Chapter 3: Claimed

REBEKKA

I let out a short gasp as I felt myself free falling into the nothingness below.

Suddenly I didn't want to die again, whatever it was that I was feeling before, the overwhelming fear of death seized me and I wanted nothing more but to live.

I screamed at the top of my lungs and flailed my hands helplessly, praying and hoping that a miracle would happen.

How could I be so stupid as to think that the way to deal with all the pain and embarrassment was to kill myself?

I didn't want to die, I didn't know what I had to live for but still, I wanted to live, I was not ready to die yet.

"Help me!" I screamed and closed my eyes feeling gravity drive me downwards.

A warm palm closed around my wrist in a tight grip and I suddenly stopped falling.

I opened my eyes, they were still wide with fear as I looked up at my savior.

Looking down at me was a very handsome man.

I could not make out all his facial features because the moon was behind him and casting a dark shadow over his face but I could see the outline of his strong jaw, his long black hair billowing in the breeze and those enchanting blue pupils that looked as if they could see through me.

Effortlessly, he raised me up as he got back up to his feet then he dropped me down on my feet gently.

My legs felt weak and I crumbled to the floor.

He was standing over me, still backing the moon, "That was very stupid..."

His voice was flat, not insulting or demeaning.

"Thank you," I said in a timid voice as I looked down at the grass around me.

"You saved Stephan's life, didn't you?"

I looked up at him.

Did this stranger just address the alpha's only son by his name as if they were equals?

I nodded.

My interest was rising slowly as the adrenaline eased out of my system and left me shaking.

"What is your name, girl?"

"Rebekka," I said and then averted my gaze again.

"Rebekka, tell me, how does someone with a Bloodline such as yours end up as a slave?"

I looked up at him and my brows furrowed.

He cocked his head at me and then he dropped down to the grass too and sat with his legs crossed.

Finally the moonlight hit his face and I saw his full features, high cheekbone, pointy nose and a light stubble. He was incredibly handsome... How did a man like this exist?

"How did you end up as a slave Rebekka?" he asked, staring at me with those probing blue pupils.

"I... was born one," came my timid reply.

He scoffed, "What about your parents?"

"I don't have any," I answered.

Wait, was I having an actual conversation with someone?

This must have been the longest someone has gone talking to me without shouting or uttering some sort of insult.

What was the catch?

I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, surely, it was not possible for someone to be nice to me.

"Your Master," he shook his head, "The doctor, Purcell, he didn't tell you anything about where he found you or who your parents were?"

I shook my head sideways.

He seemed very interested in my origins, the fact that someone was even giving me this type of genuine attention just felt wrong.

I fiddled with my fingers.

"Hmm," he stroked his stubble. "You went from being the slave girl who saved Stephan's life to being the slave girl he rejected as his mate."

Again there was no malice in his voice but that didn't stop my cheeks from burning with embarrassment and my heart aching with pain.

"That's okay, I am glad he rejected you!"

I looked up at him, tears were starting to well up in my eyes, why was he saying this?

He gave me a sexy smile that made my broken heart flutter a little, "From now, you are mine!"

I blinked, "What?"

"I am claiming you as my mate... you are mine!"

Was this some sort of joke? Was this handsome stranger making fun of me?

I got to my feet, then bowed low, "Thank you very much for saving my life, sire, but I have to be on my way now, my master would be worried about me." I started to walk off.

"Are you rejecting me?"

The seriousness in his voice stopped me in my tracks. Was he being serious? "Sire, if this is a joke, please stop it."

"Does it sound like I am joking?" his tone was even much more serious than before and it caught me off guard.

He got up and turned to face me, "Rebekka... Kent right?"

I nodded.

"I am Caleb Chase and I declare you as my mate. From today, you will be under my protection and you will be mine!"

My mouth hung open, I tried to speak but the words didn't just come out.

What the hell was going on now?

I didn't know who this man was but he just saved my life and now he was claiming me as his?

A part of me could not help but think that this was some prank by the pack people to further humiliate me.

"She claims that the alpha's son is her mate but throws herself at the first man that she sees."

I didn't want to believe him, how could I?

He walked closer to me and used the index finger on his left hand to lift up my jaw so that I could look up to him.

He was so close to me, I began to breathe hard and when his finger touched me, I felt a trickle of electricity course through my body.

"From today, you are mine," he said up close, the words washing over me.

I opened my mouth to speak but then... his lips pressed against mine, silencing me!

Chapter 4: Ditch

STEPHAN

"Isn't that low life girl that you kicked out now the one that saved your life, Stephan?" Claude, the son of one of my father's betas asked and laughed loudly.

What?

My eyes narrowed.

I turned back to take another look at the weird girl that just accosted me out of nowhere but she was nowhere to be found, she must have taken off.

