with me. He wounded my dignity and feelings. And he also disappointed something within me that longed so much for him and his touch. Damn. Damn. Damn. What's wrong with me?

'You're my mate,' he said yesterday. What does that mean?

I held back my tears and pushed him away.

"I'll move out of Jay's apartment if that's what you want, okay?" I said, my voice sounded broken even to my own ears.

"That's not what I want. I want you to stop wolfing out outdoors during the full moon," he said. "You've done it three times. It could jeopardize the existence of the whole pack."

Okay, I don't understand what he's talking about. And my legs are starting to feel weak from standing too long, plus my head is still spinning from the alcohol.

One second later, I collapsed into his chest, and he held me up.

"I've given you a warning. If you transform outdoors again, I'll send my Beta to kick you out of New York City," he whispered in my ear, seconds before I fell asleep.

*****

The next day, I woke up feeling extremely nauseous. I attributed it to the remnants of last night's drinking, and after the nausea subsided, I decided it would be best to go downstairs for breakfast.

It was ten in the morning, and I felt somewhat feverish. So while frying some leftover eggs and bacon, I called my friend at campus and informed her that I wouldn't be attending classes today.

I was trying to eat the eggs and bacon when suddenly a piece of twig and leaves fell from my hair, and I swallowed hard while touching the dry mud in my hair. Ikaros's words from last night kept echoing in my head.

About wolfing out outdoors and the existence of his pack.

*****

Ikaros's POV

Last night, the woman broke her promise and wolfed out outdoors again. She leaped out of her room window in wolf form, landed smoothly on a birch tree branch in front of the apartment, and then descended to run out to the parking lot.

Quickly, I wolfed out and chased after her. The full moon was directly above us, casting everything in a silvery glow, including the girl's fur.

'She's so beautiful,' said the wolf inside me, and I snorted.

I quickened my pace, lunging towards her before she could get past the fence, and then dragged the brown-furred wolf by the neck back towards the apartment building. She whimpered in pain, but I didn't care.

I yelled at her through my mind, and the wolf obeyed. Of course, her blood couldn't resist the command of an alpha.and

I watched the brown-furred wolf climb back up the tree into her room, then shift back into a woman.

The woman was naked and unconscious. It was quite strange.

A small part of me wanted to climb up the tree and enter her room, to touch her as my mate, but my rationality didn't allow it. I had to repeatedly remind myself that she wasn't worthy of me.

*****

That night, I returned home and found Lorelei waiting for me on the balcony. Her face was angry.

"I smell a weird scent coming from you," she said. "Who is that woman?" she growled angrily, and I knew she would soon transform into a wolf due to her rage.

"Don't start, Lorelei," I cautioned. "She's just a girl from the countryside who doesn't know that there are rules she must obey if she wants to live in New York City. I came to make sure she doesn't break the rules again."

"What's the girl's name?" Her eyes, as dark as the night sky, gleamed at me.

I sighed in frustration. "Lorelei, jealousy doesn't suit you," I whispered. "She's not elegant. She's ugly. She's not my type."

'Is that true?' A part of me, controlled by the werewolf, asked. 'Is it true that the girl with small lips, beautiful shining brown eyes, and a pure body that surrenders instantly when you touch her is not your type?'

"Yes. She's very ugly. She can't be compared to you," I reiterated.

Lorelei and the wolf within me fell silent immediately.

I knew from now on Lorelei would be obsessed with Azalea, but I was too tired to think about that possibility and considered our argument to be over. That somehow Lorelei believed she was the woman worthy of me.