| CHAPTER 1 : QUICK AND PAINLESS |
The door to the bakery burst open with a very serious-looking Jade standing at the threshold like batman making a grand entrance at 10 in the night. I paused on the batter I was whisking, raising my eyebrows at her.
"Ja—?"
"I'm in a catastrophe!" She marched in, slamming her hands on the counter in front of me.
I blinked, "What's wron—?"
"Does this dress make me look fat?"
"What?" My eyes followed her slim physique clad in a casual green dress reaching below her tanned thighs. What is she talking about?
"I have a study session with Cole in like an hour and I don't know what to wear! Why didn't you leave yet? And where the hell is your phone? You were supposed to be at my house by 7!"
"Shut up!" I hissed, warily looking behind me, "Mrs. Stick Up Her Ass is somewhere in there in the kitchen. If she hears you yelling, she'll start on me!"
"She can burn in hell." Jade scoffed. "You still haven't answered me! Does this dress make me look fat? It does, doesn't it? Oh my god! I've been a couch potato for the whole week! I knew I should have been working on my booty. What am I going to do?" She cried, gripping her hair.
"Calm down, bitch! The dress looks fine. It's just a study session!" I placed the bowl I've been whisking aside and proceeded to help my hysterical best friend.
"After three years of pinning on that guy? Na-uh. I think I'm gonna make a move tonight." She squealed a bit.
My face went a little bitter. Cole is a dick. I wanted to say but Jade had a crush on him for as long as I can remember. Jade was a pretty girl with green eyes and brown hair. She's a top student at school but eventually, she just had to fall for a dick.
"I HAVE A FAT BUTT!" She yelled, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"SHHH!" I yelled back looking behind me again to see if Mrs. Stick Up Her Ass appeared or not.
"I might actually cry right now, Ezzy, and all you care if that old hag would yell at you?" She glared raising an eyebrow.
"I've already been in deep shit with her since that milk spilled on the whole sack of flour incident. She'll cut off my salary and I really need that money this month."
I spent almost all of my money going crazy and buying dark vintage t-shirts last month. Damn you, eBay sale.
"Why are you still working for this bitch, anyway?" She perched herself on the chair in front of the counter. "There are other jobs you could find to pay you."
I shrugged, "I still need to find my main interest before I take any other jobs. I told you, I'm giving myself time."
"Yeah, yeah. But she should cut you some slack. For god's sake, we're still in high school. IT'S TIME TO PARTY FORGET THE OLD FARTY."
"JADE!" I yelled at her to shush her.
She only shrugged.
"Gimme one of those free cupcakes."
"Weren't you just complaining about how fat you were?"
Her eyes widened in realization, "Right! I'm on a strict diet from now on." She stated before smiling up at me. "Do you have some vegetarian cupcakes?
I shook my head. "Jade," I said. "You're not fat."
She scoffed, "Tell that to my butt."
"Jade's butt, you're not fat, okay?"
She snorted.
"Fine then don't mind me if I steal some goodies from the pantry." She stood up and walked behind the counter and opened the cabinets.
I tried stopping her. "Jade, no. Mrs. Jenna is still here."
"Tell her I paid." She spoke with her mouth already filled with chocolate pound cakes
I shook my head at her before eating some cake too.
We spent almost thirty more minutes more in the bakery and when my shift was over, we fled out into the busy streets of New York.
The street where we always separate came and Jade slapped my arm.
"Wish my luck on my study date."
I slapped her back.
"Study session." I correct.
"Shut up."
I couldn't wait to get home and snuggle into my messy bed. I already knew Collin would be playing on his dumb X-box with Ava beside him on her phone.
"Wish me luck again. I don't think I have enough lucks yet." Jade blows out a nervous breath.
"Good luck," I said.
She slaps me in the face. "Be more enthusiastic please."
I slap her back. "Good luck. Good luck. Good luck. Good luck. Good luck. Good luck—"
"Now you're just making fun of me." She scowled at me.
I shrugged.
"If I embarrass myself tonight, this is the last night you're ever gonna see me." She declared.
Before I even had time to say anything, her small body pounced on me. We both fell to the ground in the middle of the street, in the middle of the crowd.
"Ouch!" I yell.
Jade hugged me tightly. "Goodbye, Ezzy."
