Alpha Cain's eyes were overran with darkness, and he gave a sinister smile. "Run, pup. You know I love a good chase. I'll even give you a head start because of your convincing display of affection."

I scrambled out from underneath him and sprinted into the forest, confused on how he was so prepared for my assault. I really need to stop underestimating the goddamn Blood Alpha. Having to run from that beast truly was a punishment from the Moon Goddess herself.

I made the executive decision to shift into my wolf. If I shifted, I could cover more ground faster, and time was of the essence. I wasn't sure what he considered a head start, but I planned on making the most of it.

Not wasting any time getting undressed, I shifted directly into my wolf, tearing all of my clothes into shreds. My wolf was grey with one white paw, and bigger than the average she-wolf. I dug my paws deeper and deeper into the soil as I ran, trying to use anything I could to push me further, faster.

I had no doubt in my mind that if the Alpha caught me, he would Mark me. I had tricked him too many times for him to trust me, and the deal was that he would wait to Mark me if I behaved. I'm not sure what he counted as behaving, but I was pretty sure that stabbing his collarbone was not exactly making me look like Mother Theresa. In my defense, he shouldn't have brought a knife if he didn't want to get stabbed with it. It's like putting a slice of cake in front of a fat boy.

I continued running for about a minute before I could hear footfall (pawfall?) behind me. Some head start that was. Although I suppose I should be lucky he gave me one at all, considering I certainly didn't give him a warning before plunging a knife into him.

I pushed myself to go even faster, and I'm not sure I've ever ran so fast in my life. I loathed being in wolf form, but I will admit, it was pretty useful when escaping your kidnapper.

Even though I was beating my own PR, I could hear his paws thudding against the ground, not too far behind me. I knew he would catch up to me any second. Making a split second decision, I decided to shift back into human form for Plan B. If I'm being honest with myself though, this was really more like Plan K.

I was able to shift quickly, likely due to the high concentration of adrenaline running through me, and climbed up a tree. No, I did not have clothes to put on and yes, it was uncomfortable. Luckily, the trees in the forest were excessively tall, so I was able to climb up about 15 feet and somewhat conceal myself in the leaves.

I worked on controlling my breathing and lowering my heart rate, so that by the time Alpha Cain ran by, he hopefully would not be able to tell I was lurking in the trees, and would just run right past me.

Unfortunately, it was bright outside since it was still morning, and I knew the leaves did not provide ample coverage, especially factoring in his keen Alpha senses.

His steps got closer and closer, and I peeked out at him in between the leaves. I was surprised to see that he was in human form, and not wolf form. I had assumed that he had shifted, since he was so close behind me. If he could almost outrun me in human form, I was terrified to see how fast he would be in wolf form.

At first, he ran by my tree. Then, he stopped a few feet in front of it, and I knew I was doing a bad job at slowing my heartbeat. He turned around slowly, and I was horrified when I saw that his eyes were still pitch black, and he grinned wickedly, his canines extended menacingly.

"I can hear your heartbeat, mate. I could smell you from a mile away. You really thought that you could trick me?" He shouted wildly, every bit the formidable Alpha I had grown up hearing about.

I didn't dare to even twitch a finger, lest he hear me. For the first time since I had met him, I was genuinely afraid of him. Not slightly scared or intimidated, but flat out horrified. One of the reasons why I am so against letting my wolf have control is because they are impossible to reign back in, and I don't like not being in control. However, my mate seemed to enjoy the wildness of his wolf, and welcomed it with open arms.

He sniffed for a couple seconds before walking directly underneath the tree I was using for cover. "I know you climbed this tree, mate." F*ck. I didn't speak, not because I wasn't trying to blow my cover (because he had already located me) but because I was genuinely scared of what he would do when I came down. Even though he said he wouldn't, I didn't want him to burn me with his fire again. My hands still hadn't recovered and it had been a week. Being scared of pain was a new low for me. I hated everything about my mate.

"Jump off the tree into my arms right now, or I will climb this tree myself and get you down. And if I have to climb a tree to get my mate, I will be very, very angry about it." He ordered calmly, but I could tell from the harsh undertone and black eyes that he was anything but tranquil in this moment.

I looked down through the leaves, and sure enough, he was staring up at me, with his arms out in front of him expectantly. A new feeling washed over me. Failure. The feeling of giving up when you've been holding on to something for so long. Defeat.

I let go of the tree, not really caring at this point if he caught me or not. Either he caught me and he takes me back to being his prisoner, or he doesn't catch me and I fall to my death and don't have to be his prisoner. Both options are equally terrible, in my opinion.

To some extent, I was disappointed when he caught me. Maybe if he had let me fall, I could have gone into a coma for a few months, and then by the time I woke up, he would have forgotten about me.

He caught me as easily in his arms as someone would catch a beach ball. He managed to catch me in the same bridal style position he always carried me in, and I knew I would never escape. The realization hit me like a ton of bricks, and made my heart heavy.

I laid limply in his arms, not bothering to struggle. He won. He would always win. He was an Alpha, and that's what they do.

"You're not even going to put up a little bit of a struggle, mate?" the Alpha taunted me, with a playfully wicked glint in his eyes. I ignored him, closing my eyes and attempting to cover up as much of my naked body as I could. "I can't believe all it took to take the fight out of you was letting you stab me once. Definitely was worth it."

I didn't react. His wolf was wanting me to challenge him for dominance, just so he could exert more force on me. I wouldn't submit, but I was not going to antagonize the beast. We walked back to the lake, and the Alpha didn't say anything the whole trek.

We got back to our original picnic site, and he laid me down gently on the pelt. I looked into his eyes, and was relieved to see that they were back to a dark brown, not completely black anymore. I looked at him hopefully. Perhaps he wouldn't mark me now that his wolf wasn't in control.

"Don't look at me like that. We had a deal. You violated the terms, now I need to hold up my end of the deal." He scolded, as if I were a child. I wished I didn't understand, but I did. I knew the importance of people in power making deals. If he says he's going to do something, he will. The Blood Lake pack in particular honor their word. I nodded, tears streaming silently down my face. I turned my head to the side, giving him access to my neck. I knew that this was a possibility when I made an escape attempt, but I risked it anyways.

"This will probably hurt," he stated, probably to just be a d*ck. I still refused to react to him. If he wants a docile mate, then fine. I'm done fighting. Its pointless. He leans over me. Suddenly, his canines are in my neck. I choke out in pain, thrashing underneath him. He holds me down, and doesn't release his canines from my neck. I feel like he could have made it more gentle, but was rougher to teach me a lesson. I'm on the verge of blacking out when he finally removes his canines, satisfied with the damage.

I let the darkness take over, and for the first time since I have met my mate, I feel at peace.