12

Discouraged, I jumped into the warm shower and rid myself of all the mud clinging to my body and hair, bitterly realizing that keno would anticipate my every move.

The fence could be climbed, but keno wasn't. The walls of his possession seemed higher than my urge to escape and so I resolved to accept my fate for the time being...

"As if," I suddenly laughed out loud at my own thoughts and the next moment I was already thinking about digging a tunnel through which I could easily escape.

With another grin on my lips, I stepped out of the shower and glanced at myself in the mirror to look deep into my dark eyes. I encouraged myself, even if my wolf fought an internal battle with me. She would lose because I knew how stubborn and combative I could be when it came to getting my way. This was also shown by my tongue piercing, which I got despite heated discussions with Gloria.

"He'll be surprised," I said to my reflection and grabbed my bag to find underwear, a pair of jeans and a sweater.

While I put my clothes on my body, my gaze fell to the window again and I was confused to realize that it seemed to never really stop raining here. Slowly I ran to the window, looked up at the sky and saw only gray clouds that didn't release the smallest gap...

Where was I here anyway?!

With that question in mind, I made my way into the bedroom and immediately down the hall and downstairs, but no one was in sight. Only Keno's smell was in the air, so I followed Wiener Spur into the basement and heard the music getting louder and louder. It was rock music and I found that, like its intense alpha smell, it came from the gym I was locked in.

A little training for the escape wouldn't hurt, I thought to myself and opened the door where Keno was just about to train his arms.

Our eyes met, but it wasn't his dark eyes that upset me...

This sweaty smell of his overheated body, plus the view of his naked upper body, which was covered only with muscles and tattoos and made me swallow hard while my she-wolf was already lying on her back with her legs apart.

Treacherous Beast!

I could feel the heat in my cheeks because of her, and also the pleasant tugging in my abdomen as my vision darkened and I ran my irises over his chest, which was heaving up and down faster from his exercise, somehow driving me almost insane.

My breathing quickened and my heart jumped like a dancer, while only my mind was still functioning clearly. The connection was strong. Stronger than I thought and nearly forced me to my knees until I caught his eye and he looked at me in amusement. He could save his stupid grin!

"You okay? You're sweating without doing anything," he smiled confidently and I immediately growled at him menacingly.

"Arschloch!"

That was all I could get off my lips and I immediately turned on my heel to disappear back upstairs. I literally fled from him, from his smell, from his muscles and the music in my ears, only to stop again outside in the fresh air.

This fight with myself tugged at my nerves and meanwhile my wolf had become more demanding in her conditions, because the longer I was near him, the longer I would smell and look at him, the more she craved him. Wanted to taste and touch him, to be made his. I would lose myself, live only as an incubator at his side and possibly lose my own life entirely, which I could not accept at all.

I just had to get out of here as soon as possible because staying here was like throwing your favorite drink in front of an alcoholic in rehab and expecting he couldn't hold back for long! It was hair pulling...!

Taking a deep breath, I looked around and saw many people standing in the rain, laughing and talking, while hardly anyone seemed to notice me. Most of them were men and I had to roll my eyes to imagine that because of keno they were probably scared to death even to look at me. The fact that there were only a few women was more than right for me. The few I'd seen didn't seem to think much of me anyway, judging from their disdainful looks.

Glancing again and again at the wooden wall, I slowly put one foot in front of the other across the wet grass and looked at the many houses that were neatly arranged at the edge of the large square. I knew from Keno's room that it was possible to watch TV here, but now that I took a closer look at the village, or whatever I should call it, it seemed somehow unreal. As if time has stopped here and we are far behind the present century.

"Aria?" an unfamiliar voice spoke to me and, wide-eyed, I turned unsteadily to the side while wiping some of my wet hair from my face.

"Jamal, right?"

I looked at him expectantly while he nodded and came closer to me.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked suddenly, as if it were even forbidden for me to leave the house.

"Get some fresh air," I explained, slightly irritated, and he immediately looked around while I noticed again how dangerous he looked. There was something about him that scared you. His eyes seemed darker than mine or Keno's, the corners of his mouth were blank throughout, and his overall demeanor was menacing.

"You can do that from the window too."

He raised an eyebrow at me, but I gave a short laugh, thinking he was joking, before frowning at what he seemed to mean in all seriousness.

"Could it be that you want to tell me with a rather ugly flower that I'm not allowed to be out here?" I snapped, crossing my arms in protest. It wasn't enough that the dominant alpha in there was monitoring me, now his beta had to follow my every step...

"Yes," he said and I just wanted to go past him to the place where many people were still gathered, but then he grabbed my arm and pulled me back with such force that I almost fell to the ground.

"Go into the house!" he instructed me with a growl. "I hear my packmates' thoughts and even if you think they're ignoring you, they don't! They smell you, want to fuck you and believe me, as soon as Keno and I are away from you they'll get over you Do you know how rare a mating female is these days? Don't provoke it and don't confuse my order to protect you with wanting something bad for you!"

The rain pelted down on us and after taking my eyes from his angry ones, I glanced down at his hand on my arm, then shifted my gaze to the men in front of us.

Nobody was staring at me, but I noticed how calm my wolf had become. She sensed their intentions, just as Jamal could hear them over the pack link, and I suddenly felt so overwhelmed I could barely catch my breath.

It was one thing to be kidnapped by my mate, and it was one thing to be raped by his pack, which really made me panic at the moment.

"I'll take you in," Jamal jerked me out of my stillness and let go of me to run ahead of me back to the packhouse and that's when I felt it myself for the first time.

The looks of the others on my back, which burned painfully and gave me such an uncomfortable feeling that I wanted to vanish into thin air.

Why did Keno bring me here?