Chapter 5

Mine?

It only took him a second before he snapped back. He held his head in agony and hesitantly took a few steps back.

What is he doing?

He chuckles bitterly, his eyes filled with venom. "I never thought I'll meet my mate like this. You actually dare to kill me?"

Mates?

My eyes widened.

I can't believe it. My mate is Alpha Derek! But wait..Why did he only sense it now? We met at the festival but he acted normal.. so what gives?

I've heard the stories of other people countless times. As a teen who just turned 18, I knew I would be exposed to my mate sooner or later. However, I couldn't sense the mate pull because I was only a half-werewolf.

I stared at my palms. It was the same as last time. The place where he touched me made me shiver all over my skin. But that wasn't what was bothering me. What bothered me the most was his behavior right now. Rather than approaching me because I am his mate, he surprisingly avoided me by taking a few steps back, his breathing unsteady, as he looked away from me.

The thought of him avoiding me even when he knew I was his mate somehow made me angry. I should've quickly escaped avoiding capture, but I was standing in front of him like an idiot as I waited for him to do something.

I mocked, "If we're mates, then why are you avoiding me??"

"Shut up." He growls. "Don't talk, and don't you dare step near me!"

"Are you serious right now?" I growled in disbelief.

I don't know why I just realized it now. I think my emotion of anger came back because our hands touched during the festival. And the boy that I met 12 years ago had the same golden eyes just like he has right now.

I'm sure of it. He's the injured boy from 12 years ago!

If I don't retrieve my five emotions back before the next snowfall, I will eventually die as my heart slowly withers away. That's why if I want to live, I have to stay beside him! I need him!

He looks away, "I can't... I already have someone I love. It won't ever be you, so don't even dream of climbing your way in my bed! I'll see it that you'll get punished for trying to assassinate me."

My eyebrow furrowed.

"Wow, so this is how you treat your mate?"

"You tried to kill me first." He spat out angrily.

That was before I knew he was that guy from the past! Even if I want to kill him right now, doing so will only result in bad luck. If he dies, I'll die too!

"I, Alpha Derek of Crescent Moon Pack-"

As soon as I heard the rejection phrase that could leave me immobile, I knew i had to leave right away. It was a failure to try to get on his good side. If he finished that sentence, he could easily catch me as I curl in pain!

I didn't let him finish, and I jumped from the balcony.

I've heard rumors about the feeling of being rejected by your mate- well, it isn't a pleasing one!

As soon as I landed softly on the ground, I didn't waste any more time and ran as fast as I could. Only this time, I didn't have the time to follow my escape route so I ran past several traps along the way. Yet even after running for half an hour, I still couldn't lose them. I had long escaped the pack's border, but they still continued to pursue me.

Just how far will they go to catch me?!

I couldn't feel my right shoulder as a bullet struck me earlier, and my legs were bleeding too much from poisoned darts. Spots were forming in my vision, and I knew I already reached my limit.

My knees finally gave up, and I fell hard on the ground.

I huffed.

Damn it, at moments like these. I hate how I'm only a half-werewolf!

I sensed several men approaching, but I just had no energy to move. So far, this was the most complicated pack that I've infiltrated. Most packs had traps like these, but Crescent Moon's traps were arranged in a weird pattern that even I couldn't guess where it would come from.

I sensed someone in front of me, but I couldn't move, and all I could see was a black silhouette. I naturally thought I was on death's door and my mom was there to fetch me.

"I'm sorry...mom."

My heart paced faster, and everything turned black.

SEFF's POV

I was on my way to Stone City when I heard a sudden commotion near Crescent Moon territory. Our pack and Derek's pack weren't far from each other, and since Crescent Moon Pack was located in an isolated Mountain area, it was an area where you could easily hear the echoes of the noises nature make.

I squinted my eyes as I focused on my senses.

I could hear many footsteps that made me stop in my tracks. In the middle of the night, just what is happening?

Initially, I wanted to go to Stone City to have fun, but it looks like something way more fun happened at Derek's place. Since I knew the forest's topography, I quickly went inside the border without triggering the alarm system.

