Chapter 3

“Werewolves? You’ve got to be kidding me, you kidnapped us for that?” Aria’s voice bordered on screeching.

I cocked my head, confused as to why they’d bring up werewolves.

“We’re not kidding.” Harry glared at her.

“You must be delusional.” To my surprise, Aria started laughing. She was laughing out loud and I wanted to join her but Harry’s irritated face stopped me.

He was the scariest out of all of them.

“Humans.” Harry spat.

“Dogs.” Aria snapped back and I caught a small smile on Abigail’s face. “For the record, I don’t believe a word you’re spitting from your mouths.” She added.

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to show them.” Harry flashed a toothy smile at us. I picked at my silver dress, running my fingers against the soft fabric.

“Wait, are you sure we should do that?” Abigail asked hesitantly, looking at Ken, who said nothing.

“Please do,” Aria challenged and Harry stood up abruptly, grinning devilishly.

He made his way to the couch where I was seated and got down, his knees and palms on the russet rug.

“What’s he doing?” Aria asked as the large man closed his eyes, his forehead wrinkled in concentration.

“Just watch.” Ken put a finger to his lips and from the corner of my eye, I saw Abigail look away.

I focused my eyes on Harry, whose eyes fluttered open in a split second, glowing an appalling gold. He growled, his teeth and face. . . changed.

A snap that sounded like a thunderstorm.

Patches of black and brown spreading on skin.

I blinked and in a terrifying instance, Harry was gone. The mountain of a man was gone.

I didn’t understand at all; I don’t why but I just didn’t.

Until I saw the huge black dog stalking it’s prey. Us.

I screamed and jumped up from my seat, from both shock and fear. As soon as I did, I didn’t feel good.

My head was dizzy, my eyes shifting out of focus. Nausea cut its way into my stomach. Nothing was coherent, I didn’t even feel Aria lightly tugging my arm.

“Where’s the bathroom?” Her voice sounded like we were in a tunnel, echoing in the dark. Why was she so far away?

“Around the corner, to your left-“

“Thank you,” We didn’t stop.

I almost tripped on my heels, at which point I finally slipped off. Aria held me upright, helping me get a grasp on reality.

When we got to the bathroom, I threw up in one of the toilets. My sister held my hair back as I coughed, my throat throbbing in pain.

When I was done, I wiped my mouth with a paper towel Aria handed me.

“You okay?”

I nodded and took a look in the bathroom mirror.

My straight black hair was a frizzy web, a terrible case of bedhead, and my makeup had all been sweated off. My cheeks were flushed and my skin looked blotchy.

“I want to go home.” I finally said and she gave me a small, sad smile. But it quickly fell.

“I wish Mom and Dad were here,” Aria looked at her nails, “Then we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

I felt the blood rush back to my face.

“This has to be some sort of joke, or a dream, or something else.” Aria’s voice increased in octaves.

I didn’t want to believe in another world but my eyes couldn’t reject what we saw. I saw a human man change into a wild wolf before me, and somehow I knew that it wasn’t fake.

There’s no other explanation, werewolves were. . .

“Or this is all real.”

She whipped around to stare at me, putting her hands on my shoulders to shake me from my insanity.

“You don’t actually believe this, do you?” Aria gaped her mouth at me, “This is all a trick, it’s not real.”

“But-“

“Hazel, there’s no such thing as werewolves. They’re all crazy, this is all crazy.” Her tone conveyed her fear, her fear of reality.

---

When Aria and I walked back to the room, the three boys- the werewolves- were silent. They all had their heads down, hands in fists.

Harry had changed back but I tried to avoid him.

Aria, on the other hand, walked right up to him and sat down next to him.

“Let’s say we do believe you, why kidnap us?”

“We didn’t kidnap you, we brought you here by your own free will.” Harry lied lightly.

She rolled her eyes, “Like I said, kidnapping.”

“We brought you here so our healer could see you.” replied Abigail, who was looking at us like we’d shatter like we were made of glass. He was probably waiting for the hysteria to hit us.