Wait, was that the girl that saved my life with her blood? No way... Claude must have been pulling my legs.

"Haha, very funny Claude, you have outdone yourself this time around!" I was not smiling.

Claude looked at me with disbelief, "Wait, don't tell me you don't even know who saved you?" he chuckled.

I stifled a growl, was he being serious right now? I looked back again, in a faint hope that I would catch another glimpse of her but she was gone.

The party was back to full boom now and people were swaying and bobbing to the beat with plastic cups in their hands.

If I saw her again, would I even recognize her? I doubted it.

"Wow, Stephan, that's another level even for you," Claude added.

"Shut your mouth and go get me another drink!" I barked at him.

Claude giggled and then bowed mockingly, "Yes my alpha... to be." He laughed out loud and then ran off.

No one else would have gotten away with that but Claude was like a brother to me, we had been tight since childhood.

"Baby!" a worried voice came from behind.

I turned around.

"I warned you not to go, didn't I? I told you I had a bad feeling about it, now look at you," Vanessa put hands on my face and began turning it from side to side, her eyes wide with worry.

I grabbed her fingers and slowly brought her hands away from my face, "I am fine, okay... good as new, didn't even leave a scar!"

"Liar, let me see!" she pouted.

A naughty sneer formed on my lips, "You just want to see me naked," I said.

"Oh please! Like I haven't already seen it all before," she slapped my arm playfully, "Show me!"

I hiked up my shirt and pointed to my side which had a long lethal injury not so long ago, "See, no scar... Whoever that girl was, her blood healed me up so well."

Vanessa was staring at me and frowning, "Well, whoever she was, I'm sure your dad settled her fairly, you don't have to be drooling about it!"

I sighed and dropped my shirt down, "I'm not drooling!"

If that was really the girl that saved me, then I had fucked up badly with the way I treated her. I needed to remedy that.

"So what happened? How did you get injured," Vanessa was still looking at me, she slowly grabbed and squeezed my hand bringing me away from my thoughts back to the party and her.

"I'm sure you have heard all about it from Sophia and the rest of the gossips you call friends."

"That's not a nice thing to say about my girls," she pouted.

I sneered, "I didn't lie, did I?"

"I want to hear it from you," she said, avoiding the question.

"It was supposed to be a routine hunt but then we were attacked by warlocks, I got injured in the attack."

"Is that all? C'mon Stephan you always do this!"

"What? What more do you want to know?" I raised my hands in gesticulation.

"You are the alpha's son, no ordinary person can give you such an injury, what really happened."

I walked past her then stopped, "I don't know what you want me to say, Nessa. Maybe I got careless."

She nodded, "Maybe you got careless..." she repeated, "Fine, be that way," she turned and bumped into me as she stormed off.

"Hey Nessa," Claude waved as he approached with two plastic cups.

She ignored him and kept walking.

He whistled after her, checking her out before looking at me, he shook his head, "I don't know why they keep coming back, I mean, what do they see in you?"

He handed me a cup.

I took it and downed it quickly, "Was that really her, man?"

"Who? Oh, you mean your savior? Yeah man... that was really her!"

"Damn it!" I clenched my fist, "You should have told me, man!"

"Chill, she is a nobody, why are you getting worked up?"

Claude was right, by her clothes and the way she carried herself, she was a nobody, why was I getting worked up?

"I need to find her, man," I said, handing the empty cup back to him and taking his drink.

He scoffed, then looked at me, his eyes narrowed, "You are serious?"

There was a sudden surge within me and then my heart started beating intently, my breath became labored.

Claude got to me in seconds, "What's wrong man, you are scaring me."

I held onto his shoulder for support, "I have to find her!" I repeated and then pushed him aside and stumbled out of the party.

"Stephan!" Claude shouted after me for a while but when I didn't stop he gave up.

I didn't know what it was, it felt like I was scared, my body was showing symptoms of fear but my mind was telling me that there was nothing around to be scared of, what the hell was going on?

All I knew despite the disconnection between my mind and body was that I needed to find that girl... I could feel it, the answers that I needed lay with her.

A gust of wind blew and with it came a strange scent. I caught a whiff of it, it was feminine, I could tell and I had a strong feeling that it was hers and that it would lead me to her.  So I began following it, moving as fast as I could.

I came just in time to see her talking with a tall... handsome gentleman.

I paused in the woods and looked on.

He was standing too close to her, for some reason, it made my blood boil.

"From today, you are mine," he said to her.

Before I could process what that meant, he kissed her under the moonlight!

Chapter 5: Damon Vs Stephen

REBEKKA

This was the first time for the lips of any man to touch mine and it was a strange but exciting feeling.

