Ash POV
I don't know any of them. A whistle rings out. “You are prettier than I thought. Hi, beautiful," he stands up from the couch and walks toward me.
I take a step back. I don't care who they are, I just want them out. “Get out!" I am annoyed, sad, and heartbroken. I don’t want to deal with anything else other than my emotions right now.
“No, no, no. That is not how to treat guests," he stops walking and does a hair flip. He must think he is quite good-looking, to me he looks like he was dropped as a child and landed on his face.
“Guests! You broke into my house." I point to the broken window.
“Your house, last I checked this place is abandoned."
“It belongs to my parents."
“Belonged, beautiful. They are dead, have been dead for years."
I frown, “Who are you?” It is pretty obvious at this point that they did not randomly find me. They know who I am whereas I haven’t seen any of them a day in my life.
He claps. “Finally, you are asking the right questions. Prince charming, my dear," he responds and throws himself on the sofa, he sprawls all over the sofa and I cringe at the sight.
“Don't be ridiculous. You broke into my house. The least you can do is give me a proper introduction.” My voice shakes a little.
I am absolutely terrified, there are five strange men in the living room and by their scents, they are all werewolves. I can feel my body shake. I can feel tears building up, the last thing I can do is show a weak front. However, I am sure my scent of fear is all over the room.
He stands again and gives me a mock bow. “I am Tyler Crimson, son of the Alpha of Crimson Moon Pack. The one and only Tyler gracing you with his presence, you are welcome. " He announces with pride.
“Get out!" I scream again. My vision blurs and I see red, it is suddenly very hard to breathe.
“Calm down, beautiful. I am not here to fight, I just want to talk okay?" He raises his hands and takes a step back.
“Why would I want to talk to you?" I blurt out.
"Because I am the only one who will take you in. You have been chased out of the Grand Crescent, tsk! No other pack will touch you but the Crimson Moon pack, I can convince my father. I also hear you are mateless, I am sure I can do something to change that."
He walks forward and I take a step back. “You must be out of your mind. Why will I join up with the pack that killed my brother?"
Tyler blinks and his hands fall to his sides. He studies my face, “Are you serious right now?"
“Don't act like you know nothing about it. If you are truly the Alpha's son then if you didn’t join, you know the people that did.”
Tyler frowns, he looks truly confused. “I did not kill your brother. Who told you that?” He throws his head back and laughs.
“What do you mean?” I am genuinely confused. “But you had a dispute with my-the Grand Crescent pack,” I remember that I am no longer a part of the pack.
“Yeah, but there was no reason for anyone to die. We just had arguments and negotiations. Why would we want to go to war with the Grand Crescent Pack?”
“You are lying,” I scream and grab my head. This isn’t true, if the Crimson Moon Pack aren’t acknowledging then who killed Nathan?
“I am not lying and I was totally surprised when I heard he died. Nobody is saying how but to say it is our fault, that’s a huge lie.”
Tyler is still speaking but I am no longer listening. My legs are shaking and my ears are ringing. I got enough surprises today, I just want it to end. I can’t take it anymore. I grip the wall so I don’t fall.
“So you will join us right?” he walks even closer, at this point he is barely two feet away from me. “Consider this a favor. You got kicked out of one of the top three packs, it is going to be hard for anyone to take you in. And don’t worry about the payment, that can be easily covered.”
I don’t know if Tyler is dense or stupid or both or he really does not care about my reaction because I am on the verge of a panic attack and all he can think of is me joining his stupid pack.
“I am not joining your stupid pack!” My two hands are on the wall as I scream out, my entire body resting on it. I want to be left alone, I want to crawl into a hole and die. I don’t believe Tyler, can’t believe him but peradventure there is some truth to what he says then my brother was murdered.
I dig my nails into my palm so hard it brings blood. The physical pain brings some kind of relief, it brings me to the present, to the fact that my life could be in mortal danger.
I look at Tyler and I see his pupils both turn to slits, he must hate what I said. The color changes and I can’t help but feel fear, the cold kind. The one that grips your heart so hard it hurts.
He jumps towards me and I fall to my butt, he bends over me and grabs my chin. “I know I said it like you have a choice in the matter but you don’t. Join my pack,” he says and slowly brings his lips close to my ears.
His smell is overwhelming, I hate it. It is nasty, it makes my eyes water and my skin crawl. I can feel a sob in my throat but I clamp my mouth shut as my body freezes up, afraid that if I make any unnecessary movements, I might not make it out of here alive.
