Recap: ...I was wolf-less and as good as dead to him. There was no way an alpha, let alone the alpha of the most fearsome packs to ever exist would take me as a mate or even a prisoner really. So, I did the only logical thing a person would do in my situation...

I hocked another loogie and spat it right in Matteo's face.

Matteo stood motionless before me almost as if he was processing exactly what I had done. I figured I might as well go out with a bang since this truly was to be my end and apparently, to me, spitting in assh:oles' faces was my idea of living large.

Despite the terrifying fate that no doubt awaited me at any moment, I found myself beginning to laugh. So much so, that I was forced to recline onto my elbows as my sides were aching. Although, now that I think about it, my sides were probably hurting from the extended assault I endured...but I'm going to pretend like it was because of my overwhelming, albeit foolish, joy.

Seconds later I felt hands wrapping around my ankle, the sharp pain at the contact abruptly halted my laughter and forced me to open my eyes. Matteo silently grabbed me and began to drag me down the school alleyway by said ankle.

I bounced against the cement as I twisted trying to get out of his rough grasp, Matteo was making no effort to look out for me as he yanked me along. He pulled me through several puddles and over many painful foot holes in the ground all the while ignoring my emphatic complaints.

Dead silence. That's all I got and honestly I couldn't decide what was more terrifying: Matteo all up in my space, snarling and yelling like crazy or this freakishly quiet version of him.

He towed me along like this for quite a while, I got to watch our exit from the school campus and the trip down the hill all from my spot on my back...on the ground...still being dragged mercilessly.

Upon arriving in the central town, even from my twisted perspective, it was obvious that the Grace Pack was in complete shambles. If I thought what had happened at the school was bad, this was on another level all on it's own.

Bodies were strewn haphazardly everywhere, so much so that Matteo had to zig zag us through the grown wolves lying on the field as there was no longer a clear path through the clearing of the town. I felt my throat constricting.

I was at face level with my fallen pack members, my body being tugged past them at close proximity and I saw everything. The fear in their eyes, the slackened jaws, their blood, pain and suffering. I couldn't breathe.

Instinctively I shut my eyes trying to block out the horrific scene of what used to be my home. I was not accustomed to this brutality, I'd never been given the opportunity. Sure, I trained with the pack but I never once actually fought. No wolf meant no fighting, which trapped me inside the Grace Pack for my entire life. It was sheltered and boring, I always longed to be off with the other warriors defending the pack and fighting but now I was face to face with reality and it made me sick.

Finally, Matteo came to a stop and unceremoniously dropped my battered ankle. Again, more silence. I refused to open my eyes, I knew whatever way he was going to off me had to be happening any second now and I didn't want to see it coming. However, when Matteo's foot swiftly connected with the side of my ribs, my eyes flew open on their own accord.

I peered incredulously up at the monster but he was not looking at me. His eyes were trained upwards towards the top of our border fence. My own brown eyes followed his gaze to a sight that terrified me even more than the field, something that I thought was impossible.

At the top of the fence, resting on the posts were the heads of our alpha and beta. My jaw trembled as I clutched at the icy grass and desperately tried to crawl away from the scene before me, shutting my eyes again as I attempted to dart away from the disturbing picture.

Matteo caught me and hoisted me up forcibly and held me in front of him, his body was pressed against my backside with one arm wrapped around my waist and the other clutching my jaw; allowing me no other option but to take in the sight before me.

Tears were streaming down my face and my entire form was shaking like a leaf in the wind as his face was suddenly all too close to me. His lips grazed the shell of my ear as he tightened his grip on my chin, "Back there in the alleyway, I planned on simply explaining to you who I really was and what exactly I was capable of."

"But, you see, my dear little mate," Matteo spat out the last word with so much malice I wanted to collapse right then and there, "I figured being able to see my handiwork firsthand would be much more effective for my purposes with you."

I shook my head in his grasp, keeping my eyes everywhere but upwards as I sobbed. "You are so f:cked up."

