CHAPTER 4: A NIGHT WITH THE CRYSTAL BEAST

***FIANNA(KYLIE)***

“Arghhhhhhhhhhhh,” I heard a loud groan, and my eyelids fluttered open before me was a man who was slowly changing, but only he wasn't shifting into the normal wolves I had seen. 

Another older man and two young ladies stood in one corner, holding onto one another as the sight before them scared the hell outta them just like it did me. 

“Look,” the man pointed in my direction, “she's fine and well,” he added. I looked at myself, I was in rags, definitely, not the boot-cut Jean and crop top I had been buried alive in by Thalia and Lucien, my body was covered in bruises where I sat beside a fireplace were some chains that seemed to have been taken off of me, I glanced at my hands and the purplish color confirmed my thoughts, the shackles had been taken off me. 

Still, in my reverie, I stood up on my feet, and adjacent to me was a window where the moon's rays shone through, I could see my reflection in the window glass, only, I was looking worse, like one of those trafficked children we do watch on TV, it was me, only, I was a little bit skinnier, dirty, and wounded. 

“Awwwwoooooooooooo!!!”

The loud howling of the huge wolf that had fully transformed startled me as I turned to face it and the other humans in the room with me. 

What I saw was something I didn't think could exist; before I was a bluish-white wolf that stood over 8 feet tall, with crystals all over its body, no furs, just crystals, sharp pointed crystals that I could see myself looking through them. 

The other three humans who were with me in the room began to slowly open the door, but that only seemed to infuriate the wolf the more as it ripped the door apart, making them run into the snowy outdoors, the wolf followed, taking a step for every ten steps they ran. 

I followed behind closely; if only I could run away from whatever I had done to be sent into this kind of afterlife by the moon goddess. 

I tiptoe behind the wolf, who till now hadn't paid me any attention, but it was better to be careful; I wasn't ready to die twice. 

Once killed, twice smart. 

I made my way out of the house, as I turned my back to run into the forest beside the shabby hut, the snarling sound and ripping of flesh made me stop, making me turn, only I wish I hadn't. 

The older man from before had been ripped to pieces, and the wolf was now making its way to the girls, instinctively, I picked up a stone and threw it at the Beast, making it turn in anger, and at once, I regretted my actions. 

If only I hadn't been so compassionate about every human. The beast’s fangs were as huge as my arm, with him salivating, he must think me a meal. Slowly, the Beast moved to me; I knew what was about to happen; I was about to die once more. 

I closed my eyes as the wolf sneered closer to me, and before I knew what was happening, I was in the air, on its back, in between two sharp crystals, holding onto them for support as it ran into the forest, leaving behind the gory mess and the seemingly mentally disturbed girls. 

The wolf carried me as far as it could, kidnapping me against my wheel, or maybe, just maybe, this was the wolf's grim reaper who was taking me to the nether life; I decided to believe the former, as I found more comfort in believing this was just a trip to the afterlife. 

The wolf screeched to a halt with its paws, making me lose my balance on its back, then, but I firmly held onto one of the crystals, giving me balance and support. 

The wolf cleared a part and laid on the floor, bowed so I could come down, which I did; it then lifted me into its blossoms, its front legs wrapped around me. The night was cold, but somehow, the glow crystals were warm. I couldn't sleep for fear of the unknown; I was wide awake way into the night. I couldn't run, and I knew waiting till it slept and trying to run away was not an idea; wolves were very sensitive, and this unknown breed seemed to be stronger than any I had seen. 

 I kept fighting back the sleep, but soon, I began to doze off, and after a while, my body succumbed and I fell asleep in my warm comfort. 

***

I fluttered my eyes open, and immediately they did; the events of last night came rushing; I could still feel its hands around me, so I decided not to move. 

Wait, it's hand? 

Then it hit me, it was human hands that circled my body. 

“you're awake,” I heard a husky voice say into my ear, the heat of his speech brushing my ears, stirring something inside of me, something I had never felt even when I was alive. 

“Can you talk, Fianna?” the husky voice asked again, and immediately I could feel a rush of adrenaline sweep through me as I felt the heat coming together in between my legs, ignoring the fact that I had been called by another name. 

The man pushed me away roughly, making me roll to the other side on the ground. 

I composed myself and tried to stand, but I was too weak I wanted to, but my body wouldn't support me. 

“It's normal if you feel slight pains,” the man said as he stood up from where we had spent the night, dusting his naked body. I looked at him, from toes, then to his knees, thighs, and the wondrous assistant that stood in between his legs, my eyes lingered between his legs for a while, I swallowed at his length, then I continued my sightseeing on his body, I lifted my gaze and saw the nicest set of abs, his packed were very visible, he was very fit, leaving no room for fats, I traced my gaze further up, to his neck, then to his face, the nicest set of lips, nose, eyes and hair I had ever seen. 

“You are so handsome,” I said without thinking twice, and then he chuckled, his blue eyes lighting up as he did. It was day, but his eyes gave a brighter glow. 

“get up,” he ordered. “we need to leave here right now if we're to be married by today,” he said, making me confused, then glanced around, “shoot, I lost my watch,” he groaned in frustration. 

“Married?” I asked in surprise. 

“yes, it's still early in the day, so we just have to make our way to my car, if we leave now, we can make it back to the capital, it won't be a grand ceremony, I asked for the papers to be mailed at my place, so it should be in my mail by now, I hope you don't mind the fact that it's not a big wedding like every lady dreams of,” he said, everything confusing me the more. 

Why was I getting married to a man I don't know in the afterlife when I had just been killed by another man I was to marry just recently? 

“Fianna?” I heard him call, bringing me back to the present. 

“Fianna?” I asked. 

“Yes, Fianna, aren't you Fianna? that's what Kathy said you're called,” he said. 

The world was spinning, and my head was aching; I was Fianna. Not Kylie? 

“And you are?” I asked the man before me. 

“Caleb, I'm Caleb,” he replied with a charming smile. 

“Caleb? Where are we?” I asked. 

“Woodthorn of course, the north faction to be precise,” he said. 

The north faction? 

How was that possible? 

I had died in the capital, and it was situated in the middle of the Country; Thalia and Lucien couldn't have taken me here that night; they'd have had to drive all night to be here. 

“Are we alive?” I blurted out without thinking twice. 

“Well, yes, I thought you'd died last night, but you look very much alive to me now,” he said. 

“And I'm to marry you?” I asked again trying to be sure of what was happening and the situation I was in. 

“yes,” he said nodding. 

I swallowed hard. 

If I was, by some miraculous intervention alive, I wouldn't be living as a married woman, not to him, not to anyone. 

“I can't marry you,” I firmly stated. 

The smile on his face slowly faded away, “YOU WOULDN'T DARE,” growled at me, loud enough that I could feel the earth shaking beneath my feet; the beast from the night before was back. 

He howled, making the whole forest vibrate. 

I knew I was doomed here, there was no escape and this was only the beginning.