AKIRA'S POV
The next few minutes consisted of me asking around for Magnus. He was pretty easy to find, but it took a great deal of my imperfect acting skills to convince him that Ares wanted him to be my guard for the day.
The poor young wolf was elated, he said something about finally being able to prove his worth to Ares. And I almost felt bad for lying to him. But when I wanted something, I would go the extra mile for it.
Madam Yelena was harder to convince when I requested for Carla to be dropped and for me to follow Eve and Lenny but once I mentioned Ares's name that seemed to quench her worries. Although she still did look sceptical, I brushed it off.
Now, Eve, Lenny and I were seated in the backseat of one of Ares's Jeeps and we were heading to the market.
Eve nudged my shoulder with hers. "How did you do it?" Her curious blue eyes pinned me to the spot. "Are we in any trouble?"
I turned to look at her with a huge grin. "We're not in any trouble." I shrugged. "Let's just say I have my ways."
"I can't remember the last time I was in a car," Lenny groaned, relaxing further into the leather seat. Her eyes were shut close as she spoke.
"Me too." Eve giggled. Her concern was also slowly evaporating. "I miss my baby."
I smiled and my eyes caught bright green ones in the rearview mirror. Magnus was staring at us like we were crazy. His cheeks reddened when he caught my gaze and I struggled not to laugh when he looked away and ran his hands over his blonde curls.
He was cute. And young too, probably my age. With a lanky build and innocent features, Magnus was someone I could see my old self dating. He was safe. Just like Orion.
My heart clenched painfully. I hadn't heard a word from anyone concerning him. I cursed inwardly, I was involving myself in sexcapades with Ares and I couldn't even ask about him once.
"We're here." The voice of our driver snapped me out of my thoughts. He looked mean and about ready to snap my neck, so instead of smiling and waving at him like I wanted to, I gave him a polite smile and thanked him before coming down after the girls.
The Pack town was huge. Modern houses and cottages were all over the place and huge farmlands faraway were filled with ripped sweaty men, working hard.
The air felt different. It was less tense. It smelled like nature. And it was peaceful. Almost too peaceful.
I smiled when I saw a group of children run after each other. This was exactly what I had hoped to see when I got here.
I was already getting looks as Magnus led us to the Pack market. The market was huge too. Filled with different types of shops and items.
"Hey, Magnus?" I called out.
"Yeah?" He paused and turned to face me. His bright green eyes shone under the sun.
"After this, I would like to go to the Pack's school and training centre," I said as Eve and Lenny checked the vegetables on a particular seller's table.
I shrugged the feeling that washed over me when the vegetable seller stared at me.
"Sure. Whatever you want, Luna." Magnus was looking around, trying to find any existing threats, too busy to notice the creepy vegetable seller.
He and Cyrus were the only guards that knew that I was Ares's mate. Although I was sure the rest of the guards at the mansion knew, they wouldn't dare say it out loud. Ares and I weren't official yet. He hadn't marked me. Until he did? I was just an ordinary human slave.
It was after a few minutes that I noticed the change in the environment. It got harsher. It turned evil. The stares and the whispers. They also turned harsh. And they were beginning to get louder. Closer.
It wasn't until a crowd began to form that I finally caught up.
Werewolves had a heightened sense of hearing too. They must've heard when Magnus called me Luna.
"Fuck," Magnus muttered, his eyes were moving over everyone. They were calculative. He was probably wondering how he would fight them off.
But it was of no use. It was them against us. And it was just four of us. It wasn't debatable. We were truly fucked and it was all thanks to yours truly.
"We have to get out of here," Eve frantically said. Her hands shook as she tried to carry the bag of vegetables. Lenny also looked scared.
But I didn't move. I couldn't move.
I stood, rooted to the spot and I listened to the insults they hurled at me.
"She's human!"
"I can't believe the Alpha is mated to a human."
"Oh! After sending so many wolves into exile. He's a hypocrite!"
"After destroying the lives of so many werewolves! He's heartless!"
"She has the guts to come here! Such a whore! How much is he paying you, huh?!"
"He must've lost his mind sending her here."
"Someone hold her. Don't let them take her away! She must pay for his sins!"
Their words were vile, disgusting. Bile rose to my throat. I wanted to spill my guts at their words. But they were right.
Soon, it got all too chaotic. Soon, the crowd began closing in. I suddenly couldn't breathe, my lungs suddenly failed to function properly. My chest tightened with fear.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Magnus tried but he couldn't hold them off. Eve and Lenny also fought. They pushed them off.
But they were too many.
Hands began grabbing at my hair, and all my screams for them to stop fell on deaf ears. They spat on me. A punch landed on the side of my face. It busted my lower lip. Blood trickled down my mouth. It was all too much.
"Get back!" Eve screamed when someone began to grasp at the strap of my dress. They tore it off.
Lenny grabbed their hand and twisted it backwards and immediately they howled out in pain. "She said to get the fuck back, you freak."
I couldn't focus. Another blow landed directly on my left eye. Sizzling hot pain shot through my head down to the rest of my body. My head continuously kept pounding. My face felt swollen. My body trembled with pain. It was never-ending.
I tried to scramble away. Everything was moving too fast. Magnus was holding his hands out to me. He was also pushing them away but they were holding me back. Too many hands. Way too many hands.
Then it happened. I never saw it coming. I only knew when Magnus's eyes widened as he looked behind me. Then I felt it.
Someone struck me with a stick on the side of my head. I slowly raised my hand to touch the spot. Everything happened too slow after then.
I felt it, the wetness. I knew what it was before seeing it on my fingertips. Blood. Lots of it. Trickling down my face, dripping down to my yellow gown.
Then the pain came. It was worse than before. It was blinding. It didn't wait for me to breathe in. It was fast. So fast that I fell to my knees when it crashed into me. Harsh waves after waves of pain kept crashing into me.
It didn't stop. Not when I screamed out loud. And not when Eve and Lenny screamed and ran to kneel beside me. It didn't even stop when Eve tore out a piece of her gown and pressed it to my head to stop the bleeding.
As I fell in and out of consciousness, I could only think of one person as Eve screamed at me to open my eyes. She was crying but I could only think of one person and how he had warned me.
Ares.
Shit, I was truly fucked.