He released me with an amused chuckle flowing from his lips as he ran a hand across his lightly stubbled jaw and circled around in front of me again, "Most definitely."

"Then just do it already!" I practically screamed at the top of my lungs, "Kill me, reject me or whatever your disturbed brain has in store just get it over with because..." I trailed off unable to find the words to finish my cry.

Matteo leaned forward with a knowing smile, "Because what? You're frightened, disgusted? You want me to just, 'get it over with', as you so eloquently put it, because you don't want to deal with what is happening around you?"

He was close again, swiftly reaching out and tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. The smile disappeared without warning from his face, Matteo used his closeness to wrap his hand around the back of my neck lightly. "Welcome to the life of a werewolf, this is what the real world looks like, princess."

With that, Matteo released me and a sleek SUV pulled up into the field. The door opened and a large wolf emerged, posting beside the door wordlessly.

Training? My head was spinning, things were happening so quickly that I couldn't accurately process what was really taking place. I was left in a seemingly eternal state of fear and confusion since this morning. Between the emotional turmoil and the physical wounds I sported, I could literally feel myself withering away with every passing second.

"Amias, this one is my mate, take her back to the mansion. I have a few loose ends to take care of here before I can meet everyone back in Malice." Matteo instructed the man by the door to which Amias stoically nodded. Matteo took a step closer to him and whispered something lowly to him, something purposefully out of my hearing range to which Amias nodded again once before moving towards me as Matteo promptly left in the opposite direction on foot.

As he walked away, from the corner of my eye I noticed Matteo lightly shaking out his hand. His knuckles were still bloody as he flexed it at his side as if he was in pain. Wasn't that the hand he'd punched Eyeless with? It should have healed by now, how strange. I didn't have much time to ponder on this because Amias' hand was suddenly wrapping around my waist.

"No, no, no...You don't have to do this, please." Amias ignored me and my pathetic pleas and plopped me onto the back bench of the SUV.

He slid in beside me and closed the door being careful to make it very apparent to me that he was locking the door behind us. As soon as the car pulled away from the town, Amias' entire demeanor changed before my eyes.

His face suddenly lit up with a small, genuine smile as he turned towards me. "I'm a healer-in-training at Malice and let me tell you, Luna, it is truly an honor to be here in this car with you right now. My mate, Felix, is going to be so jealous when I tell him."

He was the complete opposite of Matteo and everyone else I had observed from the Malice Pack. Amias was significantly younger than anyone I'd seen, he appeared to be around my age. He was relaxed and easygoing as soon as he entered the SUV, an entirely different persona from the one I'd witnessed taking orders from Matteo.

Luna. The word seemed so foreign to me, it was something every she wolf dreamed of becoming but under these circumstances, the word seemed like a prison more than an aspiration.

I couldn't reject him as I was not immersed in the bond, only Matteo could do that since he had a wolf and yet he chose not to. He chose to let me live not only that, but there was that thing about me beginning training? What the hell was that? It was all quite troubling to say the least.

My eyelids started to feel heavy, I struggled to keep my eyes open. "What...whas happening to me." I slurred out as I found myself slumping against the opposite passenger side door. "What did you shoeee to me."

Through my sudden haze, I registered Amias snorting lowly. "Healer-in-training, remember? When I picked you up, I gave you a sedative." He pointed to my hip where there was a tiny patch placed. I jumped and quickly fumbled to yank the thing off of me, flinging it as far away from me as possible. "It is a long drive and Alpha Matteo was right, you're not going to want to be conscious once all the adrenaline burns out and you start to feel everything."

My head rested against the window with my nose pressed up against the glass. With every exhale, the area around my nose fogged up. I giggled. "Maffeo told you to do this to me?" I mumbled, struggling to stay awake.

Right before my eyes closed I caught Amias nodding his head and that was the last thing I remembered as I passed out for the second time today. Well, that and Amias requesting whoever was driving the SUV to put on some Lady Gaga.