CHAPTER 8

"Do you know me?" I blinked in confusion at her.

"You should leave before the guards get to you," She completely disregarded my question and left me with those words before going back to whatever she was doing behind the counter.

"What guard?" I asked, still confused. "I'm here to get a room, how much for a month's stay?" I asked, beginning to take out my pouch.

A month was enough time for me to get a footing here until the money Sam gave me ran out.

"I told you to leave," The woman responded harshly instead, shooting me a cold look that left me baffled.

What was wrong with her? This was our first interaction, right?

Silently, I exhaled and then bent over to pick up my bag.

It was fine if she was not willing to rent out a room to me, but why be so harsh about it?

I looked over my shoulders at her again as I made my way out, biting my lips grievously.

It all happened so fast, I had barely made my way out when the air was sucked out of my throat.

My bag was flung high up in the air and it landed far away from me, in a muddy pit.

Fear immobilized me and I stuttered as I spoke, "Who are you? What do you want with me?"

The male who had attacked me didn't say a word but simply bared a fang in return, his eyes flashing a bright yellow.

His mouth bared open and his teeth slowly elongated, "That is a question that should be directed at you, how dare you trespass into this city?"

Trespass? His words only made me plummet further into confusion.

I had come in here just like anyone else and so far, no one had mentioned that I could not be here.

The words of the lodge owner flashed in my mind, was this what she meant?

My thought was rudely interrupted by a threateningly aggressive aura that filled the air, I was not unfamiliar with it, Alpha Blake often gave off such oppressiveness too, but his aura was way stronger.

Fueled by instinct, I began to back away. It was pointless to try to fight him, I was alone, wolfless and one thing I had learned from the persecution I had faced at the Raging Flame Pack was never to fight back.

So I did the next best thing I could do.

Run!

And trying to flee proved to be a huge mistake I should have never made.

In seconds, I was grabbed from behind and hauled against a wall. My back was abrasively scrapped by the coarse texture of the wall and I grunted in pain.

How could I have forgotten I was wolfless? How far could a wolfless werewolf possibly get from a perfectly normal one?

"Who are you? Let me go!" My hands flailed widly as his hold on me tightened.

A small crowd had gathered to watch the unfolding scene but no one made a move to help me.

This scene played out the same as what I had faced once before and the progression was the same as well.

"No one trespasses into our city!" He snarled at me fiercely and it finally clicked.

So that was it! He had to be a scout who had accidentally discovered me. Although faced with the gazes of the people around me, I was not so sure it was an accident any longer.

The scouts were in charge of scouting for intruders in the Pack lands, the watchers who alert the Pack of danger.

"I didn't trespass, let me explain..."

My words were abruptly truncated mid-sentence when he moved to grab my neck.

It was terrifyingly immediate and my eyes bulged as my throat constricted, his metal-like hold tightening around my windpipe and squeezing the air out of my lungs in desperate gasps.

I clawed frantically at his hands with my nails as everything around me began to blur with suffocation.

Was I going to die like this?

No, I couldn't. Not after my dad tragically gave up his life to save mine.

Unknowingly, dying had become what I feared the most, I could not afford to, and I was not willing to.

With that, my hands dropped, "Plea.." I tried to plead for mercy but my words came out soundlessly.

'Help, I don't want to die,' A silent entreaty echoed in the recesses of my mind, a silent imploration for help from whoever was up there.

"Not on my watch," A voice sounded heavenly in my head, shaking me to my core.

Had the Heavens finally heard my prayer?

Reality showed that I was thinking too much, it was just the appearance of my wolf that was seemingly nonexistent.

A burst of strength came from within me and I shook off the scout hold, only enough to push him a few feet away from me as I mercifully inhaled a loud gulp of air, wheezing and coughing violently.

It was just a brief moment of relief though because another appeared in his place and a few minutes later, I was subdued once again.

I stopped resisting and they bound my wrist and brought me over to a large building about a mile away from where they had captured me.

My feet stumbled and I was dragged up ruthlessly, "Get up!" The scout barked at me.

There were two of them, one walking ahead while the other pulled me along with him.

We weaved through narrow halls with intricately carved wooden doors and sturdy stone walls.

An intoxicating scent lingered in the air, one that made my steps quicken as I was being propelled forward.

It smelt like the crisp, refreshing scent of pine needles that overwhelmed my senses and my heart began beating faster.

We came before a huge door that was thrown open and my steps stilled at the silhouette that came into view.

"Mate!" The earlier female voice resonated in my mind once more.