Everything Anew

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Nathan

The second I turned into the gravel driveway, I caught her scent. When I opened my car door, I was hit even stronger by the intoxicating smell. My inner wolf yearned to find where and who it was coming from.

Down boy. I thought as I shut the car door and locked it.

Before making my way to the porch, Seojoon came rushing over to me. His wavy brown hair was disheveled while his golden brown eyes were alight with joy.

"Alpha, did you hear?" he asked, his voice holding a hint of his Korean accent.

"Evan informed me. I was heading in now."

Seojoon nodded his head as he walked alongside me, making our way up to the porch. "What are we going to do with her? I've never really seen a female werewolf before, I mean due to their rarity and all. Not only that but she was gorgeous, just like the legends say." Seojoon paused as he got to the front door and realized he was rambling. "Right. Sorry."

Leading us inside, I slipped my black jacket off and passed it to my comrade. My eyes settled on my closed office door while I spoke. "Listen Joon, I'll talk to you once I'm out. Until then, refrain from alerting the others, or bombarding her with any questions when she leaves the room. She's probably been through enough already and in time, you'll be able to speak with her. Understood?"

Seojoon ran his fingers through his hair with a shy smile on his face. "Of course. I'll be out front if you need anything."

Watching him step back outside, I turned around and steadily walked to my office. Once again, the scent of her made me pause. I took a second to regain my composure, then turned the knob and stepped into the room.

The first person I saw was Evan. He was facing directly across from where I entered, eyes downcast until I stepped inside. Once I walked in and closed the door behind me, Evan's gaze shifted to the left corner of the room.

Despite thinking beforehand that I had been prepared, I hadn't expected my body and inner wolf to betray me the moment I saw her.

Resilient brown eyes stared back at me as rose coloured lips parted invitingly. Brunette hair trailed down past her shoulders, and towards her barely concealed chest. I snapped my attention away, unable to stop my treacherous body ache with arousal. Doing my best to ignore it, my gaze returned to hers as I kept my distance.

"Evan informed me that he found you out at the perimeter of our forest. Care to tell me what you were doing there?"

She lifted her chin defiantly, and despite the fear rolling off of her, she stood her ground. "What do you think? I'm sure you've noticed this fucking thing around my neck." She tugged at the thick metal collar and grimaced. "I was running from them, and now I'm here."

I pursed my lips and looked sternly at her. I wasn't used to be spoken to with such malice, especially when I was accustomed to politeness and respect that came naturally when speaking to an alpha.

My wolf found the notion to be fascinating.

"So you were running from the Rebels. Odd that they'd let you go this far." I kept my eyes on her a second longer before turning around and getting behind my desk to open my laptop. "Do you know where they're located?"

"No. I was running for my life. I don't think I cared about what direction I was heading in." She answered in a clipped tone.

My brow furrowed as I looked up from the screen. "Are you here to spy on us?"

Her laugh caught me off guard. "A spy? What is there to spy on? Your lavish home with a pack who respects you, with comfortable beds that you get to sleep on every night?" A fire lit her eyes as she glared at me. "Why the hell would they send me here when they can force anything they want from me?"

Even with her telling me the truth, I still felt suspicious of the situation. It would have been safer to send her off and get rid of her before the other pack came looking for her, but a selfish part of me didn't want to let go of her just yet.

"Fine." I walked towards her, stopping the moment she flinched back against the wall. It was clear when she spoke, she was pretending to be unfazed, but her actions proved otherwise. "How about you clean yourself up. We have a spare room, clean clothes that can help throw off your scent. Also, you have injuries, you'll need to get them cleaned."

It was clear she was skeptical from the way she looked at me. The act of kindness from another shifter was rare, but after a few seconds of silence, she finally spoke up. "I don't want anyone touching me."

"No one will." I promised.

Her body stayed tense, but she eased off the wall. "I'm Lila." She muttered.

"Nathan." I replied while nodding my head towards Evan. "Inform the others, let them know they aren't to go any closer than five feet from her. She'll be staying in the empty room on the right."

Evan bowed his head and left the room silently, leaving the two of us alone. She never took her eyes off of me, a clear sign that she didn't trust me. 

"Ask me questions if you have them." I said.

"You're the alpha of this pack. How many others are there?"

"Four others, five if you include me."

Lila chewed her lower lip nervously and spoke again. "What are your plans with me?"

"I honestly don't know yet. For now, we'll let you stay until we figure it out."

Lila eyed me sternly while pressing her lips together. "So what? I stay here as a pet and listen to anything you ask of me?"

"No." My palms pressed back against my desk, allowing myself to lean against it. "You stay here and do as you please, as long as it doesn't disrupt the pack. You can run out of here if you really wanted to."

Lila finally broke eye contact with me, her voice suddenly softer. "What's the catch if I stay?"

"Someone has to be with you at all times outside of your bedroom."

"What?" Lila snapped, taking a stride towards me. "I'm not a child."

"Would you rather be back outside with them searching for you then?" I bit back.

Flinching away from me, Lila stood her ground, her eyes giving me such a look of loathing that it made my skin crawl. "Fine. I'll listen to you, but if anyone touches me, I'm gone. I'd rather risk my life out there than be locked up inside a fancy prison with men who don't respect me."

"If anyone here touches you, I'll be the first to break one of their fingers."

Lila looked at me aghast. "That's barbaric."

"And assault isn't?" I ask pragmatically. "That being said, my pack would never dare try anything with you, so no fingers will be harmed. They respect me enough to listen when I give them an order." I lifted myself off the desk and waited for more questions, but none came. "Anything else?"

Lila shook her head and breathed deeply. "I'd just like to wash off." She said tiredly. "Do the bathrooms have locks on them?"

"Yes, two of them do. The master bathroom doesn't, but for your sake you'll be using the one at the top of the stairs, down the hall from your room."

Nodding her head subtly, she did her best to glower up at me, but I could see the exhaustion in her warm eyes. "Show me the way then, 'alpha'."

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Authors Note: I just wanted to say thank you for all of my readers out there. I already have 65 views on my story in the matter of about three days. Every time I wake up in the morning I check to see if people are reading because I really appreciate knowing people are clicking on my story despite the thousands upon thousands of other stories on the site, it really does motivate me to keep going.

I honestly do appreciate each and every person who reads my story because I put time into it, and have fun writing a story I enjoy. Stay healthy physically, as well as mentally in this hard time, and most of all, never stop being awesome <3