Chapter 39: Chapter Thirty-Eight

Finley

I groaned as my hand instantly went to the side of my head where it came into contact with a bandage. I could feel it throbbing slightly as I struggled to open my eyes. The blinding light was making my eyes sensitive and took a minute for me to adjust my eyes.

I was in a bedroom with large floor to ceiling sliding doors that led to a balcony. The doors were partially open and I watched the sheer curtains as they moved in the light breeze. The bedroom was big, the biggest I’ve seen so far and I was in a huge bed.

On the wall across from the bed was a big flat screen television with the sound turned low and a plush sofa stood in front of the television. On the other side was a desk with a laptop that looked vaguely familiar and off to the side was a smaller table with two chairs.

There were two doors on the other side and I tried to sit upright in the bed. Somebody had changed my clothes and I now wore sleeping shorts and a spaghetti strap top, something I’d never choose for myself.

“You’re awake,” I heard a woman’s voice.

I moved to the back of the bed and I felt the headboard against my back as the woman walked deeper into the room carrying a try.

“Who are you? Where am I?” I asked her.

“I’m Jenny and you’re in Alpha Calvin’s quarters,” she said as I squinted at her.

I mulled the word over in my head as she put the tray down on the table, gave me a quick bow with her head and left the room. I walked over to the table and scrunched my nose at the cup of coffee on the tray.

I heard faint laughter and shouting and I walked towards the sliding doors but didn’t move onto the balcony. I stood behind the curtains and watched about twenty men in shorts as they sparred against each other.

“Again!” I heard Calvin’s voice as he stood in front of them.

I heard the crunching of bone as one man flipped another over his back holding his arm at an awkward angle. He let go of his arm and I could see the rage in the other’s man demeanor. He was pissed off and I watched in disbelief as his body transformed into that of a wolf.

I tripped over the chair as I reeled backwards in fright and scrambled to the other side of the room until my back hit the wall. I couldn’t believe what I just saw and suddenly Damon’s words were in my head, “what if what you wrote was actually true.” It couldn’t be, I had to be dreaming but something in the back of my mind told me this was as real as it got.

I don’t know how long I sat against that wall but my head snapped up when the door was unlocked and opened. I was sitting half behind a dresser and Calvin came into my view as he sniffed the air and turned towards me.

“Ah I see you’re up,” he said with a smile but that smile didn’t do anything for me anymore. While he was good looking he was nothing compared to Damon. I slapped myself internally for suddenly thinking about that bastard.

“What are you?” I asked him as he chuckled.

“Exactly what you think I am,” he said as he knelt down in front of me.

“Why am I here?” I asked him.

“To keep you safe Finley,” he said as he stood up again and lowered his hand to mine.

I didn’t have much of a choice as he bent down again and grabbed my hand, pulling me up as he stood up straight. He let go of my hand and walked to the table where my food stood untouched. He looked from the tray towards me.

“Not to your liking?” he asked me.

“I didn’t have an appetite after seeing one of your men transform,” I said to him.

“I thought you might be a believer, since what you write is so accurate,” he said to me and I frowned as I looked at him.

“What?” I asked him.

“How do you know so much about us?” he asked me as he sat down in one of the chairs. He indicated the other chair with his hand and I sat down opposite him.

“It’s fiction, I made stuff up as I wrote,” I said to him and he laughed.

“That’s impossible, nobody can just guess how our ceremonies work and what our culture entails,” he said.

“It’s the truth,” I said to him.

“Okay,” he said.

“So again, why am I here?” I asked him.

“There are people after you Finley, some packs want you dead, others want to capture you,” he said as he looked at me.

“And you?” I asked him.

“I want to protect you,” he said.

“And how are you going to do that?” I asked him.

“I was going to woo you at first but that damn Enforcer kept getting in my way, where is he by the way?” he asked.

“What is an enforcer?” I asked him.

“Ah it seems you don’t know everything,” he said.

“Like I told you, it’s stuff I made up and dreamt about,” I said to him.

“The man you spent all your time with, Damon Woods, he’s an Enforcer,” Calvin said.