He licks my ears and takes a deep breath, “You smell lovely. Join my pack and I can guarantee your safety. Not just from the thugs at the back but everyone else.”
Silence.
I can’t speak, fear clamps my throat. It is all I can feel and taste. Sweat breaks out of my body and I am surprised I am still conscious but by the way I am feeling, not for long. I can’t black out here.
My eyes do a quick scan of the room, none of the people seem trustworthy. I wouldn’t leave a dead person with them let alone my unconscious body. A horrible mental image appears in my mind and my eyes well up with tears.
“What say you, beautiful? You won’t have to stay in this dump.” As he speaks his other hand trails the side of my neck, the first one is still holding my chin up. “I will take care of you, more than your brother, more than Conall ever did.” He smirks. “I will keep you warm at night, every night.”
I can taste bile in my throat, he arches my head so I am forced to look at him. “I won’t leave or chase you out. So yes or yes beautiful?”
I can’t believe a stranger is threatening me with such personal things. As if my complete helplessness isn’t enough. No one is coming to my rescue, absolutely no one. I try to talk but I can’t, not with the fear clogging my throat.
“I am pretty sure your daddy taught you better, baby boy.” I hear a voice say. I have heard a lot of voices but this one immediately stands out. I know it is a voice I can’t forget. “You won’t get girls that way.”
They all turn to the broken window, I can’t turn my head but when I turn my eyes just a little, I can see an outline standing outside the window. The remaining four stand to their feet and I can hear growls from them. He jumps into the house through the window.
“What do you think you are doing Caspian?”
“You know me,” he sounds genuinely shocked. “I thought daddy boy only knows about things that concern his selfish interests.” I can’t see his face, his voice, however, tells me not to worry. It is fierce and soft at the same time. Thick like a narrator’s voice but with depth.
He is by my side in an instant, Tyler immediately lets me go and takes a step back. His hand is the only thing keeping me upright and I fall back as Tyler lets go of me. Deep voice -Caspian catches me before my head hits the ground and lifts my entire body off the floor.
I raise my head to look at him but the tears in my eyes blur my vision. He feels warm and he carries me so gently, the relief I feel is intense. I could cry, I do and everything goes black.
Caspian POVI pick her up and the sight of her tears tugs at my heart. I know immediately that she is my mate. I can feel my wolf going berserk, wanting to be let out on the ruffians that have dared to hurt her.There are no noticeable injuries on her except Tyler's finger marks but he did not press hard enough to break her skin. Good for him, I doubt I will be able to control myself if he had dealt her any serious damage. I can smell blood though but it is quite faint.I immediately notice that she is unconscious, it will be best to put her down but I don't want to let her go. I keep my gaze on her face, she is pretty. Her auburn hair has a glow that makes it look closer to red than auburn.“Alpha," I hear a voice call and I snap out of it. “Would you like us to take care of them?" Damian, one of the twins, calls my attention. His brother Damon chooses the moment to jump through the window and he sneers at Tyler’s goons. Damon is the quiet one but his attitude is a hundred times lou
Ash POVThere are a few times I have messed up and as I look at the face of the wolf that saved me I know that compared to all the times I have messed up, this one tops the list. His bland expression turns into something scary and I instinctively take a step back.“Ah ahhh, I don’t think we have introduced ourselves. I am Damian.” One of the twins says, they have the same face except Damian's hair is longer. “That’s Damon,” Damon has a scowl on his face as he glares at me. “And that is our Alpha…”“Caspian,” he says and throws his face away.I already know this, I slept with his voice in my ears and his name on my lips. There is no way I can forget it so easily. “I am Ashton and I am sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It is just something I heard.”He scoffs, “No matter. I don’t expect a member of the Grand Crescent Pack to think highly of us.” He still doesn’t look at me as he speaks.“Ex-member,” I mumble but not loud enough for anyone to hear.Damon stands to his feet and arches hi
Ash POVI close my eyes tightly as I realize I have to ask for his help; either that or I will have to pick a chair by the kitchen table, I know I don’t have any energy for that. I take a deep breath as I summon the courage to ask him.I am slightly ticked off that he isn’t offering to help me when it is pretty obvious I can’t reach the inside of the cupboard. I turn my head in his direction and I see him leaning on the refrigerator with his arms folded.I pray for strength as I open my mouth. I clear my throat and say, “I need help getting the cereal out of the cupboard. I can’t reach it.”He makes no attempt to move from the fridge but his eyes on me don't waver. I glare at him and sigh.“Please,” I add.He pushes himself from the refrigerator without a word. He doesn’t allow me to move out of the way, instead, he reaches over my head and pulls out the box. How he knows the exact one I want is a little baffling but that is not what I am thinking about right now. I am pissed that he
