Chapter 5

The words used to describe Saint in the past were: aggressive, unfriendly, monstrous, untamed, bloodthirsty, and treacherous. He had been a monster and someone everyone had feared. 

People ran when they saw him. Whole cities had left their homes, and Saint had never had any friends.

Things were different now. 

Harper was friendly and innocent, the complete opposite of Saint. She was precious and someone he wanted to protect. He was already falling so hard for his mate. Perhaps it could help him become a better person?

Saint smiled at the thought, but his senses snapped to life once he heard humming coming from outside the door. 

He inhaled the air and repressed the urge to growl. The air didn't carry the scent of Harper. No, this was someone else. A butler? Regardless of their identity, Saint couldn't let them find him.

If anyone found out Saint was set free, they would capture him and chain him inside the basement again!

"Harper?" It was a man speaking. "Are you awake?"

Frowning, Saint pressed himself to the wall when the door opened. It somehow hid him, but the werewolf male didn't just peek inside. He entered the room, seeming to search for something. 

"Harper?" The man stood frozen in the doorframe and raised his voice. He was adamant about finding the mistress. "Hello? Are you there, Harper?"

Saint kept holding his breath, and when the man didn't get an answer from Harper, he sighed. 

"Where could she be? Is she in the shower?"

The man closed the door and started to sniff the air. 

Saint's eyes widened. Uh oh, this was bad. Saint knew the man would eventually find him, which he couldn't deal with right now. It would ruin his entire plan.

Fuck!

What was he supposed to do?

And wait...

The man searching the room smelled precisely like that werewolf butler who had spit in Saint's face for ten years! Before Saint fell to his slumber, this man had slashed him with ropes and cut him with knives!

The butler had even peed on Saint's face, and he had laughed while he did it—Saint wanted to murder him!

Anger churned within his veins. Saint had promised not to hurt Harper's family, but this butler didn't count!

"That scent..." The man was talking to himself. "It's vaguely familiar... Wait... This... It smells just like that fucking—"

Saint hissed and jumped out from the shadows. The poor butler didn't have time to react before being shredded to pieces by vines and roots that grew out of Saint's limbs. 

The butler wasn't even given time to scream.

He was devoured; flesh, blood, and everything on his body were rapidly getting eaten.

The plants fed on the butler's blood, and Saint glared down at an eyeball he held in his hand. "I'm sorry that I had to do this, but... Harper can't know about my identity, and I can't risk being imprisoned again. I'm truly sorry for eating you, but you also brought this upon yourself by humiliating and torturing me."

The butler didn't reply. He was already long dead. Saint's vines and tree-like body parts feasted on his limbs and blood. It helped Saint regain his strength, and he lifted his fingers to his mouth to lick them clean from the blood that coated them.

Saint finished eating and turned around when the door opened. His vines and roots immediately disappeared into his skin. This time it was Harper walking into the room. 

Saint eyed his tiny mate. 

Harper had a food bag slung over her narrow shoulder and whispered in an insecure voice. "Saint?" 

He immediately stood up. "Yes?"

Surprise flashed over Harper's face when her eyes landed on Saint, and then that emotion turned into fear. It made Saint's heart clench. He knew he was the villain of this story, but he wanted his mate to like him.

The more time he spent with Harper, the stronger those mate instincts kicked in. Saint was a bloodthirsty monster, yet he knew inside his heart that he would NEVER hurt Harper.

"Uh... " Harper looked him up and down. "I brought you some food... Not that you look like you need it... Are you bigger?"

Saint tilted his head, biting back a smile. "Are you trying to imply that I'm fat or something?"

"What?" Harper blushed. "No! That's hardly what I meant! You just... I don't know. You look less..."

"Frail?"

There was a slight hesitation. "I was going to say delicate."

Saint breathed a laugh and grabbed the food bag from Harper's hands. He was still hungry. The butler had given him back all the stamina he could need, but Saint also needed regular food.

"These are delicious," Saint was munching on a bacon piece.

"I love bacon too," Harper said. "I buy it in the other world. Do you want me to fetch you more from the store today?"

Saint's face was shrouded in curiosity. "What is a store?"

"Oh... It's a..." Harper blushed. Saint was staring at her like she was the most exciting person he had ever met. It made her nervous. "Humans go to the store to buy food and other things."

"Oh..." Saint tilted his head, blinked, but said nothing. 

Instead, he continued to fish up food from the bag. Harper observed him in silence, but Saint couldn't read her expression.

"Weren't you in a hurry somewhere?" He asked. "You said something about attending classes?"

Harper jumped and stood up in haste. "Fuck!"

Saint smirked. "Do you want to?"

Harper blushed. Her reaction pleased Saint. He had a lot of recoveries and eating to do before he looked like himself again. Yet, Harper seemed attracted to him without all of his muscle mass.

Harper licked her lips. "You're joking, right?"

Saint didn't laugh, didn't smile. He simply leaned forward with his cheek resting in his palm. "Am I?"

Harper turned redder than a tomato. "Uhhh..."

Saint breathed a laugh. "You're very chatty today."

Harper said nothing, and Saint inwardly smiled. 

It was massively entertaining to play games with Harper. Saint felt like a wolf marinating a lamb before the slaughter.

"I'm going to head to school now..." Harper mumbled, still seeming to be a bit nervous. "I have lots of classes..."

Saint snorted in amusement. "You might want to change clothes unless the latest fashion is to run around in blue-check pajamas?"

Harper covered her face and laughed behind her hand. "This is so embarrassing..."

Saint laughed and threw more bacon into his mouth. Today was a great day: he had gotten revenge on his tormentor, and now he had made Harper blush. 

Things were starting to look out for him.