Somewhere in the mountain lands on the 14th century..... On the crest of a mountain, a small village inhabited by a group of extraordinary people who can transform into enormous wolves. They referred to their small community as a “pack,” which is led by an “alpha” chief. The majority of their dwellings were constructed entirely of straw, hay, and wood. A massive fire blazes in the dead of night, rapidly consuming highly flammable materials down into ashes. Frantic shouting and wailing drown by the ferocious crackling of the burgeoning massive fire. Few men attempted to extinguish it with a wooden bucket filled with water, but their efforts were fruitless, as the angry fire had consumed nearly half of the small hut. The door collapses with a loud groaned, revealing from the inside of the burning hut a slump of a man that is started to stir into awake. “Murderer!” Dylan woke up by the screams of voices surrounding him. The crackling of fire sounds deafening on his ear and a palpab
The year 2021, Present Day.......... In the distance, the gloomy sky was rolling above her as she kneeled over the freshly dug wet dirt. The rain is pelting down in torrents, lashing against her back with ferocity. It’s bitterly cold outside, but that doesn’t seem to bother her as the pain in her heart appears to overpower all other emotions. It has only been a day since they arrive in Bunga. The rest of the refugees who boarded with Lockheed C130 Hercules plane came from the east of Azran. They fled since the communist group had taken control of their country and the government had abandoned its people, leaving them to fend for themselves in the face of overwhelming odds. Rachel and her sickly senior citizen mother were fortunate enough to take the military aircraft as the forces of neighboring countries withdrew their connections with Azrans. It all happened far too quickly. They were only eating their breakfast while watching the news on television, which was reporting on the t
At the tallest building in Bunga City............ Behind the chromic steel spacious desk, beyond the stack of documented papers, stood an imposing man dressed impeccably in a tight charcoal suit that stretches with every movement. Dylan stared to his reflection at the floor-to-ceiling glass windowsill, giving him a full panoramic display of the washed-out blue sky above him and the entire bustling city below. Prominent skyscrapers compete with one another to reach his level, but none have succeeded in surpassing what he had built for centuries. Even after all the years he had spent here in Bunga, the memories of his past still burn in his head like they happened yesterday. The death of his mate, Laura, her smiling face, and her harrowing death. His son, Myro, was still so young when it happened, a pure life that was taken too early. Though he was looking at the sight that stretched ahead of him, his mind flew back towards the memories that haunted him every single day. He can’t eas
Sighing, she pushed her hand to her jeans and was about to pull out her left-over coins when the shirt that the man was wearing began to tear off. Her eyes went wide, and her mouth hung ajar as his body started to swell, getting bigger and bigger, hairs growing all over him, turning into a coat of white fur. Limbs bent awkwardly until it stood in all fours, furry tail spurted out from his coccyx. Rachel was frozen in her place as she witnessed the man turn into a dog-like beast, a humungous beast resembling a wolf. ‘Werewolf? her mind wracked over the fantasy movies she had watched with her mother, especially those mythical creatures. ‘Was I dreaming? Do my eyes were playing tricks on me?’ Couldn’t believe what she just saw, a scream ought to rip from her throat, but she chokes in it and let out a pitchy squeak instead. She tried to cover her mouth with her hand, but it came too late and had the growling wolf already facing her, baring its fangs. As if the world stopped spinning,
While she was busy eating her hot noodles when her phone suddenly vibrated. When she saw the unidentified caller's number flashing on her phone screen, she almost burned her tongue and spit the contents of her mouth back into the cup she was holding. With her brows deeply furrowed, she swipes up the jumping green icon on the screen with her knuckles, and pressing the button to turn on the loudspeaker. “Hello...... ?” The other line spoke first, hesitantly. It was a man. Rachel didn’t answer right away and let the caller finished what he was about to say. “Is this Rachel Dockham?” With wide eyes, she put down the cup to the coffee table and snatched her phone, placing it against her ear. “Yes, speaking.” “Uhm, this is from Cloud-Nine Coffee shop, and you are hired.” The caller said without any other preamble that left Rachel speechless on her seat, her mouth hanging wide open. Her mind currently digesting the good news. “Hello? Miss Dockham? Are you still there?” said from the oth
The city of Bunga is suddenly teeming with life. The high skyscrapers above her enthralled Rachel, so she didn’t notice the middle-aged women coming her way. She was holding a tote bag full of groceries, with a piece of French bread protruding from it. She was so engrossed in her phone conversation that she didn't see her as well and accidently bumped into her shoulder. She almost drops the groceries, but Rachel has quick reflexes and catches the tote before its contents could roll down the road. “Hey, watch out!” She sneered at her. With wide eyes, Rachel bowed and apologized to the woman. “Sorry, sorry, sorry!” person with whom she was speaking on the phone. She even overheard some of their conversation as she walked past her. “There’s some dumb bitch who bump into me. Goodness, Robert! The sun is already out, and yet you are still in bed? How was Cassy?” Rachel frowns as she glances at the woman after being branded a bitch. She wanted to chase the woman down and make her apolo
