2. Angelina

Chapter 2

Angelina

We drove in uneasy silence and I could feel his gaze on me ever so often. I couldn't help myself either.

I pick at my nails aimlessly and sneak glances at him, wanting desperately to understand who and what he was, how he had known I was being attacked, and why he had decided to save my life.

The nuns who raised me had not raised a coward, so it doesn't take long before I give voice to my questions.

"What exactly are you, Williem?"

"I am pretty fast and strong, but I was so clearly outmatched, I felt like a toddler pitched against tigers, but you didn't seem to have that problem.

You went through those things like a hot knife through butter. Not to mention, I also got a pretty good look at your claws, and while you might look human, you are definitely not."

"I'm not human, no, I am one of a type of beings, younger than humanity; we have walked this earth for much less time than your people, but we are better in so many ways." Williem shoots me a dirty look.

He seems offended that I have likened him to being human.

"Well that's not cryptic at all." I mutter dryly, before I refocus my stare at him.

"I am blindly trusting you here, I am very grateful for you saving my life, but I think I deserve some of that trust back." I feel like I have been tossed in the middle of a stormy sea, rudderless and with nothing to hold on to.

Williem pretends to not notice that I had asked a question for a good while before he finally responds.

"I am Lycan. I mentioned it before as the only good thing you could transform after the change. What your shows and cinema refer to as werewolves. But we are nothing like what you think." He growls, and glances at me before continuing more softly.

"The moon is not a harsh mistress. Far from it. She sings so softly to us, our Sie'f Lun, and we reply to our mother the only way we know how. With our howling songs." He avows, his voice thick with reverence as he speaks about this Sie'f Lun.

I am deeply moved by this intimacy, so I keep quiet, wanting to hear more from him.

"But those things that attacked you, they were rogues. It is not certain how they came to be, but we know for certain that they cannot hear our mother. They are cut off from her, and so they suffer.

They might have once been human, but they can never be that in life again, only in death do they return to what they once were." Williem says, his words thick with sympathy for them.

After this he falls silent, and I am left to ruminate on what he said. I could not muster sympathy for those things, but I hadn't thought they were once human beings like me, some of them at least.

This isn't something I've ever prepared to deal with, and I need some time to process it.

We finally arrived at the pack territory, driving through thick vegetation for no less than an hour to get there. I am awestruck by the existence of such a territory, surrounded as it is by towering trees, undiscoverable to normal folk.

With the way he had reacted to my wounds, I would have expected Williem to hand me over to anyone who would have enough sympathy to take me in, but he actually kept me with him, not letting me leave his side.

"Come. Sit." He pats the couch, encouraging me to rest, and then he leaves, only to return with a first-aid case. "We need to clean out your wounds. Your leg, please Angelina."

He stretches his hands towards me, asking for my leg, and with the way he calls my name, I would be hard pressed to deny him anything.

I stretch my leg out to him, and he captures it gently in one warm hand. His fingers are so long and thick that they effortlessly stretch all the way around my calf. They feel like a warm band around my calves, and can't help but let out a sigh of contentment.

"Thank you Williem, for taking care of me." I quietly say, gnawing on my lower lip in slight trepidation, and a lot of confusion at the feelings bombarding me. I don't know why his touch makes my heart beat out of control.

Williem, crouched in front of me now, raises his head so his eyes meet mine. Our gaze stays connected by what I can only describe as electricity, it hums, both vibrant and hot at the same time.

He breaks the connection so he can attend to my wounds, and it is all I can do not to gasp, feeling like I had run a couple of miles.

"You are welcome Angelina, I only wish I had been there sooner. If I was then maybe you wouldn't have to be here." He replies, dabbing at the bite with antiseptics as I wince.

This is a shitty situation to be in, but I don't regret meeting you, you beautiful man!

Williem's lips curl in what is undeniably a smile, and I fear for a moment that he can hear my thoughts, but then my fear turns to mortification when I realize I am wet, and he must have gotten a whiff of that.

My face heats up in embarrassment, mostly because I don't have a clue as to what I could possibly say.

"Delicious." He mutters, almost too quietly for me to hear, but I do anyway. It doesn't help with my blush, intensifying it instead.

"All done!" He declares as he finishes up wrapping the bandage around my calf. He stands up, and stretches out his hand to help me up.

Williem leads me to what will be my room, and in a couple of turns, we are at the door. He pushes the door open and I am impressed by how beautiful it is.

