Chapter 7

Seven

ALANA

L ater that morning, James handed me a coconut shell. I took a sip from it and grimaced.

"Ew, I like my coconut juice chilled with lots of sugar," I complained at the warm, bitter drink, and he chuckled as we sat on the floor in his living room. He was carving out rocks with a knife after laying a handful of sea kelp and a coconut drink beside it. The sea kelp looked like it was burnt to a crisp after he fried it outdoors. It tasted so bitter, but I was starving.

I chewed on one end of the sea kelp, watching him work as he carved out weapons from a bunch of stones in front of him. He must be really bored here, I thought. There were no jobs, and the vampires lived day by day, surviving off of blood.

"I forgot that omegas have a sweet tooth," he said, the sound of metal carving against rock ringing in the hut.

"Have you been around many omegas?" I asked, wondering if he sucked the blood of any of them.

"A few. A very long time ago," he said with a faraway look in his eyes.

"Like as mates, or…food?"

His lips twitched, holding back a smile. "Food. But that's never going to happen again. I almost killed one with how greedy I became."

I was starting to realize why the vampires weren't welcome amongst my people.

He was dangerous.

"Did you do something to me earlier to wash like that in front of you?"

"I didn't," he said. "You wanted to do it, and I wanted to watch. That's all there was to it."

But I didn't believe him.

"We can't do that again," I protested, dropping the sea kelp on the clay plate. I didn't want to eat it anymore. Maybe I'd eat it in a few days when I was starving to death.

"And why not?"

"Your people are about to kill me, and you're not doing anything to prevent that," I said indignantly. He was acting like nothing had happened to me. That me living here was just super normal.

"Eat your food," he said instead, eying the abandoned cooked plant on my plate.

"No thanks," I said, shaking my head.

"What would you like to eat instead?" he asked, looking at me with full attention.

"It doesn't matter. I'm about to die soon," I said, crossing my arms and leaning against the wall. I looked down at the rope tied tight around my ankle. "Can you take the stupid rope off? It's not like I'll run around here. There are too many vampires around."

"If I take it off, will you tell me what you'd like to eat?"

"Sure," I said, unable to believe it when he dropped his tools and walked over to me. I stretched my foot out to him, and he grasped my foot in his hands. His cold fingers on my ankle sent tremors through my body. He deftly untied the complicated knot with his fingers, letting the rope drop to the floor. Was this a test or something? Or was he so sure of himself that I would run?

But later, I would plan my escape.

"So, what do you like to eat?" he asked, sitting in front of me. It still threw me off that he didn't have a scent. Even betas had a neutral similar scent to them. Alphas had strong masculine energies and scents about them. My scent of pineapple was prevalent since I hadn't taken a scent blocker in over twenty-four hours or a heat suppressant. I didn't know what I was more terrified of- to go into heat in the middle of nowhere or to have my blood sucked by vampires.

My body was still wet from the impromptu shower, but it was hot and muggy anyway, so it didn't matter.

"You don't have it here," I said.

"What's the food?" he insisted.

"Fine, burger and fries. And lots of fruits and maybe a salad," I said as my stomach growled. His eyebrows scrunched together at the mention of burger and fries.

"What's burger and fries?"

"Oh, you haven't lived in the city for years," I said. But he looked young, like in his twenties. I couldn't wrap my head around it that he was older than fifty-five. "It's just a slab of meat between two pieces of bread."

"You will have it then," he said, nodding. "Stay put, or you can get hurt by the others if you leave."

"Okay," I said, wondering how unlikely it would be for him to get a burger around here. When he left the hut, I got up and paced around the hut. I watched him through the makeshift door until he disappeared out of sight.

This was my only chance.

My heart started beating wildly as I looked back and forth between the outside world and the muggy hut.

I had to get out of here.

If I ran fast enough, maybe no one would catch me. When I thought I waited long enough, I opened the door an inch and looked out. James was nowhere around, and everywhere was empty since it was still daylight. Vampires weren't walking around right now.

I rubbed my palms nervously on my shorts as I took a step outside.

