MY SANCTUARY: THE BEGINNING

†CHAPTER TWELVE†

       His heart rate increased as he raced towards where he'd smelt her fear. This wasn't supposed to be happening. The mutt wasn't supposed to have transformed in front of her. It was still too early for her to find out.
But then, it was sort of her fault. She was as hot headed as his species were so they were almost a perfect match.
 
Damn it! He thought as he raked a tree clean in half as he passed it. He shouldn't be thinking of them that way.
She was his and his alone! 
"I'll rip that wolf when I get my hands on him." He growled to himself as he jumped over a little valley that housed a creek between it.
All his life he'd been alone. He had no one to call his own. Hell, his parents had died early on his age and he'd been sent to his uncle from his mother's side.
His uncle had been no good—treating him like an outcast. As well as his cousin. He hated them all. Each time he had a shot at happiness, someone always had to destroy it.
  
He could understand why that mutt acted the way he did. Even he found it somewhat difficult to handle her.
Now that she was in trouble, he was going to do the unthinkable —expose his secret to her.
She was going to have a hell of a fit when she found out. But if she had feelings for him, the fear would wear off after some time, right?

After all, Wilma had done the same and had gotten used to him.
He crouched on a high tree branch and tried to catch on to her scent. It was faint but still there.
He growled low in his throat. He would definitely find time to break Dehlia in but for now, his major aim was getting her the hell away from that damned mutt.
                    
                           *   *   *
   "Julian!!" I screamed at the man in front of me. He didn't answer. Instead, he let out another animalistic growl. When I stumbled back, he released a cry—a howl rather and right before my eyes, his bones snapped out of place, rearranging themselves.
    Hair sprouted all over his face and body. He screamed—a scream mixed with another howl and reared up on his toes.
I gasped in horror as his entire body changed shape and he landed on his two front paws?!
I gaped at the golden brown wolf I'm front of me. It was the exact wolf I'd been seeing lurking in the woods at night from my window and also the same one that had nearly given me a heart attack when I'd run into it in the woods.
   But what shook me to the core was that the wolf was Julian. If it had been Veiko, I wouldn't have been so perplexed. But Julian?
Oh no. Oh hell no!!
That meant...

  "It was you..." I muttered. Then in a louder voice,  I yelled. "It was you!! You hurt June!!"

    Another animal growl came from him as he reared back on his haunches in an attack mode—and sprung.
I stood there rooted to the spot in terror and didn't bother to make a move as he leapt at me.
   
   My eyes widened when he came within three inches of me.
In a flash, he was knocked away from me in mid air and thrown to the ground. Veiko stood over him like some sexy barbarian warrior.

"Veiko,careful! It's Julian!!"
He grunted and turned to me. He grabbed my hand without another word and set off into the forest.

"Veiko! Slow down!!" I cried.
  I was still trying to make sense of the entire situation. I still couldn't believe my beloved Julian turned out to be the villiain in this case.
I couldn't stop the tears from falling as Veiko pulled me farther into the forest. I stumbled many times, unable to keep up with his speed.

  "V-veiko, please slow down. I can't keep up!" I gasped, out of breath. He finally stopped and glared at me.

Glared? I thought. What did  I do?

"What have you done, Dehlia?" His accent was thicker than before and had a sexier tinge to it.
"W-what do you mean?" I backed up a step. He took one towards me, stalking me with those predatory eyes of his.

Hang on, why was he even blaming me. If I remembered well, Julian kept this secret from us.
"Are you kidding me? Veiko, Julian's a freaking wolf! He literally transformed into one. He could possibly be the one who attacked June and was definitely the one who pounced on me that night and you're not bothered by this?!"

  He sighed again shaking his head.
"Or wait...' I said as a new realization hit me. 'Do…do you know something? Are you in on this too?"
My eyes widened as he took another step towards me.
"Dehlia, what's going on in that head of..."
"Are you also a wolf?"
At that, his features contorted into one of rage and disgust.
"No! Never!! I will never be one of those creatures!"
  He quickly closed the space between us and wrapped his hands around my waist. He touched his forehead to mine.
"I'm sorry you had to see that. I swear you weren't supposed to find out."
I was finding it difficult to understand what he was saying with his voice in my ear and his breath caressing my face.

"What do you mean?"

"I meant..." He paused, not because he was at loss of words but because of the growl that came from behind me.
I froze, looking into Veiko's black eyes.

Black?!?! Wtf?
 
He moved me aside and growled back at Julian. He didn't seem scared in any way.
Hello? Crazy much? I'd be running at the first chance I got.
Julian leapt at Veiko and knocked him to the ground.
"Veiko!" I screamed.
Julian's golden eyes locked on me and he started to stalk me once again. Before he could take two steps, Veiko grabbed his hind leg and tugged hard.
  Julian crashed to the ground and snarled at Veiko who picked him up with superhuman strength and tossed him into a nearby tree.

Just exactly how strong was Veiko? Julian growled fiercely at him and my worst fears were confirmed when Veiko hissed back baring a set of deadly, gleaming, white, sharp fangs.
  I stumbled back a bit as one thought came to my head.

Run!
You don't have to tell me twice. I thought taking off back to my house at high speed.
Throughout the run, I could only think of one thing.
What the hell have I gotten myself into?

                      *   *   *
Hey guys, sorry for the sort chapter and slow updates. But I'll do my best I'm speeding up the story.
I'll be around for the duration of Christmas and new year so...
Thanks a lot and Merry Christmas in advance. 🎄🎄
—Demikka 😘