Chapter 8

After weighing out my options and gleefully watching Asher huff and sigh at my indecisiveness, I decided to just get into the car. I had no idea what he would do to me if I didn't and the thought of his violence sent chills down my spine.

I followed him around the house and into the cavernous garage that was towards the back of the house as if to not disrupt the historic scenery with an outrageously modern building.

Asher walked over to a black box on one of the bricks, flipped it up and placed his thumb on what I guessed must of been a fingerprint scanner. Immediately after, the mahogany doors flipped upwards, revealing 5 sleek cars, perfectly lined up. Of course.

"Woww..." I was almost speechless, I underestimated him yet again.

Despite my blossoming hatred and anger towards him, I couldn't help but to admire his collections of wealth.

I was certain that forgiveness was too lenient, too kind for a man of such heartlessness and outright violence.

I was too busy scheming a plan of vengeance to notice Asher talking to me.

"We will just take the 4 by 4, much easier in this terrain despite the model being outdated. That reminded me.."

I zoned out as he trailed off about 'needing to buy an updated version' otherwise ' this old thing will probably break down on me'.

~~~

The car really wasn't very old.

We were now driving down a small road, mountains, rocks, rivers, cliffs, woods and wildlife surrounding us.

Despite the peaceful atmosphere, silence and tension hung in the air like the unpleasant stench of death.

"Why?" I blurted out as we curved through the steep and sharp turns of the road.

His facial expressions remained the same; everlasting masks of carelessness and hardness.

The only sign that there was a conscience behind his reckless, pugnacious actions was the whitening of his knuckles that gripped the steering wheel in a deadly vice.

"Asher for goodness sake,look at me!" I shouted angrily, pulling down the top of my shirt, showing him the bruises and redness of just a fraction of the skin he abused.

His eyes whisked down to the marks and,momentarily, he was fixed upon them, staring into them with a glossy look on his face. But before I knew it he returned his gaze back to the road.

" Your human. You don't understand,yet, the werewolf way of life and everything about us. You will know soon enough" he spoke after a while.

" I didn't plan on marking you so soon but our pack is facing some threats so I did it for your safety"

A deep, gravelly laugh escaped my throat, " For my safety? You don't care about anybody but yourself. So hurting me, bruising me, that was for my benefit? Why did you say our pack? I just want to go home Asher, I don't want to be with you, I don't want to be here. And your never touching me again." I said accusingly.

All I received was a sadistic laugh which sent shivers running throughout my body.

"What makes you think you have control over that?" He breathed in a low, daring voice, " you see, I have already marked you, all that's left is mating. And as Alpha, I ensure you that won't be long, I need pups soon"

My words caught in my throat as we turned onto an unmarked road, leading further into the wood than we already were. It has only been 10 minutes however it felt like eternity in the car. Civilisation was long gone by now, there weren't even electricity cables. It was like we'd ventured back generations.

"Firstly, what the heck is a 'mating' and secondly, I am 18 years old I am not having children or pups or whatever you called them, at my age, and most importantly never with you!"

I had reached boiling point. I felt flames writher and snap within me, begging a release, anger and a feeling of powerlessness dominating my whole body.

" The funny thing is" he began, even though his face remained cold and hard ," you have no control. And you'll never have control. If i want pups, we are having pups, if I tell you to shut up, you shut the fuck up, is this absorbing into your naïve human mind?" He finished, calmly.

I was speechless. His affirmations sunk into me and hit a nerve. For the first time since Asher took me, I was beginning to realise how little control and power I had.  I hated to even think that I had no control over my life and what I do with it.

I looked out the window, the blazing sun shining down onto the trees that surrounded us. What about my family? Will I never see my family again?

"What about my family?" I muttered, my throat croaking with emotion and sadness.

He didn't move from his position, his eyes staying on the road,

"They are a liability to our race. I informed them of your presence here, told them that you are not dead, you are perfectly well, and used hypnosis, a characteristic passed down in my line of wolves, to go back to England. If I'm not mistaken they are on their way back to England right this second, with a considerable amount of compensation as well, which I didn't have to give them"

I was truly alone. An endless stream of tears escaped my eyes as sobs were leaving my throat. I pulled my legs up and tucked my head into my lap, rocking myself back and forth as I just completely broke down. The only people I've ever loved, miles away from me. Could I ever see them again? Salty rivers of emotion were wetting my cheeks and clothing, but that was the least of my worries.

Everything became too much to handle. I was emitting such inhumane sounds, screeches of pain and loss. My sister, my stepdad, my loving, caring mum. Tears were rolling down my wet and red face, and I went into another round of uncontrollable hysteria.

I didn't notice when we stopped at a gate and Asher pressed in a code, the wooden barriers bursting opening shortly after. I lifted my head, and through clouded eyes, could make out beautiful wooden houses lining each side of the road. Is was like we'd entered a village, apart from this one was far far away from civilisation and planted in the middle of the enormous stretch of woodland that ran for tens of miles throughout the whole district.

There were many roads leading off from the main one, and in my peripheral vision, I saw a diner and some shops dotted around a large green space. Everything was integrated and surrounded by the trees and vegetation, making the place appear natural and also prepossessingly eerie.

This place wasn't any ordinary town.