The sun was bright compared to the darkness in the windowless hut, so it took a moment for my eyes to adjust. I ensured no one was around before walking further away from the hut.

My heart was pounding like crazy as I tried to remember where we walked to get here. The cave entrance was somewhere around. I was scared vampires were staring at me from their homes as I ran in the general direction where I thought the secret cave was.

Sand flew around my face as I continued running south. I wasn't sure where in the world I was now. Everything was turning more eerie and more unfamiliar. The mud huts were bigger in this area, towering above me, and there were odd-looking massive cages with betas on the ground sitting with blank expressions. Oh my god, I thought . They probably let them out at night to feed the vampires.

I had to get the hell out of here before I was one of them.

Running in the opposite direction of where I'd seen the metal cage, I squinted my eyes, trying to figure out where to go next. The vampire dwelling was huge, and all I could see for miles were tall walls of rocks and stone, blocking me from the werewolf side. The only way was the entrance to the cave.

"Hey!" someone shouted from behind.

Fuck .

I started running faster, but it was useless. In a split second, I was grabbed and surrounded by three vampires. I knew what they were even before they grabbed me. I instantly regretted leaving the safety of the hut. Their cold bodies pressed against me on all sides, freezing me.

Their red eyes surrounded me- their bodies thin and hungry.

My throat tightened with fear when one pressed his lips to my throat. He had wild stringy brown hair matted with mud and dirt. His loincloth was filthy and littered with mud. They looked like young vampires who couldn't care less about the rules. But there were no rules when it came to their hunt.

"Omega blood," he breathed, his eyes rolling in the back of his head.

"Please, don't," I said, my voice trembling.

This could not be happening. My nightmare was actually happening, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I started shaking. Then I felt his fangs graze my skin, and I screamed as I struggled against them.

"Release her," someone shouted, and I opened my eyes.

James stood in front of us like a vengeful angel. His eyes were glowing a brighter red, and his face set in a strict line. I breathed a sigh of relief when the vampires instantly let me go.

"Why can't we have her?" whined one of them.

"We need to wait for the full moon. Volgriff's orders," said James strictly as he held me by the arm. The grip from his fingers showed me that he wasn't happy with me running away. But I'd rather be stuck with him and his anger than get instantly murdered by vampires.

In the hut, James confronted me once we were alone again.

"What were you thinking, omega?!"

My back was pressed to the wall, and this raging vampire in front of me was unleashing his anger. I was getting angry, too, with every outburst. None of this made sense. I was the one who should be angry, not him.

"I wanted to escape," I said in a firm voice. I wasn't going to back down. "You're holding me here against my will. What did you expect?!"

He pressed both hands on the wall on either side of me, caging me in. He could be as dominating as he wanted to be, but I wasn't going to back down.

"This is for your own safety," he said slowly and evenly as if trying to make me understand like I was the unreasonable one. "You're the one who strolled into this camp all on your own, isn't that right?"

"Yes, but..."

"But nothing. Now it's my duty to make sure you stay alive," he said.

"You'll allow them to feed on me when it's the full moon?" I challenged.

"Yes."

"Then I want out!" I screamed, punching his chest, which felt like a brick wall. I pushed him, but he wasn't moving anywhere, keeping me trapped between his arms. He stood there silently, watching me. "I saw the betas. I saw what you do with them. You're all monsters."

I started shaking, and tears rolled down my eyes uncontrollably from my fear. I grew increasingly terrified of what was going to happen to me.

"Breathe," he said finally, encircling me with his arms. Pulling me against his bare chest. I couldn't control my panicked breaths and my tremors as I shook in his arms- remembering the near attack just now. Reminding me of my past. "Just breathe, Alana. I know. I know what you went through. I won't allow anything to happen to you, I promise with everything in my being. I promise you."

Rain pelted against the hut as he hugged me to him until my breathing slowed and I began calming down. My tremors stopped as I silently breathed him in, my tear-stained cheek pressed against his bare hard chest. Even though he didn't have a scent, he smelled like masculine sweat and hard work when I was close enough.

It was appealing and dark. A pull to my senses that I couldn't explain.