Chapter 11

Alice

After being detained in that creepy house, I could finally escape from there. Ah, a breath of fresh air was indeed something that I needed. I didn't mind living in my shabby and dusty old house. As long as I have freedom on my limbs, then I'm good.

My house seemed a little bit messy though. I didn't know how long I had been leaving it since Harvey kidnapped me. Three days? One week? Or even a month?

My guess is it was probably around two or three weeks considering the length of the grass in our little front yard. I glanced around and sighed heavily.

Damn, a lot of things needed to be done. And the first went to cleaning this house. I couldn't stand these messes that made my house look like a crime scene. Netter to get myself moved now.

I had spent the past two hours to clean the house. It looked a lot better and honestly, cleaning was always something that I had used as a coping mechanism. Whether when I was tired with my life, or even just having a stressful day, cleaning would help me lessen the pressure a bit.

And now I could think better when I didn't see any mess left. I sat and took a rest for a second. That was when I realized something had changed in me.

So, I am a werewolf now. A monster like them. I wondered if would it be hard for me to live between humans now. Since I should have kept my other identities behind the curtain. Would I change when the full moon came? Or would I need to hunt in the woods like what they showed in the movie?

I didn't know. Hell, I didn't even know anything at all about werewolves. Let alone being one of them. I was confused about everything. How should I go on with my new life? Should I crawl back to them and ask for guidance?

No, I prefer to be buried alive rather than living in that house as their so-called Luna.

The second thing I needed to do was probably find a new job. The one that would give me anonymity and a secluded environment. The one that would allow me to work alone and hide my identity.

I took my phone and surfed the web for a while. I didn't realize one hour had passed when I heard a knock on my door. I glanced at the clock.

7 PM.

Who was coming? No one knew I was back in this house other than Harvey and Jordan. There was no way it was them, right? Harvey promised to let me go and wouldn't poke my life again.

I strode to the door and looked at the peephole.

Jordan? What did he want to do by coming here?

I clicked the knob and pulled the door open. Jordan lifted his face and smiled at me.

"Can I come in? Something important, Alice."

I wavered for a bit before nodding and letting him enter my house. He casually walked past me and sat in our living room. And I took a seat across from him with a big question mark painted over my face.

"What's wrong?" I asked. A little bit of worry crept into my voice. I was afraid that my short-timed freedom would be taken away again.

"Harvey is sick. Very sick."

The news dazed me. I thought a big man like Harvey wouldn't even flinch when being shot by a bullet. It never crossed my mind that he would fall sick.

What kind of sickness affects a werewolf anyway?

"And? How is it related to me?"

Jordan exhaled a heavy breath and stared at me in disbelief.

"Just so that you know, it was because you rejected him. That's what happens to a werewolf when their mates reject them."

My eyes grew into two big circles. As big as a saucer probably. What kind of foolery was that? Getting sick because of being rejected? Did Jordan think I would believe that bullshit?

"No way. That sounded like a total bullshit, Jordan. You've gotta be kidding me."

"Oh, dear. How much I wish that I was kidding right now. But no. I am dead serious right now. Harvey needs you, his mate."

I still couldn't believe what I just heard. Who would think a cruel monster like werewolves has a soft fragile heart anyway?

"No, explain it first. How could it even be possible? I... I only reject him and not slapping him. How could he fall sick because of that mere reason?"

Jordan gazed deep down into my eyes. And I could feel a heat emanating from his eyes.

"It is what it is, Alice. A werewolf is destined with one true mate for his whole life. So what do you think will happen when the mate rejects them?"

I raised one of my eyebrows. Confused about the answer. He smiled.

"They die. They will die because of a broken heart. And I don't want Harvey to face that kind of lame fate because of your stubbornness!"

Shit. This bullshit was real. A sense of guilt slapped me in the face. What would happen if Harvey died because of my rejection? I would indeed feel sinful for the rest of my life.

