Chapter 3

The First Meet

Rosella 

I was running through the swamps of the forest. I was far away from our pack, that is for sure. I had no idea where I was. I ran and ran until my legs couldn’t take it anymore. I wanted to shape-shift into my wolf form, but I couldn’t, as the birthmark on my shoulder wasn’t healed yet.

Being from one of the most powerful bloodlines of Louisiana, one might think we are the most powerful creatures. But even our clan of wolves has a few downfalls, one being that we can’t shape-shift if we have an injury on our birthmark. The special curse was only afflicted upon our pack centuries ago, as the moon goddess cursed the Moon Stone Pack for an eternity.

I was extremely tired, and my legs felt like jelly from the ten miles I ran. I was hungry as I had not eaten anything for the past seventy-two hours. I was starved, hurt, and tired, but none of that even touched the pain because of loneliness, the pain I felt after leaving my sister alone.

After the death of both of my parents, I only had my sister left in my life. But, I am pretty sure they will kill her or torture her till death, as she was the one who helped me to run away from there. My stepfather was one of the strongest and one of the most ruthless Alphas and didn’t care one bit about my sister or me. I can’t help but berate myself for leaving my sister alone. If anything happens to her, I won’t be able to forgive myself.

I was walking extremely slowly as ever, not as if my energy was drained. I was looking around to see if I could find some herbs like sage to heal my wounds and my birthmark faster. Just then, I heard the rustling of leaves. I felt a presence in the wilderness. My mind was on high alert as I looked back, but I couldn’t see anything, as it was the darkest hour of the night.

Checking further, I took a step ahead while my head was still turned behind, checking here and there. Suddenly, I collided with something hard. My head spun around, but due to all the pain, I instantly felt dizzy.

‘Oh, God, is this a tree or something?’ Leah questioned as I took some time to wrap my head around, only to see the most devastatingly gorgeous man I have ever seen in my life. His dark eyes met my green ones, and I felt like a thousand fireworks went off in my body, I felt a tingling sensation all over my body, and even Leah grew excited to come out, but I contained her.

After gazing his eyes through my entire body, he finally spoke, “Are you okay? Do you need any help?” he asked me with deep concern; however, I could only focus on his sexy voice, which was deep and husky. I could easily sense that he was a werewolf, just like me.

Damn! He sounds so amazing. I can hear his voice all my life and not get bored even for a second.

I only managed to nod at his question as I couldn’t form any words to speak.

Placing me back, he asked me, “Who are you?”

I pushed my hand toward him, and he took it, and then I answered, “Rosella Connor, I am from the Moon Stone Pack.”

A smirk formed on his lips, which looked incredibly sexy. I am certain it is because I sensed that he is a werewolf too, and I didn’t make a stupid attempt to hide it.

“What are you doing here in the enemy territory at this time, then? In any other situation, I might have thought you are rebellious , but your condition doesn’t look very good to me.” He said while trailing his eyes over my ripped clothes and the red and blue bruises all over my body.

His eyes stopped on the top of my breast where there was a bite mark, his eyes narrowed there, but he didn’t say anything else. So, I mumbled, “You are right. My left limb hurts a lot. Can you take a look at it?”

“Sure, let me just pull the jacket off,” he answered while he shrugged off my jacket, but then I groaned in pain because there was a spar twinge in my ribs as I moved my arms to take it off. Damn! It hurt like hell. But I took a long deep breath and shrugged it off completely.

“Would you like me to drop you off back to your people?” He put forth and then added ever so gently, “Your pack?” His breathy voice was enough to drive me on edge.

“My pack? I don’t have anyone there who would like my return. And to be honest, I ran away from there because they were the ones who did this to me,” I responded with a humorless laugh.

I don’t want to think about my past anymore. My pack has betrayed me and hurt me beyond belief. I can’t even feel that much physical pain even though my arm is broken and my ribs are sore. Because the worst pain in the world is not the physical one, it is a betrayal of the person you considered as your own.

“Well, let’s just get you seated somewhere first. Let’s go by that rock,” he replied nonchalantly and helped me to walk to a nearby rock. I sat on it, and he plucked some herbs from a nearby shrub and pressed it on my birthmark.

“This will help in healing the mark faster. Considering you are from Moon Stone Pack, you won’t be able to transform if this isn’t healed,” he stated the obvious, and I just nodded in acknowledgment because all of my energy was drained.

“Thank you very much for helping me, can I ask for another favor?” I requested softly.

“Yeah, sure.”

“Can you tell me if there is any safe place around here? I am looking for a place to stay.”

“Let’s get you healed first and then I will take you,” he responded, and I could only wonder if it was a good idea to go with him. Where would he take me? Should I trust him and go along with him?

‘Well, what other options do we have?’ Leah chimed in. She is right. I have to go with him if I don’t want to rot alone in this swamp.