"Please, let me go! Please!" I cried, trying to yank my arm out of the man's grip. The man and his partner laughed, then they did something that had me screaming. They pulled my dark cloak away from my body, leaving me in my simple underdress— something a woman shouldn't wear outside her home because of the simplicity of the gown and the amount of skin it exposed. It hung off the shoulders and showed a fair amount of cleavage with its long sleeves and its colour, which was a pure white.

Why hadn't I listen to mother? Why hadn't I remained at home and why had I not changed my clothing? Why was I so lazy?

"Stop! Please!" I thrashed in the man's arms as his partner ran a hand over my neck. His eyes zoomed in on a spot on my neck, then he let a dangerous smirk curve his lips up.

"A Warrior's promised bride." he said, and his partner laughed. "Now that's a catch."

I gasped, afraid of what he could do to me. He saw the temporary mark on my neck, His mark— two black daggers crossing each other. I was told that since I became a Warrior's promised bride, I would be thought of as a catch, since I'd be used against the Warrior.

I was a Warrior's promised bride, a Warrior's weakness.

"Let go! Stop it!" I screamed, tears burning my eyes. The men both laughed at my pleas, before the man who saw my mark pulled a small dagger out of the belt of his pants. My heartbeat accelerated as I felt my body temperature dropping.

"Please, no! Please!" I cried harder, tears falling out as he neared me with the dagger pointing towards my underdress. I thrashed violently, trying to free myself from the man holding me, even though I knew I wasn't getting out of this one.

Suddenly, a tearing sound rippled before the man with the small dagger cried in pain, his knees buckling and betraying him as he fell flatly on the ground. I looked ahead, and a gasp escaped me.

"You should know that laying a hand on a Warrior's promised bride means death." he said with a visibly clenched jaw, his golden eyes blazing with fury. He was fuming, seeing his promised bride being touched by another man boiled his blood.

The man holding me threw me harshly on the ground, causing me to yelp in pain. I couldn't stop my tears, I was in so much fear and pain. I heard an angry sound, no doubt being His, before a tortured scream echoed through my ears. I closed my eyes tightly, feeling my body shake uncontrollably.

I panicked and sobbed when I felt arms reaching out for my body. I wanted to go home, I didn't want to be here. I wanted to go home!

"It's all right, it's me. Don't be afraid." he cooed, gathering me in his arms and wrapping my dark cloak around me firmly, stopping the cold wind from biting my sensitive flesh. I held on to him tightly, burying my head into his warm chest as my sobs and tears subsided. The furious beating of his heart calmed me, it did many things to me. I wanted him to know that, yet I didn't know how to show it for I was merely... a naive girl.

"Are you hurt? Did they do anything to you?" he whispered, pulling away slightly to gaze into my intimidated eyes. His golden eyes softened, then he leaned down and brushed his lips to my temple tenderly. I shook my head slowly, holding on to him tighter. A simple look he can give me, and through it I can see his emotions.

He was usually a man difficult to read, his emotions and intentions undefined and never quite easy to point out, yet he allowed me to see them, to know them.

"What were you doing out at night, by yourself?" he looked worried, confused even. I didn't know that a simple want could cause him so much. I felt horrible. I couldn't look him in the eyes, my head automatically fell low and I couldn't do anything, other than to shyly whisper:

"I... wanted to see you."

Sebastian was here, and according to what my ears heard, he was starving for this pack's death. Slades are definitely people no one wants to mess with. They are definitely not the people to steal from. Abducting a Slade's precious possession is the most insane thing someone could ever do, even a brainless person wouldn't do it. It was pure stupidness to think that they'd be able to get away from Sebastian alive, after taking me from him.

"WHERE IS SHE?!"

Every figure in the room froze, some even gulped while others flinched. I've never heard Sebastian sound so petrifying and savage, ever. The Sebastian out there isn't the gentle Sebastian I know, he's the merciless Slade.

I should do something. The Witch might be able to knock down Sebastian's powers, and he might cast a spell to harm him, if the Witch is paying attention.

An idea popped into my head, and I decided to play along with it.

Quickly, I clasped my head with my hands and fell to the ground with a loud thud. I began groaning in pain, hunching my body and shutting my eyes tightly. When I heard silence then gasps, I congratulated myself mentally.

"Carter! What is happening?!" I heard the Alpha yell. The sound of feet rushing closer to me alerted me, and soon I sense the Witch kneeling beside me. I sensed his worry, his confusion and his suspicion. He wasn't entirely convinced, so I decided to let out a cry that sounded tortured and forced.

"Do something! If he hears or scents her pain, he'll leave no one alive!" the Alpha's command was solid, leaving no room for questions. He quickly orders his pack members to go out and hold Sebastian down for a while, but everyone knew the chance of that happening was as nonexistent as their Alpha's son. No one can touch a Slade, especially when she or he sees nothing but red.

