A cold gust of wind chills my arms. I reach for the blanket but my fingers dig into cold soil. I open my eyes and see trees looming over me. The sky swirls with thick dark clouds. I sit up and look around.
I am in a forest. Only this is not a forest I recognize. The bark on the trees is darker and the air has a different hint of danger. I stand to my feet. I wear dark jeans and a loose top that I do not recognize. Goosebumps sprout onto my arms as another small breeze picks up.
My mind begins to race as I try to figure out how I got here. Where is Tyler?
All of the trees look the same. I am not in the SilverMoon pack. There is no landmark. There are no stars to direct me to civilization. A wave of fear washes over me as I begin to walk.
Something is watching me. Someone. My heart beats faster as I begin to run through the forest. Alarms sound in my head telling me to run faster.
I finally see a small clearing in the dense forest and turn towards it. I reach the middle of the clearing and the ground beneath my feet crumbles. I fall a few feet into a large hole. My feet fail to catch me and I roll onto my back.
I pull myself to my feet and claw at the cold dirt walls of the hole. It was a large trap probably dug out to catch bears. Or wolves.
I try to climb the dirt but my feet cannot get traction.
Alex, my wolf warns as I start to scream for help.
I claw at the soil until I wrap my fingers around a stringy root. I use it like a rope and begin to climb the wall. My heart races as I grow desperate to reach the surface of the deep hole.
I climb further up the deep hole until my hand slaps on the surface of the cold earth. I pull harder on the root and reach my other arm up. A strong hand wraps around mine and pulls me towards the surface.
Then I see his face.
His dark hair hangs in his face. His kaleidoscope green eyes bleed into mine.
"Hello again." Liam's face spreads into a wicked cheshire smile.
I let out a gasp and release my grip on both the root and his hand causing me to fall backwards back into the bear trap.
I hit the bottom hard and scrape my side on a sharp stick. I grunt in pain as I try to get back to my feet. My temples thump as I begin to feel a pain in my neck.
I dare to climb the root again. My heart pounds as I pull with all of my strength on the root. I finally claw both of my hands to the surface and hoist my body up. I roll onto the ground and look up at the trees once more.
I am gasping for air at this point as I drag my dirty body back to its feet. I look around to see a dark cloud near the trees.
My heart skips a few beats and I struggle to catch my breath. I once again begin to run, but this time the dark cloud is chasing me.
I run and run through the forest until my side begins to burn. I can't breathe. What is wrong with me? I finally slow my pace to a walk only to stop completely and fall to my knees. I wheeze as I try to suck in more oxygen.
Am I having a panic attack?
I look in front of me and see the black cloud stalking closer. I gasp another breath of air and pull myself back to my feet. I turn around and come face to face with the dark figure. The cloud slowly molds into a man. Liam.
"You don't look so good, Love." Liam tilts his head to the side with fake concern. My lungs beg for air as I shoot him a glare.
"Where am I?" I gasp out, still trying to breathe.
"You are in my forest, Alexandra." He gestures his arms out to the woods as if it is his greatest creation.
"Am I supposed to stop and admire something?" I retort, but my face holds no emotion. I don't even look at him. I am too focused on trying to catch my breath.
"Just tell me what you want." I fall to my knees in exhaustion. I place my hand over my chest and gasp like a fish out of water.
"I told you what I wanted last time we met, little wolf." He looks me over.
My mind spins in circles as he starts to look blurry. Is this oxygen loss? I can't focus on anything but trying to breathe. My lungs burn like a blazing fire.
"I can fix that, you know." He smirks, bending down to my level.
"What did you. do to me. Liam?" I choke out.
"Promise you will come to me and I will tell you." He gently brushes a strand of dark hair out of my face.
"Why? Would I. Give you that. Satisfaction" I struggle out. My eyes beg to close. I want to collapse onto the ground.
He smiles as he stands to his feet. He walks a slow circle around me.
"Your choice, love. I'm just simply trying to help my little hybrid" The word hybrid hits me hard. He is the only one who knows truly what I am.
"Okay. Then help. Me" I wheeze. My head spins.
He kneels down again, locking eyes with me. "I'm sorry, what was that?" He cups his hand to his ear.
"Please Liam." I spit, on the verge of unconsciousness.
His mouth morphs into another smirk as he reaches a hand out to move my hair away from my neck. The air is cold on my bare skin. He then pulls hard on something and I feel a small pinch on my neck. Suddenly I can breathe again. Air floods into my lungs as my vision clears up. He pulls his hand back to reveal what he yanked out of my neck.
A small black pin needle is wedged between his two fingers. The sharp point is crimson red from my blood.
He brings the end of the needle up to his lips and licks the blood off slowly. His pupils dilate for a moment. My lips part slightly.
"There, that wasn't so hard, was it?" He finally speaks, reaching his hand out to help me to my feet.
