Chapter 9

　　RILEY: 　　I wasn't sure what to be worried about. Maybe it was the fact that I happened to be attacked or that I witnessed the transformation of a real wolf into a man that turned out to be Damien. 　　I was going insane. And I was sure that in no time, I'm going to be crazy from knowing how stressful everything seems to be. 　　"Stay put, Riley. Let the doctor clean that up," Damien says as I withdraw my arm from the supposed doctor who was about to add something to the scratch I have on it. This probably resulted from the aggressive push to the ground in Xavier's bid to protect me. 　　"It hurts!" I snap. 　　"It has to. And it will only get worse if you don't let him clean it up now. So just stay put and let him finish his job or I'll be forced to hold you down myself." 　　I glare at him. "Don't you dare come any closer to me. I'll rip your eyes out!" I threaten. 　　The little distraction gives the doctor the chance to actually apply the ointment on to my arm and I almost yelp at the sting I felt from it. But in no time I felt relieved from it as he let me be. 　　"Are you just full of lies or you're pretty good at cooking them up?" I ask without looking in his direction. From the corner of my eye, I watch him dismiss the doctor with a hand gesture and the doctor adheres to it instantly. 　　"And why would you think I've been lying to you?" 　　"Tell me one thing you've told me since you forcefully brought me here that has been true. For all I know there's no bond between us and you only brought me here to fulfill your selfish desire." 　　I look at him after I'm done speaking and his expression seems a bit twisted. 　　"I would never lie about something as dire as that to you," he says in an almost high-pitched tone. "The mate bond is a sacred gift and shouldn't be made use of as a trick. So you'll need to believe me—" 　　I cut him off, "I would advise you don't finish that statement because there's no way I'll be trusting a man who hasn't been sincere about anything." 　　"If this is about the attack on the pack that happened earlier, you'll need to believe that I didn't know it was going to happen." 　　"So you're telling me that was the first? And it just had to happen when I was brought in here. Is that it?" I demand to know. 　　Damien starts to shake his head but then stops. "Not exactly," he says. 　　"Then what is it? Because with the look of things, it sounds like it's me who brought about such bad luck to your pack." 　　"Actually this isn't the first time that we're experiencing such an attack," he admits. 　　"But you called your pack safe for me. How is this safe for crying out loud?" 　　"It still is. Right now I can't risk having you out there in the open. I'll protect you the best way I can as long as you're still in here." 　　I wasn't sure what to say to that. It sounded like he was promising me but I sure couldn't take his word for it. Not when the feelings I have against him are filled with pure hatred. 　　There is silence for a while between us until he breaks it. 　　"Those who have a hand in this are called rogue wolves and are led by a being named Garrett who is also a rogue like them." 　　I raise my brows questioningly. "And where do these rogue wolves come from? Who are they?" 　　"Runaway and banished members of different packs. The runaways are the more common ones as they demand to experience freedom without being under any hierarchy. Although at the end of the day, they still find themselves under one because it seems Garrett has succeeded in uniting most of them into one unit," he explains with serious intent and I find myself intrigued. 　　"This Garrett," I start to say, "He sounds like you have a history with him." I had to point that out due to my observant nature. 　　"We do. His whole family including him were banished from the pack years ago for an offense. And ever since then, he's been out to get his revenge any way he can," 　　"What did they do that got them banished in the first place?" 　　"It's about time you rest. A nurse will come check on you," he says as he begins to head out. 　　"I'm fine already. Let me go back to the hellhole of a room you assigned to me!" I rebuff. 　　"Your cheek is swollen. Obviously you're not fine yet." 　　Slowly I put a hand to my cheek where I recall having been slapped across. With the look of things, it was indeed swollen and it seems I have no argument out of this. 　　So I sit still and wait for the nurse to come in and administer whatever treatment I need. It's strange that I didn't bother bringing out the part of seeing him as a real wolf. 　　***** 　　DAMIEN: 　　"The next time he shows up here, I'll kill him myself!" I growled as those words left my mouth to the hearing of Xavier who was walking beside me. "He thinks he can just walk in here and hurt my mate? I'll have his head for that!" 　　"Ease your temper, Damien. It's not like he's here with us," Xavier states. 　　"Then do your job and bring him here to me!" I snap at him. "And what the hell were you doing with Riley out there in the first place? I gave you permission to make her comfortable but I didn't say you should put her life at risk while doing so." 　　"She wanted to have a feel of the lifestyle of the pack members and I had to grant her that wish." 　　I stopped on my track to face him. "She's using that to find a way out of the pack, dammit! Can't you see for yourself what she's trying to do?" 　　"I know what she's trying to do." 　　"And you let her continue?" I ask in slight bewilderment. 　　"I have eyes on her, Damien. She won't be able to get past the warriors assigned at the corners of the wall," he states assuringly. 　　"Yet those corners keep getting penetrated by Garrett and his pack of rogues. Riley would have seen through our flaws by now." 　　Xavier doesn't seem bothered. Instead he tells me, "I'm sure she hasn't. And instead of worrying about her trying to escape, I think you should be more worried about her life being in danger." 　　"What do you mean?" 　　"From what I observed today, it looks like Garrett has come with a new strategy. And I think it's to get Riley. Unlike the other times where they attacked just to cause a bit of disturbance to the pack members, this time their main focus seemed to be on Riley," he pauses for a short while. "They're after her. Garrett's after her and he's going to use her as bait to get to you. And once he gets through to you, we both know what's going to happen." 　　The thought exhausted me but I tried not to reveal much emotion. Some questions though are nagging me so I throw them out, "And how did they figure out who Riley is? How were they able to identify her? Not even the pack members know who she is and yet Garrett and his pack of rogues do. How's that possible?" 　　"I think the answer's right in our faces, Damien," Xavier says. "We have a mole amidst us. And we need to find out who that mole is before something of more importance gets leaked."