“Is he like you?” I asked him as my heart started beating loudly.

“In a way, we’re wolves, they’re jaguars,” he said.

“What is an enforcer?” I asked him as pieces started fitting together. Damon knowing things, always being awake when I was no matter what the time. Damon always finding me. Damon sniffing the air just like Calvin had done, his eyes slightly changing.

“Enforcers are just that, they enforce all the laws of the supernatural world. They are the Oracle’s executioners as well, they do what must be done to keep law and order, inspections, hunts, executions, captures and sometimes protecting people like you,” he said.

“So Damon was protecting me?” I asked him.

“That’s what he said,” he answered.

“You know him?” I asked.

“Oh yes, everybody knows Damon Woods,” he said and I didn’t like the tone that he used.

“Wait you said you were going to woo me,” I said as I looked at him.

“Finley, the best way to keep you safe is to mark you and turn you, then you’re one of us, obviously you won’t be able to write about wolves anymore, preferably not about supernatural beings, but this way you’ll be safe, because you’ll be a Luna of a strong pack,” he said to me and the thought of him touching me made me feel queasy.

“I don’t want to be one of you,” I said to him.

“You’ll change your mind, I can be very charming when I want to be. This will be your room for the time being, you can walk around freely in the pack house but you can’t leave the house without an escort,” he said to me.

“So I’m a prisoner here?” I asked him.

“Don’t see it like that, I really just want to keep you safe, you’re an intriguing person Finley and I need a mate,” he said.

“I’m sure you have plenty of women to choose from in your own pack,” I said to him.

“I do but I want you,” he said as his eyes flashed into a darker color before returning to brown.

“Can I call my brother? He’s expecting me to fly to Los Angeles to go visit him,” I said.

“Your call will be monitored and if you say anything you’re not supposed to, we’ll unfortunately have to eliminate him,” he said and I understood the threat very well.

“I won’t, I just don’t want him to worry about me and call the police,” I said as Calvin looked at me.

It seemed that mentioning the police did the trick. Although there was no way I could give Archer a message of where I was, I didn’t even know where Calvin lived and all I could see was grassy expanse and dense forests surrounding the massive house I was in.

Calvin gave me his cellphone and I punched Archer’s number in. I couldn’t believe the situation I found myself in, surrounded by real life wolves, people that turned into actual wolves and this Alpha wanted to keep me here.

“Hello,” Archer said.

“Archer,” I said and I could hear him exhale in relief.

“Luce, where are you?” he asked me.

“I’m okay, I’m with a friend and I won’t be flying out to Los Angeles to see you like I said,” I said to him.

“Uhm okay, where is this friend?” he asked me.

“I just need a few days to clear my head, I’ll call you again, I just didn’t want you to worry,” I said to him. Calvin motioned with his hand for me to wrap up the conversation.

“Are you sure you’re okay? Just tell me where you are,” Archer said.

“Give Sebastian a hug and a kiss from me, I love you Archer,” I said to him and ended the call.

Calvin took his phone from me and put it back in his pocket after saving Archer’s number. My heart was thumping in my chest and I was sure that Calvin could hear it. I needed to get away from here but how?

“Who’s Sebastian?” he asked me.

“My brother’s adopted son,” I said and smiled sadly. The sadness though was genuine but he’d think that I missed the boy. I hoped that Archer understood that I was in trouble.

“Don’t worry Finley, soon I’ll give you children of your own,” he said as he stood up from the chair and walked to where I stood. His hands were on either side of my face as he lowered his mouth to mine and kissed me.

“No,” I said and pushed him away from me. That kiss was disgusting and I couldn’t stand him touching me.

“No?” he asked as he stalked me and trapped me against the bedroom wall. He smiled suddenly and I could see his canines peeking out from his top lip as he gripped my face and turned it away so my neck was exposed to his face.

“Who the fuck marked you?” he suddenly yelled as his fist crashed against the wall right next to my head.

“What?” I shrieked, not understanding what he was talking about.

“I asked who the fuck marked you,” he said as his eyes were now completely dark and his voice sounded different.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said to him fearfully.