I step back from him, my eyes growing dark. "What do you want from me?" I bark.
He steps closer to me, his sea-green eyes locking with mine.
"I already told you, dear, I want you to come with me." He says with another smile.
Once again I can smell his scent. It lures me into actually thinking of staying with him.
Alarms go off in my head once again.
Alexandra, stop this, my wolf howls inside me. I shake my head.
"Come with you where?" I take another step away from him.
"Back home." He states with a nod.
"My home is different from your home." I grit through my teeth.
"You'll love it at my mansion." He purrs.
"You see, Alexandra," he begins, my name rolling off his tongue, "I am known as a pure blooded vampire." He grins, revealing his sharp white fangs. "This means I am not only stronger and faster than normal vampires, but I am so much more powerful," he says, stepping closer to me. He is so close.
He leans in and whispers into my ear, "Who knows, maybe I could read your thoughts." Chills run down my spine as I imagine him inside my head.
The thoughts I keep hidden about myself. About my strange allure to the vampire. About my mate in the SilverMoon pack.
I growl and place my hands firmly on his chest, shoving him away. He stumbles back a few feet and his features darken.
"Someone is feisty!" He circles me. I turn with him, not daring to take my eyes off of the predator. "Shall we bring the wolf out again?" He muses, reminding me of the last time he brought my wolf out. Something about him gets under my skin. Usually I can control my wolf, but last time he got her to come out without much effort.
I act on impulse and shove him. This time he flies off of his feet until he hits the ground several feet away. He is on his feet in a flash, dusting the dirt off of the sleeves of his black shirt. He looks back into my now electric blue eyes and smirks at the effect he has on me. Anger boils in my blood.
He rushes me at the speed of light, shoving me into a tree across from him. The wind is knocked out of me. I let out a hiss, bearing my fangs to him.
"Hmm" he examines my fangs as I struggle against the tree. I try to shove him off but he is firmly pressing me against the tree. My next move is to kick him where it hurts. I move my leg quickly to his soft spot only for him to grab my leg roughly. I grunt in anger as I struggle to escape his grasp.
"Slow down there, Tiger" he soothes. His fangs retract as his demeanor becomes less menacing. Is he scared of me? I continue to struggle against his grasp, snapping my jaw in an attempt to bite him.
He grabs my chin roughly with his hand, forcing our gazes to meet.
"Stop struggling." His voice drops an octave as we lock eyes. My body immediately freezes. My heart then begins to beat faster as I mentally panic. As hard as I try, I can no longer move.
"What did you do to me?" I ask, my voice trembling with confusion.
"Persuasion" He states. He releases his grasp on me and steps away from the tree.
I am free. I could escape now. I push off the tree and run as fast as I can away from the beast. I look behind me and he is gone. I turn back towards where I am going and crash right into him.
He chuckles as my eyes pop open, "Don't worry, love, I'm used to girls throwing themselves at me."
I step back a few paces.
"You might want to simmer down, little wolf. I mean if you want to know about your friend, Addison" he says casually.
Addison. The memories flood into my mind. She crumbled to the floor after she was bitten by one of his kind. I went to go get help, but the pack house was on fire. The alpha was murdered. He told me to run.
"What about Addison?" I step towards Liam, my fists clenching.
"I see that I have sparked an interest," he steps closer. "She is alive and well my dear," he breathes out, "and quite happy I rescued her too." He gives me a wicked look. "She's already personally rewarded me."
"You're lying." I spit.
"Awe don't be so jealous, dear," He gives me a coy smile, "it didn't get too steamy."
"Addison is dead" I state, pain lacing my voice. She has to be. She was bitten my a vampire. Her eyes closed and her body went limp. She lost an impressive amount of blood.
"Are you sure?" He asks mysteriously. There is a glimmer in his eye.
"Is she alive?" I don't miss a beat. Even if there is a small chance that he is telling the truth, I will do anything to make sure she is safe again.
Liam simply nods in response. "She is enjoying the great care at my lovely home."
"I need to see her!" I blurt out.
Liam reaches his hand out to touch my head. Immediately I can see her in my head. I close my eyes. My blonde haired best friend is sitting in a dark room with her hands around her knees. She is surrounded by a circle of vampires. They bear their fangs and inch closer to her. I hear a faint scream echo in my ears.
Liam pulls his hand away and I open my eyes
"Let Addison go." I demand.
Liam smirks one final time, "Come and get her yourself" he challenges me. His image fades into black smoke. The smoke quickly fades and Liam is nowhere to be found.
I pull in a breath as I whip my head around to search for him. The dark trees spin around me until the ground beneath me begins to crumble. Large chunks of earth shatter into a million pieces until I fall into nothingness.
Liam has been inside of my head this whole time.
I jolt awake gasping for air. I quickly look around to realize that I am in Tyler's bed.
Alone.
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Updated chapter*
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