Chapter 4

When we arrived at the restaurant, we slowly made our way inside and saw that it was packed full with graduates and their friends and families who were also celebrating. I was glad that we had made reservations. The hostess quickly showed us to our table and we each took our seats. We enjoyed our lunch meal. Scott and I were having a discussion about our future plans with our family, but my heart wasn't in it, due to the uncertainty which surrounded me. The waitress had just come over to see if we wanted to order dessert, when suddenly the restaurant doors opened and they walked in. 

A group of inhumanely tall men walked into the restaurant. The waitress immediately dropped her eyes to the ground, not wanting to catch their gaze. The buzz of excitement which had consumed the restaurant only moments ago came to a halt, and suddenly it was so quiet in the restaurant, you could have heard a pin drop. It was obvious to me that everyone in the restaurant was scared of the group of people who had just made their way into the restaurant. 

I openly stared at the tall beasts walking past our table. When green eyes locked with mine, I suddenly felt frozen, my eyes suddenly widening like a deer caught in the headlights. 

It was him! The Alpha!

Alpha Cole's eyes flashed black, and a growl rumbled in his chest. In an instant my eyes found the floor. Keeping eye contact angered them. The wolves within them saw eye contact as a challenge. I didn't want my big day ruined by an egotistical Alpha, who thought I was challenging his authority. 

Alpha Cole let out a grunt as he passed our table heading towards the back corner of the room. I watched his bulky back muscles, as they flexed through his white long sleeved button up shirt. He had the sleeves of his shirt folded a quarter of the way up his muscular arms. A special table sat empty and awaiting their arrival. I noted that the tables position was set up so that the wolves could see the entire restaurant, their were no blind spots. I noticed that when they reached their table, Alpha Cole sat down first, and once he was seated, the rest of the group took their seats. I quickly averted my eyes once more, but a moment later I accidentally made eye contact with Alpha Cole once more. Our waitress brought my attention back to her with a quiet voice.

"Any dessert?" she asked in a hushed tone as her eyes wandered to each of us.

"Actually, we will just take the check please," my father replied.

The waitress quickly hurried off to fetch the check for my father, and I noticed she kept her eyes on the floor as she did so. The restaurants atmosphere had shifted quite dramatically. Everyone seemed to be uncomfortable with the beasts who were seated nearby. My father paid for the meal, and made the waitress happy when he told her she could keep the change. It was a good tip for her, so I couldn't blame her for her obvious happiness. We all got up from our seats to leave, and unable to resist, I took another look at the beasts table. 

Alpha Cole's gaze locked with mine. I felt a cold shiver run down my spine. Alpha Cole had a scowl upon his face. His face was one I would never forget. His features screamed masculinity, top dog and power hungry. He had a five o' clock shadow lining his jaw, and it complimented his tanned complexion perfectly. He was hands down the most stunning man I had ever seen, he was gorgeous! But he was also a monster, and I had to remember that.

His eyes flashed black, and I knew in that moment that I had screwed up. He scowled at me once more. I was the last member of our group out of the door, and I quickly ran to my family. Jumping into our car, I softly shouted, "Dad, quick we need to go now, hurry!"

Without question, my father sped out of the parking lot, as my mother asked, "Lara? Are you okay? What happened?" 

As our car raced out of the parking lot and down the highway, Scott and I looked out of our back window, and we saw one of the giants, standing in the parking lot. He was watching as our car made a speedy getaway. He didn't bother to try and chase us down though, for which I was grateful.

I couldn't believe I had been so stupid. How could I have been so stupid?

When we pulled up at our cabin, I was surprised to see my aunt, and uncle, and Haven were already waiting for us in our front yard. 

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked, as soon as I got out of the car.

"We need to talk," my father said, as he looked at me and my mother and Scott. We all made our way inside in silence, and sat in the lounge room waiting to hear what my father had to say. 

"What's going on?" Scott asked after a few minutes, voicing my question.

"As you all know, tomorrow is the sacrifice," my uncle said. We all nodded. It was not something any of us could forget. "Well there is something we need to do," he said.

"If one of us gets chosen for the sacrifice, the family needs to get out of here. We cannot risk those beasts killing our family if we do something to anger them," Haven announced, surprising me along with my brother and my parents.

"She's right. Those beasts, they won't kill you if they are angry with you. They will want you to suffer. And what better way to do that then by killing the ones you love," my uncle explained.

"He's right," my father agreed. 

"So, where do we go?" my mother asked, "I mean, no matter where we go, we will still have to deal with those beasts." 

"We have a place where we can go," my uncle replied.

"You do realize we will be abandoning them, right?" Scott said, pointing to me and Haven."If one of them were to get chosen, we will be abandoning them."

"Use your head boy, they never come back, ever. So how can we be abandoning them, when if they get chosen, they are already lost to us forever," my uncle snapped.

"Scott, this has to happen," Haven whispered.

We all sat in the lounge room talking about the upcoming sacrifice, and their plans to leave town should Haven or I be sacrificed. Eventually the three of them left, and I made my way upstairs to bed, dreading what lay in store for me the following morning. 

Would I be sacrificed? Would Haven?