The room is completely cream, and the white and brown highlights make it seem airy and bright.

"Now sit still. I'm going to get clothes, and everything you need okay?" He requests and I nod my agreements, with no actual intention of following it.

Before his return I wander around the room, touching the bedside lamp; it is white with gold trimmings. It looks so dainty and pretty that I wonder if he had picked it out himself or if he had someone do it for him; a woman perhaps, I wonder darkly.

Williem returns with a suitcase full of clothes and toiletries as promised. We had forgotten returning to my dorm to pick up anything, and so these are the only clothing I have right now.

He now stands right outside the door, just looking at me with a hand in one pocket and he looks like he just needs a three-piece suit and he could be on Wall Street. At the same time he looks almost out of place in the house.

My mind seems to have placed him into the category of wild and dangerous, more likely to be found in a forest than inside a room.

"Thank you Williem. For saving me, and everything else too" I say gratefully but Williem just waves noncommittally, deferring my thanks.

"Goodnight" I say, feeling little and vulnerable, unsure of what I would do with myself now that I was here, in the middle of nowhere land. What about school? This is so fucked up!

"Goodnight Angelina. Don't worry too much about everything else." Williem seems to read my mind effortlessly. He runs his hands through his hair, musing it up in the process, and I know that the stress of the day didn't leave him unscathed.

I push the door closed, resting my back against it. I feel overwhelmed by everything.

I take a shower, change my clothes, then sit on the bed to arrange my thoughts and plan for my next course of action. I am hit by a wave of exhaustion as the activities of the day catch up with me and before I know it I am out like a light.

It has been two days since I've been at the pack's territory, and getting introduced to several of Williem's pack-mates is the highlight of it all.

Discovering that this was not just a couple of buildings as I had thought on my first night here, but an actual community of Lycans is a pleasant surprise.

I learn that each one of them is not only part of a family unit, but a pack member first. Feeling a sting of envy at the realization of the depth of connection between these people.

Having never experienced the feeling of family, seeing it leaves me with a bittersweet ache, and wishing I could truly be a part of it.

Williem has made it a priority to get me assigned to a group.

"This pack is a well-oiled machine, and we work so well because everyone has responsibilities they take very seriously. Do you understand?" He barks in what I imagine is his best sergeant voice.

Keeping myself from rolling my eyes with supreme effort, I respond in the affirmative.

"Yes, I do."

"There are a number of groups, responsible for different tasks in the pack. There is the highest ranking group, the Sentinels, who are responsible for the defense of the pack.

An elite group designed specifically to hunt and take down rogues, the Sentinels are too great a height for you to aspire to." He sneers, and I am confused. What was going on?

Williem had been pleasant and caring but all of that had just disappeared in just a few days. Too great a height for me to aspire to? Just watch and see! I declare. I am going to wipe the condescending expression off his face.

"There are also the rangers who are responsible for scouting and detecting threats in the perimeter surrounding us. Working as a ranger requires speed. Another thing you do not possess."

Okay…what the fuck is going on? This is no longer ribbing or jokes, this is Williem being disgustingly condescending, and talking down on me.

I won't take it!

"Is there any other group which does things I can actually do, or is this going to be an hour long session of you talking down to the little human?"

He seems almost shocked, maybe confused that I would call him out on his behavior, and just for a second I think I will get an apology. All hopes of that are lost when he resumes talking.

"Do not interrupt me when I am talking. Even the pups here know not to interrupt higher ranking Lykans. But then again you are human." He drawls out, and now I am seething.

I don't know why he has decided to antagonize me, but I'll be damned if I take it lying down. "Yes, thank goodness we have established the fact that I am human, and so I am less in every way, three times now by my counting, can we move on to the important stuff now… Sir" I say, rolling my eyes with the intent of letting him see it.

If he was going to try his darndest to piss me off, he had better be ready to deal with a pissed off Angelina.

"Since you're not going to actually listen to me, I'll be as brief as possible. There are healers, Technos, and Matrons. They are responsible for healthcare, technological concerns, and cooking respectively.

You can do any they deem you fit for. And if you can't, well that means you are less useful than the pups. And the pups are prepubescent." He grits his teeth, addressing me with what is clearly anger at my flippant manner, but I don't care.

He could have been a decent person and talked politely but he didn't and now, he has ruined my mood. My only consolation was that I have done the same to him.

With our business concluded, I leave, resentment and anger burning in my gut. Hopefully it'll give me that extra push to be amazing.

