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!"

Chapter 6: No Consequences

REBEKKA

It was as if time stood still in that moment and I felt every strained second of it.

I wished the earth would just open up and swallow me. How could Damon do something like that? I looked from him to Stephan and then back to him again.

Did he realize what he just did? It did not look like it did, if he did, he should be shaking in fear and pouring out apologies instead of standing his ground and getting ready for a fight.

Damon's eyes narrowed as he watched Stephan, the way a wolf watches its enemy.

Stephan growled once more, the crimson in his eyes glowing more fiercely. He bared his teeth, "Mark my words... you are going to regret this!" he turned and then he stormed off.

"Lord Stephan," I was propelled forward before I could even think. I needed to go after him, I ended up pleading with him, to explain that it was an accident and that Damon never meant to do that.

A strong hand caught a hold of my arm and held me back.

"Let him go, Rebekka..."

I turned around, my eyes were wide with surprise and confusion, "What are you saying? Do you just realize what you just did?" my voice trembled.

My heart was beating so violently in my chest, I was surprised that I was even able to let words out of my mouth.

"Let go of me, I have to go and beg him!" I yelled.

Damon's grip on my arm remained, "You are making a bigger deal out of this than it is."

I turned my head sharply to look at him again, my eyes were wide with disbelief, maybe I did not hear him right, "You just punched the son of the alpha... the heir to this pack right in the face!" my voice shot up a pitch.

"And?" Damon shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

I let out a gasp of disbelief, "Do you have a death wish?" my voice dropped to being barely above a whisper.

My legs felt weak, the flight was out of my system, even if I wanted to now, I had no energy left to pursue after Lord Stephan. This was it, I was done for. My life was over.

"You are worrying too much about this, Rebekka. I told you, it is not a big deal. Stephan is not going to do anything!"

I looked up at him again, this time around, I felt a pang of fear and concern. Maybe I had this all wrong, maybe this Damon guy was simply crazy.

I don't think he has understood a single thing that I said. If he did, he certainly would not be referring to the alpha's son so casually.

"You should flee, you should leave the Half-Moon pack tonight!"

Damon scoffed and then smiled, "I am not going anywhere."

I yanked my arm free from his grasp, "Don't you get it, I am trying to save your life. You saved mine, please let me save you, leave! Tonight!"

"I am not going anywhere... There is no way that I am running from that boy."

That Boy?

Was this guy serious? No... he must be crazy.

"Listen to me Rebekka, you need to calm down, okay. Nothing is going to happen. I told you, you are mine from now henceforth, I am going to keep you safe, Stephan would not do anything."

My head felt woozy and I almost stumbled off my feet. "You are insane!" I said before I could stop myself.

Damon smiled sympathetically, "Don't worry, it is all going to be fine, okay?"

"Nothing is going to be fine... you punched Lord Stephan in the face, there are going to be consequences!"

"Oh come off it, I don't fear him!" Damon said dismissively.

"What about me? Have you thought about that? What about me?" my voice broke as tears began to stream down my cheeks.

"Rebekka..." his deep blue eyes showed concern as his deep voice softened.

"Have you thought about me? I am the one he was angry at... I am the one he knows, you can just run away and be safe but what about me? Do you care at all about my misery?"

"Rebe..."

I cut him off before he could even start, "Or is this all some game to you? It is a game, isn't it? You don't care how much you make me suffer so long as you get to have some fun."

I shook my head and sniffled.

All this while I had been bothering myself with him, trying to repay him back in what little way that I could for saving my life but it seemed that I was worried about the wrong person the entire time.

What about me? I had nowhere to run to? No one to run to, nobody was going to save me from Lord Stephan's wrath, I was as good as dead.

Could this day get any worse? At this point I was even afraid to ask because no matter how bad of a situation I found myself in, somehow it managed to get worse.

From being rejected to almost killing myself because of heartbreak only to be saved by Damon.

A man I considered my savior, the man who gave me my first kiss and then he took everything away when he attacked Stephan, what even possessed him to do something so reckless?

I stiffened when I felt his warm palms on my shoulders. The tears were still flowing down my cheeks freely.

"I want you to listen closely to what I am about to tell you, Rebekka, okay? I am not going to let anything happen to you. I told you, you are mine. I will do everything in my power to keep you safe."

I could sense that he meant well but at this point, his well wishes were in vain, I pushed his hands off my shoulders, "There is nothing that you can do for me now!"