4. Calla

Present day

The Nightshade Pack

Screams. I could hear female screams ringing in my ears. And they were so loud. Anguished. Desperate. Something was following me. Chasing me. And I could not escape it. Couldn't run faster. It was gaining on me. Closer, and closer. I was so scared. I knew that if it caught me, I would be doomed.

A howl. Thundering footsteps stomping into the dirt. My heavy breaths. The beast. Its golden eyes. Blood. There was blood dripping from its jowls. And then, it lunged.

I suddenly shot up straight as if breaking past the surface of water, my throat tickling from the scream that had just erupted from it. Me. It was me screaming, the entire time. Those were my screams, the ones that were ringing in my ears.

My chest heaved with desperate breaths as I looked around me, completely dazed.

"Luna!"

I blinked, my gaze falling on the tall, bulky silhouette approaching me with fast strides.

"Luna, you're awake!"

I let out an involuntary startle, poked by a desperate need to jump out of that bed and run the other way as I watched the Supreme Beta rush to my side. He looked so oddly...relieved. And he was still wearing that same expensive suit I had last seen him in.

Wait. I took another quick look around, finally noticing the unfamiliar room I was in. The silky sheets covering me, and that delicate white nightgown donning my body.

My eyes widened, meeting the Supreme Beta's whilst my right hand flew to the side of my neck, where the beast had sunk his canines into my flesh. It was there. The mark was there. Scabbing, but still pretty fresh and painful. And I...was alive. I did not die like I had predicted. I...survived it. His dooming mark.

"How do you feel?" The Supreme Beta -Athos, like he had asked me to call him, said with a gentle tone, his golden eyes roaming over my face.

I hesitated to answer, my mind still a jumbled and spiralling mess as those last moments of awareness flashed before my eyes. My wedding gown. The altar. The pack's disdainful looks at me. Their leader's hot breath on my neck. The pain that followed.

I thickly swallowed, my eyes inevitably filling with unshed tears as I continued to peer between the Supreme Beta's. I didn't die. I was still alive. I had survived it, which meant that I was to endure the following act. That is, if he hadn't already-

"Luna?" My gaze refocused on the Supreme Beta, noticing that worried look on his face.

"What's wrong?"

I simply looked at him, refusing to blink. I knew that if I did, those tears would inevitably fall. I had to try to control myself. Behave appropriately. So I swallowed that boulder that had lodged itself in my throat, forcing a tiny smile on my face. But he didn't seem convinced. At all. If anything, he appeared rather confused, his brows furrowing as he stared at me as if I'd just gone crazy.

"I'd better go fetch Alpha Leonidas,"

That had my heart jumping with icy fear. And before I could even try to stop myself, my hand was already gripping his wrist as I squealed out,

"No!"

He froze in place, throwing me a look before his eyes fell on my hand, still attached to his wrist. I immediately let go of it as if it had burned me, my cheeks bursting into flames.

"I-I mean..." Crap. Why did I just do that? Now they were really going to punish me. Not only had I disrespected their Alpha by exhibiting unwillingness to mate with him, but now I had also touched another male.

I gripped the sheets and brought them closer to my chest, my head hanging as those tears started streaming down my cheeks.

"Please...I'm..." I bit back a sob, fighting so hard to regain my composure. I felt like I was disappointing my pack and my Alpha, big time. I had to stop. I needed to stop. Right now.

I felt the bed dip. So I hesitantly raised my chin, watching the Supreme Beta sit at the foot of the bed, a sympathetic look displaying on his handsome features.

"It's..."

He didn't get to utter any other words as suddenly, the door burst open.

I jumped like a scaredy pup, my widened eyes falling on the most handsome male that I had ever seen in my entire life. Tall as heck. Broad shoulders. Muscled body. And a masculine beauty that managed to rob me of my breath.

He stopped in the doorway for a moment, his penetrating gaze finding my own. Keeping me pinned there, on that bed for a few long moments before he shifted it to the Supreme Beta. His features immediately hardened with rage.

"Leo," The Supreme Beta was already standing, his voice sounding so calm as he addressed the male.

Wait. Leo?!?

"I thought I told you to let me know as soon as she woke up!" I startled at the sound of his rough and accusing tone, instinctually scooting backwards on that bed until my back met the plushy headboard.

"She just did like, five minutes ago!" The Beta answered, unaffected by his menacing presence or his tone. I could notice that this male, -Leo, was also wearing a white dress shirt and a pair of black trousers, both looking crumpled and unkept. As if he had slept in them or something.

"Long enough for you to..."

The male continued to shout, only to be abruptly interrupted by the Supreme Beta.

"Leo,"

The male, Leo, stopped shouting, blinking once before his gaze returned to me. I pressed myself harder against the headboard, hugging those sheets so tightly to my chest. I had no idea what was happening. I didn't know whether to avert my gaze or keep looking at him, just in case he decided to lunge at me or something. I chose the latter, peering from beneath my lashes as I did not want to seem too disrespectful.

The male continued to stare at me, his features softening a little. He still looked so masculine and rugged, with that thick beard covering the lower part of his face and his wild hair, which fell in untamed ringlets to his shoulders.

He took a step in my direction, an action that earned him another involuntary startle from me. It didn't go unnoticed by him. My little slip. His jaw ticked, his dark-coloured eyes regarding me so intensely. And before I could even take another breath he was out that door, slamming it so loudly behind him.