Chapter 7: The Invitation

"The closer one comes to truth, the further one gets from mind."

-James Pierce-

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Why is it so dark? I’m cold… why am I here? Why am I alone? The wolf version of maxi was seen running alone in the dark forest, he did not know where he was running or why he was running, all he knew was he needed to keep running. He was avoiding something, yet he had no recollection of the reason why he avoided it. His legs were light as air yet he kept on running along the single path surrounded by large trees.

He was starting to become really tired, which was quite unusual considering he had never been tired while running before. Werewolves were known for their extra strength, but Maximillian in particular was one of the strongest and he had high level of durability, but in that place, he felt weak. He was tired and he wanted to rest but he could not.

What am I doing? He asked himself. A few moment later which felt like eternity, he eventually saw a light at the end of the path. He could also see the sky and the beautiful silver moon in the middle of it. It was just a bit more, he thought.

As he was getting closer, he saw a woman’s silhouette standing at the edge of the cliff. The woman’s face was covered by the moonlight, he could only see her honey colored hair flowing with the wind. The woman was about to jump but he quickly grabbed her hand and caught her. He was about to see her face when everything turned completely dark.

This time, he was standing in the middle of nowhere, completely surrounded by darkness. There was only a single light standing before him and he could hear a voice from nowhere speaking to him.

“It’s almost time, Alpha Maximillian.” The voice stated clearly. He did not understand what it meant by almost time. He wanted to ask but his voice simply would not come out. Then he could smell something fragrant enveloping him.

A rather familiar scent overwhelmed him and his eyes widened because he had not smelt it in such a long time. The source of the scent came from the light, his instinct led him to run toward it and as he jumped toward the light, he suddenly opened his eyes.

“I know it’s going to hurt, but please be patience.” His vision was still quite blurry but he could hear the voice of a young woman near him. He was too weak at the moment to move his body but he could feel a pair of gentle hands touching him. He fully opened his eyes to see who was treating him. Before him, sat a beautiful young woman with honey colored hair who was treating his wound.

The woman was seen wrapping a bandage around his legs after she put on some medicine. He was sure the woman was not aware that he had woken up because she remained calm and collected. At the first glance, he could tell the woman was no ordinary woman, since she radiated such a fragrant smell from her which excited the wolf within him. It was the scent he had long for to smell, one he never thought he could smell again in his entire lifetime.

Mate! She’s my mate! The wolf side of him was beyond excited, instinctively, the only thing he desired right then was to take her into his arms and kissed her, bringing her home to his pack, however, the man side of him, who was more rational, refused to acknowledge it. His eyes widened in disbelief as he realized the woman before him was a mere mortal and not a werewolf. He could tell since she did not have the scent of a wolf on her body, nor did she had the canine blood flowing in her body.

What is this? Why am I mated to a human? He wanted to scream at the moon goddess for playing him like this, but physically, he remained still as she finished treating him while still not noticing that he was already awake. Once she was done, a smile appeared on her face and she mumbled to herself.

“I cannot believe those first aid lessons I learnt several years back in school would come in handy at times like this.” Yes, the only time she ever truly treated something was when she practiced on a mockup patient and her neighbor’s dog, but she thought wolves were canines too so the way to treat them should not be that different from saving a dog.

The entire time, Maximillian observed her. He watched her movement, everything was so gentle and full of care. Her face was so relaxed. The longer he stared at her, the harder his heart was beating, he got flustered inside as he tried to control the innate desire to claim her right then, but he did not wish to scare her, especially not after her attempt on helping him.

No matter how much he tried to deny it, the woman was his mate. She was his human mate. A mere human became the mate to an alpha.

He tried to comprehend what was happening to him. He recalled the time when he fought in the forest. When he tried to save his brother from the rogue, his body got thrown to the river. Somehow he managed to get thrown to the land although he had laid unconscious. It seemed like moon goddess still did not wish for his death.

Yet, he had never expected anything like this to happen. He knew that a wolf might have more than one mate in a lifetime if the previous mate had died or been rejected, however, he never thought that moon goddess would pair him with another. Especially after all that he had been through.

After she was done, she took a step back and saw his face. It was at that moment she realized he had been awake and it startled her. She took a step back and wondered if the wolf would come and attack her. She assumed such wild animals would hate to get in touch with a human and she was preparing herself to run away.

However, after a few seconds, there were not any reaction coming from the wolf at all. It just continued to stare at her with its deep piercing blue eyes which contrasted to his shining black fur.

The wolf showed no sign of attack and he merely wag his tail as if he was inviting her to sit down. His expression did not look too happy, but he was not showing his fang, which was probably a good thing.

“I was just trying to help you, please don’t bite me.” She was hesitant as she approached him since she needed to take her kit back home as well, but the wolf was extremely calm. It used its tail to push her legs closer to him as if signaling her to stay.

Sabrina had never had any encounter or experience with a wild animal before, especially a wolf, so she was rather scared but somehow the wolf did not seem scary to her at all the longer she looked at it.

Sabrina found herself kneeling down beside the creature and came face to face with him. She did not know what a wolf would like or dislike so she just remained still. They just stared into each other’s eyes for a while until she heard a grumbling sound coming from his stomach. She realized the wolf was hungry and negative thoughts started to enter her mind.

What if it wants to eat me? She questioned. Then she remembered something. She pulled the basket she carried with her earlier and picked up the cooked meat from the inside. She was not sure if the wolf would eat the meat she cooked since it basically had no flavor, forgetting that wolves were capable of eating raw meat just fine, but she thought it was better than nothing at all. She threw the meat before it since she did not want to get her hand close to its mouth just yet.

“Here, I know you are hungry, it’s not much but please it this instead of me.” She declared innocently. The alpha found it amusing how she thought he was going to eat her, but for the sake of it, he took a bite of it even though someone like him would never eat that crappy meat in other scenario, but he did not want to make her feel even more scared.

The taste was not too bad. Maxi finished it in two bite and after he was done, she stood up and realized the two of them could not just stay there all day. Then she proposed something out of her mind.

“It is getting late, I cannot stay out here all day, neither can you. If your legs can be used for walking, would you come to my home?” She invited.

What!?