One thing is certain, I don't like Williem. First impression notwithstanding.

My trainer, Jonathan, a veteran in his fifties, declares me strong in spirit, but unfortunately just not strong enough physically.

"You did good kiddo, honestly I mean it, pull through this change and you will be strong enough to be one of the best of us." He promises, and his kind words light a fire in me, filling me with determination to face the next trial head-on.

Sadly, the next couple of words I hear put a dampener on that.

"I don't think she can be one of the best of us Jon. I hope she pulls through the change, but look at her. She looks like she's been pampered all her life." Williem announces from behind me, filling me with a rush of hate I had never felt before.

For some reason Williem's prejudice towards humans which I had first noticed in the car drive to the territory seems to have worsened, and any camaraderie we might have had is dead. He makes no secret of his disdain for humans, but at the same time, I can't get rid of him.

I grit my teeth in anger, and if I wasn't certain he was fast enough to completely avoid it, I would have thrown a punch right into his smug face.

Williem casually strolls into my view, looking as handsome as always, but his hateful words make it so easy to ignore it.

"Besides, she's human, and we know too well what they are all like" He sneers, and I decide right there and then that I would constantly rub his face in it when I finally make Sentinel.

"Better to be a human than an ass. Hell, even a rogue is better, at least they're infected and we know why they behave as they do. You are an ass by choice." I airily declare before I walk off.

I don't turn back, but I could feel his gaze burning into me, even as Jonathan defends me.

My next couple of trials go well enough, with the trainers in charge of assessments deciding I would do better as a healer than a ranger, although I qualify to be either.

I decided to be trained as a healer, only because I am uncertain about my ability to keep up with the speed required to be a ranger, especially as I am told I would get weaker and sicker as the full moon approached.

Being part of the healer group is amazing. Alyssa, Chief healer, is an amazing woman, welcoming and impossibly kind, we clicked right off the bat.

"Hey Angelina! Here's someone I want you to meet" She announces gleefully, skipping towards me, and it takes all I have to not instantly burst in laughter at her childlike mannerisms.

"Hi Alyssa. Good afternoon." I greet her happily, looking around her to see who she wants to introduce me to.

I once had someone say that couples who were in tune with each other seemed to take on each other's traits over time and Judd and Alyssa seemed to prove that theory right.

The moment the huge bear of a man walks around Alyssa and stretches his hand, I know I am looking at her mate. There was just something about him that spoke of Alyssa.

With blonde hair, blue eyes, and an impressive height of around six and a half feet, he is the polar opposite of Alyssa who has jet black curls, gray eyes, and she's a little over five feet.

"It is so great to meet you, Angelina. I have heard only good things about you." He tells me, as he shakes my hand with a firm but soft grip.

"The way I heard it, I'm a weak and worthless human, who can't do anything to save her life I dryly say, prompting belly aching laughter from both him and his mate.

"We know you're nothing like that and I am spreading the word. Trust me" Alyssa jokes, drawing a smile from me.

"Not as far as I can throw you, for sure" Another cackle from the couple let me know they find me just as amusing as I do them, and a smile curls on my face in response.

"We have to go now, but I will enjoy seeing you around." Judd promises as his mate drags him away after gesturing a farewell of her own.

I watched them leave, shaking my head in amusement. Now that, that was love!

I am not exactly sure what I think of Williem. Of course I know and acknowledge that he is otherworldly handsome and just the sight of him could get my heart racing. But beauty is just superficial, and it is not a criteria I based important decisions on.

He is quite simply unlike anybody I know, in both good and bad ways.

Alyssa has explain some of the pack dynamics to me. Letting me know that Williem was the alpha of this pack and that her husband Judd, as well as some of the sentinels were lieutenants, his closest friends and advisors. I had met a couple of them already.

Elijah was a sweetheart with shaggy brown hair and matching chocolate eyes. I had also met Lake; outgoing and jovial he never stopped making me smile.

Josie and Sierra rounded up the rest of his lieutenants, and although Josie and I hit it off, Sierra didn't seem like my biggest fan, but I chucked it up to me being human.

If the alpha didn't like me solely because I was human, then it didn't shock me to find out that at least one of his lieutenants didn't as well.

Williem might have been the stereotypical alpha of this pack, and grade-A asshole to me, but Alyssa had promised I would get to see other parts of him than just the fearless leader.

"Williem is alpha because he is loved and respected, and not the other way around." She had proclaimed, but personally I struggled to see that.

