Violet

That news should have made me glad. I was nursing a very recent heartache and just erased everything connecting me to the man I'd been dreaming of marrying.

But the way my mother said that line told me our pack's situation was grave.

Dad immediately fussed over me. "Ignore your mother, you have come home after such a long time."

He pulled me into a hug and said to mom. "She must be hungry, get her something to eat."

Mom hurried inside the kitchen while servants brought my bags inside. I had mixed feelings about returning to the place I had grown up in.

I recalled how I had left happily from this home, telling my parents proudly that I was creating my own pack, my own little nest with Nate.

But I had burned everything down, stripped it bare with my hands before coming here. A lump rose in my throat that I quickly swallowed to quash down the painful memories.

"Is everything alright?" I asked my father whose tense smile didn't escape my eyes.

"Nothing you need to worry about" He smiled but I shook my head. "Please dad, I am not a little girl anymore that you need to protect. What is going on?"

Dad sighed and I could see the defeat in his eyes. It absolutely crushed me to see him helpless like this.

"I am not sure what went wrong between you and Nate but it seems all the alphas are siding with him after the video went viral."

I didn't need to ask what video. Apparently, it had been widely circulated on social media and turned me into a meme.

At least, my parents already knew and I wouldn't have to cook up an elaborate story on the reason of my breakup with Nate.

"I didn't...I wouldn't" I began but dad placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "I know he spun a web of lies with that girl. But they have everybody convinced you were the culprit... and now nobody wants to do business with us."

I hated the way my father was struggling for words, like he was trying to save me from the brutal online bullying and not disclose the harsh slangs people must have hurled at me.

While I was busy deleting myself from Nate's life he and Nicole spread all the negativity and lies about me in the entire community. I had still accepted my fate somehow, but they had gone ahead and dragged my family in this??

I grew furious and instantly headed outside the door, ignoring the hot plate of food mom brought for me.

"Violet, wait, where are you going? There is no use trying to talk to Nate."

I took a deep breath, grabbed my keys and answered.

"I won't"

I didn't really have a destination in mind but I was absolutely not going to sit and do nothing. Somehow a location popped up in my head and twenty minutes later, I was walking in the same restaurant where everything began-Salt & Smoke.

Luckily, the waitress who had attended me was heading outside and I knowingly bumped into her.

"Hey, I am looking for someone. The customer you served today. Did he give you a name or number?"

I didn't waste time in idle chitchat though her eyes widened in surprise.

"You...I attended you. And then there was the attack.I'm Lucy by the way..." She began but I was in a hurry.

"Yes, then a man fought all the rogues. Do you know his name?" I asked and she blinked in surprise.

"Everybody knows his name. He is the infamous Elijah Lockwood. He returned to the city last weekend."

She looked at me as if I had grown another head, as if I was oblivious to the existence of the sun itself.

"Thanks. Do you have his number?"

The waitress shook her head. "Not his personal number but the one he made the reservation with should be in the computer that got destroyed in the attack."

Shit. Now how was I supposed to find him?

I pulled up my mobile and typed his name in the search bar but nothing popped up. Didn't she say the entire city knew his name?

I was almost at my wits end when she suddenly blurted out. "I heard him talking to someone on the phone about meeting at the Players Den tonight."

Oh thank heavens! I immediately pulled out a few notes and handed them to her without counting. "Thanks for the help."

Players Den was relatively easy to find. It popped up on the search immediately and I was once again driving through the city in the dead of the night.

I was just going on a random hunt but I prayed to the Moon Goddess to let him be there when I reached.

An hour later, I parked outside a huge, half-broken sign that read 'Players Den' and stood in front of the tall dark building that looked less of a pub and more of a mafia secret lair.

A sleek black car was parked in the corner and I felt hopeful though the place was a bit creepy.

"This is for mom and dad," I repeated in my head.

I then put on my coat, grabbed my purse and climbed the small flight of stairs that brought me in front of a huge door that had seen better days. There were no guards to stop me as I stepped in and no loud music blaring through the windows.

And a second later, I realized why.

It was an abandoned building with broken furniture, scraps of metal and discarded items lying around amid a large pool of water.

My eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness and my body was on alert mode. I only wished I had a knife or some kind of weapon.