"Get off me!" I tried unlatching her arms from my body.
People tried to not step on us while passing by.
After a few failed attempts at getting Jade to unlatch from me, I gave out a sigh, giving up. I hugged her back. "Goodbye."
We both finally pulled away from each other and stood up, dusting our clothes.
We finally parted and went out separate ways.
Collin and Ava have been best friends for as long as I can remember. Collin works at an auto repair shop with Ava doing arts. Collin never found interest in any particular thing, so he enrolled as a mechanic after college and in the last five years he's been like that
A body collided with mine from the side sending me stumbling a bit.
"Hey!" I yelled.
Hands steadied me as fast as lightning.
"My apologies. I am so sorry."
I looked up at a girl with dazzling blue eyes. She looked about two years elder than me. Her eyes roamed over my face, and she gasped, startling me. Before I could say anything, her hands left my arm and she turned around and left.
I stared as she disappeared into the crowd, leaving nothing for me to say.
A furrow nestled in my eyebrows, "Okay...weird."
When I unlocked the door of my apartment, surely, Collin had his headset over his ear with his fingers jabbing at the controller, eyes trained on the TV screen.
Twenty-five years and he's still obsessed with that X-Irritating-box. Ava was surely beside him too with her phone in her hand and a glass of drink in the other. That enough stated she was going to spend the night at our house once again.
Ava had short, cropped auburn hair with hazel eyes which blended with her dark features. Her features impressed warmth and gentleness but anyone would know she's anything but. Give her a bat, and she'll break every existing thing.
"Hiya Ez." Ava greeted, not taking her eyes off her phone, as I came in and shut the door.
A yawn came out of my lips as I slid off my jacket and accessories, "I hate my life."
"Once you leave that bakery, your gonna start pooping rainbows." She replied.
I chuckled whilst stifling another yawn, "I'm gonna make dinner. Do you want dinner?" I asked Collin who hasn't yet acknowledged my presence yet.
He still didn't hear me.
"DO YOU WANT DINNER?" I yelled and Ava slapped the back of his head.
His head snapped in my direction, "Oh your home." He smiled, taking off his headphones and pausing his game. "What were you saying?"
Collin had the brightest blond hair like white silk feathers that matched his sky-blue eyes. His features were completely opposite compared to Ava's. Ava had darker and Collin had lighter features. Collin had any other normal body compared to other people his age, with minimum muscles and a lean body.
"I asked if you wanted dinner," I repeated.
"Sure." He replied putting his headset back on.
I made eggs for dinner and put them on three plates, bringing him and Ava to the couch.
"Give me water too!" He yelled over the noise banging from his headset, making Ava flinch and spill her drink.
"Collin!" Ava shrieked, frowning over her drink-spilled t-shirt, "That's it, I'm raiding your closet." She stood, walking into Collin's room with Collin not even acknowledging her.
I rolled my eyes at Collin before moving into the kitchen to get him his glass of water.
I filled the glass till the top, walking back into the living room when a knock on the door made me stop in place.
I frowned in confusion and looked at the time to see it was 11 PM in the night.
Who could it be?
Collin was oblivious to the knock with his video game making banging noises in his headset.
I peeked into the peephole. No one came in sight.
Someone had covered it.
I pressed my ear to the door, with the same frown on my eyebrows. There wasn't a single sound except for Collin's constant curses and the soft noise of his video game.
Deciding to ignore the person who knocked - since I don't really like answering doors with unknown people on the other side without my baseball bat - and walked with the glass towards Collin.
"Knock-knock."
I froze.
A deep masculine voice spoke from the other side of the door.
I frowned and approached the door hesitatingly, peeking through the peephole again.
This time I jumped back when my eyes met a shadowed face with blue eyes glistening in the dark. My heart thudded rapidly in my chest when the image of three hooded figures coming to collect my soul came to mind.
It might be Grumpy Greg from the third floor who always wears his hood over his face because of his "sensitive eyes".
"I know you're in there. I can hear your heart beating."
My head snapped back to the door.
What? Hear my heart beating?
That's definitely not Grumpy Greg. As far as I knew, Greg was also deaf.
My gaze flickered back to Collin to see him still entranced in his game.
Something about this doesn't feel right.
