Chapter 4

Four

ALANA

I took deep breaths in the car as I drove away from the park. My nerves were jittery around Lio, and I couldn't take any chances being alone with him. I pushed him away several times over the years, and I missed him, but it would be too awkward to act like nothing happened. A dull heartache settled in my chest, wondering if he would ever give up everything for me. To give up his well-paying profession and his luxurious life. He was so work-oriented I didn't believe he would ever do that.

And there was no way I would be the side omega after his day of rutting at work.

Parking my car at the beach, I craved a few moments to myself before going to my grandma's house. As I strolled around the beach, I decided to go to the area where I was attacked. I couldn't allow my past to control me anymore and stop me from living my life. I wanted a loving and happy relationship with a pack, just like any omega desired to be.

The boulder was still there. The one they laid me onto. The sight of it sent chills down my spine.

I avoided the beach at night at all costs after the attack. Memories rushed through me as I placed my hand on the cold granite rock. I listened to the sounds of the ocean crashing against the shore. Quickly turning away from the rock, I looked at the area where I'd seen the creature who had saved me. I walked around the area and stopped in front of a huge bed of rocks that was like a wall towering above me. In between the rocks was a small entrance that looked like it led to a cave.

Hunched over, I walked inside the dark cave, turning on the flashlight on my phone. There was nothing but puddles inside, and it creeped me out. What if the creature lived in here? I decided I needed to get the hell out of there.

But as I turned to leave, I saw an opening on the other side. My curiosity getting the better of me, I continued walking down the cave and came upon another entrance. It smelled so dewy and gross in here. I went to the end of the cave and peeked through the opening on the other side. My jaw fell open at what I saw.

It was like an entire secret city on this side.

I stood there in awe. There were two giant walls of rocks on either side of me that expanded into another horizon if I continued to walk down this road. I could barely see anything in the night as I shined my flashlight around wildly.

Suddenly I felt a hand clamp over my mouth.

"Stop right there," said a deep voice.

I struggled against him, trying to step on him and punch him with my elbow. He was like a brick wall as I flailed with panic. He started walking me down the pathway leading to an open area with people roaming about in this secret city. It was dark, but I could make out the figures of tall, slender people walking around in nothing but rags.

The hand on my mouth was ice-cold. He didn't have a smell or a scent to him either. He released my mouth, and I quickly spun around.

My stomach dropped when I realized he was the same creature I had seen the night I was attacked.

The one and only.

I screamed, trying to run, but he had a firm grasp on my wrist. I opened my eyes to see myself surrounded by ten more of his kind. Cold, pale skin and glowing red eyes in the dark as they leaned in towards me. My screams were attracting more of them to me, like an infestation, and I immediately stopped.

They were here to kill me.

"What the fuck?! Get away," I screamed, plastering myself against the guy holding my wrist. But instead, they leaned towards me, smelling and sniffing me. One looked like the elder of the pack. "You're not werewolves."

"We're vampires," he said, and my eyes widened. My worst fears and suspicions came true. I knew I'd seen a vampire the night I was attacked, but I refused to believe until I'd seen him again. They weren't supposed to exist. Vampires belonged in the fairy tales that teachers read to us in school. They were bloodsuckers of the worst kind, preying especially on omegas, who they deemed precious blood.

The elderly vampire smiled, his yellow fangs visible under the moonlight. He sniffed my neck, and I shuddered. Flashbacks of my attack spun in my brain, and my body went into fight-or-flight mode. My heart leaped in my throat, until the younger man who brought me here stopped him.

"Volgriff, no need for that," he said, pulling me behind him.

Did he want me instead for himself? I thought wildly.

My breathing was erratic, and my pulse was pounding so hard I thought I might faint. They were actual vampires. They had no scent, had fangs, and their eyes were red of various shades. I focused my gaze on the ground, gripping my phone in my pocket. My phone was the only thing I had on me right now. I didn't dare dial for help while they watched me closely.

"Move out of the way, young buck," growled the elder. "We can all have a drink and then dispose of her in the ocean. It's Shadow Hunt's Fest, and she was just celebrating with her people. The day they massacred thousands of our kind."

I didn't know Shadow Hunt's Fest was about that. Growing up, I learned that it was just a celebration of our independence. I shut my eyes, taking a couple of deep breaths. They were ready to kill me. To drink my blood and dispose of my body. No one would ever find me.

"Let us wait until the full moon," said the younger vampire. I kept my eyes trained on the sandy ground, away from the leering creatures. "It's only a couple of days away, and I can keep her until then. I'll make sure she doesn't go back to her people."

"Hmm, don't let her escape," said Volgriff. "And the magic in her blood will be more powerful under the full moon."

"I'll make sure she doesn't escape. You know you can trust me."

The elderly one sighed. "You have a point there, James. Keep her until then. Everyone step away from the omega."

I didn't breathe until they all stepped away from me, breaking the circle around me. When they finally left, I let out a long breath. But now, I was trapped with this vampire, who wasn't any less dangerous than the others.

James gruffly pulled me along, walking me across the small city. I saw betas crawling on the sand or sitting on rocks with blood running down their necks with vacant expressions on their faces. Like they didn't know why they were there. They didn't even look at me as I passed by them.

"Oh god," I muttered under my breath. I was soon going to be one of them.

We walked towards a small hut that was standing on sturdy wooden stilts. The roof was thatched with straw that fluttered from the night breeze. The entrance was marked with a rotting wood door.

He silently took me into the small hut, which was lit up by a single candle on a wooden table. The walls had wooden planks which looked like it could collapse at any time, and cobwebs decorated the corners. In the middle of the hut was a straw mattress covered in sheets. I took in the small hut in one sweep of my gaze. I tried remembering my steps back to the secret cave to get back home, but we had gone in so many circles, and it was going to be impossible unless I traced my footsteps in the sand, which would disappear by now.

"You will sleep here," he said, pointing to the bare ground in the living room.

"But there's nothing there," I said, staring at the uneven patches of dried mud. Then he grabbed a blanket from his bed and set it on the floor. I felt queasy and strangely aroused that I would be sleeping in something he used. He grabbed a rope from the corner of the hut and bent down at my feet, tying one end around my ankle. His long hair brushed against my thighs as he worked, muttering to himself like a crazy person. His nearness and touch put my nerves on high alert, turning me on at the same time. I was confused about my body's reaction to him.

"There," he said, tugging on the rope, tightening it around my ankle. "I'll show you where the shower is and where you will use the bathroom."

James grabbed my hand again with his cold one, guiding me outside of his hut as I analyzed my surroundings to escape. Grandma was expecting me home, and I hated the fact that she was probably worried about me right now. The shower in the back was a bucket on the roof that he pulled with a chain to release water. There was a small ground stove outside for cooking. There wasn't a sink, just barrels of ocean water outside the home.

"Please just let me go," I said to him as he led me inside again.

"That's impossible," he said, laying two blankets on the ground for me. "You will tell your people about us. We've lived here peacefully for many years. I don't have a choice."

"I won't, I promise," I said ardently, kneeling on the blanket. I had never begged for my life before, but this warranted that I had to. I was going to die out here and needed to do anything possible to get back home. I was dizzy from lack of sleep, and it had to be well late into the night.

He sat on a wooden chair, observing me with hooded eyes. He was tall and slender, wearing only a loincloth around his thighs. The vampires here didn't have much, and I could see that. His chest muscles bulged every time he moved, and I tried not to stare at him even though I was scared for my life.

"Your people have persecuted ours for years," he said. "There's no chance I will allow you to return."

He got up to leave.

"Why did you save me then?!" I shouted when he was about to step out of the hut. "The night I was attacked."