As I approached the commotion, I jumped to one of the trees when I saw an injured woman falling to the ground. Her body was covered with silver-coated darts, and by that view, I could quickly tell she was an intruder.

I smirked.

"Look what we have here?"

It was the first time I saw someone make it past the border. Most importantly, it was a woman! That fact made me intrigued to the point that I carried her up to the tree and hid our scents as i watched the Crescent Moon warriors passed by.

Derek will kill me for this, I laughed just by thinking how snobbish he'd get once he knew i retook one of his intruders.

"I'll take her back once I'm done playing," I sneered to myself

As soon as they were out of sight, my nose immediately picked up her strange scent.

"What's this? A hybrid?" My nose scrunch in disgust.

~*~

I wasn't expecting this.

My back arched when I realized who the intruder was. I just took off her scarf that covered her bottom face, and who would've thought that the intruder that tried to kill Derek was no other than the girl we saw at the festival earlier.

"Well, this is interesting." I chuckled. "His instincts never fail, does it?"

I took her to a safe house near my pack just in case things got messy. I cleaned up her wounds and washed her. I was used to seeing girls' bodies, so it didn't matter to me anyway. At that point, I don't like how she reeked of blood close to me.

Usually, I don't do these to my playthings, but she was just too damn interesting to ignore, so I knew I had to take care of her. I still remember her facial features when she ran past by me when she escaped at the festival. I thought she was simply just a guest of the festival.

Who would've thought things would turn out this way?

Since I already saved her on the brink of death, I knew that she'd wake up any moment now, so I took one of the syringes to the drawer just in case

Just as expected, she woke up.

As soon as her eyes opened, she immediately jumped far to the corner of the room when she realized that she wasn't alone. She shot a suspicious glare towards me, and I just smirked as I looked at how great the nightdress hugged her body.

"It fits you perfectly."

"Who are you? and where the heck are we?" She says impatiently.

"The question is, who are YOU?" I asked back. "We've met before, right?"

She arches an eyebrow, displaying her confusion.

I chuckled, "Silly me, of course, you don't remember me. I was watching from afar, wasn't I? At the festival?"

"I don't know irrelevant people."

"Oh, sharp tongue we have there." I chuckled. "I want to make sure, miss. Since I clearly remember your scent and features being entirely different from when I first saw you."

The most striking feature I noticed was the color of her eyes. At the festival, she had purple eyes, but she must've worn contacts to hide them. The second thing was her scent from before. I was sure she was a full-blooded werewolf until now.

She chuckled back, "No need to play dumb. You know it's me. So is that it? that's why you saved me from getting caught?"

"Saved you?" I grinned, my eyes squinted in excitement. "What makes you think I saved you?"

She must've felt my hostility. That's why she took a step back. She stood high on alert as she studied my movements from afar. I remember Derek telling me she's strong. But I wasn't worried at all since she was still covered with bruises.

She could even hardly escape from me. Yet even with those circumstances, something about her made me believe that she could entertain me well throughout the night.

"You're a spy who just tried to kill my friend. Now tell me, how long do you think you can endure pain? Let's bet on it. If you win, I'll grant you three wishes. If you lose, I'll send you straight to your enemy's den."

"Three? How generous." She laughed. "You must be a psychopath for saving me before torturing me, huh? I just tried to kill your friend, and here you are trying to play a stupid game with me."

My eyes widened.

Her decisive tone pissed me off, especially when she described me as a psychopath, just like those filthy people from my past.

{"How is your child any different from a psychopath?! He's a disgrace!"}

Chills went up to my spine, and I just knew that I silently exploded in anger. The voices that I continuedly heard haunted me to the point that my interest to play with her went down the drain.

"I change my mind," I growled.

I was planning on sending her to Derek after I tortured her, but it looks like that won't be possible now. I'll kill this woman and erase her.

I glared at her.

"If you lose, I'll cut your neck in half."

She smirks, "let's see who cuts whose neck first, shall we?"