So here is the first chapter for the Werewolf AU that has been stuck in my mind for ages and I'm giving in and posting it.
My plan is for weekly updates. If you are liking it, please drop a kudos and a comment :D
My body felt hot and cold, the skin feeling almost too tight. The only respite was the soft sheets that covered me, it felt like butter as it slid over my skin. My sheets never felt like this, they were cheap and made from rough cotton. These sheets felt like silk.
Even the bed was more comfortable than anything I had laid on, reminding me of the bed Lissa owned or the one I slept on at Alberta's. Unlike the academy, which had loose springs digging into my back, this one was plush and actually supported my weight rather than sagging.
My head was groggy, a fog separating me from my memories for why I was laying in an obviously expensive bed.
I remembered being dragged from my bed, people forcing me into the bathroom to clean. I remember the feeling of dread and rage.
My eyes snapped open.
I was forced into a mating ceremony.
The drug made the memories hazy, only bits and pieces being clear. I remember the ridiculous white dress they put on me. I remember piercing brown eyes. And I remember the pain.
I sucked in a sharp breath, sounding like a sob. The sudden movement pulled at the tender skin of my throat, pain spreading from it.
This couldn't be happening.
I had considered what it would be like to be claimed in the future. What it would be like to find someone to be my mate and promise myself to them. I always imagined how it would feel falling in love with them, staring into their eyes as they would lean forward to claim me, as I would to them.
But that wasn't what happened.
I was claimed, against my will, and now I was in a relationship with an Alpha I had never met. He had forced himself on me and I had no way of saying no. There go all of my hopes for my freedom, my entire life falling apart in just a matter of hours.
Now I will be expected to be some submissive Omega eager to please my Alpha.
I would rather die.
The sounds of a door handle turning pulled me from my thoughts. Though my body felt too exhausted to move, I pushed myself up in the bed, clutching the silk sheet close to me. I noticed with a scowl that I was dressed in just my underwear.
I watched through narrowed eyes as a tall muscular man appeared from the doorway. With his towering height, I was surprised he didn't have to duck to fit. This guy was jacked, muscles on top of muscles, all barely concealed under a black t-shirt and jeans. His hair was long and unruly, the end grazing his shoulders, the deep brown colour reminded me of caramel when he stepped into the sunlight that poured into the room.
His eyes made my heart stop.
They were the same ones. Dark and intense as they stared at me. Just as they were when he claimed me.
This was my Alpha.
I gripped the sheet tighter to my body, pressing myself against the bed frame to be as far from him as I possibly could.
He noticed the movement, eyeing me carefully. He came to a stop at the end of the bed, thankfully not coming any closer. "I'm glad you're awake."
If he wasn't the man that forced himself on me, I would have enjoyed the deep tones of his voice, the hints of an accent to it. I think it was Russian. His voice was gentle and yet I could still feel the power he held, he could have men on their knees with a few words.
Though he appeared non-threatening, I sensed the waves of pure Alpha rolling off him, the intensity hitting me like a truck. I refused to fold under it.
"I know you most likely have a lot of questions," He continued. "But you are safe here, Roza."
I scoffed, making him raise an eyebrow. Not many were brave enough to stare into the eyes of an Alpha, but I wasn't afraid. "Where am I?" This building didn't look like any I had stayed in before.
The walls of the room were wooden and decorated with embellishments, the style was old, and yet the room looked well cared for. The academy preferred to style their housing either with European inspirations or modern designs. Unless you lived in the Omega housing, then it was just old and depressing.
The Alpha gestured with a hand to the room, "This is my packhouse. Your packhouse now, too." He added that last bit like it was meant to please me, I just scowled.
"This isn't my pack," I growled out.
Surprise crossed his eyes, but he kept his expression blank, guarded. "I know this is an adjustment-"
"You don't know shit." I spat out. That got a reaction, eyes narrowing.
He took a step closer, a hint of frustration in his voice, "If you just give it a chance, I'm sure you will like it here."
"I'm not going to give anything a chance, and I sure as fuck won't like it here."
His nostrils flared, "I would prefer it if you didn't use that kind of language."
"And I would prefer it if you left me alone." My instincts were warning me not to push, to just submit to the Alpha, my supposed mate. He sure wasn't liking my defiance.
He took another step towards me making my fight or flight instincts kick in, my eyes darting around the room for somewhere to escape from him, I knew that he would be able to overpower me easily. The door he came through was behind him, leaving only a window to my right or the bathroom on my left. The bathroom was closer and seemed safer than throwing myself out of a window.
