Chapter 2

Arabella's point of view.

Being the only living soul walking in this lifeless, wizardry forest is quite scaring and I swear I could hardly move my legs -but I'm already in and I must get out quickly -so, I pushed myself to keep on moving.

I felt a gush of an eerie breeze blew past my ears, it sounded as though someone just ran past in a great speed and I shivered.

It's very dark everywhere, but since I'm a werewolf I can still see clearly -I saw goosebumps growing on my arms and I hugged myself.

Then it dawned on me, Daphne said a dead body was found around this area last night, could it be the killer is still lurking around?

"It's late" I heard a very deep, frightening voice say near my ear.

I jumped back and couldn't help the shriek that left my mouth, but before I could grasp what was going on or even get a glimpse of who just spoke in my ear.

A hand wrapped around my neck, lifted me off the ground and slammed my back on a tree I didn't take notice of earlier -I closed my eyes and grunt in pain.

If I wasn't a werewolf, I'm sure my backbone would have broken from the impact my back had with the tree.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked, struggling to get away from the person which is impossible because of his strong hold.

I lifted my head and opened my eyes, my breath hitched instantly and my mouth parted at the sight that greeted me.

I have been hearing people saying *he took my breath away*, and I haven't really read any meaning to it, but right now I have the perfect explanation of *he took my breath away*.

My eyes trailed along his facial features, his thick and perfectly arched eyebrows which were knitted together in a frown, his long eyelashes are illuminated by his sparkling blue eyes.

His lips looked a little bit pale, but still so beautiful and tempting as I stared at them longingly. I folded my lower lip in my mouth and bite it hard, until I tasted a metallic liquid -that's when I realized I've injured my lip.

He looked so flawless and sinfully handsome, even though he was frowning he didn't look any less handsome.

Is this human? How can someone be so perfect?

Hold on a sec, why is my heart pounding so fast? Am I having a crush on him? What about mate? What am I gonna do when he....

"What were you thinking coming into the woods at this hour?" his hoarse voice interrupted my unnecessary thoughts.

"It's the only way to my home" I answered, strangely in a bold tone.

He growled as if he doesn't like the tone in which I answered his question, his free hand held my chin up and he stared into my eyes with his squinted in.. anger?

"A lot of things can happen to you in the woods tonight, do you know that?" he snarled at me.

That's when I saw it, there's a small trail of blood in the corner of his mouth and judging from it's scent, I could tell it's fresh blood.

My eyes widened as fear suddenly gripped me, my heart accelerated because different thoughts were running through my mind at that moment.

Could it be I've met the beast? Is he gonna kill me? Is my blood next in line?

Oh no, please spare me, I'm a very good girl. I might be a little rude, but I'm still a good girl, please don't kill me -I started praying in my mind.

"Answer me!" he bellowed.

"A-are you the beast?" I asked instead.

Honestly, I don't know where this courage came from, or why I asked that question. I just couldn't keep it in and blurted it out.

"Don't I look like a beast?" he asked me back.

I studied his face and shook my head, according to grandma's description, the beast must be very old with horns and dirty fangs in his mouth -this guy looks pretty neat to me.

"No, you don't look like a beast, you're very handsome" I said.

He stared at me silently for a moment, then chuckled lightly and his tensed shoulders slumped down a little bit...the sound of his was very rich and soft.

"Don't be fooled by looks, my darling, they can be deceiving" he told me in a calmer tone this time. "You seem like an obedient little, so obediently run home now" he added.

I scoffed mentally, I'm nowhere near obedient at all, in fact, I can be very stubborn sometimes.

"What are you still waiting for?"

"Like you said earlier, looks can be deceiving" I smirked at using his words on him too.

He closed his eyes briefly.

"I'm not someone you'd wanna mess with, leave now before I become your worst nightmare!"

"But you are not..."

His suddenly tensed again, his brows furrowed instantly as he sniffed the air, then zeroed his eyes on me.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He quickly let go of me and I almost fell on my face, he took a few steps away from me as if standing close to me would burn him -as if I burned him.

"Get out of the woods now!" he barked at me.

"Then what about you?"

His blue eyes suddenly turned to a bloodshot, red eyes and I took cautious steps back.

"Get out before it's too late for you!" he roared making the forest shake or maybe that was just my imagination.

I heard very heavy footsteps approaching us, it sounded like those feet of a monster hitting the ground in cartoon films.

My body started shaking in fear and I slowly picked up my bag that was laying on the ground, I ran towards the exit of the forest, I don't wanna stay back and witness that handsome guy lose his life.

I ran as fast as I can, using my wolf's strength to support myself -though she's fighting not lend her strength to me.

★★★★★

"Mom, I'm home" I announced immediately I stepped in our small living room.

I threw my bag randomly on the table and slumped on a chair nearest to me, I began releasing heavy breaths.

"You're finally home" Arthur (my younger brother, he's 17) said as he strode towards me, with his hands in his pocket.

