Chapter 1 Elodie

• ELODIE
• “Ducky, can you hear me?” A loud, impatient voice rang through the air.
• Despite the background noise, I recognized the voice immediately. There was only one person in the world who called me that.
• “Keep your voice down; you might wake her,” another voice muttered, slightly softer than the first.
• Beep!
• Beep!
• The beeping sound pierced through me. My head hurts. Every breath I took made me feel like my lungs were blocked.
• It hurt so much.
• I tried moving my fingers, but it was tough. I noticed that I couldn't move any part of my body.
• “Ducky, can you hear me?” The first voice repeated itself.
• Hearing his voice made me want to talk to him. “Tedros?” My lips moved on their own, and surprisingly, it didn't hurt anymore.
• “Ducky, you're awake.” He sounded pained, and I felt a hand on mine.
• I wanted to open my eyes and look at him. He came; he came for me. My head throbbed as I tried to remember all that happened.
• “What happened to Beatrice?” he asked almost immediately.
• Surprised, I managed to open my eyes. My vision was blurry, and the light in the room was dim, but as my eyes adjusted, I found Tedros sitting next to me.
• “Where am I?” I questioned myself as I tried to sit up but couldn't.
• “You're at the hospital,” he responded.
• My eyes scanned the room, and every movement made my head throb.
• Although I was happy to see him there, the look on his face took me by surprise. He looked hurt, like he was grieving.
• “Where is Beatrice?” I inquired, my head hurting as I moved my lips.
• “Tedros,” the second voice interjected. “You can ask her that later. You have to let the medicine work on her.”
• My eyes darted, and I found Cole, Tedros' little brother, sitting next to me. He wore the same expression, and I couldn't help but panic.
• “Where is Beatrice?” This time, I tried to get up again but couldn't. “Is she alright?”
• Tedros avoided my gaze. His face was filled with hurt. I glanced at Cole, hoping he would tell me what happened, but he avoided my eyes.
• “What happened to her?” I demanded.
• After what felt like hours, my breathing grew heavy, and tears formed in my eyes. Tedros finally spoke.
• “She died,” Tedros answered.
• Dead? My blood ran cold. It couldn't be possible, right? He was lying. Beatrice wasn't dead. Tedros must be joking with me, but his face said otherwise.
• “What the fuck?” Cole yelled. “You shouldn't have told her that when she's in this condition!”
• Tedros' hand left mine, and he ruffled his hair. “My mate is dead, Cole. She died alongside the baby, and you expect me not to tell her friend that.”
• The words pierced through my heart. I still couldn't believe it. Beatrice had always wanted that baby. She had talked a lot about the name she wanted to give him or her.
• She couldn't be dead. She must be alive. The beeping sound of the machines grew louder, and I could hear Cole and Tedros panicking in the background.
• I couldn't make out what they were saying. However, after a while, I felt a substance inserted into me. My body began reacting to it. My eyes started to feel heavy.
• “Is she going to be alright?” I heard Tedros ask another figure in the room.
• “Alpha, after looking through her files, I guess she might have temporary memory loss about what happened.”
• “What? She wouldn't remember what happened to her and my mate.”
• “Yes, Alpha.”
• As I drifted into unconsciousness, I wished I would never remember that day. It would be better for me and everyone else.
• “You have to make her remember,” were the last words I heard before I fell into a deep slumber.
• *********
• ELODIE
• 3 years later.
• “Welcome, Ms. Campbell.” My personal assistant greeted me as I made my way inside.
• Holding my head high, I glanced at the people that were in the conference room. They were two women, and they were in their mid-40s.
• “Good evening, Ms. Campbell.” The woman greeted me.
• Taking my seat, I smiled at them. “Hello, Mrs. Thompsons.”
• They returned the smile, and I tried to keep my fake smile in place. The Thompsons were my high-paying clients.
• I'm currently the CEO of Elod's security organization. It is currently located in human territory, but my employees were werewolves.
• However, our clients were mostly humans because they were the ones who needed protection more than werewolves.
• The ladies in front of me were humans who had no idea that they were staring at a werewolf.
• “Ms. Campbell, we have been waiting for an hour. Couldn't you have told us that you were going to be late?” The first woman muttered.
