The Shadow

 I fought the urge to sulk as he let go of my throat and the promising storm of pleasure.

 "Don't tempt me, human," he said, before climbing off me and moving away. He didn't even fight me when I sat on the other end of the bench seat.

 I looked out the window, my hands shaking as I stared up at the blood moon.

 It would be there for fourteen hours. I shivered and leaned my head against the window, my eyes closing.

 I had no idea why I felt the way I felt, but if I could bait the alpha into holding me like that again, I couldn't help but be tempted.

 I chewed my lip as a thrill rushed through me at the idea of it. 

 Was I broken?

 Maybe. I was winter born, after all. I wanted the alpha to break me. 

 I glanced over my shoulder as Defan was glaring at Edward, who was scowling back.

 It took me a second to realize they were communicating.

 "Can you talk to each other in your minds?" I asked, and Cain paused his caressing of Tacha as the other two turned their eyes to glare at me. 

 "Stop playing with fire, little girl. You've had your fun, but fall in line before we get to the city or we will have to show you that your kind of defiance won't be tolerated," Edward warned.

 "We are werewolves, not equals. Your little game just then could've gone horribly wrong, and you don't understand how badly yet, but maybe you will before the night is finished," he continued, and I shuddered at his words.

 I didn't bother responding; instead, I looked back out the window, watching the Grasslands turn into the Water area.

 The city was in the middle of Werewolf Territory, surrounded by the Water

 area like a moat, stretching into the Grasslands and extending into the Forest area.

 Beyond that was Vampire Territory, and I had never been brave enough to find out what that meant.

 I had never seen the city either though. Villagers weren't allowed. 

 The alphas didn't come to the villages unless it was for offerings.

 The wolves swarmed the city, the howls reaching into the carriage as we arrived.

 A cold pit dropped in my stomach as I stared through the darkness, the red of the moon stretching across the black lake.

 I frowned at the feeling as it sank further, cold and hard.

 I narrowed my eyes through the darkness and swore my eyes found a shadow.

 One that stared back at me!

 I tried to blink to get the image out of my head but it was still there. 

 "Wait! Can we stop?" I asked breathily as the feeling tightened inside me.

 "Why?" Defan asked narrowing his eyes at me with a raised brow. 

 I didn't have an answer. I held my hand against my chest as the cold spread, and I shivered hard.

 The shadow moved quickly from one tree to another, and just as I was sure I was making up shit in my head, two red eyes flicked open, staring at me from miles away, but it was like they were right there.

 I gasped, shoving back from the window, my heart skipping as fear closed around me. 

 I fell to the floor of the carriage, blinking harder this time, hoping to get the image from my head. Those terrifying eyes.

 "I saw… There was something out there," I stammered, inhaling slow breaths

 Defan looked at me like I had taken crazy pills. So did the other alphas too. 

 Maybe I was being delusional right now. Maybe it was the reflection of the water and the blood moon making the eyes seem red.

 "It's a full moon, wolves will be everywhere tonight," Edward said, an edge to his voice sounding irritated.

 I nodded slowly and climbed back onto the seat, yanking the curtain across the window.

 "What do you think you saw?" Cain asked warily, and I shook my head.

 "Nothing. It was…just a shadow." I inhaled deeply and tried to convince myself that's all it was.

 I held my arms across me as we were taken through the gates and through the city.

 It was less modern than I had expected— the paths were stone in the ground, the buildings all stone, wood, and glass.

 All of the streets looked similar until they came to the mansion.

 It was huge, with a sprawling lawn that was hosting multiple orgies as wolves ran, nipping and chasing each other.

 I tried to keep my eyes inside my head as we were let out of the carriages and led up the stone path toward the mansion.

 Some of the people in the orgies paused, looking at the offerings with interest before going back to the entanglement of bodies they were in.

 I looked straight ahead, the situation finally weighing on me.

 It was just sex, but it was about to change everything. Fear tightened inside me, coiling around my stomach as I tried to keep my shit together. 

 I didn't want to be the scared little virgin, but I was.

 I knew it was going to hurt, and with all the games with Defan, I had forgotten why I was there.

 I remembered now as we were ushered into the

 foyer of the mansion.

 It was grand and beautiful, nothing like my village at home. 

 I looked around at the big statues, all wolves and that surrounded the marble foyer.

 There were dark wooden floors with a double staircase on either side, leading up to a dark hall that led somewhere I didn't even want to guess.