If I was lucky there wouldn't be rogues lurking around.

I crouched low and surveyed the place, wondering if I should shout Elijah's name out loud.

But then my eyes fell on the only source of light down the passageway to my left.

A single bulb was flickering in the dark space and below it I saw someone tied to a chair. The person's head was hanging down and blood was trickling down his body and mixing into the water below.

A man was leaning over him, tall, dark and wearing black. Undoubtedly Elijah Lockwood.

"Who sent you?" Elijah asked while twirling a sharp blade in his hands.

Forget answering, his prisoner didn't even move but a second later, a shrill scream ripped out of his throat, echoing through the large space as I saw Elijah press the blade into his captive's cheek, a trail of blood oozing out of the cut.

I immediately crouched behind a pillar and peeked outside, heart thundering wildly.

When the scream died down, I gulped and wondered how to run towards the exit without making a sound but then Elijah's voice echoed again.

"I was talking to you, little girl"

Shit.

Violet

My heart almost dropped out of my mouth and thrashed on the floor like a dying fish.

My knees turned wobbly and I prayed harder than ever to the Moon Goddess that Elijah would not just ram a knife into me before I had even gotten a word out.

Slowly I raised my hands all the way up in the air to indicate I meant no harm and was relieved to see him standing next to the captive, far away from me.

His eyes met mine and narrowed initially but I saw the exact second when he realized who I was.

Relief blossomed inside me as I took it as a sign that things would go smoothly but the next second, he turned his attention back to the captive, completely dismissing me.

Bracing for the worst, I slowly and cautiously approached him.

Elijah Lockwood was a wall of pure muscle, and I had appeared at the worst possible time.

Because, he was not just holding someone captive, but he was torturing the person tied to the chair.

Up close, I could see the several cuts he had given to the man and the stench of blood grew even more intense.

"Wh-why are you hurting him? Let him go!" I said and immediately realized how stupid I sounded.

Elijah threw me an amused look as he looked from me to the captive.

The next second he grabbed a fistful of the man's hair and raised his face in my direction.

A shocked exclaim left my lips as I subconsciously stepped back from him, from the rogue attacker he had dragged out of the restaurant alive yesterday.

"Look at him carefully, girl. This is the man who could have killed you. Still want me to let him go?"

I looked at the black and blue face of the rogue, the scenes of the chaos and attack flashing past my eyes as fear crawled up my spine.

Words wouldn't come out so I simply shook my head. 

"Thought so," He quipped and let go of the rogue's head.

Elijah was so tall and broad that he made me look like a kitten in front of the big, bad wolf.

And everything about him screamed bad right from his tattoos, the muscles bulging under his rolled up sleeves and the blood splattered on his hand.

I had been so focussed on finding him, I had not really thought of what to say to him once I did. My mind had gone utterly blank.

"Hi, I...I am Violet Hayes and I wanted to...thank you for saving me earlier today."

I blurted out and he furrowed his brows in confusion for a second before turning back to the rogue.

"Who sent you?" He demanded, wiping the bloody knife on the rogue's shirt.

"Please, let me go!" The rogue cried helplessly as Elijah grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked it hard while also letting the tip slice into one of the cuts, making him scream again.

I shuddered and took a step back as the rogue's unconscious head lolled to the side.

Elijah then turned his attention to me and cocked an eyebrow as if to ask why I was still around and not running for my life.

"I need your help. My pack is in danger..." I said automatically but he had already strutted past me and was walking towards the door.

"Hey, I am talking to you!" I shouted and ran to follow him.

"Go home" He said dismissively and opened the door of his car and I could see the chance of my parents' safety slipping by.

So I acted without thinking and placed a hand on his arm, yanking hard that took him by surprise. He lost his balance for a second.

My foot slipped and my back got plastered to the passenger window with Elijah's face inches away from mine.

"What the hell are you doing?" He sounded mildly infuriated.

And up close, I could see the faint scars on his face, the old bruises disappearing under the fabric of his shirt.

I was also acutely aware of his chest pressed against mine, of the way his body caged mine.

Elijah sprang apart not even a second later and I quickly adjusted my clothes and hair.

"Sorry. I...want to marry you." That totally came out wrong.

