Chapter 9

"What's a lemen?" Maris asked the nice female who radiated so much joy from just the way she looked at Maris.

Maris interlocked her fingers behind her and tried to divert the topic of her staring at a guy's butt. She couldn't believe they were inside her head.

"Like a consort, yin yang or soulmate." She stepped forward to place a hand on Maris' chest.

Maris' gaze followed her hand and her heart paced. How was she sure these people wouldn't turn into wolves to bite her head off?

"You may be dismissed." She ordered the people who had encircled them and Immediately, they returned to what they were doing before Maris came.

Weird.

"I'm not weird, I'm saying the fact," The girl said, respecting what was called personal space. "My name is Sanna by the way. Nice to meet you-"

"Maris." Maris answered with a wandering gaze, solemnly wondering where Logan was.

"Missing him already?" Sanna wiggled her eye brows and Maris put on a frustrated frown.

"How are you inside my mind?" Maris narrowed her eyes at the strange girl, becoming self conscious and insecure.

"It's kind of a werewolf link thing. As one of us, we get to communicate through the mind and as time goes on, you can control it so not everyone would be able to hear your thoughts." Sanna explained, walking away from the place they had stood initially and Maris followed, confused as usual.

"Okay." Maris nodded.

They walked slowly as Sanna briefed her about the history of werewolves and it was just as it was told in Ovid's book of metamorphosis.

"So the father of werewolves was actually human before he was transformed into a wolf man?" Maris' curiosity bubbled.

"Actually, he was the king of Arcadia. Lycaon and his sons tried to trick Zeus into eating human flesh to show his weakness." Sanna's Auburn hair freely whirled around in the breeze and she rubbed down on it every once in a while. "Zeus found out, got angry and killed all three sons of Lycaon with a lightning bolt."

"Then transformed Lycaon into a werewolf." They both chorused with delight in their eyes.

"I've read this in Ovid's book of metamorphosis." Maris snapped her fingers in excitement. "So this werewolf thing is like a curse?"

Sanna halted, so did Maris. Sanna nodded, then pointed at the other side of where they stood. Maris followed her finger and saw Logan sitting on one of the rocks close to a crystal clear lake, throwing stones that skipped on the surface of the water.

"Well, a curse turned into a gift," was the last thing Sanna said before leaving.

Those words echoed in her head as she stood, still trying to process everything that had been happening in her life and it all started with that night. The night that she was kidnapped by Logan, the one who claimed to be her semen or was it lemen?

She rolled her eyes and mirrored a look of disgust. She hated him! That was what she thought.

"Go on, go talk to him. No, he didn't kidnap you... Fate did." The voice of Sanna rang in her head. "Now, honey. Go, do not push your semen away."

They both chuckled.

Semen. Thank you, Sanna.

Maris approached him with a beating heart that even her could hear loud and clear like it was being played from two huge speakers. Foreign feeling again.

"Hi," she said with a small smile when she was a whisper away from Logan.

He turned, his face a little too close to hers so he moved back, acknowledging the fact that he didn't want to come off as a rapist after earning the kidnapper title.

He cocked his brows and shoved his hands into his pockets, urging her to speak up.

"Thought I should join you here." Maris muttered, unsure of what else to say. "Was Ovid's metamorphosis the first werewolf book ever written?"

"Nope. Gilgamesh was the first lycanthropy story teller. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to be alone." Logan spat, a sour expression flashed in his eyes before he sat on one of the rocks to watch the gentle flowing of the stream.

Maris chewed the insides of her cheeks and stared down at her body. She felt dirty. It had been two days since she last had her bath.

Do werewolves even shower?

Her subconscious asked and she shrugged, wondering what she had done to offend the alpha of the Oberon kingdom.

Alpha. She thought as she covered her mouth to snicker.

"Go sit with him." A voice beckoned her and she succumbed to that voice. It wasn't like that of Sanna or anyone she had-wait, the voice sounded like one of those voices that led her into the forest that night.

Pushing out every thought, she struggled to sit comfortably on the same rock as Logan. She breathed heavily, pushing her hair away from her vision and surveying the area.

The sight before her was breath taking. There was a water fall just few minutes away from them and a river that seemed deep reflected their images beneath them.

"Why so glum?" She asked and was ignored. It stung. "Logan?"

"Go away." He grunted.

"No."

"I want to be alone."

"No."

"For the last time," he started, a little growl stuck in his throat like a fat frog. "Go away."

Maris' lips twitched into a mischievous smile as she lurched forward, her lips an ace away from his ear and she whispered, "No."

"Maris!" He growled, hands lifted in the air in frustration and leaving Maris unbalanced on the stone. "Go away."

He dropped his hands, sending Maris off the stone. Her eyes widened before she splashed into the river.

The river was deeper than she thought so she sank into it then swam to the surface.

"I can't swim!" She yelled, horror slapped her across the face. "Help!"

She held out a hand, gasping for breath each time her head made it to the surface. She sank more, struggling to breathe under as she drank a gallon of water.

Logan dived into the water and encircled her waist with his arms before he pushed the both of them up with a thumping heart. She gasped, taking in oxygen.

Automatically, her arms wrapped around his neck as they locked gazes.

Suddenly, a slow smile crawled up her face and Logan returned it with a frown.

"So you care after all." Her grin grew wider and so did Logan's eyes.

"What?" His brows knitted into a frown.

"I did that to get your attention," she whispered. "And it was successful."

"You little rascal." Logan's hot breath fanned her face and she held in a laughter as she watched his face heating up in anger. "That's it."

He left her and attempted to swim back.

"Help, I can't swim!" Maris screamed, sinking once again.

"Are you kidding me?" He questioned, frustration getting the better of him as he went in to grab her waist again. "If this is a lie, I'd drown you in this river myself."

He brought her up and this time, her chest was plastered to his and she could feel just how violently his heart was beating. This made hers to flutter, he couldn't ignore her, could he? He took her to a less deeper part of the river.

"Oh, boys! When are you ever going to learn?" She laughed, her hands secured around his neck.

"Can you stop messing with my head?"

"Shhhh." She spun him and held an index finger to his lips. "I can actually swim. I just want you to feel at ease, the water would help."

He relaxed, realizing he couldn't stay mad at the fur ball in front of him.

In a split second, he chuckled and shook his head then said, "Women, so dramatic."

"Quick question." She unlatched from the hug. "Why aren't you as mean as those alphas in werewolf stories?"

"Because those stories are fictional and this is reality." He answered, a soft expression in his eyes.

**********

Dracula

"Haven't you found her yet?" He asked the dog man who was panting with it's tongue out.

"No, master. But-"

"But what?!" Dracula banged his fist on the table, causing the dogman to flinch. "Time isn't on our side and you know it!"

"Yes, master. That's the reason I said a but." The dogman pointed out. "I know who can find her."

Dracula got up and the dogman's gaze followed him. His patience was at the edge of a cliff and waiting to be shoved off by the man of average height in front of him.

"Who?" Dracula asked with poison laced in his voice.

"Jeremy." A wicked expression spread across his face like poison.

"Who is this Jeremy?"

"Someone dear to her heart." He answered, watching Dracula pace around the room. "The plan is to pay him a visit and-"

"Pay him a visit and snatch him from his home. I'm a genius." Dracula orated.

"I was about to say-"

The dogman didn't get to finish his sentence because Dracula launched after him with his fingers around his neck. He applied a little pressure as he pressed him against the wall.

"You were about to what?" Dracula cocked his brows.

"Nothing, sir." He choked.

"Good." He released him and did a dramatic spin. "We attack tonight!"