As I felt the Witch's hand reach my head, immediately, my hand reached out and penetrated his broad chest. Before I could pull on the Witch's heart, my head squeezed violently. I felt my body twitch in pain, then I let go of the Witch's heart and with a bloodied hand, I hugged my head tightly, shrieking at the rapid pain whilst the Witch gasped for air greedily. It was like a thousand needles were pricking my brain at the same time, poking and testing to see which area was the softest and easiest to pierce.

"Carter! Stop it!" again, the Alpha orders frantically.

The pain was becoming unendurable, increasing to a level Sebastian would never put me through. Without me fully knowing, I called Sebastian's name, feeling like I needed to be in his arms to ease the pain. "SEBASTIAN!" I screamed again, my eyes shutting tighter as I felt tears threatening to spill themselves like untamed rivers.

I didn't know when, but a booming crash sounded from afar and a second later, I heard a raging hiss. I couldn't open my eyes and see him, otherwise the tears would fall loosely. It was a hard decision to make. I didn't know how he looked like, however, I did smell blood all around him.

The Witch let out a suffering groan, before I felt his body fall on the ground limply. He wasn't dead yet, but I think Sebastian paralysed him with his mind. If I didn't attack the Witch, he wouldn't have fallen a victim to Sebastian's Mind Manipulation.

As soon as I feel familiar arms around me protectively, the pain in my head begins to vanish, and soon my senses come back to me. I picked up the sounds of hisses and growls, then I took in the figure of the still Witch beside me. His eyes darted to me, yet he couldn't move a muscle, other than his eyes.

Untangling myself from the arms around me, I smirked and jumped to my feet before I crouched and looked at the Witch. Since his chest was open already and not completely healed, I only inserted my hand in and tugged on his heart, observing the contort of his face. Pain, he was in so much pain and it was satisfying my hunger for his death. With a second yet stronger tug, his heart was pulled out of his lifeless body and his eyes glazed over, becoming empty.

No one messes with me and gets out unscathed.

Yet before I could have the satisfaction of clawing his other organs out, the same arms come around me again and this time they pull me behind a very tense, broad back. The Alpha was shaking, so was his Beta and the pack fighters.

One pack fighter fell to the ground, screaming in agony as he clutched his stomach. It took two short cries of pain, before his heartbeat ceased. Another fighter yelled, this time he clutched at his chest strongly, as though he would be able to relieve the pain. And just like the first fighter, he fell to his death after two short cries. Another one cries, this time holding his head so hard, the veins in his hands stand out because of the force and like before, he falls down.

"Plea—"

"You stole my most prized possession." Sebastian cuts the Alpha's words calmly, but his tense body betrayed his tone. It seemed he couldn't tolerate the fact that someone had tried to take his most prized possession.

"We did not mean any h—"

"You wanted to keep her, my most important property." he manages to hiss his words out with calmness yet dangerous irritation. Only he can do that. An angry and calm Sebastian is never a good thing. If he was angry only, it would be endurable, but being angrily calm... that was the scariest thing ever.

The Alpha was Sebastian's next target for sure.

After he crumbled the Alpha's fighters all together like pieces of paper being ripped, Sebastian manipulated the Beta to kill himself, and went for the Alpha himself. Clutching his eyes with his hands, the Alpha loses his balance and falls on the ground, howling at the stinging and throbbing that he felt in his eyes. Ouch, never did Sebastian aim for the eyes before. Where else can he aim?

The Alpha's back arches up and he struggles to stay on his knees, the pain in his eyes travelling to his head, and down to his heart without doubt. The Alpha suddenly stops wailing, as though the pain disappeared. However, he cried again when his back arched up higher and a pop sounded from him. His back was arching in an impossible position, it was frightening.

And he was breaking his bones by doing so.

"St—" the Alpha's words were cut by his loud cry, his canine teeth extending and his claws itching to lengthen. One hand lands on his chest, and the other tries to grab his back, as though there was a knife digging into his flesh. I gasp, my legs turning to stones and my soul screaming for me to get out of here when the Alpha's eyes begin to bleed. The blood trails down from his tear ducts, and falls down his cheeks as though it was nothing but tears.

Sebastian was taking torture to a whole new level.

Despite my shaking form and my hesitation, I take slow steps closer to his back before I cautiously wrap my arms around his hard waist. He hisses, his body stiffens more than earlier and I feel his heartbeat increasing like madness.

"It's just me." I whisper, tightening my arms around him. I feel his stiff body relax just a fraction, but he was still too angry, too edgy. "Please calm down a little."

"He tried to keep you from me." He hisses lowly, his voice deeper and harder than normal. I flinch, and I question if what I was doing was safe. He wasn't the gentle Sebastian, he was the savage Slade. How do I approach that? How do I approach his possessiveness?

'Assure him that you won't leave him. Tell him that you're his.' my soul urges, sounding worried and anxious.

Why would I do that?! I belong to no one! I am no ones! I thought back angrily, my hands unconsciously tightening more around Sebastian's waist.

'You belong to him, sweetheart.' she whispers quietly but quickly. 'Even if you don't want to accept it. You are his.'

