Chapter 3

Ellie

I lost consciousness in the woodlands of Black Park, which I've always known to be my home all my life. For all I knew, I was running so fast on my paws at one moment, and the next thing, I was lying still at the large gates of the Park house; my limbs felt wobbly and shaky beneath me.

I had no idea how I managed to make it this far to this point still alive, and I wasn't sure I wanted to be told how. My clear white furs were stained with blood that had dried and become tacky; I refused to bring my mind to know the source of the blood either. All I just wanted right now was my mate; I wanted him to wrap his firm arms around me and declare that I was safe, even though a large part of me knew that it was false. I was doomed. Still, his words might and could go a long way.

What had happened to me? Who must have done this to me? Why can't I remember a single thing? I hope this wasn't the effect of his compulsion. As far as my brains could search, I was told Isla walked into the trap of the Royalties.

My sister was held to the neck by the dangerous claws of Van, the vampire king…I went into the dwellings of the Royalties. My mind, totally blank on what had happened next.

The wounds in my chest that were now healing up were sealed up in a horrid and untraceable memory, but the strong scent of strange blood needled my fur in the most torturing and dominating way...the healing course of the blood was proof enough that none of what had happened to me was a dream. I was trapped in a forgotten ride. It was more like an already existing nightmare.

A pair of loafers came into my line of view. “Where are you coming from at the crack of dusk?” Eamonn's voice echoed in the bridge of my weak senses. I felt too weak to take my gaze to him. “Go and get her a blanket, Brant.” He ordered his right man, who was a human and like a son to him. The Beta of the crescent park. He stormed off to get Eamonn’s request, leaving dust at his feet for me to inhale. I choked on the polluted air for a moment, but I perceived no less pungent scent that was more than in one on my skin.

There was someone else by his left; I couldn't make anything of the man that stood on his left side. Too weak for that. Brant returned in an instant with a black blanket just as he left. I managed to haul up on my paws but fell to the ground just immediately, lying to the side of my stomach. I could almost get a proper view of the three of them; the one by his left was no other person than my godfather, Murray. He looked straight into the space with folded arms. I'm looking into the eyes of someone I had as a father figure since the death of my parents.

Brant came forward with the blanket he held in his hands to cover up my wife when Eamonn put out his hands to hold him off. “Stand back, Brant.” His loud command made Brant stop in his tracks. Brant stood up straight, looking Eamonn in the eyes, who had eyes glued to me.

I heard snarls behind me; my gaze reverted to the rest of the Park members, some of whom were already in their wolf forms, most of them. They kept their distance while they watched me intently like I was some wild beast encroaching on their territory. They bared their long fangs at me like I was a serious threat they needed to eliminate before something more deadly than what they knew would sprout from me. Why? Was I now a stranger, or could they not recognize me any longer? We knew each other's scent; that's how we knew our kind. I wasn't having my scent. It felt like it was stolen from me and replaced with another of a different kind. I couldn't recognize my own scent anymore due to the blood that was masked on my fur.

My wounds had healed up, giving me a little strength to haul up. I received a restraining order from Eamonn's men once I did. “Do not get up!” He said as he slowly circled me, he reached for a gun—loaded with silver slugs—in the pocket of his pants. He made his way slowly to my side, pointing the gun to the core of which my blood pumped.

My thoughts were going wild. What had I done to deserve this from my own people? “She smells of foreign blood. An enemy's blood. A vampire's blood. She's now one of them, and as such, she will be killed on sight.” The look of disgust was bright on his face. Only his voice was what echoed in my head, plus the sound of the trigger he pulled. My mate, pointing a gun loaded with silver slugs at me. I would have sworn this day would never come to taste the bitterness of humiliation. Nausea filled my gut, threatening to erupt to the surface. What was he talking about? What was happening? Murray. I looked into the eyes of my godfather, who stood present like he was absent, his lips folded into a thin line. “Throw the blankets over her blankets over her, Brant.” Eamonn ordered Brant, who stood shocked by his side as his eyes were pinned on mine.

Brant is unfortunately the only one who wasn't able to smell the vampire scent Eamonn spoke of. Why? Because he was a human. But Eamonn taught him how to fight. He was more skillful in fights than most of the actual wolves. Brant did as he was told, throwing the blanket over me while keeping his distance. I'm supposed to be scared of the gun pointed at me, but I'm not. My heart, which was going to be shot by my mate, was supposed to race ten times faster than normal, but for some sort of reason, it didn't. Instead I'm trying to wrap my mind around what had just been said about me. “You betrayed us, you betrayed your Park, you betrayed me.” I tried to talk with him through our mind link, only to discover that it had been breached. I shook my head ruefully as there was no way to communicate through our mind link. At least he would be able to see it in my eyes that I knew nothing about what he'd just said about me. I didn't betray you or my park either; I do not know what's going on. I'm still yours; I'm still the Ellie you've always known. His eyes narrowed as he gripped the hand of his gun tightly. Like he could read through my thoughts, he said, “The blood on which you’re stained is that of a vampire.”

My bones crunched; my wolf gave way for my human form. “Please, Eamonn, I don't know what you mean by…”

“I would only spare your life if you leave this park and never show your face in it. As I, Alpha Eamonn, and now your former mate, have commanded, you are hereby caught from the spawn of the forewolves of Black Park.”