Ash POVI am at a loss for words and I stare at his hands without making any effort to accept it."I promise, I did not poison it," he says.I groan, "I didn't say you did.""Your expression did. I just figured cereal can't be enough for the whole day. Here," he repeats."I-I can't accept this," I hear myself say. I don't even know why I can't."You can," Caspian says. "If you don't, it will go to waste."I stretched out my hands but I am still hesitant."Consider it a peace offering."I sigh and grab the tray, "Thank you but really you didn't have to."He lets go of the tray and starts to walk away. I walk back into my room and close the door with a loud bang. I am pissed off for some reason even though he has done everything right.He is offering to stay with me, I should be nice but it is a little hard to be. However, I know I have to try as I can't afford to chase him. I have nowhere else to go yet, I need his protection.I place the tray on the bedside table and sit on the bed. I
Ash POVI am running through a field, I can't see what is chasing me but I know I can't let it catch me. The ground feels like I am running on glue and I have to pull out my feet with every step.I see Nathan in front of me and I try to reach him. He stretches out his hand and I do the same. As soon as I touch him, he dissipates. Simultaneously, the ground starts falling.I scream as I try to grab anything to hold on to. I see Conall standing over me, he is within reach but he doesn't try to help me. I scream out to him but he just laughs and watches me fall."Hey, hey! Wake up!" I hear Caspian call to me as he shakes me vigorously. "You are having a bad dream," he says.I open my eyes and his face is close to mine, I can see the worry in his expression. I am still on the couch. I must have fallen asleep during the movie."You are crying," he says.Am I? I don't think I am. I raise my hand to my face and it is wet. I am a little confused, I don't know when I started to cry. Suddenly,
Ash POVI feel myself getting pulled in the opposite direction and my face lands on something solid. I immediately realize Caspian pulled me to his chest. I can't comprehend how he got to my side so quickly. Did he jump over the table?"Are you okay?" He asks, still holding me to his chest. I can hear his heartbeat, it spiked but now it was falling back to a regular beat.I nod, I am a little dazed and all that sudden movement just made my headache worse. I need a moment for my head to settle. I lean into him and he holds me."How's your headache?" He asks, his hand softly treads my hair."Significantly worse," I mumble into his chest."Eish… I am so sorry, I didn't have enough time to think.""It is fine," I say and take a step back and he lets me go. "Thank you, I probably would have ended up with a bruise and more headache if I had fallen on my face."I hold on to the table for support. I can instantly tell I shouldn't be moving around. I want to pick up the chair but I know my hea
Caspian POVI sit by the table and pick up the cutlery as I prepare to dig into the meal I made. At this point, I am sure all I do is cook but since I don’t have anything else to do in this house and I don’t particularly hate it, I don’t see why I shouldn’t.“Why are you being so nice to me?”I freeze with the food halfway to my mouth. I have to applaud her timing, she never fails to catch me off guard. I bring the cutlery down as I try to find an answer that will make sure she finishes this meal with me.“Irrespective of how I look, I am a gentleman at heart,” I say. This isn’t true at all, I will never do this for anyone. I know I am only doing this to get her to like me and join my pack. It stings a little that she doesn’t trust me even though it is quite understandable why she doesn’t. I can see the disbelief written all over her face and I brace myself for her response. Her hair is tied up but a few strands have escaped, they rested on the sides of her face, and I want to tuck t
Ash POVI scrub the plates, a little too hard. I can’t believe I just spilled my life’s history to a random stranger. He must have put something in the food to get me talking. I can’t believe I told him I was rejected.I can feel my face burning up. However, as soon as I started talking about my parents, I couldn’t stop. It is annoying because I can tell that he was listening, really listening and if I ask, he will probably be able to repeat everything I said word for word. This is so embarrassing.I felt bad earlier that even though he knew nothing about me, he still went out of his way for me. That's why I told him about my parents but then I overshared and now I'm just embarrassed."That's the last of them," he says behind me.I turn to look at him, he is wearing the apron again, it's hard not to look at him and chuckle. He is close enough to touch and I have to raise my head to look at his face."Thanks for letting me help.""I should be telling you, thank you," he says and takes