Chapter 12

Desiree. “Oh my God! You’re her! You’re my brother’s mate!” she yelled as I stared at her in confusion. Her exclamation and surprise hung in the air freezing me in my spot. Mate? What the hell did that mean? I frowned as her eyes widened and she approached me in awe, a mixture of surprise and curiosity filling her eyes. “You’re really her! The human!” she exclaimed as if confirming her own realization in my presence. It was clear that she hadn’t been expecting to see me and the way she looked around for a second showed that she wasn’t probably supposed to be here. “I’m a human, that's right,” I said cautiously as I watched her in silent curiosity. She smiled at me for a second before she looked around again. “How did you leave the cell?” she asked surprised as she strode behind me and looked inside the dark hallway. “Hmm. No one’s here.” “Who are you?” I asked her as she turned back to me with a smile. Her smile made me uneasy and I frowned at her. There was too much curiosity and awe in those green hues and I felt like a wonder to her. “I’m Maddox's sister. You must have met my brother already.” She said. “Yeah, I’ve met the egoistic asshole who bit me and locked me in here when he’s the animal on the loose,” I responded and I was surprised when she laughed at that. “I’ve never heard anyone refer to him as that.” She giggled. “I guess he is kinda egoistic but that’s why he’s Alpha. So the animal part you’re right. We are basically half wolf and half human and I won’t deny that half of the time we are animals.” She said laughing before she smiled at me. “I’m Diane. What’s your name?” I thought for a moment. I didn’t want to tell her anything—what if she called her brother and they took me back to the cell? “Don’t worry I won’t tell anyone I saw you. Maddox won’t tell me anything about humans and you’re the first one I’m ever meeting face to face!” she said excitedly. I sighed, she sounded like a normal curious teen and I ran my hand through my hair. “I’m Desiree.” Her eyes widened at that. “Desiree. That sounds so human. It’s nice to meet you.” “And you too. I guess?” I sounded unsure as she looked around again. “So how did you escape? No offense but my brother wouldn’t just let you go. He is so sure you’re the cause of problems happening in the pack.” “Well, your brother is wrong about that. And he basically let me go,” I lied through gritted teeth, she squinted her eyes at that before she shook her head. “I came to bring you this,” she said, holding out the bowl of food in front of me. “I hope you enjoy it. I’m not sure you’ve had anything to eat since they brought you in.” As if on cue, my stomach growled loudly in response and I sighed in annoyance, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to eat a little before I took off. I took the bowl from her and stared at the contents. It was rice with lamb chops and I stared back at her. “We are animals but we don’t eat meat raw.” She laughed as she sat on the floor crossing her legs in front of her. I smirked at that. “I wouldn’t have thought otherwise,” I said as I sat on the floor and started to eat with the plastic spoon she wrapped beside the plate. As I took the first bite, the flavor coated my mouth and I moaned softly. It’d been a while since I had any meal and my stomach was hungry for more; I took another spoonful, happy that the meal was tasty and still warm. Daine sat beside me, her wide eyes watching me and surprised at everything I did. “Good right?” She asked. “Hmm” was all I could say as she sighed. “I knew my cooking skills were good enough. I cooked that as quickly as I could when my mom went to bed because if I took out the leftovers she was definitely going to find out and if she catches me here. I would be grounded for life,” she said. I nodded, unable to speak when I was stuffing my mouth with food. “So where are you from in the human world?” she asked and I chewed before swallowing. “Just a small city miles away from here,” I said and I didn’t miss the way she raised her brow at me. “So why did you come to the cabin in our pack?” I didn’t know why I answered but I guess it was because there was something genuine and innocent about her that reminded me of when I was much younger. “I came here to find peace. I lost my grandpa a few weeks ago. He owned the cabin and I thought it would be a good idea for me to find my solace here. But I was wrong because I ended up being bitten by a werewolf and locked in a dungeon.” I rolled my eyes. “You already know we are werewolves?” she asked and I nodded. “Your brother didn’t miss out telling me only that piece of information,” I said, picking the lamb chops with my fingers and not even caring anymore if they were dirty. “Sorry about the bite. It was on impulse and not his fault. He wasn’t himself.” I scoffed at that, turning to her in disbelief. “Yeah, sure. He didn’t know when he barged into my house as a wolf, broke down my door, crossed the room and jumped on me before he sank his teeth into my neck. I can see him totally not acting like he was himself.” I said sarcastically. “You won’t understand and I’m not in the right place to explain it to you. Maddox owes you that.” “I’ll be gone before he ever does think of telling me anything. I’ve asked him already. The mark what it means and when I touch it…” “You touched it?” Diane stared at me in shock as I breathed out loudly. “I did.” “Are you crazy?!” she exclaimed and I stared at her blankly. “Ok, sorry about that. But you can’t do that, you can’t just touch the mate mark like that.” “Mate mark?” I asked as her eyes widened. “What mark?” she asked as if she had no clue. “Mate mark. You just said it. And when you saw me you said something like that too. I’m your brother’s mate? What did you mean by that?” I asked as she stared at me silently. “My big mouth is gonna get me in trouble one day,” she scolded herself before she turned to me. “Look, Desiree, there’s so much you don’t know and like I said I’m the one to tell you that or explain it to you. You have to hear it from Maddox himself.” “Didn’t you hear me before? Your burger is an asshole who won’t tell me anything. I had to keep touching the mark to even get a reaction from him.” “Let me guess that didn’t go well?” “Of course it didn’t because he lost control like some sort of animal and he growled, his eyes changed colors to red as he ripped off the bars of the cell I was in.” “He did what?” Duane asked in shock and I laughed. “That isn’t all. He ended up coming up to me, slamming me to the wall, pinning my hand to the wall and sniffing my neck before he licked the mark. Crazy right? You should consider checking him in a mental hospital,” I said as I continued eating. I didn’t expect Diane to burst out laughing after I finished as she held her stomach and almost fell forward. “Damn! You are literally perfect for him. His reaction was normal, trust me, you provoked him.” “Well at least the provocation led to my freedom,” I said as I finished eating. “I thought you said he let you go?” Diane asked and I frowned at how smart she was and I turned to her, handing her the empty plate. “Look, Diane, you sound like a nice girl and I’m grateful you thought of bringing me food. But your brother is dangerous. I am not safe here and when he lost control and bit me back in my cabin it didn’t give him a good first meeting and back in the cell he lost control again and ripped off the bars from the floor. I’m scared he’s going to do more than that the next time he loses control and I don’t want to be here to find out the real monster in him.” I said as I stood up and she said nothing, watching me silently. “That’s why when he left angrily I didn’t miss the opportunity to leave. I’m not safe here and I need to go back home. I hope you won’t tell him you saw me,” I asked, looking around as if expecting anyone else to emerge from the darkness. “No, I won't tell him.” “Thank you. I have to go now. Thanks for the meal and have a good night.” I had moved a few steps when I heard her soft voice. “The moon goddess chose right for you big brother. She’s amazing. And since you guys are mates, you would both end up together. So she can run away now but fate would bring you both together whether you both like it or not.” I heard her say it, but when I turned back to confirm, I found no one behind me again. I sighed, shook my head, and ran into the darkness to find my freedom.