AKIRA'S POV
Immediately after I woke up the next morning, I was ordered by Cara to dress up so I can properly meet the Alpha of their pack.
Alpha Pierson was nothing I expected. I didn't even know what I expected but it was not an old, well-built man with the kind eyes of a father.
Alpha Pierson exuded warmth and kindness. And he listened patiently as I told him the same story that I told the guards at the border.
I mastered the act of crying and made sure my tears were nonstop as I begged him to take me back to my family.
"Where did you live before you were kidnapped?" Alpha Pierson asked. His voice was authoritative and firm, almost fatherly-like.
I sniffled as I wiped my tears. "Lake-town. I don't know how far it is from here but I really just want to go back home to my Nana, Alpha Pierson."
He nodded thoughtfully. "I'll have Eli and Lucian find more about your town and by dawn tomorrow you should be with your family."
The thumping of my heart couldn't have been any louder. Happiness and relief were coursing through my veins.
Finally!
I was going to go home to my Nana and Ama. My joy knew no bounds.
"Thank you! Thank you so much, Alpha Pierson. You don't know how grateful I am for this." I knelt before him and began crying my eyes out.
The tears were real this time around. I couldn't believe it. My plans were finally bearing fruit.
His mate, the beautiful Luna of the pack, gently helped me up to my feet.
"Cry no more, dear. I'm sure you'll be back with your family sooner than later. Come on, go have breakfast."
She had blonde hair, strawberry blonde hair and was extremely beautiful. I knew they both deserved each other.
"Cara, show her to the dining and serve her proper breakfast." The Alpha instructed.
I followed slowly behind Cara and as soon as we turned into the other hallway, I heard the Luna speak up.
"Do you think she's telling the truth?"
Alpha Pierson sighed. "No."
I stood still. What was happening? Cara kept on walking ahead. She was so up in her head she didn't even notice that I wasn't following behind her anymore.
I quickly bent down and pretended to tie my borrowed shoe laces.
"What are you going to do?"
"I know who she belongs to. I'll put a call to him to come to retrieve his possession."
My breath hitched and my limbs locked themselves to the spot.
"And who does she belong to if I may ask?"
I suddenly couldn't breathe as I waited for his response.
"Alpha Ares. The Lycan."
The Luna gasped. "What? She's his mate. The poor thing. Why did she get away from him?"
"The question should be how she got away from him. Ares isn't one to be messed with. She's a very smart and brave girl."
"Do you think calling him here would be wise? She must have a reason on why she ran away from him." The Luna spoke with hesitation.
"I think calling him here would be the wisest thing to do, but not today. She might run away again. I'll invite him over tomorrow." He breathed in deeply. "I'm sure they must be going through a little couple's quarrel. They need to sort their differences out, running away isn't the best option for the human. Ares would always find her, she's his mate."
"I guess the best thing would be to keep her safe till he gets here." The Luna spoke in agreement.
Breathing was suddenly a difficult task for me.
He would always find me.
Which meant I had to do what I knew how to do best.
Run away.
~
Running away from Alpha Pierson's pack was easier for me than I imagined.
I had initially thought that running away would be futile but I still went ahead and tried my luck when it was midnight before Ares could come.
I sneaked out of the room as nonchalantly as I could, I knew werewolves had a heightened sense of hearing so I didn't want Cara to suspect anything.
I quickly turned down the hallway and went out through the back door.
Once I was out and I saw a huge clearing ahead, I began walking as silently as I could. I walked and prayed continuously that I don't encounter any of their guards on the borders.
Luckily for me I escaped, I didn't meet any guards through the paths that I took and when I was out of the pack, I felt the air in the atmosphere change.
The air was humid. Tensed. It was dreadful.
I walked for long minutes in the unknown destination. It was still black out, I tried to regulate my breathing but all to no avail.
I was panting hard, my breath was coming out in short puffs of air. I was barefoot and the sharp twigs and branches were digging into my feet.
In my left peripheral view, I saw a flash of something under the dull moonlight. It went as fast as it came.
I breathed in and out. Someone– something– was in the bushes with me.
Another flash passed through my right side.
I started to walk faster until I heard a peal of laughter. It was sinister and wicked and it made me still my pace.
Right in front of me, I knew someone was watching me, I could see eyes, a bright pair of green eyes, in the darkness.
Suddenly, one pair of eyes turned to two, then three, until they were four pairs of eyes staring right back at me from the darkness ahead.
My limbs shook and my heart pounded so hard I could hear as we all stood. With wide eyes and trembling arms, I wrapped my arms around myself.
Fear trickled down my spine as one of them stepped forward. The air smelled vile, I almost wanted to throw up.
And I could only come up with one word that could describe who they were.
Rogues.
They were rogues. And I had four of them staring right back at me. I knew they were out for my blood.
When he finally stepped forward so I could see him under the moonlight, my body went cold with dread.
He was dirty looking, with a scar that ran from his skull down to his collarbone. The scar was thick and it ran jaggedly. It looked like it hadn't healed properly.
Although he was very lanky looking, he seemed to be the leader of the group. But he was very young. The youngest out of the group.
"Aren't you a pretty little thing?" His smile showcased a set of dirty looking teeth. He inhaled for long seconds. "And you smell so fucking good too, the Moon Goddess must be on our side tonight, right guys?"
The other three chuckled, airing out their agreement as they began stepping out of the shadows.
They all looked the same, scrawny and dirty. Their eyes gleamed with wickedness.
