DEDICATION: aria95 who made me some amazing covers. My new story cover is thanks to this amazing wattpad member and the side image for the chapter another example of excellent work. Keep it up guys! xx

“I heard about Jacob,” Michael took a seat next to me. “Does this mean you are finally going to speak to Annabelle?”

He had a point. After finding out that this young girl had saved one of my own when she should have been fighting against my alphas pack I hadn’t been able to stop the thoughts running through my head.

Why had she saved Jacob?

Why had she killed one of her own pack?

Was there a reason for her disloyalty or was it a desperate attempt to save her own skin when she realised her own pack was going to be defeated?

So many questions I needed the answers to, and considering I didn’t trust the word of any of the pack who still resented us for locking them away, I needed to speak to her in person.

It was, however, more nerve-wracking than I had anticipated.

I had killed many, fought battles when we were severely outnumbered and still come out the victor, and yet when it came to this female wolf I felt my stomach churn in nervousness.

What was wrong with me?

“Do you want me to speak to her?” Michael offered, though soon retracted his offer as soon as he took one look at my face. “Or you could do it.”

Running a hand through my dark blonde hair I scowled, eyes flashing as my wolf paced against the surface before I rolled my shoulders and straightened up from where I was sitting. She was an nobody. She had no authority over me, and the only reason she was even affecting me was due to my wolf having some kind of affection towards her.

Rising I turned to face Michael, “you can take over training for this afternoon. I will head down after I’ve finished here to check on progress.”

Michael nodded. “And if Jacob shows up?”

“Send him away. If he defies my authority and orders again we will be having serious problems. I am still coming up with the best method to teach him that withholding information from me has consequences he will not find pleasing.”

Michael nodded. “Sure. Let me know how it goes, yeah?”

Watching him leave after I signalled that yes, I would solve his own curiosity by telling him what happens, I made my way over towards the small table at the edge of the library, the fellow wolves and humans watching me warily when they didn’t think I noticed.

It was naïve of them if they believed I wasn’t constantly aware of my surroundings.

It wasn’t until I was only a few feet away that her scent hit me. Having been previously blunted by the downfall of rain when I had followed her the night before her undiluted scent hadn’t registered as much of an importance, but scenting her now, soft oranges and citric lemon, I had never smelled anything like it before.

It was nice.

Sweet.

In fact it was more than nice, it made my wolf practically purr in a manner that I had never experienced before and my nostrils flared as I greedily took in lungful’s of the delectable and rememberable scent. The more I breathed in the more my mouth watered. It was addicting.

She hadn’t noticed me as I stood behind her, curiosity getting the better of me as I leaned over her shoulder while making sure to keep my distance as I took in the chapter she was reading.

The Intimate Workings of a Werewolves Immune System.

I felt my eyes widen briefly, wondering silently whether she actually understood the delicate and complex text or whether she was simply reading it in the hopes that one day she would.

Werewolf medicine was a lot more complex than human medicine. We healed differently, our immune systems and mental state were only barely similar to that of a humans. If one of us broke one of our limbs it didn’t automatically heal, not when there could be complications if the injury was not treated correctly.

We were not immortal.

Having no intention on my part to startle her I moved to stand by her side, hands relaxed against my sides. I knew when it came to other wolves I was intimidating despite what I did, however, when I came to Annabelle my wolf was surprisingly soft around her. 

It was…strange.

When it became clear that she was still oblivious to my presence, not a very safe tactic considering how she had come to be living in a new pack territory, I cleared my throat, wincing audibly at the static rise in her heartbeat as she jolted, a strangled gasp falling from her throat.

Clutching a hand tightly against her green sweater covered chest for the first time our eyes connected, those soft hazel brown eyes of her swirling with surprise, hesitance and fear as she caught sight of my towering presence.

My wolf whimpered.

“Annabelle?” I quirked a brow. Her name I may know but it seemed the least threatening way to start a conversation.

I was wrong, almost immediately her face flustered and I could practically hear her wolf whine out in desire to bare her neck and submit. Surprisingly she didn’t, but she didn’t exactly look happy or calm with my presence either.

I sat down when she didn’t respond, elbows resting on the wooden desk as she simply blinked at me, expression having moved from flushed to a pale colour that had my concern flaring. Almost immediately I was swarmed with questions about her health, whether she was eating enough being of my main concern. She was slim, extremely so, and I doubted it was because she wanted to make herself more appealing to the opposite sex, not when she was clearly uninterested in the men who had made a move to approach her before catching sight of me lurking in the background.

She couldn’t have missed their intentions before they ran away with their tails tucked between their legs.