"Oh come on, when I say knock-knock you're supposed to say, 'who's there?'." The masculine voice continues.
"Collin!" I hissed with my eyes glued to the door, legs stiff and firmly planted on the ground.
"And then I say 'Al'."
My body tensed.
"Collin!"
"And then you say, 'Al who?'"
"Collin!"
"And then I say, 'Al slit your neck open if you don't open this fucking door'."
"COLLIN!"
His head snapped in my direction, an eyebrow raised as he took off his headphones, "What?"
"There's someone at the door." A faint whisper left my lips.
"Then open it." He gave me a look saying, 'why are you being lazy?'
"There's someone creepy at the door."
"Ouch. That hurt. Creepy. I'm more of a silent killer type of person. Anyway, I'm getting impatient." Whoever out the door continued, saying the last part in a sing-song voice.
Collin's whole body went straight as a stick. The colour from his face drained away as he bolted up from the couch, the video controller falling from his hand and clattering on the floor. Fear crawled up my skin at his reaction, confirming that something was definitely wrong.
"Ez." Collin said slowly, in a really low whisper making me highly alert and frantic, "I need you to get inside your room and try escaping from the window."
My heartbeat rose on the seriousness of his voice.
"You know I can hear you right?" The person out the door spoke.
"Go. Now." Collin mouthed the words this time, his eyes were wide and expressions frantic.
I did not move.
I did not even breathe.
What is happening?
"I don't know why I am even waiting outside. I can just break this—" The door burst in, cracking out of its hinges and collapsing over me.
A scream left my lips as my head plummeted to the floor along with my whole body. A sharp pain shot through my head draining out Collin's voice screaming my name.
"Here we are—oh shit are you under that door? Didn't really mean to break the whole thing. Eh, it looked terrible anyway."
My head spun. Black spots clouded my vision, and I was unable to move with the heavy wooden door flat on top of me.
"Why are you here?" Collin snarled as I blinked to clear my vision.
"Don't get so pissy. I'm just here to take her then I'll leave you for good."
The door lifted off me exposing me to the bright light of the living room. I squirmed on the floor, head still spinning and unable to make out things.
A huge muscular chest appeared in my vision followed by a smile. A nasty smile. Deep icy blue eyes hovered over my face. That's what my eyes could manage to make out from everything blurring around me. My eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.
"Leave her alone, King." Collin spoke with his voice firm, despite the hidden fear dripping in obvious.
"Leave her alone, King." The guy repeated in a mock tone, his fingers clasped my chin making me gasp at how very hot his skin was. His face loomed over mine with strongly defined features.
"Don't touch her." Collin snarled.
"She's pretty. Where'd you get her from?"
"Alpha, please, leave her."
A roll of those icy blue eyes. "Geez, you make it sound like I'm so cruel."
My head spun further in confusion and dizziness. My limbs refused to co-operate with my brain and didn't move. All I could make out was their voices; Collin's tensed and frightened and whoever the person was, cruel and nasty.
"What was her name again? Oh right, Ezlynn." Hands snaked under the back of my neck and knees. "Well." He lifted me off the floor making me silently protest. "Say bye-bye to Ezlynn. We're gonna have a really long journey back to Saludom."
A blur of movement flashed in front of my eyes before my body plummeted back to the ground, knocking the breath out of my lungs. A huge gasp came out of my mouth at the collision followed by a fit of coughs.
"Ezlynn, run!" Collin roared.
I lift my throbbing head, clutching either side of my temples as the room spun around me. Long strands of black hair covered my sight. Something thrashed a few feet away from me. My fingers swept my hair to the side as my eyes strained to make out what it was.
A silver dog was trying to attack the Alpha guy - whoever he was.
A shriek came out of my lips.
Where the hell did that dog come from?
I tried getting a grip of my surroundings with my head throbbing like the worst hangover.
"Collin." A voice caught my attention.
Ava.
"Ava!" I yelled as her short auburn hair came in sight.
Her hazel eyes slid to me. Instead of running towards me as I expected, she got down on her hands, her eyes growing wild with her mouth pulling back into a snarl. I stared in horror as long fangs shot from her gums and dark brown fur grew from her skin. Her fingernails grew into claws with her hands shifting to paws.
My breath got stuck in my throat along with all the words my mouth wanted to spew.