"I'm your mate, Roza–"
I stood from the bed, clutching the sheet to cover me still. I levelled a glare at him, "First off, my name is Rose! And second, you are not my mate, and you never will be!"
That had pushed him over the edge, his guarded expression breaking, eyebrows drawn in anger and nostrils flaring. He marched towards me, but I was quick on my feet, running to the bathroom and slamming the door after me. I managed to flick the lock on the door just as he reached the door handle.
I watched with bated breath as the handle jiggled. When that didn't work, his fist banged on the door. There was no doubt in my mind that he could knock this door down if he really wanted to.
Maybe I should have jumped out the window.
After watching the door rattle a few more times, the assault stopped. I could hear his heavy breathing outside the door.
"Roz—Rose, open the door!"
I didn't respond to him, instead, searching the large bathroom for something I could use as a weapon. I was shocked by how clean and organised it was, nothing even laying out on the marble countertop.
I heard something mumbled in a different language, assuming it was in Russian based on his accent. He tried the door handle once more before growling.
"Fine!" His breathing was laboured, making me wonder how close he was to shifting. "Dinner will be in an hour. I hope we can have a conversation then, like adults!"
I was surprised he had retreated, fully expecting him to drag me out of here kicking and screaming. I pressed my ear against the door, listening to his heavy footsteps leading out of the room, a slamming of the bedroom door and then his footsteps faded. I didn't dare to unlock the door until there was silence for a couple of minutes.
With the sheet still wrapped around me, I ventured out into the bedroom. Despite hearing him leave, I was half expecting the Alpha to be in here still. I rushed to the bedroom door and locked it, dragging a chair over and securing it under the handle.
I had less than an hour to figure out a way out of this place before he came back looking for me, and I didn't see him being as forgiving.
Telling a mate that you didn't want them wasn't the greatest thing to do, especially to an Alpha, their wolves can become very aggressive and want to lay their claim again.
I crossed back to the bathroom, standing before the large mirror on the wall. Carefully, I pulled my hair back to expose the fresh bite on the skin where my neck and shoulder met. The puncture marks from his teeth stood out against my skin, the area around it still red and swollen.
Claiming a wolf without their consent was frowned upon as it was incredibly violating. My life was now tied to his and I had no say in the matter. Angry tears pooled in my eyes, threatening to fall.
Just a day ago, I had a life and a possible future. But now I had a mate I have never met before and has forced me into a life I didn't know or want.
I was going to get out of here. One way or another, I was going to be free again.
I hastily wiped my face, refusing to wallow in my current situation. I was going to fight my way out.
My plan was simple, though not great. Get dressed, get out of the house, and then get away from the pack.
There were a lot of blank spaces and room for things to go wrong, but I had to take the risk.
After some searching, I found my clothes. They had moved quickly while I was passed out, the small number of clothes I owned already hanging up in the closet. It was a walk-in his and her closet, my things barely took up half of a rack.
I felt better dressed, rather than just a sheet covering my body. I didn't want to think about the fact that he had obviously stripped me while I was sleeping. I could only hope that he hadn't done more than that while I was sleeping. It was bad enough that he claimed me, I didn't want to think about whether he had touched my body elsewhere without my consent.
Now, to get out. I didn't trust the hallway, trying to find the exit while hoping to avoid being seen. I walked to the window I had been eyeing earlier, pushing the glass panes open. I let out a low whistle.
Whoever this Alpha was, he had money. The house was huge, like mansion huge. The room I was in was on the third floor, facing out into a large garden. The hedges and flower bushes looked like a maze, pathways leading in different directions with a glass gazebo in the middle.
If I wasn't trying to escape I would admit that this place was beautiful.
I glanced down at the ground. I have had a lot of experience sneaking out of windows but I was hesitant about trying to drop three stories. Exploring a little more brought me some luck, about an arms reach from the window was a pipe. I could only pray that it would hold my weight.
I tugged my leather jacket on, giving the room one last once over before lifting myself up onto the windowsill.
"It's okay, Rose," I spoke to myself, hoping to ease the nerves in me, "You've done things much harder than this." I pulled myself up until my feet were on the edge of the window, holding on to the top of it with my hands, easing my way to the side.
I reached for the pipe, wrapping one hand around it. That was the easy part, now I had to let go of the window and hope the pipe doesn't fall apart.
You can do this.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed off the windowsill, wrapping my other hand around the pipe while my shoes dug into the rough bricks of the wall. I clutched the pipe, eyes squeezed close as I waited for the terrifying sound of the metal groaning.
But it never came.