"Girls do ask for a night of sex but hiding it under the guise of marriage, that's new! Besides, you look sixteen." He snorted and began to reach for the car's door again.

"No, I am not asking for sex and I am twenty-three" I clarified, feeling my cheeks burn as those words left my mouth.

But that made him knit his brows.

"You want to marry me and have sex with others? Also, you are like a decade younger to me."

"So what? We are both adults" I croaked.

That response sounded way better in my head.

"Are you leading me on?"

I groaned.

"Stop saying sex. And no, I was talking about an alliance. Usually, packs secure that through some trade or marriage and my pack doesn't have the money or resources for a huge trade right now."

I vomited out words and hoped they were making sense to him.

But that only made him scowl in confusion.

"So, you want to pawn yourself off in a marriage with me, not even offer sex, and expect me to save your pack just because I didn't let you die yesterday?"

I felt my cheeks flush again and I pushed my hair behind, moving my hands in the air animatedly to explain everything without sounding like a blithering idiot.

"I said stop talking about sex. I am discussing an important matter...."

Elijah, however, didn't feel the need to let me complete my sentence. Instead, he leaned closer, invading my personal space.

"Why? Didn't your mate tell you that I am a cruel bastard or that a sweet girl like you shouldn't be around a monster like me?"

My eyes widened realizing he had heard everything Nate said.

Elijah's breath tickled my ear as he added in a low whisper. "Everything he told you about me is true so if you value your life, run, little girl."

His voice was thick with promise yet I stayed rooted to my spot, trying to quiet my thundering heart.

"Nobody else will help my pack and the threat of war is looming over us. Please, everybody already thinks I was trying to lure you into some trap because of the video."

"What video?"

"The restaurant footage where you saved me...it's too complicated to explain."

He shrugged like it didn't bother him in the slightest. He ignored it entirely, something I wish I had the strength to do.

His gaze hardened. "So that asshole left you?"

I looked him in the eye. "I left him. And now I need your help. I'll do anything...except sex. I mean, if we marry and then you want..." 

I hated to sound so desperate, to beg a random stranger who could just snap my neck like that captive rogue if I kept bothering him. But then I could see his strength and felt my pack would benefit from a valuable ally like him.

"Stop talking!"

A muscle in his jaw worked, and he rubbed his temple, clearly agitated.

I shut my mouth abruptly but was ready to fall to my knees and plead if that meant saving my family.

"Find something that will interest me enough to provide an alliance to your pack." He said at last.

"What do you mean, find something? Just tell me!" I shouted, but he had opened the car's door and slipped into the driver's seat before I could blink.

"You said it's either trade or marriage for an alliance, right? Marriage is not my thing, and sex isn't yours, clearly...so find something to trade off in the next twenty four hours or the next time I see you, I will tie you to a chair and make you scream like that rogue."

I had definitely pissed him off.

I opened my mouth to apologize but then he added the next words in a low whisper that sounded a lot like promise.

"But the only difference is that you will love every second of it."

What?

Violet

The car roared to life, the sound of my raging heart dying down over the powerful hum of the engine and then Elijah drove off.

I stood staring like an idiot at the black beast that disappeared from my view, still trying to process what Elijah had said.

Maybe I should follow him but it was already nearing dawn and he had driven off to Goddess knew where with a thinly veiled threat aimed at me.

I was out in the open but all the air around me couldn't fill my damn lungs.

'Breathe, Violet. Breathe'

"He is going to cut me open and torture me." I mumbled to myself, my palm slapping my forehead.

"Not with a knife and he said you would enjoy it" Rain supplied and I mentally rolled my eyes at her.

Couldn't she have shown up earlier when I was trying to explain my predicament to him?

My phone rang and I fished for it from the purse to see a dozen missed calls from my parents. I had put it on silent mode earlier.

"Do you want to give your dad a heart attack by running off the second you came in?" Mom shouted at me without bothering to say hi or hello.

"I am fine, mom. On my way back home."

She continued to lecture me but I disconnected the call, got in the car and returned home.

Mom was already waiting at the gate for me, temper and worry both balanced precariously in her body language and expressions.

She didn't let me step out of the car but rather dragged me out of it and inside our home. It was a relief that not many people were around to see me getting schooled like a disobedient child.

