Every time I cracked my eyes open or peeked out form under the covers I had a pair of glowing amber eyes staring directly at me. Matteo's gaze was so intense and unwavering, it was as if he was burning through me and into my soul.

"I want to hurt you so bad..."

"It would be easy..."

Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep.

When I heard Matteo enter my room, my eyes snapped open and I jolted out up from the bed. He picked up my pack off of the ground and tossed it into my lap, "We leave in five." And then I was alone.

I let out a soft breath as I stood from the bed and tugged on jean shorts and a simple shirt before slipping on my sneakers and heading out of the room. My hands were shaking as I smoothed the front of my shirt down once I made it down the stairs and into the front room of the mansion.

I wasn't alone anymore, Amias and Francis stood by the front door with backpacks similar to mine. As much as I wasn't fond of anyone in this pack so far, it was definitely a relief knowing that I wasn't going to be stuck on my own with Matteo for days on end.

They both looked over at me, Francis didn't look too pleased to see me but Amias' eyes immediately lit up. "Olive!"

I rubbed my arm awkwardly before giving him a small wave. "Hey, Francis, Amias." I took a deep breath, "I didn't know you two would be coming."

Amias opened his mouth to enthusiastically respond but Francis swooped in, "First off, I don't go by Francis, it's Fran."

Cool, she hates me. Lovely.

"Second--"

"We weren't supposed to come but Healer Maina has a bunch of people to tend to so she sent me, her best student obviously...And then Fran is here because something came up with Asa so now instead of having the best warrior in the pack, we are stuck with the second best." Amias teased his friend and nudged her with his elbow but it didn't get much of a reaction from her.

I knew what happened to Asa as I recalled the events of last night on the staircase.

This was such a different version of Fran than I remembered from when I was waking up but then again I was still pretty doped up on sedatives so I can't think too much on it. What was particularly interesting was how different members of this pack seemed to be.

Usually, packs all had the same type of people more or less. But so far in Malice, there are brutish and terrifying wolves and then there are some like Amias who are light hearted and not scary to look at. It was perplexing and I would have to do some investigating on that.

Amias dropped his elbow that was still poking into Fran's side at the time and immediately straightened, I frowned and turned around to see what changed his mood. It was Matteo of course.

His dark hair was pushed messily off of his face and he wore dark jeans and a black long sleeve shirt that he pushed to his elbows. I'm sure if he hadn't destroyed my pack, murdered people and kidnapped me I would have found him to be attractive. But seeing that Matteo had done all of those things and so much more, his appearance only gave me fear. I wasn't some damsel in distress who was going to let him off of the hook for his monstrous atrocities just because he was hot as f:ck.

Matteo didn't say a word to anyone as he walked past the three of us and through the front door, I stood staring at his back wondering how he could be so arrogant all of the time when Fran cleared her throat and gave me a soft nudge.

They didn't want me on the end of our little caravan, it made sense considering I had tried running away just a few hours ago. So, I tightened the straps on my backpack one last time before walking outside into the bright sunshine.

My pack was in an area where sun and blue skies were a thing of dreams, we had just one long and miserable winter that lasted throughout all of the seasons. Malice on the other hand, looked like a something out of a travel magazine. It was beautiful and vibrant, the complete opposite of what I had imagined it to look like.

There were people from all walks of life bustling around going about their day, when Matteo would pass by they would all smile and murmur words of gratitude to him. Then, their eyes would eventually land on me and the smiles would stretch even more as they whispered excitedly.

They had to be brainwashed, that was the only explanation for their bizarre behavior.

"It's the first time they are seeing their Luna, many people did not think this day would ever come." Amias explained happily behind me, he was even waving at the people like we were apart of some royal procession.

Why were these people so...normal?

I was told horror stories of the Malice Pack all my life but these people were not the monsters from the stories. Matteo glanced over his shoulder and scoffed, "Keep moving and close you're mouth, they are going to think something is wrong with you."

I hadn't noticed during my confused ogling my jaw had gone slack, I snapped it shut and returned my gaze to the emerald grass before me.

Soon, the people and the town faded into the distance and we were trudging through thick forest. Matteo lead the way and it seemed rather obvious that he wasn't haphazardly searching for my father, he knew precisely where he was going.

I sped up slightly so I was closer behind Matteo, "Where are we going exactly? Or how do you know where to go, my pack searched for years and they couldn't--"

"He disappeared into thin air without a trace, yeah?" Matteo interrupted and I nodded.

"No blood, no trail and no word from him since?"

Again, I nodded.

Matteo rolled his shoulders and pushed aside some shrubbery. "Then he is with Lysander."

I blinked trying to absorb what he just told me, I quickened my pace to walk at his side so I could read his face. Which was a feat in itself considering the difference in the length of our strides. "Lysander? Who--Why would--How--I don't understand--" I stumbled over my words trying to formulate a simple sentence to articulate my profound confusion.

He stared down at me with a quirked eyebrow, "Lysander, 'King of the Rogues'?" He tested to see if any of what he was saying was ringing a bell. It clearly wasn't and Matteo let out an annoyed huff.