Stacey gaped at Dylan, swiping both her palms across her body to emphasize her overall appearance, slurring with her words, “What? I’m sultry, beautiful, and young! Any guy would die just to have me.Dylan, on the other hand, was no longer amused by it. Instead, he pinned her with a hard stare and a loud sigh of disappointment, calling the girl with her real name. “Stacy.” The girl abruptly stood stiffly, aware that Dylan was now taking a deadly serious tone. It was like all the alcohol fled from her system. “Yeah, right. I’m sorry.” She mumbles, lowering her head. Felling kind of disappointed with herself as well. “I’m cutting your allowance.” After a moment of self-deliberation, Dylan came to a decision on how he would discipline his adopted daughter for her delinquent behavior. “No buts. That’s final.” “Dy,” her voice suddenly softens, knowing that she couldn't alter his decision, “I can’t wait till I’m eighteen.” “Yeah? Still two years from now, potato.” He scoffed, walking
Dylan wiped his palm over his face and heaved out a deep sigh. There’s still a lot of things that are needed to be done in his works. There were documents that needed to be signed, as well as proposals that required his attention. He took his phone from the desk and scrolled through the latest news for a while until eventually coming across one in which hundreds of refugees had arrived in their states seeking asylum after the war erupted in their home country. A recorded feed showed on the news, covering the people boarding on a military aircraft, but what draws his attention to the news broadcast was when the camera pans over a familiar woman who was following the stretcher and carrying a body bag on top of it, which he recognized from a previous encounter on the alley. She seemed to be crying. Her face was somewhat pixelated on the screen for being Zoomed in on the camera, but Dylan knew her. He skimmed the lines below the headlines. According to the report, an elderly woman died
It was already too late for her to take back the words she had said as Dylan didn’t squander any second to pass on and shut the space among them and slammed his mouth on hers. Gradually, enthusiastically kissing her. The low snarl from his throat debilitated her knees and caused her to depend entirely on his strength so that she would not collapse on the floor. Not that she minds at all. Finally, Rachel let go of all of her apprehensions, her worry, and forgot everything that was holding her down, and kissed him back. The time seems to slow down around them. The world began to slip away. So unexpected, yet deep down, she knew this was going to happen. So hot. The heat of his touch burned through her body like a fire on her flesh, scorching her skin. So perfect. He was perfect. Their mouths were flawlessly formed against one other as if they had been created perfectly by the sky above. Rachel has never received a kiss like this before in her life. She had no idea what to anticipa
They have arrived in the mansion. Rachel was surprised that Dylan had taken her directly in his place rather than to hers. She looks about like a fish out of water, her eyes big as saucers as she marvels at the place. The incredible lighting fixtures reflected on her eyes. She also noticed that despite the extravagance, its modern touches, the tall, wide, and shiny panes that would welcome and greet the morning ray of sun every day. The coral white painted rock walls, with their colors seasoned by time, seemed to belong exactly where they were, as if they had sprouted directly from the hallowed earth itself. It appears that the mansion was constructed before her great grandparents were even born. Dylan admitted his age to her, and it won’t be surprising that he had this place constructed centuries ago. For a fleeting moment, she even wondered if this place could also be considered as hunted as well, just like she had seen on a most old house that was built before the war. What was Dy
The next thing that happened was that Rachel’s feet were lifted off the ground before she even realized it and her soul almost sifted out from her. Nothing she could do was pound her fist into Dylan's back, slamming it as hard as she could while her vision swayed as he began to walk forward. She was about to walk away, turn her back on him, and be on her own path, yet this giant of a wolf man is persistent and won't be taking no for an answer. “Damn you, Dylan! Put me down!” She yelled, continuing to rain down her fist on his back. Hence Dylan seems to be unfazed by it and only releases a deep chuckle from his chest that causes his shoulders to quiver in response, jerking her along with the movement. “Didn't I tell you, either you are with me or I'll carry your ass back to my car...You opted for the latter.” He chuckled as he spanked her bottoms with his enormous hands, completely taking her by surprise. “Hey! Why would you do that?” She sneered, arching her back by pushing herself
