Chapter 8 : Little Lycans

ISABELLA'S POV

I was going insane.

Okay, maybe not clinically insane, but I was damn close.

For the past few days, I’d been stuck in this ridiculously fancy room with no one but my own thoughts to keep me company.

No phone. No internet. No books. Just an oversized bed, expensive furniture, and windows that led to a view of more rooms.

All thanks to fucking Luca Romano

The place was huge! It was like a damn palace—except I wasn’t a princess.

I was a prisoner.

A prisoner in silk sheets, sure, but a prisoner nonetheless.

At least both words start with P-R-I…

And Luca? The man who owned this place? The man who had bought me like some ancient relic to settle a debt I'm not even sure my parents owed?

Nowhere to be seen. Fucker!

I hadn’t set eyes on him since I met him in his balcony that night. Earlier, he had told me he wanted to let me go but has been avoiding me using 'my need to rest' as an excuse, and despite knowing I should be relieved that he wouldn't harm me, I wasn’t.

Although, as terrifying as he was, as cold , unreadable and arrogant as he could be, he was still the only familiar face here. 

The most powerful one though.So I wouldn't mind seeing him once more.

The one person I was certain wouldn’t let anything happen to me.

Am I certain though? I don't even know.

And that was the most ridiculous part—I wanted to see him.

Even though the very idea of him made my stomach twist in ways I wasn’t ready to analyze.l, I still wanted to see him.

I groaned, rolling onto my back.

I couldn’t stay in here anymore. It was fucking suffocating!

I stood up and paced the room, thinking whether I should leave or wait for him to show himself.

I stopped contemplating…

So I did what any self respecting captive would do. You know… like the poor human girl that is usually captured by her scary werewolf mate…

I left.

…

The hallways of Luca’s estate were endless, all marble and dim lighting, with a quietness that felt… unnatural. More like everything was screaming louder than human hearing.

Where was everyone?

Was this normal? Did people just not talk or walk in this place?

I turned a corner, hesitating for a second. I had no idea where I was going, but I also had no idea how to get back, so at this point, moving forward was the only option.

And that was when I heard it.

Laughter.

High pitched, bubbling laughter, the kind that belonged to children.

I followed the sound, my heart pounding for no reason other than the thrill of finding something—anything—that felt normal ish.

And then I saw them.

Three kids, no older than ten, were huddled in a corner of the hallway, that led to a fieldlike clearing whispering like they were planning something diabolical.

One of them—blonde and wild eyed—noticed me first. He squinted. 

“Who’re you?”

I hesitated. 

“Uh… Hi! I'm Isabella.”

The girl next to him, with dark curls and big brown eyes, tilted her head. “The human?”

I frowned. “Well it just sounds off when you say it like that, why would you even say that?"

The third kid, the youngest looking of the bunch, grinned. “Because you are.”

Hmm Fair enough.

“So?” I crossed my arms. “Is being human a bad thing?”

They exchanged glances.

“Not bad,” the girl said. “Just… weird.”

I rolled my eyes. “Well, you’re weird.”

The blonde boy grinned, showing off a missing tooth. 

“I like you. You're cool.”

The girl smiled. 

“Me too.”

The youngest one gasped dramatically. 

“Does that mean she can play with us?”

I blinked. “Play what?” I asked And their grins turned devious.

“Tag.”

Oh hell no.

I hadn’t played tag since I was a kid, and let me tell you—werewolf kids? They probably played on hard mode.

Playing tag with these kids must've been one of the worst decisions I've made since I got here.

They were fast.

Like, inhumanly fast.

But that didn’t mean I wasn’t trying.

I chased after the youngest boy, June, through the clearing, laughing breathlessly as he dodged me like a pro athlete.

“You’re cheating!” I shouted, trying to grab his shirt.

“No, I’m winning!” he cackled, darting away again.

"Shit."I swore under my breath while grinning and panting at the same time.

This was fine. This was good. For the first time in days, I wasn’t thinking about my circumstances, my future, or the terrifying man who bought me and held it in his hands.

My terrifying mate.

I was just… living.

June turned another corner, and I lunged after him.

Only to come to a dead stop.

Because he had run straight into someone.

An elderly someone…

The man was tall and broad, his silver hair slicked back, his features sharp and unforgiving. His eyes—dark and calculating—flicked down to June, then slowly up to me.

And the snarl on his lips? Yeah. That wasn’t friendly.

Shit.

I took a step back.

His eyes gleamed as he let out a low growl.

I swallowed hard. “Uh—”

“you are the human girl causing all this trouble.”

Okay. First of all? Rude.

Second? I didn’t like the way he said that.

June had gone silent, his small hands gripping the sides of his pants like he was forcing himself to stand still.

Who was this guy?

I took a step back.

Then another, as the man began walking towards me.

Then another.

Then another.

Then two more steps.

And that was when my back hit something hard.

No—not something. More like…

Someone.

The air in the hallway shifted, thickening with a presence so overpowering, so all consuming, that I knew who it was before I even turned around.

Luca.

His body was solid behind mine, radiating heat and tension, and when I finally turned my head slowly, his eyes were already locked onto the older man.

Cold. Calculating. Deadly.