Days after I become part of the healer group, Williem and I broker a strange and uneasy truce.

He walks up to me as I return from a session, and he must notice that I am not thrilled by his appearance.

"Angelina." He greets.

"Williem" I curtly respond in kind, not pausing my stride. I am ready to be as uncivil as he is to me. I am still smarting from his comment during my trials and the anger I felt then hasn't dissipated. "What do you want?"

"To talk. I am not your enemy, you should know that I even root for you. I want you to come out the other side of this the same. Human."

"Oh I know you don't want me to die, but that doesn't mean you are rooting for me. You have not shown in any way that you're on my side." I start, and this conversation reminds me of another I have wanted to have with him for some time now.

"Why do you hate humans?" I ask plainly.

"I don't see how we could have possibly hurt you that bad. I really don't. Sure, we aren't the best with our pollution and all, but I know for a fact that we aren't that bad."

Williem mulls my question over for a bit before he replies. "Humans didn't hurt me directly, but their pride did. Their arrogance and false confidence in their superior intellect robbed me of everything I had.

You humans think you are so much wiser and better, and you don't even see half of what is really happening in the world."

"So to answer your question, humans like you, thought themselves too strong and powerful to fall prey to rogues, They refused our help and protection, and as they condemned themselves to horrible deaths, they did the same to my people. They turned into those very monsters and attacking us. That is the reason I don't like humans. Their poor decision endangers everyone."

I don't know what I could possibly say to this. He had experienced exactly what he was trying to warn me from doing. If I had escaped from him and gone home, I could have starred in the worst memories of another person's life, and the thought of that sickens me.

"I am sorry. I didn't know…."

"No you didn't, and to be honest, you don't deserve the hard time I'm giving you. I can see how much effort you put into training everyday even though you're exhausted for that, I must commend you. Well done Angelina, I am proud to have you in my pack." He says, flashing me a smile before he walks off.

I stand there, rooted to the spot in horror at the thought of what he had experienced. I know there wasn't really an apology for his callous comments in there, but knowing this about him, I can't help but respect him for opening up and telling me his reasons.

I cant even imagine someone so confident that they can show their vulnerability and still lead a pack. He truly is an Alpha!

I can finally see what Alyssa means.

Spending more time together in close proximity makes it hard to deny the simmering attraction between us, but with no real resolution to our arguments, the solution is to just ignore it.

After a long and stressful day running mock drills and training for the next sentinel tryouts, I take a break so I put on a classic movie to watch.

Making my way to the living room where I switch the lights off, I get a blanket, and snuggle in. I ended up picking Teen wolf. No pun intended.

Days of stress have left me tense. I am already on edge due to the constant horniness I couldn't take care of; I had left my vibrator behind. William strategy of alternating between sensuously staring at me with his beautiful eyes; and ignoring me gets me hot and bothered.

I am enjoying the movie when Williem butted in, starting yet another fight.

"I can see that humans have still not come far from their lowly origins, and primitive fears." Willem sneers. He stands at the doorway and the light from the television screen makes his face easy to see despite the dark of the room.

Annoyance and anger has distorted his features, making him look almost cruel. If I had to guess, I'd say he was annoyed at the movie's portrayal of werewolves.

I don't know why he would say such a thing just because of a movie, especially after we had a discussion about his dislike for humans. I had thought he had reconsidered what he knew previously.

"Hi Williem." I start, more annoyed than startled at his obnoxious comment. "Just in case you didn't already, I want you to understand that I know you have your reservations, but you still have no clue about us humans."

"Really?"

"Yes. Really."

"Please tell me one thing about you humans that I haven't considered. One thing I don't already know." He asks, stepping away from the door and leaning in close to me. I didn't know why he did so, but I am not going to be intimidated by anyone.

"You are so secure in your superiority that you don't even know how far we humans have come. C'mon, you drive cars, and guess what? We did that. Just like you wolves, we are more than the sum of our individuals, and if you would just open up your eyes, you would see that, instead of being arrogant and……"

I was cut off from the rest of my rant when Williem shut me up in the only way that wouldn't end with his face scratched. He gently grabbed my face with one hand.

And claims my lips with his.

WILLIEM

I can't help it. One moment I am listening to Angelina yelling and telling me off, as she states all the things wrong with me and my behavior, and the next second my lips are on hers. I could smell her instant arousal and it was impossible to wonder if she would get soaked for me.