"You really are clueless." He grumbled lowly as he dragged a hand through his hair, "Lysander is an ancient collector, he takes in wolves that possess certain skills he deems valuable, voluntarily and involuntarily."

I didn't see how any of what Matteo said could possibly lead him to the absolute conclusion that my father was with Lysander. But there he was, trekking through the woods with a sense of certainty and purpose that was lost on me.

Amias gasped aloud, "Lysander as in Lysander the va--"

Matteo jerked around and growled loudly, effectively silencing anything Amias was about to say. I turned to face Amias but he immediately diverted his gaze away from me, looking anywhere but in my general direction.

"No, what were you going to say?" I got nothing from Amias so I jogged back up to Matteo and repeated my question again but I still couldn't get an answer. I groaned and reached out to grab ahold of Matteo's arm, forcing him to stop and address me.

He pulled his arm out of my hands immediately as if my touch was a toxic venom and kept walking. "Next person to open their mouth ends their trip where they stand."

I was beyond frustrated, the situation I found myself in was scary enough on it's own but being so ill-informed was enough to make me consider talking some more just to spite him.

But, that was how the rest of the day proceeded with the four of us walking in complete silence until Matteo guided us into a clearing and announced that we would be making camp there for the night.

Matteo, Amias and Fran didn't appear tired in the slightest, then again they had supernatural wolf strength going for them and I didn't so I suppose it really wasn't a fair comparison. I on the other hand wanted to collapse into the grass and never get up again.

I pulled my backpack off and perched myself onto a small rock as Matteo pulled Fran and Amias off to the side and by the looks of it was having a deep conversation with them. While it was still light out, the sun was going to be setting at any moment so when Fran shifted into her wolf and left the conversation it made sense that Matteo would set up a watch rotation. Amias soon went off on his own as well, his hands trailing over the vegetation surrounding our clearing as he disappeared into the woods, murmuring something to himself about edible plants.

And then there were two.

Immediately Matteo approached me and with the side of his leg he nudged me, "Up." Effectively causing me to loose my balance and slip off the rock and onto the ground.

I didn't understand this man, there was no campsite that needed to set up and I couldn't be apart of a watch rotation since I'd be virtually useless in defending anyone against another wolf. For the life of me, I couldn't think up a reason why he would need me on my feet again.

"What do you want from me?" I quickly covered my mouth, my movements oozing with sarcasm as I and stared up at him, "Oh wait, am I allowed to speak again or is it still a strict no talking policy?"

Matteo rolled his eyes but if he was really angry with me, he didn't say anything about my sarcastic remark towards his little outburst earlier. "Training, remember?"

My brow furrowed immediately, obviously I recalled him mentioning or rather threatening it to me but I never thought he was going to follow through with it. I scrambled to my feet and shook my head vigorously, "I don't need training, let alone any kind from you. Besides, I already went through the warrior training in my own pack.."

He snorted in a very un-Matteo like manner. "Look how well that's turned out for you."

I clenched my fists at my sides, "It's not like there is anything I can do about it, I'm just a late bloomer! If there was something I could do to get my wolf trust me I would be trying it so if you could just keep your nose out of my business that would be fantastic."

He narrowed his eyes across from me, "Unfortunately for the both of us, it appears our affairs have become rather intermingled so you and your little pity party have become my burden." Matteo very subtly began to move around me in a circle as he spoke, I had to keep turning to keep my back from being turned away from him. I was the prey he was stalking.

"You've become complacent," Matteo continued, "It has been so long without a sign from your wolf that you have accepted that it will never come so you just let people beat the living sh:t out of you."

I scoffed and wildly shook my head, "That's not true, I don't stand a chance against other wolves so--"

Matteo laughed like actually laughed, "There you go with more excuses, it's all just bullsh:t you tell yourself to make you feel better. Aren't you tired of being pushed around all of the time, little one?" His tone was mocking and the expression on his face even worse.

I despised him.

"Do something about it for once." He dared. "Show me that you're not as worthless as you seem."

Just as Tiffany would do, I knew Matteo was purposely trying to ignite me into some sort of reaction and just like all the times prior, I fell for it again.

I charged across the short distance between us and swung my balled fist aiming for anywhere on Matteo. He caught my hand and made quick work of throwing me down to the ground using my momentum against me and we both tumbled down.

I was thrashing beneath his heavy body, his figure enveloping my smaller frame and pinning me to the grass with no effort. My fists pounded against his back, "Get off of me!"

Naively, I thought Matteo was obliging to my request when he propped himself up onto his elbows but his other hand rapidly reached around and grasped my wrists together. I should have known better than to think Matteo would listen to me.

He pinned my hands above my head, my arms were overextended causing an unpleasant pain which lead my back to arch to try and relieve the pressure on my shoulders. This was not that sexy moment where the two lovers passionately battled with their bodies with bated breath amidst a forested field. It was the exact opposite of that.

With every fiber of my being I hated the man on top of me and yet in that moment with my body pressing painfully in his, Matteo's lips were suddenly crashing down against mine.