Ava - or the now brown dog - pounced into the fight between the silver furred and the Alpha.
My jaw dropped down so low with my eyes glued to the fighting animals in the room.
It took me a while to realize that the silver dog was Collin.
The Alpha guy seemed to be at ease fighting off Ava and Collin.
The living room was very small. Too small for people and animals to fight at least. They kept slamming into walls, hitting furniture as they fought. A yelp came out of Ava's lips when the Alpha guy bit - let me repeat that - bit into Ava's neck. He pulled out with a growl, something clutched between his teeth.
My stomach dropped.
It was a huge chuck of Ava's flesh.
Ava fell to the ground, withering for a few seconds before going completely still.
Two more guys, looking huge and burly, barreled into the room from outside without a word or sound and pulled Collin's snarling body off the Alpha guy.
They grabbed Collin's furry head and slammed it against the wall repeatedly making me want to wrench out my guts. Blood splattered the wall as the two guys were done with Collin, letting him fall limply to the ground.
"Collin." A small whisper broke from my lips, my mind and body too stunned to move.
Before I could do anything else, I spotted the Alpha guy from the corner of my eyes and turned my head to look at him.
My heart rate increased a thousand times more as he brought up a thumb to the corner of his mouth, wiping Ava's blood. His eyes glinted with a dangerous mischievous look as he put his thumb in his mouth, sucking on it to clean it of the blood.
In other case scenarios, this would have seemed the hottest thing I've ever seen. Like Damon Salvatore hot. Instead, the blood dripping from his mouth was my brother's best friend, Ava's.
"I've always did love a little bit of fight." His deep voice rumbled with amusement. "Too bad it had to end like this. Hope you don't have to go potty 'cause we have a long journey back to Saludom."
My heart pounded loudly. "Who are you?" My voice wavered more than I expected it to.
I didn't even realize when the other guys, who had slammed Collin's head against a wall, had left the room.
The Alpha guy took a step toward me and I immediately scrambled to my feet, moving away.
His smirk widened when he saw me flinch. "I am the King Alpha. You know? Extremely sexy, bod of a god, King of every existing werewolf for over seven hundred years, bearer of Sahandred's crown and throne until the next generation." He waved a dismissive hand in the air. "There are a lot more ways I can describe myself, but I have a feeling your stupid human brain is just gonna deny the whole thing."
"What do you want?" I seethed.
He rolled his eyes, "Typical cliché. It's always the 'What do you want? Who are you? What do you want from me?'. I've got no time for that. Your friend, the one who I bit," He had the audacity to look proud. "Ruined my clothes and I hate when I'm unclean. You can't tell, but I'm currently raging from inside." His lips pulled into a dark grin.
One of his teeth at the front lay crooked just a bit as he flashed them with his grin.
My eyes followed his white shirt, which clung to his large muscular physique, stained with dark black blood which didn't look like human blood at all.
Damn, he's...ripped. Like literally. His shoulders broad with chest bulged seemed to occupy most of the living room. Not the best time to get on with my girly hormones but it's hard keeping my eyes off his form. Jesus...
"Okie Dokie, let's go." He marched over to me making me jolt from my place. I tried scampering away, but he grabbed my arm with his iron-strong grip, harshly pulling me, making me scream.
A wince crossed his features, "Jeez, calm down."
I started punching and clawing at his arm, body and anywhere I could, my defence moves completely forgotten.
King Alpha rolled his eyes at my pity attempt at saving myself, "Barnie can fight better than you. That stupid bear."
"He's...a...dinosaur," I struggled to free my arm from his grip.
"He's an insult to dinosaurs. Why are we talking about him—stop scratching me. It's useless. It seems like you're tickling me, which would be weird and kinky considering..." A thoughtful frown came on his face, making me halt and stare at him in confusion.
A second passed.
He shrugged, smirk returning, "Let me make this easier for both of us." He said and suddenly his hand was on my neck, before I could even comprehend what he was doing, he forced my face to meet his. His eyes bore into mine making me pause at the intensity of his pupils.
They flashed golden making me gasp in surprise.
I didn't know what happened next because my eyes closed and my mind submerged in darkness.