• Sighing, I collected the files that my assistant was handing to me. "Sorry, I was late. I was so caught up with what I was doing. By the way, why are you ladies here? I thought that I had already offered you a contract.”
• “You did.” The second lady said something, making me look away from the file to look at her. “We are here for something else.”
• “And that is?” I asked.
• “We were wondering...”
• Just then, another employee walked into the room. He headed towards me, leaning. He whispered into my ear.
• “There is a werewolf on the loose. We guessed it was a rogue. I don't know the gender, but we were hoping you would come check it out.” He whispered.
• I was stunned by what he had told me, but I managed to put on a straight face. I nodded at him, and he turned around and left.
• “I'm sorry to say this.” I began. “I will have to go, Mrs. Thompsons. I have an urgent matter to attend to.”
• The ladies looked disappointed. “You have just gotten here.”
• “My assistant would handle all you want,” I told them before rising to my feet. “I will take it up with you both later.”
• Mrs. Thompson pouted. I waited, waiting for her to snap at me, but the other one tugged at her arm.
• “Fine, we will let your assistant attend to us.”
• “Oh, thank you.” I clasped my hands together. “I'm leaving now.”
• I stared at my assistant, and she nodded her head, assuring me that she could handle it. With that, I walked out of the room.
• The werewolf better be a reasonable one because if he or she is a problem to the different species, My security team was going to get rid of it.
• I got to the parking lot, and I found various of my men. They were packing all the weapons that were needed to capture a werewolf.
• They acknowledged me by nodding their heads, and I responded by nodding back.
• “Elodie.” A voice called, and his footsteps approached me.
• “Yes, Lucas?” I asked as I got to my car and pulled the driver's seat open. “Where is the loose werewolf?”
• Lucas got into the car with me and sat in the passenger's seat. He strapped his seatbelt on just as I was done with mine.
• “He was found in city X,” Lucas replied. “He was drunk and ended up transforming prematurely.”
• Werewolves that transform prematurely are hard to find. They are the ones who lose control of their transformation after years of not shifting.
• “Sounds easy to tame,” I mumbled, confident that I was going to be able to deal with him as I have dealt with others.
• “Confident, are we?”
• “Yes.” I started the car and hit the road.
• Glancing at the rearview glass, I could see the other cars following us. I opened the drawer in my car, took out my gun, and pulled the trigger.
• “Silver bullets?” Lucas eyed the gun as he inquired.
• “Tranquilizer.”
• Lucas backed away at the mention of the tranquilizer. We didn't say a word to each other until I was pulling the car to the side of a building next to an alley.
• “Is this the location?” I asked Lucas.
• “Yes.”
• I got out of the car, slamming the door shut. Lucas followed suit. The alley was dark, but we could see in the dark; we were werewolves after all.
• I readied my gun and pulled the trigger. I aimed it at my path as I made my way into the alley. By this time, the others were already there with us, and I could still hear Lucas giving them instructions.
• My eyes scanned the alley as I walked deeper. I pulled out a torch for better visibility, shining it around. Hopefully, he hasn't harmed anyone yet.
• There was no blood, which made me more cautious. Werewolves like him usually go on killing sprees.
• “Elodie, wait up.” I heard Lucas calling out to me, but I didn't stop.
• I kept on walking; they were going to catch up with me soon. I stumbled upon a heap of clothes; they were several sizes. They looked like they were going to be my size.
• Then I saw a ripped cloth next to the heap. There was a sign that he was near, judging from the clothes. He must have wanted to put on some clothes.
• I reached down to pick up a cloth. If he was that tiny, he must be a teen. I was just turning around when a figure lunged at me.
• I managed to get out of the way before his claws could touch me. But I was thrown off balance when his left hand gripped my shoulder and shoved me.
• The torch I was holding fell off my hand, and I was about to get on my feet when he pinned me against the floor.
• I take my words back; this man wasn't a teen. He was huge—two times my size, no kidding. I tried squirming my way out, but it was no use.
• “Ducky?” He called, making my eyes widen.
• I stared at his face; the light flashed in his face. His hair was messy, but he looked as handsome as I could remember. His gray eyes held mine, and I felt my breath catch up in my throat.
• “What are you doing here?” He questioned.