After a few more minutes, Asher stopped the car. Looking up, I was met by a generously sized  one-story house which completely stood out in comparison to its surroundings. The whole exterior of the house appeared to be made of glass, and as I peered in, I could see several people congregated in the cavernous kitchen and dining area.

Asher was silent as he exited the car and edged around the front, opening my door for me with a pensive look on his face.

With an aurora of sadness following me, I stood up carefully, not trusting my weakened legs. I was sure that my face was horrific,  I'd only just managed to calm down the flow of tears and helpless sobs.  My eyes were red and drooped, my cheeks tear-stained.

I began walking towards the front door, Asher trailing behind me, surprisingly not commanding me to quicken my pace.

I stopped as we got to the entrance, unsure of if it was someone's house or a communal area.

"This is the pack house" Asher interjected as if he could read my mind , stepping in front  of me and barging through the door.

I trailed behind him, surveying the surroundings for threats, but I was met with a clean,modern and well furnished open plan space.

"Hello you two! Please come in,come in, I was just laying out breakfast for everyone! Sit, sit" A voice I recognised as Asher's mother piped in from the left of us.

Following the instructions of my empty stomach, I quickly,with trepidation in my step, walked over to the majestic oak dining table that would comfortably seat 20, lowering onto one of the empty seats furtherest away from the unfamiliar people.

A plate was already in front of me and as I began to rapidly load a variety of fruit, waffles and pancakes onto the ever-growing plate, I could feel their eyes surveying me , no doubt noticing the bruises and marks tainting my exposed arms.

But they said nothing. As I lifted my head, I saw the women in the room throwing me sympathetic looks whereas the males simply avoided me altogether as if I were a contagious disease.

" Asher aren't you staying for some food?..." His mothers voice pulled me out of my thoughts, my eyes skimming the room until I caught Asher's. He was staring directly at me, unreadable emotions glinting in his eyes. Sparks were tingling within me despite being on opposite sides of the table. I repeatedly tried to push them down, but with each heave my willpower grew weaker.  I filtered through memories of his violence within my mind, a method of deterrence, and thankfully, the spurt of feelings mingling and sparkling inside momentarily ceased. Realisation dawned on me that this mate bond we share is more potent and stronger than I ever imagined.

As if something inside him snapped, Asher violently flicked his attention off me, and unfortunately began to close the small distance between us, directing himself onto the chair next to me.

He appeared to be listening in on everyone's group conversation, so with little effort I pulled my gaze off him and assessed everyone in the room with an anxious readiness.

As I peered around I noticed that Asher's acquaintances or whatever they were to him- were congregated around the table as one, but split off into couples. I could immediately tell that these were mates, they all looked so intimate, happy and loved that it sent an ache through my heart.

Didn't I deserve that happiness? What had I done to deserve Asher's violence and.... coldness?

Despite my surroundings, I felt uncomfortable. Most likely due to the muscular, taller than average man sat far too close to me, finishing eating his breakfast. Me on the other hand had finished all the food on my plate a few minutes ago, my earlier hunger subsided.

I didn't know my place in this environment-or my way round- so decided it was best to wait for Asher, I mean, in his scheming, evil mind he probably had something for me to do after this.

"Thank you mother, it was as delightful as always" Asher declared formally, backing out of his chair, readying to depart.

He glanced down at me out of the corner of his eye purposely, signalling me to follow him.

"Thanks for the food, it was delicious"

I spoke sincerely , plastering a polite smile onto my face, masking the sorrowful , melancholy feelings inside.

"Of course, dear" She countered from her seat, happiness radiating from her.

I didn't say another word as I followed an also silent Asher out the front door of the house, a cool breeze attacking my skin as soon as I moved outside.

We continued walking down the relatively deserted road until Asher led me to the entrance of an old wooden house, the exterior,blatantly suffering from negligence. The wood was chipped and mounded in various places and it house appeared to be slightly tilted. Hopefully the latter was a figment of my warped imagination.

Asher knocked on the door as confident as ever however it took the home-owner minutes of stretched, awkward silence to finally open the crooked, squeaky door.

In front of me was a spindly elderly man, holding a carved walking stick in one wrinkled hand, and a pair of glasses in the other. With trembling hands, no doubt age induced, the old man, gasped in recognition;

"Alpha Asher, forgive me for taking so long,sir, my limbs just don't work as they used to" He went on mournfully.

The man barely acknowledged my existence until Asher explained our presence here,

"This is your Luna, Rose. She's a human and for the entirety of the day she will use your countless books on our kind to educate her on everything necessary, is that clear?" He commanded, smoothly and sharply.

At least by being locked away in this house I would be away from the monster for a matter of hours, the thought of that liberty from his potent grasp, no matter how minimal the time I had was, sparked a newfound happiness and delight inside of me.

"I'll collect you later" Asher declared from beside of me as he began retreating towards the modern building once more. He obviously hated to waste time on things that didn't directly concern him.

Pulling myself out of my never-ending thoughts, I flickered my eyes towards the elderly man, whom for some reason I felt sympathy for, most likely because he's acquainted with Asher. Or Alpha Asher as he put it.

"Follow me" He croaked merrily, joyful to be showing off his collection of books.

And as he led me through different sectors of the house, when he stopped and I looked up, my, my, what a collection of books he had .