TO JOIN THE PACK

Anna lost track of time whilst caressing that bangle on her wrist. When she finally snapped out of her daze, she realized that it was dark out.

She turned to the clock that sat on her bedside aand sure enough, it was already past eight.

8:19, it read.

She cursed under her breath as she got down from the bed and pulled her hair up into a tighter ponytail.

Anna left the room, her bottom lip between her teeth and her breathing in a steady rhythm. Something she did to calm herself and make sure she didn’t let her emotions consume her again. The last thing she wanted to do was piss Kane off, maybe then he would finally show his true colors and start treating her the same way Yaakov did.

The thought of that blue-eyed man sent shivers down her spine.

She still couldn’t believe that he was gone.

Sometimes she felt a cold chill down her back every time she walked, it was almost like she was being watched by him...Like he was right behind her waiting for the right moment to pounce.

Anna shook those disturbing thoughts out of her head, the last thing she wanted to do was overreact over something that had no chance of ever happening.

She saw him die right in front of her...There was no way, the man was coming back.

Right?

The living room was dimly lit tonight, it created quite a calm atmosphere that relaxed Anna’s nerves but only a little bit. She could hear the faint sound

They noticed her presence the second she walked in.

Tony and Kane were seated next to each other on the black couch, a table in front, and a high stack of papers. They each had a file in hand, Anna was curious as to what was in those documents.

They both set the papers down the second they spotted her, Kane only sparing her a glance while Tony gave a welcoming smile.

May sat at the far end of the living room, Anna didn’t expect to see her there...Or rather she just didn’t want to see May at all, not after what had transpired earlier in the day.

“Anna, come, sit!”

Anna didn’t think she would ever get used to such a welcome from a person, he didn’t look disappointed or disgusted at the sight of her, instead, he smiled and welcomed her like a living being.

She was more accustomed to the treatments she got from Kane and May.

May glared at Anna like they were both mortal enemies, she sneered before finally dragging her gaze away from Anna.

You are not that important.

Anna got the message.

She didn’t wish to be important either. She just wanted to get out of here.

“Please sit.” Tony said. Realizing that there was no reaction from her. Anna cautiously walked to the other black couch that was far away from everyone and sat down slowly, her mind waiting for someone to tell her to keep her ass on the ground rather than the chair where others sat.

No one said anything.

Anna was still tensed. She wanted to get this done and over with, Kane should just tell her what he’s decided and how shitty her life would become from here on out, until she would be able to escape.

“The warlocks gave you that?”

Kane finally acknowledged her presence, he gestured at the glowing bangle around her wrist that seemed to change the atmosphere due to its red and ominous light.

“Yes,”

Sh would not look him in the eyes, not after knowing what those eyes did to her and how much they destabilized her.

Somehow her body and mind could already identify the sound of his voice, even without the need to look at him.

This would be good enough for now.

“They said you can’t shift.”

It was like a weight pulling her heart down to her stomach the second those words left his lips. She fidgeted in her seat and played with her fingers, staring down at them with so much interest one would think they were some sort of magic fingers.

“Yes.” Anna replied. Her voice low as she sank deeper into the couch, wishing that she could just disappear in a snap.

“When didn’t you say anything when you were being brought here?”

“Much like the day I was brought here,” Anna rubbed her clammy palms against her jeans over and over again.

“My words are considered to be nothing, I am only allowed to speak when being spoken to and when I go against that, I’m being dragged to a kitchen and being threatened,”

Yeah. She had to let that one out.

None of them had given her a chance to actually tell them anything, only threats, orders, and warnings in the four days she’s been here. Yet Kane expects that she would just randomly walk up to him and tell him get greatest insecurity.

They were all living in a fantasy of that were the case.

She heard Kane suck in a deep breath, almost like her words upset him. Of course he would be upset.

That would be so Kane-Like of him.

“We get your point,” Came his cold voice, “But you could have at least given us a heads up sooner so we would’ve begun to find a solution to your…issue, sooner.”

Yeah. Her issue.

Anna raised her head to look at the man who spoke. From where she sat, he had the face of a god, the features of a demon that one would wish for them to be dragged by him to hell, his eyes sea green, glowed with so much power that it contrasted with the light of the bangle on her wrist. He wore a black dress shirt that was tucked into his plain trousers, three buttons at the top left undone and his arms crossed over his chest.

Yet, the man managed to look more relaxed and composed than anyone else in the room, his aura was regal and his eyes drowned her.

Then his lips were pressed into a thin line and there was a slight furrow between his brows that hinted at displeasure.

“It wouldn’t have mattered, and it wouldn’t have changed anything,” Anna said.

Kane was staring at her now, she knew how the mating bond worked because she has been in the midst of many fated mates, including her parents.

They would have an argument now but sooner or later they wouldn’t be able to resist getting closer to each other, apologizing and just letting whatever the issue was pass.

Kane felt exactly what Anna felt, she knew it. He was just better at hiding it than she was, his face was a literal blank mask but the fact remained that he was still looking at her in that way that sent tingles down her stomach and spine.

His gaze drank in her appearance like he hadn’t seen her before today and when their eyes met, it was like electricity coursing through her veins.

Did he feel it to that extent?

“The warlocks have told me what is to be done, to help you connect to the Wolf Spirit,”

Anna heard May’s scoff from the corner which meant that May already knew and she probably wasn’t happy with whatever decision, Kane and the warlocks made.

But then again, has the woman ever been happy with anything?

“And what is it they said?”

How glorious it would be to be able to shift, to feel that freedom she felt in the shrine.

“You will live like one of us, Anna.”

Anna shook her head, not understanding what he meant.

“Until you are able to access the Wolf Spirit, you will officially become a pack member, you will do your part just like everyone else,”

A pack member?

No!

That would just tie her down even deeper.

It would make escaping from this place so much harder.

“And before you say anything,” Kane brought his arms down from his chest, “I’m not asking you to do it, I’m telling you,”