"What is your name?" I asked after soothing my lungs with a deep breath.
"I said what is your name!" I repeated.
The man didn't even budge. What's wrong with him? It is not like him name is so sacred to give.
"Don't make me repeat myself again." I put more strength into the knife in annoyance.
I wait patiently until a low voice finally comes from the man.
"Caleb, my name is Caleb." He responds through gritted teeth as if the act itself is humiliating.
"Okay, Caleb. I will help you."
Still pinning the man, I took a fleeting glance at the surroundings.
"...What do you mean help, when you're the culprit?"
"Right, how could I help you when you're the culprit."
I unconsciously clicked my tongue at his stubbornness.
"We're getting nowhere. To be honest I can do anything to you if I so much wish to without bothering to listen." I paused, feeling his muscles tense.
After mulling for another second, I gave up. Lifting my body up, I put away the knife and drew a quick slash freeing his tied hands.
'I decided to take a gamble.'
Taking a step back, I followed his every move, curiously.
I watched quietly as the man clenched and unclenched his hands. Despite being free, the man did not stand up and instead sat on the muddy ground.
His bare upper body is covered in dirt, clinging to his skin before gradually falling back to the ground as the rain lightly pours.
"Why are you doing this?"
Yes, why am I doing this.
What am I doing in this place? The answer was easy.
"I have been looking for someone. I believe she has been here and I'm looking for clues to find her."
My fingers curled into a ball, feeling a bit nauseous as a familiar face came to mind.
I deliberately softened my voice hiding the faint trembling in my heart, "I'm looking for my mother."
His face turned strange. Seeing his reaction, a sigh escaped my lips.
The only remaining and the closest kin I have in this world. My always strong mother won't easily die. She was the perfect Luna.
Brave, smart and cruel not just to others but also to herself. That night wouldn't be her fall. I bit my lip to chase away the past from resurfacing before my eyes.
"What does that have to do with me? If you're not the culprit then turn back and go on your way. And if you're guilty just turn yourself in."
I was speechless. In a flash, every calculation that I had to consider to give him a valid reason to accept my proposal becomes meaningless.
As if my voice fell into deaf ears making my temper rose.
"It's not that you're special but I have no choice. You happen to be the first person that I saw when I opened my eyes after a long journey. And you happen to be the person who saw me here and began pointing his finger to blame me for murder that I didn't commit and has every reason to turn me into an instant criminal. How could I enter the village and search for my mom, when you're branding me as a criminal, in peace and ask for cooperation?"
Of course I didn't yell at him. Instead choose words that will possibly work on him.
I have a strong hunch that he has great concern for the deceased, it may specifically be so, on the child.
"That child," I paused gauging his reaction. "She doesn't have a mother is she?"
I don't care about the man who died.
"That's why she can only curl against the wall with no one to protect her. If she had her mother she wouldn't have suffered."
I swallow the lump in my throat.
"She doesn't deserve that. I-I tried, to protect her but failed miserably. I owe her justice for witnessing her pain but not giving her safety."
As an heir, I have no people to protect anymore. I have long thrown the responsibility I have off my shoulder for I myself cause them danger even the death of my dad.
"... Now that she is missing, the least I could do is find her and ensure her safety. Until then, please allow me to help."
But when I saw that child in pain, a hot gnawing urge to beat the man and cradle the child shook my insides.
It was so intense it clouded my indifference. So strange to call it pleasant.
I blinked a few times to clear my thoughts away and met his gaze but he remained quiet.
It was suffocating but my mind raced.
'I guess I'll just need to keep you silent then.'
It's the most effort efficient and craziest way but I couldn't. Just thinking about it made my stomach churn.
'Maybe I should just knock him out, at least hard enough to lose his memories of this day. Is it even possible?'
With hands both on each side of my waist, I shoot him with a sharp glare. The man has his face covering his eyes making me even more frustrated.
My brows furrowed when I noticed the faint quivering of his shoulders.
Is he perhaps laughing?
My temper rose anew, but then my lips twitched. It seems unlikely. How can someone who's grieving a while ago laugh at this point? That will be ridiculous and concerning.
"Hey man, are you crying?"
Caleb flinched. The muscles on his upper body flexing from his subdued emotion.
It took him a few seconds to reply making my guess firmer.
"I am not, so shut up."
"Then why are you covering your eyes?"
I unconsciously coaxed Caleb. I cleared my throat in embarrassment when I realized how wrong my tone sounds.
"Why, do you care?!"
His voice rose as if irritated. The hand pressing on his face fell down revealing his eyes.
"It is a pity so don't cover them. They're pretty."
Although the color of the corner of his eyes are red, his face still has that defiant look.
He did not speak anymore but roughly stood up.
"Do as you like, but it doesn't mean I trust your words."
Instead of feeling upset for his disrespect, I couldn't help but chuckle inwardly.
It worked out after all.
....
Unedited
YOU ARE READING
The Rejected Female Alpha 🔞
Werewolf"Does it feel nice to be bound?" Alleria peered at the man between her legs as she put her weight against his back while panting. Separated with the man's thin shirt, she could feel the heat from his wet body. Her hand tugged and tightened the cloth...
