Cuts Deeper Than Love

Chapter 01: The Lone Wolf

The disgusting potion in front of Ina made her sigh and shake her head. She had long given up on holding her breath or breathing through her mouth; the odor pervaded the chambers and would probably stick to her clothes too. She admitted to having a strong stomach, but this potion was really something else.

Ina's experiment had once again failed and she was really beginning to question if this spell was legit. She was sure that she had nailed the incantations, and the ingredients were also sourced from the most reliable suppliers who provided the highest quality reagents. So what went wrong? Why was it that she was unable to correctly prepare the potion?

"Come on, Jang Ina," she muttered to herself, deciding to try again as she reminded herself of the confidence she had in her abilities as a witch. "You can do it."

Ina was young but she knew she was gifted. She refused to give up and admit defeat that easily. She could afford at least one more attempt before running out of the materials she needed. Checking that the candles were placed in the correct orientation, she mentally rehearsed the procedures and once she was ready, she closed her eyes, about to begin the chants. But that was when she felt a chill in the room. This was not one of the side effects of the spell. Alarmed, she opened her eyes and found that the candles were out. Someone had broken into the house.

With a gulp, cautiously she tried to locate the source of the intrusion. Yet evidently she was not quick enough, as the intruder had already wrapped one hand around her neck. Moving swiftly and at superhuman speed, he threw her against the wall before whizzing to press her against that wall and continuing to squeeze her throat to choke her. She could not make any noise but he produced a growl so animalistic there could be no mistake; he had to be a werewolf. Now that he was still, she got the chance to take a better look at him.

She was not sure how to feel when she looked right into the eyes of her ex, Luhan.

~

Alright, well, technically Luhan and Ina were not exes since they never officially got together. But they were about to, had it not been for the trouble that his werewolf pack had gotten into. To the best of her knowledge, they had beef with a group of vampires and were expecting to get attacked anytime. The alpha gave orders for everybody in the pack to terminate their relationships with their significant others to minimize the involvement of innocents, and Luhan, being a loyal beta, complied. He was so close to making his relationship with her official, but loyalty was what defined wolves, and he did not want her to be harmed either. 'It was for the best', like his alpha always preached.

Although right now it really did seem like she was harmed because of him. Until he let go of her and sighed. She was less focused on catching her breath and more on attempting to figure out how he was able to return, and why he would assault her. What was going on?

"Why did you do that?" Ina croaked.

"Why did you do that?" Luhan shot back, somewhat scathingly, and Ina could not figure out what he was so bitter about, but for now it would be wise for her to keep a safe distance from him. She was not oblivious to how vicious werewolves could be.

"What in the world are you talking about?" She frowned and asked while very slowly and gingerly shifting and scooting horizontally away from him, still panting slightly and still wary of him. "And for the record I really didn't expect you to come back into my life like that."

"You don't want to ever see me again?" He groused. Hurt. Anger. Disappointment. She did not need very good lighting to see these emotions flash across his eyes.

"I don't mean that," she sighed. "Of course I want you back. I just didn't see it coming when you attacked me, nor do I have any clue why you felt the need to be aggressive like that. I don't know what I've done wrong. So would you care to explain what you are accusing me of? Please?"