"What do you want from me?" I asked, my voice was filled with the only emotion I was feeling right now.
Raw fear. Raw fear that kept me frozen and rooted to the spot.
Their leader smiled again, it was horrendous. "The question is, little human, what do we not want from your sexy little body?"
All the colour drained from my face and it turned ashen, I cleaned my cold and clammy hands on my thighs. "W-What do you mean?" I asked with trembling lips and chin.
I slowly began to take little steps back but as I took those steps, they began stepping forward. As I looked back I noticed the fourth one seemed a bit hesitant. He was still in the shadows.
"We mean no harm, human. We just want a taste of you." He replied.
I had nowhere to go except the pack which I just came ran away from.
I didn't think nor did I respond, instead I turned my back against them and began to run without thinking things through.
I haven't even gotten some steps in when I was slammed to the ground and my back and shoulders met the rough ground with a powerful force.
The pain was stabbing and I screamed out in agony. It shot my back and shoulders like wildfire.
I held another scream when my muscles protested as I tried to find my footing.
Fuck. This wasn't what I signed up for.
I staggered to a huge tree behind me and rested my back on it.
"Fuck you!" I screamed.
A palm landed on my face, with enough force that turned my face to the other side.
He slapped me, alright and he slapped me hard.
I felt cold tears trickling down my face and when I raised a hand to touch my lips I felt liquid. I looked down to find blood on my fingertips.
"You're never going to get what you want," I told him. My voice was firm.
He laughed hysterically."She's a fucking lunatic, guys."
It was my turn to laugh. "You don't know who you're dealing with."
He smiled. "Enlighten me."
"I'm the mate of Ares."
They paused for some seconds and I was almost glad thinking maybe they believed me until they all burst into laughter.
"You're right, Lion, she's fucking crazy," Another one spoke, he looked like the oldest, he had the shiniest orange eyes I had ever seen. "But then, I don't mind a little crazy." He smirked showcasing his own set of dirty teeth.
Regret flooded my veins. Fuck. I was suddenly beginning to regret covering up his mark and smell on me.
What do I do?
"Please," I sobbed. "Please let me go, I'll do anything but this. Please, I beg of you."
"Little human whores like you don't deserve to be let go," Lion trailed a dirt finger over my cheeks with a smirk. "If you truly belong to Ares then we're still going to take you right here but this time around it's going to be so much worse than we initially planned."
My heartbeat was racing, nearly exploding. My head was racing with thoughts.
"Yes, we're part of the wolves he kicked out of his pack. This would be more like sweet revenge for us."
Damn Ares and his fucking law.
This was exactly what I was running away from and it seemed like he was following me any damn place I went to.
I was jerked out of my head when Lion suddenly ripped my shirt into two. I gasped and looked down at his fingers to find sharp dirty claws. I looked into his eyes, his green eyes were now flickering between green and blue.
Fuck.
Before I could open my mouth, he gripped my arm and flung me to the ground. I winced when I landed on my already sore shoulders. "Fuck!"
"That's exactly what we'll be doing to you, little human." A new voice spoke above me.
I looked up to find bright brown eyes staring down at me, I quickly covered my chest with my hands.
I tried to mindlink Ares. I desperately tried to reach out to him.
But nothing was working.
The one standing above me knelt only to grab my legs and fling them open.
"Stop!" I yelled, I began to squirm, using my legs to kick and hit him anywhere I could. "I beg you, please!"
"Yeah, baby," He smiled cruelly. "I love it when they scream and beg."
Something in me snapped and the next few minutes were a blur to me.
It all happened so fast.
One moment I was struggling and the next moment I was screaming and extending my arms toward the man on me out of my will.
He began to scream, holding his head in pain as blood began to trickle out of his eyes before falling to a heap beside me.
Something in me was changing, it was a powerful force, one I couldn't control.
I quickly stood up and faced the other three whose eyes were still glued to their friend on the floor.
Once they noticed that I was looking at them, they all stood with alertness.
It didn't take long for them to change into the werewolf forms. All I heard were the excruciating sounds of bones cracking and adjusting before three wolves were standing before me.
They were orange, green and brown and they weren't huge, unlike the ones I always saw on the training fields at Ares's palace.
They all began charging forward to me.
"Lotus!" I yelled, lifting my hands towards the one in the front and then slamming him on a branch of ta ree.
I didn't have the time to think about what was happening to me and what I was doing, it just kept happening and I couldn't stop it.
The second one slowed his pace, pausing to look at me, but the third one kept charging forward.
I splayed my palms open in the direction of the plants and trees, vines began to uproot from the ground and I manipulated them towards the wolf charging at me, the vines wrapped around him and when I clenched my fist, they squeezed and tightened making the sounds of bones cracking filled the air, the wolf slumped to the ground, two times smaller than it's initial size.
I turned to face the last one and I was shocked to find him back in his human form. I was wrong, Lion wasn't the youngest, he was.
He looked like a sixteen-year-old and already had tears running down his face. "P-Please don't hurt me. I asked them to leave you alone the first time. Please."
"Leave." A deep voice demanded.
And as he ran away, I looked around, looking for the voice that spoke but I realised that the command came from me.
I looked around me. There were three wolves on the floor around and they looked like they were dead.
And I did that.
Suddenly, everything began spinning and it felt like my eyes were turning backwards.
I struggled to walk a few feet away from them, I didn't know where I was going but I wanted to go back home to my Nana.
It took me a few seconds before I slumped to the ground.
With only one person on my mind.
Ares.