I leaned my back on the couch while staring at Jordan emptily. My mind flew back to what just happened in these past few weeks. The kidnapping, the princess in the tower thing, the escape plan, and the new identity of me. I kept rolling my thoughts over and over again. What did Harvey do wrong anyway?

Nothing.

He never touched me without my permission. Not even once. He never raised his voice when he was talking to me. Oh boy, he always talked with that sweet tender voice of his to me every time. And he always respects me and all of my choices. Even though it was as simple as a breakfast menu.

And I was the bad one in here. I was the one who acted so ignorant and kept making trouble. I was the one who escaped and got myself into the problem. And I was the one who put Harvey in a dilemma of choosing my life or death. I was the asshole in this tragedy. And I owed everything to him after what he had gone through to save my life.

I think I messed up everything. My life. His life. Our life.

I sighed and stared at Jordan. I should be paying for all of the good deeds Harvey had done for me. I should be with him to return his favor. And let the fate unraveled between us, I guess.

"Okay, I'll come back to there. But with one condition." I said in a stern voice.

Jordan leaned closer.

"And what is that?"

I thought about it for a while. But I had no one to ask anyway. Jordan was the best option left now.

"Tell me everything I didn't know. Every story Harvey tried to hide from me."

***

It baffled me so much. Every word that slid out of Jordan's mouth sounded like a scene out of a movie. And turned out, it was my life.

My father was Albert Baxter, the one Roman had said to me before. The greatest werewolf hunter who lived more than a decade ago. He was obliged to hunt those bad werewolves like Ironmaws. The ones who chased and attacked humans only because of fun. The ones who kept messing the peace between races. And my father had been laying his eyes on Ironmaws for so long.

Until that night, he ambushed them when they were at their weakest.

The eclipse.

When the moon was covered and the night became pitch dark, it was time for werewolves to hide themselves because their energy was close to zero at that time. And my father decided to slay half of the packs in one night. He banished the cruel ones and left the innocent ones who weren't even involved with any merciless act Ironmaws had done.

But it was bound to happen that the rest of the Ironmaws who were still alive labored so much resentment against my Dad. Roman dad's was killed by my father and it was natural for him to avenge his death.

And that night happened. One month after the massacre my father had done, Roman and the rest of Ironmaw decided to ambush us. My father, my mother, and the young me. My father was defenseless, armless, and heavily outnumbered. While Roman and his members are at their strongest time. Thanks to the full moon.

That night, all of my family was murdered in the cruelest way one could imagine. Body torn into half with their beastly power and our house was burned to dust. Leaving nothing other than stories known only by some.

Jordan sighed again. I even lost count of how many times he did that in the past hours. My history was indeed a tragic one that successfully choked me in tears. I wiped my tears and tried to get a grip on myself.

Calm down, Alice. You need to know more than this.

"So? What happened? Why did they decide to let me out?"

"Harvey's father, Alpha Jackson, and my dad found you beneath the ruin where your mother hid you. And they decided to save you. You are their best friend's daughter after all." Jordan shrugged his shoulder while swallowing a bitter laugh.

I thought my brain went numb because of the huge amount of information I suddenly received. But the other side of my brain kept pushing me to delve deeper. Knowing more and more about the truth of my existence.

"And what about Edith? How can she suddenly become my Mom?"

"Edith was the gamma of our pack. The lowest and weakest one. The one who did the role of housekeeper and something like that. Alpha Jackson assigned her to take care of you as her daughter. Because he knew, Edith just had a miscarriage because of swallowing wolfsbane in an unfortunate accident."

"Wolfsbane? What is wolfsbane?" I asked out of curiosity.

"A plant that weakens a werewolf. So weak to the point a werewolf can be ill for the rest of their life. Like Edith's condition."

I nodded. Again and again, the new facts seeped one by one into my simple brain.

"And that's how I became Alice Knox?"

Jordan's bobbed his head in agreement.

"Yeah, Alice Knox. The Luna of Sableclaw pack."