Cracking an eye open proved that I was still on the side of the house and not falling to the ground below. I released a shaky breath.
I slowly worked myself down, walking down with my feet as my hands slid down the pipe. Everything was fine until I got to the second-floor window.
My foot slipped on the bricks, unable to find anything for the tread of my shoe to grip on. My hands scrambled to grab the pipe but instead sliced my palm on a loose piece of metal. I bit back my scream as I fell to the ground. I just managed to get my feet under me before I landed.
Crashing on the ground, I crumbled to the side as pain shot up from my ankle. Now laying on my side, ankle and palm hurt, but at least I made it out of the house. A quick glance at my palm showed blood pooling from the cut, it needed a bandage but wasn't life-threatening.
My ankle was questionable, I could still rotate it, just with a bit of pain. At least it wasn't broken.
"Wh-Where did you come from?"
My head snapped up. Seems my plan of not being seen was short-lived. A blond man was watching me through the open window of the first floor, a cup of coffee in his hand and a slack jaw. He looked about the same age as the Alpha, equally as muscular, but on the shorter side.
I pushed myself to my feet, ignoring the pain, and hurried away. If he told the Alpha that he just saw me, which I didn't doubt he had already mind-linked him, I had a very limited amount of time to get away. I had seen a garage from my vantage point earlier and was hopefully hobbling through the maze in the right direction to find it.
The sound of rushed footsteps made me pick up the pace, glancing back to see the blond man running after me.
"Did you just jump from the third story?" He asked, sounding more impressed than angry.
I tried to peer through the thick bushes for the wooden structure of the garage. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Dimitri is not going to be happy when he finds out about this," The man chuckled, walking beside me now.
I side-eyed him, "Who?"
"Who?" He asked incredulously, "He didn't even tell you his name? Wow. Your mate, Dimitri. Alpha of this pack."
I gritted my teeth, "He isn't my mate."
I breathed a sigh of relief, the maze opening up to reveal the garage, the roller doors open showing a selection of cars and motorbikes. I contemplated taking one of the cars but decided against it, they would be harder to hide. Whereas the bike, I could just push that into the forest when I needed to ditch it.
Now to find the keys.
"What are you doing?"
I glanced back at the blond for a second before searching the walls of the garage. Dimitri must be one hell of a control freak, on the wall had all the keys on a hook, the name of what they belong to written above it.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" I snatched up the keys for the bike. I had never been so thankful to Alberta for teaching me to ride when I was fifteen. It was the last good memory I had before she took me away; before I presented and my life went to hell.
"It really looks like something I should stop you from doing."
I threw my leg over the bike, inserting and twisting the key, before firing the engine to life. I smirked at the blond, "You can try."
His eyes widened in panic taking a step towards me, finally realising I was serious.
"What's going on here?" A voice boomed from behind me.
The blond and I both froze, his eyes shifting away from me. I didn't need to look to know who had joined us, sensing his presence. The bite on my neck reacted to him, his voice making me shiver with the power behind it.
My body begged me to stay, but my mind knew that this was my last chance. I kicked the stand on the bike, twisted the accelerator and took off. Hearing his responding growl made me speed up the bike, I needed as much distance between me and this place as quickly as I could.
I had no idea where to go once reaching the road, turning the bike down what I hoped led to the highway. I weaved through the traffic, dodging cars. If they were following me, that would slow them down a little.
Catching sight of a sign pointing to Highway 89, I turned the bike and followed it.
I was on the edges of the town, the forest around me growing denser. The breath I had been holding slowly released. I made it out, just a bit further and then I could disappear on the highway. I wasn't sure where to go after that, but I knew that anywhere was better than here.
Over the roar of the engine, I faintly heard it.
Fuck.
The sound of paws impacting the ground.
I couldn't even react. One moment I was hunched over on the bike, the next my body was flung away from it. I watched as the bike stayed upright for a second before falling to the side and skidding across the pavement. I expected my body to be doing the same, feeling weightless as I fell. But a solid form wrapped around me as we impacted.
It hurt like a bitch, but whoever was under me stopped me from feeling the brunt of it. They kept hold as we rolled through the dirt on the side of the road.
I groaned when we came to a stop, managing to push myself away from the thing that shielded me. Gaining some distance between us, I turned to look behind me to find a wolf. A very, very large, brown wolf. I'm pretty sure if I was standing it would be the same height as me, if not taller.
The wolf stood from the ground shaking the dirt from its fur. Bright amber eyes found mine and I knew I was screwed. They were pissed.
Dimitri was not going to let me go.