I let out a moan and my legs weakened as his lips sought more of mine.

More as a reflex, I planted my feet and then pulled away.

As soon as I did that, it was as if the magic was broken, my head turned. I staggered as my eyes danced around.

I felt like I was moving around in circles.

I stumbled.

Damon leaned forward, his strong arm wrapped around my waist and he pulled me upright and held me close.

My heart was thumping in my chest, Gosh, he was so close to me, my breasts were almost squished against his masculine chest.

I tried subtly to wriggle myself free but he held me firmly but gently.

He used his left index finger to lift up my face to meet his downwards gaze, "You are mine..."

Gently he leaned forward, his arm still around the small of my back and then he kissed me again.

Holy Lunar!

My body felt like butter that was put on fire, I melted in his arms, all my restraint left me.

I kissed him back, his soft lips mingling with mine with an urgency that spoke more than any word.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" an angry roar boomed out of nowhere.

This time around, I yanked myself away from Damon as terror gripped me.

Even Damon seemed to stiffen up a bit as he looked around.

My hands flew to my lips when I saw a pair of crimson eyes glowing in the dark of the woods. As the eyes left the shadows, the moon light fell on the figure and the blood drained from my face.

"L-, Lord Stephan!" I stammered.

Lord Stephan looked mad, his eyes were glowing like a smoldering flame and he was growling as he approached.

Why was Lord Stephan here? I was panicking as I tried to make sense of what was going on, was it because of the mate bond? Was that what brought him here?

But he rejected me! He clearly said that he did not want anything to do with me... why then was he here and looking at me with such anger, I could not understand.

What the hell was going on?

I looked to Damon, to see his reaction and then my breath caught in my throat.

Damon was smirking!

Why the hell was he smirking mischievously in a situation like this?

He was supposed to be scared out of his mind too, this was the alpha's son!

"What the fuck do you think you are doing?" Lord Stephan growled.

"I-," I began but then stuttered and began to whimper, taking uneasy steps backwards.

"Stephan... what brings you here?" there was an unnatural calm to Damon's tone.

It was almost like the perfect counter to the anger and rage that Lord Stephan was oozing!

Lord Stephan cocked his head to the side then gave Damon a side gaze, "Get lost before I shift my anger to you." He then looked squarely at me, his eyes still burning with anger.

Why was he so angry? I had no idea, all I knew was that I was scared out of my mind and I was in big trouble.

"Do you take me for a fool?" he asked me.

"No, no, Lord, I don't." I dropped to my knees.

"Get up Rebekka, you don't owe him any explanation," Damon was still standing his ground, he didn't even move an inch despite Lord Stephan's threat.

My legs felt rubbery under me, did this stranger have a death wish?

Lord Stephan let out a long angry sigh then he turned fully to face Damon. "I don't repeat myself..." he said.

My heart was thumping in my chest, what the hell was going on here, were these two men really about to fight because of me?

Me?

What the hell was I?

"That's funny, neither do I." Damon's voice was still calm, no quiver, no stutter... it was as if he was unafraid.

That was not possible, who didn't fear the alpha's son? Maybe he was just being brave... bravery that would lead to his death.

Damon saved my life, I could not allow him to die here.

"Please, Lord Stephan forgive my friend," I crawled towards him, still on my knees and crying. "Please forgive him, please, show mercy."

Stephan looked down at me with disgust on his face, "I can't believe I came all the way out here... for this!"

He looked at Damon then he smirked, "You can go back to your whore!"

He turned around and began to walk off.

I almost choked on a painful breath as I heard that... was that what he thought of me now? Don't tell me he felt the mate bond too and that was why he came to find me?

I was sobbing when I looked up and then my panic returned.

Damon's eyes were smoldering now, he took a step forward.

"Take that back!" His voice was deep and scary.

I got to my feet and ran to him, crying and visibly shaking, "Don't! Don't! Stop!"

Damon calmly and effortlessly pushed me to the side and began walking towards Stephan.

Stephan paused in his tracks and looked back at Damon, he cocked his head up in curiosity, "And if I don't? What exactly are you going to do about it?"

"I will make you!" Damon at this point was standing in Stephan's face and none of them looked like they were going to back down.

Did Damon understand what he was saying? Who he was provoking? I ran to him and began to tug at his shirt seams, "Please, stop, don't do this!"

Stephan looked at me with disgust then looked at Damon, "You should listen to your whore!"

Damon reacted super fast, he swung his right hand and caught Stephan with a blow to the face!

My jaw dropped, I could not believe what just happened.

I ran in between both of them, it was better I died than let this happen! "Forgive him Lord Stephan, please forgive him!"

Stephan staggered back and spat out blood, his eyes looked crazed when he looked up. He let out a low growl... "You are going to regret that!"