Thankfully none of them had a death with, all very much aware of when to back down and admit defeat. Because I would have made them suffer if they had approached her. I may not know what it was about her that had me so interested but it wouldn’t be long until I found out what it was exactly.

I licked my lips nervously, “I’m Chase.”

She blinked, “I know.”

My eyes widened briefly at her response, her voice soft and quiet. The sound of it make my wolf want to purr in delight. “How?” I was curious. I was known around the pack yet I was curious as to what exactly she had been told about me.

“You train the guard.”

She didn’t expand any further and I took that as my queue to at least attempt to get some kind of conversation out of her that wasn’t stilted and patchy. My wolf was already obsessed with her scent, her eyes, and her voice, which was an oddity in itself.

“I want to ask you a few questions.”

“Ok.”

I watched as she placed a bookmark in the crisp white pages before closing the book, giving me her full attention.

“The battle against your pack, I want you to give me your version of what occurred.”

Annabelle frowned slightly, her brows pulling together tightly. “I don’t understand.”

“You were involved in the fighting and I want to know what happened,” I reworded it slightly.

“But you received everyone’s witness account of what went on, nobody asked me for mine. I wasn’t involved that deeply.”

My shoulders stiffened at her broad lie. Yes, I did request the fighters who had been involved to tell me exactly what happened and it was a relief that none of them had tried to lie to me, their stories all checking out with their own pack and more importantly mine. But I found it hard to believe she wasn’t asked about when she saved Jacobs like on the battle field. My wolf may not care that she was lying to me but I did.

“Do not lie to me!” I gritted out causing her to flinch. Immediately I wished I could take it back and be less of a jerk to her, especially when I visibly saw her curve into herself almost instinctively in a natural response to get away from my presence, a direct opposite to how my own wolf was feeling towards her.

“I-I’m n-not…” She swallowed, my eyes automatically drawn to her hands as she shoved them between her thighs when they were visibly trembling.

“Jacob admitted that you saved his leg!” I clipped out. “Are you going to tell me he is lying?”

“I don’t know a Jacob.”

Despite my wolfs desire to calm her down I couldn’t help but feel my own continue to rage. If there was one thing I loathed it was being taken for a fool and lied to. I had spoken to Jacob, I had spoken to James, and I had spoken to Harry, three guard members that knew better than to be directly  deceitful to my face when I asked them a direct question.

And yet here this female wolf was doing exactly that!

I snatched my hand out, barely managing to reign myself back as not to grab and shake her, but instead letting my fingers reach the edge of her book. It was impossible to miss the way she stiffened in response, her gaze trained on the medical book.

My lips curved upwards into a smirk; clearly I had discovered her weakness. “If you don’t tell me-“

“I don’t know who Jacob is!” she flinched at her own words. “I don’t speak to a lot of people, I don’t…I don’t know the answers to what you’re asking me.”

I opened my mouth only to promptly close it when realisation hit that why would she know Jacob by name? She certainly wasn’t his friend, and from what I had witnessed she didn’t hang around with anybody from my pack, and during the fight Jacob would have been in wolf form so he wouldn’t exactly tell her his name.

Staring at her shaking form I cursed, letting go of her book only to watch her pause for a split second before reaching for it, snatching it against her chest possessively while closing her eyes and breathing deeply.

It had me intrigued.

I softened my tone, “he was the brown wolf you saved when your beta went for his hind leg,” I murmured.

She shrugged, remaining quiet. Had it been anyone else it would have angered me but it was hard to get angry again after practically yelling at her face and silently threatening to destroy her property.

“Why did you do it?”

She shrugged.

“Annabelle, tell me.”

Licking her lips her eyes flickered open as she watched me hesitantly, cautiousness tainting her every move. I hated it. “He didn’t deserve to die, Blaze did” was all she got out before the blasted bell rung. Like clockwork I leaned back as Annabelle stiffened before hurriedly collecting her belongings, eying the clock nervously before hurriedly getting to her feet.

I followed. “I apologise for scaring you earlier, I am not used to being out of the loop when it comes to my wolves.”

Annabelle shrugged. “You do not owe me an apology.” I frowned. “You believe I am a threat, it is logical that you would come to the conclusion that I was hiding something from you. Blaze...” she sighed. “Blaze did not deserve his position.”

“What? And you did?” I responded before wincing. Christ, so much for being nice to her.

She shook her head, closing her eyes briefly before glancing in my direction, her eyes once again catching my attention before she broke our gaze. “No. I do not have the necessary attitude to make the harsh decisions that keep order.”

I felt my brows raise at her lack of naivety. She seemed far too aware of pack dynamics and structure for a low pack member. As I watched her sign in before disappearing through the boundary gates I couldn’t help but wonder just what her previous pack had been like.