“But why does the healer have to see us at all? Is there something wrong with us?” Aria twirled a piece of her curly hair around her finger.

“One of them could be a mate, sometimes other wolves know-” Abigail began.

Ken interrupted, “No, we would know-“

“Excuse me, back up,” Aria instructed, “What the hell is a mate?”

“A werewolf’s other half, a soulmate,” Harry smirked and Aria turned her head to look at him, a what-the-hell look on her face. I guessed she didn’t want to get involved with werewolf affairs.

“But why kidnap us?” I asked quietly. “You said this was the beginning, what’s the rest of the story?”

Ken cleared his throat, “We’ve all agreed that we feel a connection to you, you seem so familiar to us somehow.” He tapped a hand to his chin, thinking.

“Me? Or her?” Aria cocked her head, ignoring Ken’s words that made no sense.

“We’re not sure which but it seems like both of you.”

“And this healer,” I changed the topic and Ken met my confused eyes, “He knows who we are?” Or maybe what we are.

“I hope so.” Harry muttered.

The door slammed open abruptly, hitting the wall and making me jump.

I met the eyes of the exact same shade as the ocean. As with the other three here, he was extremely handsome. He had dark brown hair, a shade lighter than Harry’s, and his jawline was sharply built. If it weren’t so funny, I’d say he reminded me of a vampire.

For a heartbeat, the air was still.

Like no one knew what to do.

Until he spoke, “Is this them?” His voice was oddly mature.

“Yes, this is Aria and Hazel Brook,” Abigail introduced, standing up.

The stranger walked- no- glided over to us. He looked at Aria first, studying her face intently. I saw her gulp, but it wasn’t from fear, it was from attraction.

His eyes swept over me next with that same stare that made me want to fade invisible.

The stranger then spoke a second time, this time a little gentler, “You were right to bring them here.”

I realized that this stranger was the healer, we were sitting in his room.

“Kidnap is more like it.” Aria mumbled.

“Why? Do you know why we feel a connection to them? Are they wolves?” Harry asked eagerly but the stranger shook his head.

“No, they’re only human,”

Only human. . . of course we were but then why did I feel a little disappointed?

“I can’t explain it, but there’s something there, something powerful.” He said softly and I wondered what he meant by that.

He zoned out staring at the floor, lost in thought.

“Maybe the Alpha or Luna will have an idea.” Abigail suggested and I was lost.

“So we’re free to go?” Aria asked urgently and my interest spiked, looking anxiously at the door.

“Will you excuse us, I need to talk with Beta Abigail and Harry. Ken, please take our guests to the den,” The healer told Ken and he nodded, standing up and stretching his long arms.

Aria and I nearly jumped with excitement, all we wanted was to leave this unnerving insanity.

Ken escorted us out of the room and back through the maze of hallways. I struggled to keep up, my feet were covered in blisters and I still felt sick.

In a blur, before I could even comprehend what was happening, a rough hand grabbed my neck and threw me to the wall.

I gasped and looked up, stunned to meet the gold-glowing eyes of an angry boy.

Ken was the first to act.

“Law, let her go.” He commanded in a firm voice.

“Why, I’m having so much fun.” He said sarcastically while also shoving my back harder against the wall.

I choked on little air and tried to claw at his hands but it didn’t help.

“What the hell, stop!” Ken said in an even more dangerous voice. If his voice had been directed at me, I’d have been terrified.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill her.” He studied me with harsh eyes, almost mocking. I whimpered.

“Because I’ll report you to the Alpha now back. The. Fuck. Up.” Ken threatened and in an instant, his death grip released me.

I fell to the floor, chugging on air for dear life. Aria was there as soon as I was free, helping me stand for the second time tonight.

“Hazel!” She exclaimed in shock.

“I’m fine.” I wheezed.

“Stay out of my way.” He shoved me again and thankfully, he was gone.

“Sorry about Law, he gets really angry, really fast.” Ken winced.

Aria’s fave wrinkled up like she just ate a lemon, “Hazel, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.”