The second she closed the door, she went full on mama bear mode and started shouting at me. I simply sat and let her finish, let the anger dissipate and her shoulders sag a little.

I deserved it. Not many people loved or cared about me. She had every right to be mad at me given the scandal I had created for no fault of mine due to the video.

Dad stood by the window, sighing dramatically every now and then as if to reassure me that everything was going to be fine.

Dad was always the one who used less words than mom. And she would use his name to make me obey. Typical mom. But I loved them both. A lot.

A smile tugged at my lips when I stole a glance at him and mom whirled at him, hands on her hips.

"Luke, are you going to just stand there?" She glared at him and dad immediately stepped forward.

"Violet, you put me and your mother in a lot of worry. With everything else happening, could you spare us poor folks from further trouble?"

The raw appeal in his voice almost hit me like a rock. Hard.

"Yes dad" I said in a low voice but mom wasn't impressed.

"Why are you requesting her? You are the alpha of this pack, Luke. She has to do as you say."

"She had the worst day of her life, Miranda. Cut her some slack." Dad insisted and I jumped up from the couch to pull them both into a hug.

"I am truly sorry, I mean it. But I bring good news. I have found someone to help us." I delivered the breaking news, hoping to see some relief blossom on their faces.

Instead, mom began firing questions at me with the precision of a sharp shooter.

"Who is he? What pack is this? Where is it located? And when did you negotiate?"

Okay, I really hadn't thought about this all the way through. For now, I just had the answer to her first question.

Mom and dad kept looking at me expectantly, and I finally answered.

"Elijah Lockwood has agreed to help us"

For a second neither of them reacted. I was met with radio silence. And then it was total chaos.

"Are you out of your mind? You could have said Satan and I would have believed but that man...he is a selfish, evil person who does nothing for himself. We would better die than be indebted to him."

It turned out that I was really the only one who had no idea who this man was. Lucy's reaction back at the restaurant wasn't far off if even my mother knew about him.

I grabbed her by the shoulders to make her sit down with me.

"Calm down, mom and listen to me, please."

Dad too sounded hesitant.

"Violet, I have always let you make your own decisions but that man is anything but helpful. I appreciate your help, but I have a meeting with a few more alphas today and I hope I will be able to figure out something."

However, mom was back with her questions.

"Did you run off to meet him in the dead of the night? Did he hurt you?" She immediately began checking me for injuries.

"Mom, I am fine. And I need you both to calm down. He isn't as bad as you think. He didn't know me yet he saved me in the restaurant, remember?"

Somehow, everybody kept forgetting that. Though, he had also stuck the knife in the rogue's skin countless times and warned me to run away.

At least, he didn't shy away from who he was. He was honest about himself.

Mom grabbed my shoulders dramatically and asked, "He isn't known to help people out of the goodness of his heart. What did he ask for in return? Our pack? Property? Your unborn child?"

My mother was truly weird.

"Technically, he didn't ask for anything. He just told me to give me something worthy of a trade off in exchange for an alliance."

Mom and dad exchanged a confused look, disbelief evident in their eyes.

"Just like that?" Dad asked curiously, though I could hear a hint of surprise in those words. Like he was proud that his daughter could pull something like this off.

Mom glared at him and Dad adopted a stern expression yet again.

"He gave me twenty four hours to come up with a solid offer so if you dont mind, I have some serious research and digging to do."

Meanwhile, mom was completely against the idea.

"No, absolutely not. That man is a menace. He is known to torture people just for the fun of it."

"I have to agree with your mom, Violet. Nobody wants to deal with him."

"But thats the exact reason we should go with him. Nobody will mess with our pack if he is by our side. Crisis averted!"

I had not even planned to tell them anything until I had secured the alliance but now I had to live up to my promise of saving my home.

"What will happen if you don't come up with any good within twenty four hours?" Dad asked and I fumbled for a response.

My heart beat erratically when I recalled the way he had promised me torture that sounded a lot like fun.

And for sure I was not going to give my parents a real heart attack by divulging those details.

"I will figure out something, don't worry," I said, my voice sounding far too hopeful than I was.

"Or you could conveniently miss the deadline and take option two" Rain supplied.

"Shut up" I hissed though I couldn't deny feeling breathless all of a sudden again.