I felt my jaw lock and my eyes narrow into a cold glare. If I don't do it, he'll kill everyone and leave no one for me to finish. He'll probably even be forceful and impatient with me when we get back to his mansion.

"He can't keep me from you because, I won't leave you. I am y—" I suck in a deep breath, clenching my hands around him into fists and trying to ignore my pride. "I am yours."

I was surprised. Instead of tensing or being shocked, he actually relaxed. The Alpha cried one final time, before his body relaxed and fell to the ground like a stack of potatoes being dumped. His heartbeat was not found anymore. Sebastian was leaving no one alive.

"Let's just get out of here, now." I tried to pull at his arm when I pushed back, but he grabbed me and pressed me against his chest hard, glaring down at me.

What did I do?!

"You stay by my side." he hisses. I tense at the command, my left eye twitching. He notices, then raises an eyebrow that dares me to defy him. I swallow my pride— again— and clench my fists, nodding and letting him grab me with him.

When we walk outside the pack house, I was surprised to see Jay and... Sophie? What the hell is she doing here?

Everywhere my eyes travelled, there was a bloodied body on the floor, lying motionless. I'll take a wild guess and say every man in this pack is dead. That leaves the women either mateless, fatherless, husbandless or just something-less. They'll have to find a new pack to accept them. This isn't the strongest pack anymore, so there might be attacks by those who wished to claim this territory before.

A high pitched shriek pulls me out of my thoughts, and the next thing that happens shocks me. Sophie squeezes me in her arms.

"Thank the Vampire King you're safe! I was so worried about you!" her arms tighten around me, and I find it hard to try to move a muscle. I look to Sebastian— Jay was trying to calm down him down for some reason. When he sees Sophie hugging the living lights out of me, he hisses and in the speed of light he has me secured in his arms.

"Sebastian, calm down, it's just So—"

And another angered hiss before those arms around me become restricting. Jay looked worried, so did Sophie. Sebastian was acting as— wait, he was still in that haze. He frees me, only to go and try to attack Sophie, who gets out of his way swiftly. Jay wastes no time in trying to help Sophie and calming Sebastian. His possessive side was so scary, but the twisted side of me found it... delicious.

"Guys, seri—"

A bang sounds and in a heartbeat, I groan at the pain that spreads in my left shoulder. My eyes become heavy and everything around me darkens as I slowly crumble down to the floor. The last thing I saw were shadows or figures nearing me.

"Stay put! Stop it!" I giggled, pushing him far from me and jogging away with a firm hold on my simple night-blue gown. The colour of my gown matched the night sky, and the white swirls on the loose arms of my gown matched the colour of the bright stars. It was a lovely night.

"I didn't ask your mother and father for permission simply so I could watch you and stay put!" he whines like a child, pouting his lips and slowly walking after me.

I smiled brightly, holding the skirt of my gown with one hand while the other traced the roughness of a tree bark.

He came from his village, all the way to my old wooden home. It shocked me to see him, irritated my brother and mother, yet amused my father. He had come all the way at this lovely evening, and asked mother and father if he could spend some time with his beloved. He had clearly won my father's trust and kindness, and they both became great friends. My mother and brother, on the other hand, were always suspicious and wary of him and every time we found the chance to be alone, mother and brother would watch him with narrowed eyes from the slightly opened door, as though they did not trust him being alone with me. They wouldn't even let us be alone in a room with a door closed!

To win my father's kindness and trust was something difficult, for he was one of my village's five leaders. Father insisted that the two of them have some rum, some talk and then he could spend as much time as he wanted with his beloved. It made my cheeks flame, the way he looked at me every time he had the opportunity to do so. He somehow managed to decline father's offer, grab my hand and walk me away from the eyes and ears of my family.

It made me smile, for I longed to be with him ever since I became his promised bride. He was different, different to the few men and boys I've encountered.

"Thank you for that. I am very grateful, my Warrior." I whispered shyly, lowering my head down as I felt my cheeks warm. I noticed movement, and then I felt his thumb and finger lifting my chin gently so I could gaze into his eyes. We stared into each other's eyes silently, nothing being said for a while.

"You're so beautiful." he breathed, desire burning in his eyes and voice. My breath caught in my throat, and a foreign sensation burned in my heart. I became nervous and shy, just like any other time I saw that look in his eyes. It made me feel like a predator's prey, his prey. The look in his eyes was always one of a predator eyeing a prey he desired, a prey he couldn't replace and a prey that would be capable of satisfying his untamed hunger more than any other prey roaming around.

It stirred me yet sometimes frightened me, for he was an experienced man and I was a naive little girl.

"Don't be shy." he whispered, his voice sounding breathy, coiled with desire as he bent down towards me slowly— since he was much taller than me. My palms pressed against his chest to push him away, but he caught my wrists and held them close to his heart as he continued to near me. Fisting my restricted hands, I instinctively turned my face to the side, feeling my body tremble at his proximity. "It drives me insane."