Chapter 8 You Can't Survive Here

• I was in the middle of the forest, trees surrounding me as far as the eye can see. I had been running for ages, as far as I could remember. Maybe I had always been running, with pain shooting up my legs, and thorns pricking against my skin.
• As I looked around frantically, dread washed over my body in waves. In the darkness, I felt like I could see countless silhouettes. Monsters. Wolves. The only thing I could properly make out, in the end, were the eyes.
• Red eyes. In all directions.
• And they were getting closer.
• I wanted to run, to back away, but I was surrounded. I could hear their panting breaths so close it was almost against my ears. There was no escape.
• “I told you,” a female voice rang out. “You won’t survive here.”
• “Gillian?” I called. I spun around to see where the voice could have come from, but there were so many eyes, and my vision was hazy.
• When I finally spotted where her laughter was coming from, it was too late. The wolf pounced on me at once, its weight overwhelming my body.
• The last thing I felt was its teeth sinking into my flesh, before I woke up screaming.
• At least, I tried to scream.
• I could see my room around me. I was not in the forest, and was safe and sound in the pack house. But I still could not breathe…
• Then I finally saw Myles sitting stony-faced at the side of the bed, his index finger and thumb pinching my nose shut. What the hell?
• I began to flail wildly, slapping at his hands in an attempt to get them off of me. Surprisingly, he let go quickly. I didn’t think I could move a regular werewolf if they actually meant to stay put, let alone the Lycan Prince himself. But I didn’t have time to dwell on it, as I gasped for breath.
• “You… you…” I stammered, looking at him in suspicion and fear.
• “You snore when you sleep, human. That irritated me,” he replied in his low and deep voice, as if that was a good explanation.
• I was left in shock. First of all, some snores should not warrant me being murdered in my sleep by my “future husband”. Secondly… THIS WAS MY ROOM?
• I was sure I had locked the door before I went to sleep. This was an unfamiliar and dangerous environment, and even a girl as dumb as me knew not to take my chances. So how did he get in?
• When I asked him, he only stared at me for a while before turning away.
• “Put on some clothes when you sleep,” he said.
• It was then that I suddenly felt the chill of the night, and realised I was only in my underwear. I mean, no one had given me any pajamas yet.
• I froze for too long before throwing the covers up over my chest.
• “Normally, when you break into someone’s room, you don’t get to complain about what they’re wearing,” I retorted.
• He immediately whipped around. A sense of dread washed over me again as he seemed to grow in size, towering over me. “What did you just say?”
• I pursed my lips, not daring to say anything more. He tried to suffocate me in my sleep just for snoring; if I dared to call him a burglar, wouldn’t he actually strangle me to death?
• “Friendly reminder that this is my house. I am allowed to go wherever I want.” He scoffed before sitting on the couch.
• I could only sigh while watching him cautiously. It felt like being locked inside a cage with a wild animal. I wasn’t sure if or when he would turn violent.
• We stayed silent like that for a while, as if at an impasse.
• Then, he finally spoke up, “I was informed that you went to see the Queen Mother yesterday.”
• I tensed up, recalling the entire interaction. The Queen Mother, Agent Kane, the deal… “Yeah. She called for me.”
• Myles nodded, but his expression was grave.
• “What did she want? What did you two talk about?”
• I wasn’t surprised he would ask that. After all, what she said about him wasn’t exactly flattering. It wasn’t a reach to assume the animosity might go both ways.
• Still, it was probably best not to get involved. A human getting caught up in the power struggle between werewolves would probably spell death.
• I thought about my father, my brother.. My mother. What would they do? Surely, any one of them would be better equipped to handle this kind of situation. They would always know what to do. So why was it just me remaining, here, alone?
• “Kimberly!” Myles’ deep voice shook me out of my thoughts.
• I blinked. “What?”
• “When I ask you a question, you answer,” he demanded, his brows furrowed.
• There wasn’t a trace of friendliness in his eyes. I felt annoyance bubbling up in me. Obviously, I knew we were not in love or getting married. But couldn’t he at least pretend to be nice?
• I stared at him with an air of defiance, and he held my gaze. So, he wanted to be rude and unfriendly? Two could play at this game.
• “She wanted me to marry her son instead,” I said, forcing a calm expression onto my face. At the same time, I watched him for any reaction.
• He didn’t seem affected at all. He only scoffed lightly, as if I had told a joke, and then got up to leave.
• I felt a bit stupid. Why would he care if I married his brother instead? It’s not like he cared about me. If anything, he’d be happy to offload the burden of his helpless, stupid, new human wife.
• Just as he was about to leave, I shouted after him, “Wait!”
• I didn’t know what came over me. His hands stopped over the door knob, but that was the only indication he gave that he was listening.
• “I… I want to continue going to school,” I declared, ashamed by the tremble in my voice.
• I had been thinking about it for a while. I only had one year to go before finishing school. Since I was trapped in this castle for an indefinite period of time, I might as well continue my studies. At the very least, this period of time wouldn’t be a total waste.
• It would keep me busy, and time might go by faster. The hidden bonus was that I wouldn’t have to spend all day at home, trapped with him.
• There was a short moment of silence before he finally turned around. Still, he didn’t speak a word.
• The silence made me jittery, and I was so afraid that he would turn me down without even considering it.
• “I promise I will keep my distance from you and that I won’t cause any trouble! Please, just… Let me go back to school.”
• He stared soundlessly at me for almost a minute. I could feel my heartbeat in my ears. Did I make a mistake? Was he going to kill me? Lock me up?
• Then the moment passed, and he shrugged. “Fine. Someone will arrange your enrollment. The next semester starts in a few days.”
• A wave of relief washed over me.
• I was just thinking that we were done, when he suddenly began to walk towards me. I cowered instinctively. What did he want?
• I was just imagining the worst, when my hand was grabbed. His grip was tight and unforgiving, and he stared at my hand. That was the spot I had been scratched last night, by that wolf. How did he notice from so far away?
• “What happened?” He asked, a scary undertone in his voice. I bit back my sarcastic remark about how his grip was hurting me more than the injury.
• “I… I was,” I began.
• He glared at me, and it almost seemed like his eyes were glowing. The wheels spun rapidly in my brain, trying to come up with a convincing story.
• “I was just…”
• He raised an eyebrow.
• “I tripped.” I ended weakly.
• To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure why I lied. It felt at that moment like the safest thing to do.
• Suddenly, a burst of pain blinded me for a second. He had tightened his hold on my hand.
• “What the hell are you doing?” I cried out in protest. It felt like he was trying to snap my hand off of my wrist with the pressure.
• He leaned in closer to me, his huge body dwarfing my smaller frame. I felt my blood run cold as his gaze seemed to peer right through me. In this posture, I was completely helpless, my hand caught in his, and my back pressed up against the wall.
• Before he finally released me, he warned me in a low and dangerous voice,
• “The next time you lie to me, I will cut off your tongue.”
• -