Chapter 9

Desiree. “No. I’m Maddox Karl. The Alpha of Woodland Pride.” I sat on the cold floor, my back resting against the damn wall and I didn’t know what day it was. But every minute had stretched into eternity as I was left confused, hungry and alone. Then this man comes in and tells me he’s a werewolf, and I was the evil villian in this story hurting his pack. My gaze involuntarily lifted, meeting his eyes. He stood in front of me, a tall imposing figure who walked and talked like he owned the world. A wave of arrogance surrounded him but I couldn’t deny the attraction he bled off. He was undeniably handsome, black hair framed his face and those bright green eyes that watched me intensely reminded me of the green leaves that surrounded the cabin. He was attractive, yes, but I hated him. “Alpha? So you’re like the leader or something?” I asked, feeling a growing sense of fear up my spine as he leaned closer to the rails and smirked at me before nodding. “Yes. I rule this pack. I’m the most powerful as you’ll obey me, my every command,” he said, his green eyes glittering at me. There was an undeniable presence about him, an aura that stirred a mixture of emotions within me. His smirk carried a sense of authority, a reminder that I was in the presence of someone stronger, someone powerful. A surge of conflicting emotions coursed through me. Despite the fear that arose within me from his status there was some sort of attraction and allure that went beyond the physical. I looked away from his eyes because they felt like it was drawing me in. “Why did you bite me?” I asked, reaching my hand to the part of my neck where he had bitten me. I could almost feel the long teeth sinking into my skin as I shuddered and caressed it. Strangely, there was no pain, my fingertips trailed over it and I frowned when I felt something like a scar. It surged with some sort of energy. A peculiar sensation suddenly surged through nine and an unexpected wave of desire and passion, like there was something intimate about it awakening a yearning within me and I gasped biting down my lips as if to stop the desire from coursing through me. “If you keep touching it. We might not be able to keep both our hands to ourselves.” Maddox's voice snapped me out of my desires and I snatched my hand away from my neck flushed with embarrassment. It was like the bite had ignited something within me leaving me both intruded and disturbed. I glared at him, the dark smile still on his face as he watched me carefully, and when I looked harder, I didn’t miss the desire in those green eyes. “What did you do to me?” I demanded, my voice laced with anger and confusion as I glared hard at him. He said nothing at first and I knew he knew what was happening to me. His smirk gave it away as he flicked his lips playing with the mystery that surrounded the bite on my neck. I wish I could hate him more than I did. “Should I tell you?” he asked, amusement filling his face as his lips curled in a teasing smile. “Should I or should I not?” He asked again and I glared harder at him, feeling the cold wall at my back. He smirked harder at me, relishing in my curiosity. “Enough with the games. Tell me what you’ve done to me and why you bit me?” I asked again in frustration. “I deserve to know what is happening to me?” Maddox remained silent for a moment, a calculated pause that shifted the tension in the air and I waited to hear an answer. When he finally spoke, the teasing smile had fallen off his face and his emotions were unreadable as he watched me as if searching for answers in his mind. “I would only tell you if you tell me who you were referring to as the one you loved and couldn’t protect.” He stated, his gaze unwavering. The demand struck a nerve because there was no way in hell I was telling a complete stranger who had kidnapped me and locked me in here about my past. I didn’t trust him and I hated him. I scoffed at the audacity of his request and I felt my blood boil at his conditions. “You’re unbelievable!” I resorted, feeling frustration bubbling to the surface. The scars of my past had nothing to do with this new reality and there was no way I would expose them to him! “Is it a man? Someone you were in a relationship with?” Maddox continued as if he hadn’t heard me and I shook my head at him. “I do not owe you my own secrets. You’ve thrown my life into chaos and you have the nerve to question me?” I said, feeling tears brim in my eyes but I blinked them back. I didn’t want him to see me cry anymore. “I say it’s a fair trade,” he kept on, unfazed by my resistance. “I can never tell you anything,” I asserted, feeling a new sense of stubbornness in my voice. “You are not entitled to the fragments of my life. Not after the horror you’ve put me through.” Maddox remained composed before he sighed and leaned back against the wall. “Then by all means don’t respond,” he said and I glared hatefully at him. “You’re an asshole. I was living peacefully in my own world when you came to wreck it, claiming I’m the cause of the death in your pack.” “Yes, you’re a huge suspect.” “Then you say you’re a werewolf.” “That part is true and tried.” “Then I’m taken to the dungeons to live out my life in misery.” “As you can see for yourself.” I scoffed, slamming my head against the cold wall. “I’m going crazy.” “No you’re not,” he replied and I shook my head and closed my eyes for a second, trying to process everything that was happening. How the hell had this even happened? Was any of this real? I didn’t know what compelled me to touch the scar on my neck and I felt a shudder run through me and heard Maddox hiss slightly, I turned to look at him. He was staring intently at me, his green eyes held the same desire that mine did. And I realized the scar affected us both. “You’re feeling that too?” I asked, watching his eyes mirror the same intensity that I felt. There was a sudden shift in the air, a magnetic pull that drew in the both of us. “Felt what?” he asked and I knew he did, he tried to keep an unreadable expression but I saw past it this time. “That feeling,” I said as I raised my hand to my neck again, and I let out a gasp and Maddox did too. I smirked in pleasure. He definitely felt that. “You did,” I said smiling as a wave of laughter threatened to escape my lips at the discomfort that flashed in his eyes. “No,” he stated, his eyes despite the stoic facade betraying the flicker of something like desire. I smirked again, a knowing glint in my eyes. “You’re a poor liar.” I said as he watched me intently and I raised my hand to my neck again, something flashed in his eyes. “Stop doing that,” he warned and I shook my head. “Tell me,” I commended, as he frowned. “Tell me what this means. Why did you bite me?” I asked again. “I won’t explain,” Maddox declared as if ending the conversation as he leaned away from the wall and I raised a brow at him. The smirk played on my lips as I knew I had the upper hand. “Then I’ll keep touching it,” I said, a rebellious glint in my eyes as I lingered my hand above the scar and watched him carefully challenging his actions. Maddox met my gaze with a knowing smile as if he anticipated my reaction. But instead, I had expected him to start blurting out the reason but his face matched the smirk on my lips as those lips curled upwards in amusement. “Go on,” he encouraged me, his voice teasing me as if daring me to do it. The air crackled with unspoken tension as I maintained eye contact with him, a silent stand-off between us. No one wanted to back off or relent. And I’ll be damned if I was the one who would submit. Maddox's gaze never wavered and it became evident that I wasn’t backing down either. I glared angrily at him. “Fine,” I said before I placed my fingers over it pressing it deeply but I wasn’t ready for the reaction that came next. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” I heard Maddox say.