I continued to crawl away, made harder by the soreness of my body, my ankle was now pulsating from the pain. Not that a couple of feet would make any difference, if Dimitri wanted to kill me, he would just need to jump to reach me.
A pressure in my head told me he was trying to mind-link with me, but I refused to let him in. He eyed me, upper lip pulling back to show his sharp teeth. He wanted me to submit, using his presence as an Alpha to overpower me, but I fought it.
I will not submit to him.
Tires screeched on the road, the sound of a car door slamming and then footsteps; I didn't dare look away from Dimitri to see who had arrived.
"Jesus! Are you trying to kill her!" The blond from before yelled at Dimitri, glancing back and forth at us. "Shit, you need to let him communicate with you." He ordered me, tone pleading.
I shook my head, shifting back another inch, "No."
"Look, I appreciate the whole feisty attitude thing you have going on, but you really shouldn't mess around right now."
"I'm not messing around," I called back, inching back a little more. I just needed to reach the tree line; Dimitri was large and weaving between the trees would be harder for him. Just a little further. The pain in my head persisted, Dimitri's eyes narrowing as he took a step closer in warning.
There is one rule they teach everyone; never run away from an angry Alpha, especially if you are Omega.
I guess I've always been a rule breaker.
With a burst of speed, I jumped up and disappeared into the trees, taking two steps and shifting. I was going to regret destroying my favourite jacket but it was life and death right now. The cracking of bone that came from shifting didn't even hurt anymore, happening seamlessly after years of practice.
My black wolf emerged, paws landing on the ground, moving light and quickly. I was smaller than most wolves and that made me faster. My hurt ankle slowed me a little but I couldn't focus on the pain. I had to get away.
I had to escape!
Luck really wasn't on my side.
His form hit me from behind, knocking me onto my back; the force of it was like being hit by a truck. A low whine escaped me as I impacted the hard ground.
Dimitri was on top of me, towering over me; sharp teeth hovering dangerously close to my neck. He outmatched me in both weight and strength, I couldn't move. His eyes stared into mine, commanding. My strength was waning, unable to keep blocking the mind-link.
"Shift back!"
The order was laced with Alpha command, I couldn't resist it.
My body returned to its human form, the fur receding and bone realigning. I was acutely aware that I was naked though I didn't let it show that I was uncomfortable. I may not be able to fight him, but I wasn't going to just blow over and take it.
Dimitri released a low growl in warning before shifting back himself, his hand instantly latched onto my wrist so I couldn't attempt an escape. The gentleness from early was gone, all there was now was a hard look set on his face.
He didn't like that I had defied him and that made me smirk. Good; he should learn now that I wasn't like other Omegas.
I was really cursing this mating bite, it tingled with his hands on me, my body reacting to his being so close, so naked. I kept my eyes on his, staring up at him defiantly. Dimitri never looked away.
He broke the silence, voice low and rough, "Do not run."
"I grabbed a blanket and pants," The blond man joined us in the forest, said objects held out towards us.
Dimitri grabbed the blanket and threw it at me, "Cover up." Taking the pants for himself and pulling them on.
I glared at them, wrapping the blanket tightly around my body. I sat up, eyeing the two men before me; their eyes were glazed over, mind-linking.
Dimitri's eyes shifted to me, "Are you done running?"
I narrowed my eyes, "You know, if a girl is running away from you, maybe that means she doesn't want to be with you."
His jaw twitched, expression becoming impassive. "Get up, we are going back."
I frowned. The adrenaline of trying to escape had worn off and I was feeling every ache and pain of my body, and judging on the pain I was feeling, there was no way I was going to walk on my ankle.
"I said get up."
He didn't even have to yell, I still winced at the harshness of his voice, the command in it. I clenched my fist, mumbling, "I can't."
Dimitri stepped closer, "What?"
"I can't! Thanks to you, I fucked up my ankle."
"Actually, I think you did that when you jumped from the third floor," The blond man supplied.
"Shut up, Ivan." Dimitri snapped. He contemplated me for a moment before crouching beside me; I couldn't even get a word out before his arms looped under me and lifted.
I gritted my teeth against the pain, biting back the groans that wanted to escape. It was amazing that Dimitri was still walking, I didn't even take a lot of the impact from hitting the road and yet I was hurting this much. He didn't even look affected.
It was both terrifying and impressive.
I didn't want his hands on me, but there was no way I was getting out of this forest without his help, so I just had to bear it.
The blond man, which I now know was Ivan, followed after Dimitri, giving me an encouraging smile and thumbs up.
