14

~Aurelia Williams~

"I am a werewolf, Aurelia." Those were the words of this so-called arsenic.

I didn't want to believe him. But somehow I knew he was telling the truth. At least that's what my gut told me, but could it really be real that these monsters from horror movies and fantasy novels really existed?

Four days had passed since these words. I didn't know where I was and nobody came to see me in this "hospital". I was locked up here and nobody answered my questions. Day by day it also felt more real that I was really here insane never-ending dream, that fact scared me even more.

I missed Steven. I didn't even know if he was still alive or if my father lied. Somehow I also longed for this arsenic, which was actually a total stranger. But most of all, I just missed someone to talk to.

'Cause I was alone

I wasn't allowed to go out and apart from the doctor and a nurse I had no social contacts.

What does this arsenic actually think of? He kidnaps me, tells me he's a werewolf, and then he doesn't show up? He was a pure great mystery to me.

My thoughts were circling, but I was interrupted by the door suddenly opening.

Arsenic.

He looked adorable as always. stop, what am I thinking? He was a complete stranger who locked me alone in a hospital room with thousands of questions in my head. Besides, my head didn't even really believe him.

"I want proof.", I said decisively and his eyes, which lay on me, immediately went dark. You could hear a dark growling from him, which left goosebumps on my body. Wasn't this inhuman growling already proof enough?

"You can still get it. First of all, I'll take you to your new room and tell you a little bit more about my pack."

Once again I understood only train station. What room? He doesn't want to keep me captive here any longer, does he? A thousand questions and no one answers them.

Only then did I notice the bag he was holding in his hand and was now holding out to me.

"There are decent clothes in there for you. Just come out the door when you're done."

I did what he asked of me and put on the much too big t-shirt and the leggings that were a bit too tight. Then I hobbled to Arsen's door. The t-shirt was cut for a man, so it must have belonged to a man, while I assumed the leggings belonged to a woman of top model proportions.

I hobbled after him on crutches until we finally got outside. And then my mouth dropped open.

I could already see the forest through the window. But I never thought that this hospital was in the middle of the forest.

There were other buildings around us. They were simple wooden huts, but they underlined this nice cozy atmosphere. In the center of these isolated wooden huts was a larger building in the same architectural style, which extended over several floors. The hospital behind me wasn't nearly that big.

"This is the pack house," Arsen answered my unspoken question. "This is the center of a pack. This building has 52 bedrooms, 2 kitchens, and 2 dining rooms. It also houses my office and a meeting room. There are currently 68 living there Members in this building, including myself. 77 of the 164 pack members live in huts around the pack house. The remaining 19 live in small towns around our territory to have a view of the humans."

I tried to understand everything he said, but a lot of it sounded Spanish.

We continued towards the so-called pack house and met a few people who all looked at me suspiciously as if I were an alien.

Arsen led me up three flights of stairs inside the building and then stopped in front of a door.

"This is your room. My room is right across the street, so if you need anything, you can ask me."

Then he opened the door and let me enter the room first. He was bigger than expected. Across from me was a large four-poster bed. There was a small balcony to the right of the bed. Two doors could be seen on the left wall. I hobbled to one of the doors and opened it only to see a modern bathroom with a rain shower and a free-standing bath.

Again my mouth fell open and I asked myself what I did to deserve this.

I'm nothing. Just a girl who wasn't loved by her parents. It made me sad to think about my parents and I had to think about my father. What is he doing? Is he finally getting his beer out of the fridge himself? Then I remembered that he had shot me and I became even sadder.

"What's going on?" Arsen's monotonous voice asked, who was standing directly behind me.

"Nothing. My head just seems to be about to burst." I replied a little sadly. It was all so much. The thing that bothered me the most was this information with all the supernatural stuff. Who would have thought that this could actually be true? "I did just so many questions."

"Then I should probably help you answer these," he said, pulling me to my new bed, which we sat down on.

I sat quietly next to him not knowing what to ask first. I felt a little uncomfortable sitting next to him like that. Next to a complete stranger to me. What if he wants to hurt me too, like my father? While that was unlikely, I couldn't trust a man just like that.

Finally he broke the silence.

"Werewolves... Where should I start with that?" he began. "You know what werewolves are, don't you?"

I nodded. Of course I had already watched series or films with werewolves.

"Okay, so we werewolves live in packs. Mine is the largest and strongest pack in America at 164 members. At the head of every pack is the Alpha. He is the strongest of them all and leads the pack but also has to protect it. In this pack, I'm the alpha. Second is the beta. He is the second strongest and takes the post of alpha when the alpha is not around. He is also one of the Alpha's closest confidants. My beta is Costa. You met him in the hospital. Then there is the Mindlink. Just think of it as telepathy. This is our way of communicating with each other over some distance or in wolf form. But it doesn't work over a very, very long distance."

This whole werewolf thing was slowly becoming a bitter reality for me. He can't have thought it all up.

"Oh yeah, there's the mate thing," he began monotonously again, and then looked deep into my eyes. "Mates are soul mates. They were bonded by the moon goddess. They are meant for each other. When you meet your mate , you know it right away and you'd kill for him without batting an eyelid. You feel complete around him."

"Do you have a mate?" I inquired. I didn't know why that came out so suddenly, so I gave him a nervous smile.

"Yes, I just found her and brought her here recently," he almost whispered to me, looking at me intently. I don't know why, but it triggered a deep anger inside me. But why? He was me but a complete stranger.

He jerked his head forward again.

"Why I'm here? What do you want from me?"

"You are here because I want you to be here and you will stay here now that you know our secret."

"But why are you even telling me if you protect it like that? Why do you want to keep me captive here? I also have a life.", I said and got louder and louder towards the end. The anger bubbled up inside me. I just wanted to understand him, didn't want to remain ignorant anymore. It ate me up from the inside, so many unanswered questions having the whole situation.

"You stay here! Basta. And woe to you trying to flee, otherwise you will experience a blue miracle.", he said in a stern tone, which immediately silenced me. Without a doubt, he scared me, since his tone sounded even more stern than my father's.

The memories of my father pulling me back at the door before I could get to Steven came flooding back. How he beat me.

My eyes filled with tears as I stared blankly ahead at the wall.

Arsen got up without saying anything else and left the room. I could hear him locking the door and his footsteps echoing in the hallway as he left.

When would he come back this time?