He thinks doing that makes him look cool and stuff, I scoffed mentally, he's just bluffing himself.

"Where's mom?" I asked.

"She went to the pack-house" he answered.

"Pack-house? Why?"

He sat on a chair, reached for the remote control and turned on the TV.

"There's a pack meeting and I think it's about the selection parade, Alpha Jarek personally came to inform mom about it.. "

He paused and tilted his head, with his brows furrowed in a serious frown.

".. do you think he has a crush on mom?" he asked.

Alpha Jarek and mom together? That's not a good combination at all, I winced in disgust at the thought of them being together.

"Get your mind outta the gutter, you're too young to be talking about crushes"

Arthur coughed.

"I'm 17years old and I'll have a mate next year, so I'm not too young to be talking about crushes"

Weirdly, at the mention of mate, my mind flashed back to the handsome stranger I met in the wizardry forest -I wondered what happened to him.

Did the beast King catch up with him? Is he devouring the handsome stranger's flesh right now?

"Ara!"

Arthur snapped his fingers across my eyes, I blinked and alighted from my train of thoughts -it's a pity that handsome stranger's life would be wasted just like that.

"Besides mom's a widow and Alpha Jarek is a widower..." he adjusted posture to an imposing one. "... I'd love to have people referring to me as the alpha's son" he laughed evilly.

I leaned forward and pushed his head gently, making him glare at me but he quickly looked away when I glared at him back.

"Stop dreaming about being the alpha's son, you're not fit for that title" I told him.

Arthur has girls flocking around him everywhere he goes and if it wasn't the respect he has for mom, I'm sure he'd have been a little heartbreaker by now.

If Arthur ends up becoming the alpha's stepson, I believe all the unmated girls in our pack will become pregnant with his kids, even before getting a chance to know who their mates actually are -after all, he's got great looks and a pompous personality.

In fact, everyone in our lineage has great looks and bodies, I'm not an exception.

"Right, you're already 22years old and still haven't found your mate yet..."

I raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to conclude his words, although, I kinda have a hint where this conversation is going.

"Maybe you should visit another pack, your mate might not be in this pack" he said.

"I don't need a mate" I told him curtly.

"You don't need a mate? Who doesn't need a mate in this world?" he asked rhetorically.

"Maybe me" I answered.

He sets his lips on a thin line and turned away from me and gave his attention to the tv.

"Good for you" he said.

"What's for dinner?" I asked.

"Nothing, mom's not around to make dinner"

I glared at the back of his head.

"What a lazy âss" I grumbled under my breath, but he heard me anyway.

I got up, reached for my bag on the table and headed towards my room -I need a long warm bath and a nice sleep.

★★★★★

It's just me and him again in this lonely woods, not even a bird could be seen flying around.

"You're here" he said.

"Yes" I answered.

Then there's silence, he didn't say anything and neither did I.

It's always like this everytime we meet, we don't talk but we enjoy being in each other's company -it's almost as if we're speaking with our souls.

We don't see each other's face too -or maybe he's seen my face but I haven't seen his for once, I can't tell what he looks like.

His back is always facing me everytime, I could only stare at the back of his head.

"You called me and I'm here, can I at least see your face?" I asked.

This is the first time I've requested to see his face.

"No" he answered.

"Why?"

"I'm ugly" he said.

Ugly? I huffed mentally, handsome guys always refer to themselves as the most ugliest beings.

"I don't care if you're ugly, I just wanna see your face" I told him.

"No, my face would scare you away"

"Huh?"

"It's gonna be your worse nightmare" he said.

How can I be friends with him but don't know what he's like? Who's he? Why does he always calls me to meet him here? Wait, how does he even manages to call me?

"Stop thinking, your tiny brain's gonna explode because I don't know why I can call you too" he said.

How did he know what I'm thinking? Is he a vampire that can read minds?

"You're right, I can read minds so I suggest you stop thinking"

"Oh"

This is all the more reason I must see his face, he might be someone I know.

I reached forward to touch his shoulder but...

★★★★★

My eyes snapped open at the sound of someone banging on my door very loudly, I threw a glare towards the door as I imagine I'm glaring at whoever is banging on it.

From the scent I could tell it's Arthur, I angrily sprang up and sat on my bed, gathering my blanket in my hands.

"What?!" I barked at him.

"Mom said I should wake you up, breakfast is ready" he said.

I rolled my eyeballs.

"I'll be there in a jiffy" I replied, then I heard his footsteps fading away.

I fell back on the bed and covered my face with my palms, I puffed out some air.

The same dream again, it's been quite some time since I had this weird dream -why did I dream of him today?

I've been dreaming of this nameless man since I was twelve, I don't know anything about him.

But the weirdest thing is, I always enjoy being around him in my dream -I must be losing my mind.

"Ara, mom said you should hurry up!" Arthur shouted from the living room.

"Well, you didn't have to shout before I hear you!" I shouted back at him.

I pushed the blankets off me and hopped out of bed, then dashed into the bathroom.