When I woke, I met with darkness once again, my surroundings silent and eerie. The last of my memories hit me like a truck, hyperventilating me. I went to move my black hair out of my face, but my hands didn't move more than an inch which was when I realized, my wrists were cuffed, binding me to a wall.
What...the actual hell?
I pulled against the cuffs a few times, noises of struggle coming out of my lips.
The cuffs wouldn't come out. A defeated sigh came out of my lips.
Where the hell am I?
Looking around, I couldn't figure out anything because of the darkness which blanketed the chilly room. A dull ache rang in my head, throat and chest.
"Hello? Collin? Ava?" I yelled into the silent darkness.
The door opened and I jumped in my own skin. Dim yellow light pooled inside the room before a body stood at the threshold. A switch flicked and the room brightened up like the sun making me squint my eyes with a small hiss.
"She's awakened."
That voice.
My eyes snapped back to the figure who moved inside the room, closing the door behind him. The room appeared smaller with his large figure inside. Here, with me. Alone.
"You." I grit my teeth, "Where am I?"
"Calm down blondie, you're in my room. Many don't get the honour of being here." He said casually stepping in and placing his keys on a neatly organized desk. His icy blue eyes turned to me. A small smirk plastered on his face.
"My hair is black."
"And I'm sexy. Your point?"
"Just tell me what's going on?" I snapped in frustration, "Is this a Halloween prank or something? Is Collin gonna come out from that closet and laugh at my face." I turned my eyes towards the closet, "Collin! You in there?"
King Alpha rolled his eyes, "Your brother is not in my closet. He's probably still unconscious taking his sweet time healing."
"Where am I? Why am cuffed like an animal?"
"I don't know," He shrugged his broad shoulders. "Oh wait, I do know! You see, a little birdie told me that I had a mate, which is impossible. Yet I was so intrigued, so I followed the little birdie who took me to your apartment and guess my surprise when I found that a mate indeed existed. So now here you are, ready to be my next kill."
"Your what?" I almost spluttered.
"I mean come on, think of it. How can a werewolf be mated to a human?" He let out a humourless laugh, "They can't, you fool! So this means...this is an act of magic. Those damn witches are playing their games again. And guess whose gonna win this time? This guy!" He pointed two thumbs at himself, showing one of his crooked teeth while grinning.
"This is nonsense!" I stated in exclamation, "I'm supposed to believe whatever you say?"
He shrugged, "What other theories can you come up with?"
"You're a psychopath who broke into my apartment with a dog virus. You infected Ava and Collin and now you want to infect me."
He clapped his hands together, giving a me fake 'brilliant-brilliant' look, "That was some theory but sorry to burst your bubble, it's not true. We're not dogs, we're werewolves. And your brother - who actually isn't your brother - and his friend are werewolves too."
"You're also a really good liar along with being a psychopath."
"And now, you're starting to bore me. The part when people start denying stuff just bores me to death. Like, come on people! I'm a werewolf and you're a pathetic human. You're gonna die so sing kumbaya and accept it. I don't usually go for an easy kill but since you've been punished to be magically mated to me, I'll make it quick and painless, aye?"
"Wha—"
He lunged before I could even blink. His hand on my throat pushed me to the wall. My neck gave a sharp painful rip.
Everything blurred.
An ear-splitting scream swiped through the entire room cracking the windows, glass, bulbs, and the chandelier into a million pieces.
The scream belonged to me.
The cold amused look on King Alpha's face crumbled as he winced, jerking away from me and pressing his hands on his ear.
Everything erupted in destruction as the furniture toppled one over the other by the explosive scream. Flames erupted from the broken bulbs, almost burning everything in the room.
My hand - which miraculously wasn't cuffed anymore - flew to my mouth, clamping it shut as I looked at King Alpha in panic and shock.
Everything went dead silent. The flames diminished, the ground stopped shaking, the bulbs retracted to their place, lighting up again as if they never shattered.
King Alpha's muscles tensed as he removed his hands from his ears, dangerously raising his head. His eyes blazed as he looked at me, jaw clenched.
"What," His voice was threatening, "are you?"
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Well, that was the first chapter!
I hope this interested you people and you'd continue reading!
Our character "King Alpha" can be a little frustrating sometimes and a hell lot of psychotic. This is my first time writing a kinda dark book so please bear with me on my inexperienced journey.
Date: 7th July 2021