Contract Bound [Old Draft]

-PROLOGUE-

WARNING: This is a draft, far from perfect. Read at your own risk.

As Belinda forced her legs to keep moving, she soon realized she was alone and surrounded by nature.  At the hoot of an owl, her large steel blue eyes scanned her surroundings, but the pitch darkness shrouded her vision.

The trees moved in sync with the wind while sounds of frogs, birds, and many other night creatures echoed through the forest. When her body shivered, she zipped up her jacket before wrapping her arms around herself.

Today was Kassie's eighteen birthday and Belinda was petrified that one of her friends might be marked and end up dead as many have. Holding back a sob, she ran her shuddering hands through her ash-blond curls.

At a snapping of a branch, her heart began to palpitate wildly like a crazed animal in a cage. When she whirled around, she met the emerald eyes of Kassie. Kassie was someone who always had a smile on her face, but tonight, she didn't.

"What?" Belinda asked.

Kassie averted her gaze. "They found another."

A pressure built up in Belinda's chest that threatened to crush her heart. "Kassie—"

Kassie put her hands on Belinda's shoulders and smiled, but it was obviously forced. "I was sent out to look for you. C'mon."

When she grabbed Belinda's hand, Belinda jerked away. "Are you not terrified? Another chosen one has been found dead."

Kassie stared at the ground as the breeze pushed her coal-black hair back. "I would be lying if I said no."

"In a couple of minutes, you're going to stand in the chosen zone—What if you're chosen?"

"Then, all I would have left is to hope that I don't end up like the rest."

Without another word, Belinda hugged her friend, begging to God that she would not be chosen by one of the supernaturals that lived within the forest. For years, it had been seen as an honor, but all that changed three months ago when chosen ones began to appear dead.

Belinda remembered the day she was out hanging out with her three friends and they had found the body of a girl chosen a week before hanging from a tree. Her throat had been slashed and the copper-colored tribal mark of a howling wolf on her shoulder had been torn with what was suspected to be a dagger. Two weeks prior, another girl from a nearby town was found also with her throat slit, but her symbol was a silver crescent moon.

Belinda permitted Kassie to pull her back to the town. Once there, they came to a halt. Darkness overwhelmed most the town save for the streetlights casting a golden glow across the pavement. The two-story homes surrounded chosen zone like the bars of a cage. The small golden lit candles confirmed the town was prepared for the ceremony, even after finding another body.

When Belinda glanced at her friend, she was certain the bravery in her eyes was feigned. Tomorrow was Belinda's birthday and she was horrified beyond imagination. She didn't want to be chosen. She didn't want to end up dead.

She gave her friend's hand a small squeeze. "Perhaps, you won't  be chosen."

Kassie met her gaze and her glistening eyes confirmed Belinda's suspicions. "When has a female been rejected?"

Belinda turned her face away and held back the tears. "Many have not been chosen."

But not recently.

For the past few months, every female that set foot in the chosen zone had been in a trance and walked right into the forest. It happened every time after a mark appeared somewhere in their body. A total of five females from all the towns and all five were dead.

Belinda tried her best to smile when her father walked toward them, still in his work uniform. He must have been called into the station right after they found the other body.

He hugged both girls before checking Belinda to make sure she was unharmed.

"Dad, I'm fine."

"You shouldn't have gone out this late into the woods. It is no longer considered safe for anyone to be out there this late, worse alone."

"Dad, all the dead are chosen ones." Belinda regretted her words at the horror she saw in her friend's eyes.

"I know, but we shouldn't take any chances."

At the soft glow of the rocks around the chosen zone, her heart clenched with pain. The red flames of every candle turned almost blood red, announcing the ceremony was about to commence. Belinda let go of Kassie's hand as her father led her to stand beside her mother.

Within minutes, everyone was present and Kassie stood at the center of the candles, awaiting her fate. When the clock hit the hour Kassie had been born, the bell resonated through the town. Belinda glanced at Blake and Kesha, seeing in their eyes that they too were worried for their friend.

If nothing happened, it meant Kassie wasn't chosen and would have the opportunity to live a normal life in the town. If a mark appeared, it meant she had been chosen.

As Kassie's body shuddered visibly, the flames rose higher and higher, intensifying in color. Belinda watched in horror as her friend groaned. It was as if a pen no one could see was being maneuvered over Kassie's wrist, slowly forming an intricate tribal copper-colored mark of a wolf paw with a star. Wide-eyed, Kassie raised her trembling and stared at it.

She had been chosen.

A howl made Belinda whirl around to find a large auburn wolf emerging from the forest. Everyone froze in horror. This never happened. No creature had ever left the forest. The chosen ones always walked into the woods surrounding the town.

What had forced this beast to actually come personally to claim his mate?

The wolf moved one paw forward before shifting into a tall, auburn-haired man with a tapered haircut. As an act of magic, he became clothed in a black shirt, jeans, and sneakers. His full even lips curved into a smile as his forest green eyes settled upon Kassie.

This man appeared like any other human, but of course, he wasn't.

When the man made his way to Kassie, everyone standing in his way moved without hesitation, head bowed. Belinda shouldn't have intervened, but how could she stand back and watch one of her friends be taken away? She remembered the throat cut open of the girl chosen a week ago and her feet moved forward.

Everyone gasped as she stood between the man and Kassie. For a brief moment, his eyes shone amber against the moonlight as they glanced at her before resting upon Kassie.

"Please, don't take her." Warms tears trickled down her cheeks. She didn't want her friend to end up dead like the rest.

He said nothing as he stretched his hand out to Kassie.

When Kassie started to move and actually reached for him, Belinda stopped her. "What are you doing?"

"You should not fear for her safety."

At the deep voice, Belinda glanced over her shoulder at the man.

"She will be safe with me."

"Every chosen one laying in the morgue probably believed they were safe too."

His eyes turned darker. "You understand nothing, but soon you will."

Her heart shattered as he revealed to her that tomorrow she too will be taken away. Fear laced through her as she imagined someone hanging her by the feet to a tree branch before slicing her throat, leaving there to bleed to death.

Kassie grasped her hands and smiled, an actual genuine smile. "Don't worry about me, okay?"

Belinda held back a sob. "How could I not?"

"I'll be okay." Kassie stepped away and grasped the man's hand. As she did, Belinda caught sight of his mark that was identical to her friend's. Leaves rose from all around them like a whirlwind, engulfing them. By the time the leaves fluttered to the ground without a sound, Kassie and the man were gone.

Belinda was left with no option but to hope that her friend didn't end up dead like the other chosen ones.