"Damn it" I blurted out, right before I claimed her lips. I have tried to stay away, but I couldn't keep to my resolution. So, here I am, ravaging her lips like a pirate intent on plundering and spoiling.

My Angelina tastes like a mixture of malt and cherry, and it felt so good to finally taste her lips after all my wondering and imagining. I pulled her up to me, one hand sinking into her bottom and raising her so I could enjoy this fully.

"You taste like every good thing I can imagine, Angelina. Fucking hell!" I confess, right after she breaks away to take a breath. For a moment I fear she is going to slap me, but she claims my lips instead.

I draw her even closer, pressing her body to mine, while I palm the small of her back. Angelina clutches at the back of my shirt, seemingly enjoying this even more than I do, moaning her appreciation into my mouth.

Tracing her lips with my tongue, I nibble on her full bottom lip, then I map out every inch of its softness with my tongue.

"Liem…….. mmmmm yes" she moans.

I don't know where she had heard the diminutive of my name, but I like it and besides, I'm too far gone to care. The sound of my name, coming from her lips, in that tone, heats up my blood, and her next action has me rock hard.

Angelina sinks her hand into my hair, gripping my locks and tugging on it just enough to drive me wild. My wolf growled in my head, and I echoed it aloud. She doesn't relent, or backs down, and almost immediately she parts her lips for me, allowing me entry.

I eagerly take the opportunity to taste even more of her.

Running my tongue around her teeth, I dive in and battle her tongue into submission. She eagerly gives in after a bit of resistance, and the beast in my chest howls in triumph, pleased at this meager victory.

My hand on the small of her back drifts down to firmly grip her ass, and my fingers sink it. Every part is soft and warm.

My exploration drew more pleasant sounds from her as she wrapped her legs around my waist. Her skin is soft everywhere and I want to taste it, nibble on it, and run my tongue over every inch of it.

Pressing my hard length into the junction of her legs, Angelina reacts by grinding into it. She tightens the grip her hands have on both my hair and shirt as she does so.

Without conscious thought I find myself moving to sit on the couch, with Angelina still holding on to me.

Now situated firmly in my lap, my crotch presses closely against hers and the sensation drowns everything else out when she starts moving. My now-free hands run all over her, feeling every bit of her, from her legs to her thighs, to her waist and finally up to her breasts.

Lifting up her t-shirt, I pepper her cleavage with kisses and caress her back with my other hand at the same time.

I had smelt her arousal coming off her, and now I can see it too. Her puckered nipples which had previously strained against the fabric of her shirt were now exposed to my gaze, and what a sight they are. Slightly upturned, they are a dark pink just a couple of shades darker than the surrounding areolas. Swollen and hard enough to cut glass, they practically beg to be kissed.

Tilting my head, I capture one in my mouth, and Angelina sighs in what I would think was contentment if she didn't increase the pace with which she was rubbing herself against my bulge.

Angelina uses her grip on my head to push me into her bust, and her open enthusiasm excites me.

"Suck on them. Please Williem…. I need it" She pleads, by her frantic pace, increased breathing, and heart rate, I can tell she is close to her peak.

"Mmmhm… I will, baby." I am sure I normally would oblige in an instant, but I want to take my time right now. I tease her nipple, first rolling my tongue around it, licking around her flushed and darkened areola, before I apply suction to her hard nub.

Her body responds magnificently. My body begins to do the same, with my canines starting to grow out, eager to mark her as if she were my mate.

Like ice-cold water doused on me, this need to mark her completely shocks me out of my arousal. I should only want to mark my mate, and as much as I might want her, Angelina was human, and lycans didn't have humans as mates, especially not an alpha. It just didn't happen.

Shame courses through me at the thought of the extent to which I was about to betray my true mate, by marking a human, and so I gently pushed Angelina off me, settling her on the couch.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you, or forced you to…." I start to say, but she cuts me off.

"What's wrong?" She asks. Confusion is written on her face, because of how abruptly I ended the kiss.

"You didn't force me to do anything Williem. Hell, I started kissing you more times than you did me." She continues, but it doesn't help, because even as she speaks, my gaze is drawn to her swollen and red lips, and still hard nipples; poking through her shirt, resulting in another rush of arousal in me.

The arousal is followed by more shame at the fact that I can't even muster the will to stop these desires, and I am disgusted with myself.

Angelina catches a glimpse of my face, and she lets out a gasp. I wish I could explain but I couldn't tempt fate by spending more time with her like this and so I quickly leave.

I will not betray my mate.