Rachel let out a heavy sigh, rolling her eyes, she uncrossed her arms to divert her attention away from him. She seemed to be more interested on her boots, instead of focusing her attention on the dense tension growing between them. “Okay. Good talking to you. I’m probably drunk with my two glasses of martini. I’m fine. I don’t know what I’m talking about.” She said it in a careless tone, waving her hand and smiling at herself as if the whole show of bravado didn’t bother her in the slightest when in fact it wracks her up on the inside. “Goodbye.” She put a smile on her face and was about to walk away. However, a yelp suddenly tore through her lips when a tight grip clamped on her arms, pulling her with much force. “Hey...” Rachel lost her footing and tripped one foot on the other, her body twirling around, and the next thing she knew, a warm pair of lips covered hers. ***Dylan let out a throaty gasp as he realized that the velvety smoothness of her lips was precisely matched to
The music appears to be fading away in the distance. As Rachel locked her gaze on his features, her heart beat like the strings of a guitar played by deft fingers. She doesn’t have any ideas what she’s going to do or if she’s going to confront him for leaving. What is he doing here? Is he here with someone? Had he forgotten all about her? Those were all the questions that raced through her mind when he saw Dylan. She finished the martini she ordered, paying a little heed to the scorching feeling that flowed down her throat, and paid the bartender the exact amount and followed him. However, she was not prepared for the abrupt eruption of a ruckus, which nearly knocked her to the ground. Lucky for her, she was shoved to the side and out of the way, allowing her to get a better perspective of what was going on around her. Rachel saw the girl in a pink dress, shouting at Dylan as he went to punch a guy in the face. Her mouth fell open, confused at the same. The guy was hauled out of the
The bouncer that stood guard on the entrance only gave him a short nod in recognition, letting him pass smoothly without asking for his identification. The blasting sound promptly plagued his hearing, and his nose wrinkled with dislike as he strung among the grinding bodies on the dancefloor. His gaze zeroed on the crowd, looking not for only one person but for two. Dylan tried to follow his mate’s scent, however he generally lost all sense of direction in this whole pack of crowd places. He couldn’t make out Stacey’s scent either. He was too centered around looking through the ocean of bouncing heads on the dancefloor until a yell tore through the booming music that grabbed his attention. “Mr. Reed!” Dylan squinted his gaze and followed his investigator’s voice. He found him over the corner, his arms raised, and waved for him to see with one hand cup beside his mouth to amplify his voice.“She’s here!” Without having second thoughts, he spears through the throng of people, pushin
Dylan was in his study office, as usual, sorting things out in his company and pushing all his inner troubles aside, and focusing on keeping the roof of his employees. Helen also dropped by and gave him his coffee and a slice of cake since he hasn’t come down for dinner. For the last few days, this has been his routine, drowning himself in his work just to forget his dreams and to get Rachel’s face out of his mind for a while. He even failed to remember that today was a full moon. If not for his alert set on his cellphone, he might have overlooked it. He went out to his usual place for his wolf to dominate and run for just about thirty minutes before he returned, washed up to get off the grime that clung on his skin. Then, at that point, back to his office to complete every one of the reports that are hanging tight for his attention. Just then, frantic footsteps came rushing down the hallway caught his attention. He paused for a moment and waited for his door to swing open, revealin
The bartender smiled at her the moment she perched on her seat as he slid in front of her across the counter. “What can | get you for tonight, miss beautiful?” Rachel thought about it for a moment, her eyes looking over the varieties of liquor that were put on display over the shelves. She wasn’t familiar with all the kinds of drinks, so she blurted whatever the first thing that came out of her head. “One glass of martini, please.” She didn’t know what kind of drink it was that, but she heard for it quite a few times, so at least she could give it a try. “One martini, coming right up.” The bartender chirped and proceeded to prepare her order. He showed her a few of his tricks by throwing and shaking the bottles, pouring the liquor on a cocktail glass in an excessive manner—trying to impress her, along with three cubes of ice and stirring it well. Then he squeezes lemon juice on it and out the peel on the glass’s rim for the garnish. After it was finished, he slid it towards her. R
Another day rolled by so fast, and Rachel was still left in wonder as to why Dylan hadn't visited her yet. For quite a long time of consistent disturbing her, she was expecting to at least see him, but days came more than a week past, he was out of nowhere to be seen. Today, she received her first payment at the shop. It wasn’t that much, but since Dylan had already filled her groceries and everything she needed, especially the refrigerator. The only thing she bought for her salary was the new padlock for her front door. Other than that, there’s nothing else that she needed. Rachel had decided to set aside half of her earnings in case she ran out of supplies. She can’t just rely on the prospect of Dylan covering everything that she needed in her house. She is baffled as to why he did it in the first place. Purchasing groceries and other necessities for her. She didn't ask for it, but refusing to accept it would be a waste. Now she lay on her bed. It was past nine in the evening, an