In the Alpha's Possession

Chapter Four- A Shadow In the Night

“Danger looms in the darkness, it waits for the right moment to stalk and maime its prey...but not all creatures in the darkness are animals, and not all are humans-some of us are a mix of both.”

This night would mark the first moon in which Lavender would spend beneath Drew’s roof. Although the space around her was enriched with medieval history and that which would have intrigued her, if not for the man she owed her life to that scared the living daylights out of her. But as she was shown to her room by the butler, finding it to be the one she woke up in-she was finally able to take a chance to take in her surroundings in full. The room that would be labeled hers had consisted of a luxuriously comfortable queen sized bed covered with a thick curtain canopy that hugged wooden beams and supports. The walls had been decorated with torches set present with harmless flames for effect, along with bookshelves lining the room from the floor to the ceiling. The only breaks in this line had been that of the window, which held a desk beneath its sill, and that of sharp pencils concealed within a pure metal cup-complete with a dark oak chair set in a still position with a rabbit’s fur having been draped over the center of the chair itself. The final break in the wall consisted of an armoire filled with clothes of her perfect size. She fingered the hangers that held the variation of styles upon each section, finding many of them to be far too s****l to anything she would have worn prior to this-but a newfound confidence befell her upon seeing the way she looked in the clothes he had chosen for her on this new day. She had never felt more herself than wearing the clothes intended for another woman-of course, something, she was unaware of at this time. Nevertheless, she kept the clothes upon their hangers for the time being, returning to the observation of her room. 

She focused upon the books in the room, finding many favored titles, upon some written in foreign languages. These had been the ones that intrigued her the most as she focused on the words she didn’t know and the way they were written beautifully on the page before her-so antique that a printer had not made them visible, but the hand of the author himself. 

“Does anything of particular interest you?” His voice startled her as she had run her fingers quickly upon a portion of the page, producing a paper cut onto the page. She winced at the feeling before a small drop of blood formed at the very tip of her finger. 

“Here…” He spoke before taking a tissue from the corner of her desk and preparing to wrap her finger before surprising her by taking his lips and taking in her blood, wiping it clean from the surface of her skin. Silence fell between them before he then wrapped the tissue around it, resulting in there having been an awkward encounter between them as neither had been sure if the moment had been creepy or romantic. Sensing this, Drew decided to change the subject. 

“Sérénade Au Clair De Lune?” He spoke in a fluent French accent as her brows rose in surprise to him. “Moonlight Serenade...I take it you do not speak French?”

She shook her head, “no” before he pulled the book from her hands, flicking through the pages before explaining its contents to her. “Some say it is the true tail of the first lycan...others are saying it’s a pure work of fiction…”

“What is it really?”

“What every other book is…” She remained silent to allow him the chance to explain, only leaving her more confused that when their conversation had begun. “Art.” He finally ceased his nack for having dramatic flair, making her smirk and roll her eyes internally at him-unable to do so outright in fear of being called out on it. “Some art can be fiction...some can be based on reality…”

“You speak in riddles quite often…” She spoke aloud as he smirked to see her having spoken up past her subconscious desire for her to remain quiet. 

“People find it hard to believe books like this to be true...but what is to day the legend isn’t? After all...we are abominations against man-things that shouldn’t be able to live...and yet...we are right under their noses.” As he spoke these words, he moved closer to her, until the tips of his toes had managed to rest against hers. “The origin of our kind is a mystery the same as immortality is to humans...is it crazy to believe a woman fell in love with the moon that she made a deal that led us to be what we are today?”

“That is what the story is about?”

He nodded. “The stories differ and small details change, but this is the original copy from Francquois Dellpare. It speaks of a woman who loved the beauty of the moon so much, that she begged for it to show grace upon her. After being ignored for decades, the sun gives her radiance, but she recants it, desiring the darkness of the moon instead. The moon, having watched from afar, knew of the sun’s plan to burn her to cinders upon the next morning, and so it allowed her to remain under the cover of darkness using the control of its lunar capabilities. During the day, the woman could hide as an animal-unbeknownst to the sun-while the moon watched over her in thanks for admiring its beauty. But the moon and the sun had an arrangement of their own to keep the light present for half of the day and the darkness for half, to allow all creatures and people to do what is necessary for the land. It was because of this that it was seen more as a curse than a power-which is why many of them call it a curse to this day.” He spoke of the legend as if instructed to do so by the author himself. She was bewitched by his words, brought in by the way he spoke it with such involvement and passion-as if he had been the moon, and she the girl in the story. But the sound of the dinner bell had forced this moment to be broken-keeping them at arms length from each other. 

“I suppose we shouldn’t keep the chef waiting.” He spoke with such elegance before leaving the book within her fingers and allowing her isolation in what had become her room in the previous hours. Cooling off from the intense moment she had just shared with the alpha, she made her way down the steps before finding night to have taken occupancy of the sky. With the stone walls keeping the majority of the world outside, she had neglected to notice the change in temper before noticing it now. 

“It appears it will just be you and I...Perhaps it will give us a chance to grow familiar with each other-” He spoke before his attention focused to the large window that sat just beside the large dining table. The window had been concealed behind a thick curtain of a golden color and long design, allowing only a small fraction of the outside world to be seen through a slit. But it had been enough for Drew to notice the sight of a single crimson eye looking to him, preparing to pounce. 

Within seconds of her gaze falling to the same revelation noted by Drew, the glass had been shattered and the roaring sound of a howl could be heard throughout the entire castle. Out of instinct, Drew transitioned immediately, making the fellow predator well aware of his ability to take him out without much of an attempt. But as the secondary wolf had made its way into the castle, Drew seemed apprehensive against going after the creature. Instead, he moved close than away, as if standing in the boxing ring in preparation of a fight-only this time, they were held down to gravity by their paws. 

The rival wolf focused upon Lavender, opening its mouth and lowering its head, to show it was prepared to pounce and make her his next meal. With this having been seen by Drew, he moved into action immediately to defend her, lowering his own head to prepare to defend Lavender at all costs-for reasons she had yet to know. 

The rival wolf whose fur had been that of a dark gray had attacked Drew, taking hold of his neck immediately, as a deep bark left Drew’s mouth. The sight of the blood upon Drew’s wound was enough to make Lavender anxious, as she looked around the room for something she could do to help. With dinner having been served, she removed a large knife from the table and moved into the direction of the wolf before being barked at by Drew. This one second moment had forced Drew to lose this battle and become pinned to the ground. The wolf took its claw and scratched it upon Drew’s back in an attempt to keep him in place. A wince set out upon the entire castle, before Lavender managed to injure the rival wolf with the blade of the knife against its face. Within seconds, the creature had ran from the dining area, leaving Drew to whimper upon the ground, before being sought after by Astrid. She managed to come upon the scene at its end, with just enough time to understand what it was that had happened in an attempt to have dinner. She brought a nearby tapestry from the wall to cover Drew as he fell nude beneath its fabric, grunting at the new wound set upon his shoulder. 

“This is all because of you.” Astrid spoke against Lavender who looked to her in confusion. 

“That’s enough, Astrid, just help me up the stairs.”

“If you would have left her as I told you-”

“Enough!” His voice silenced even the mice hidden within the walls as Lavender watched him disappear up a flight of stairs and into an unknown corridor at its top. While he was away, she focused upon the scene at hand, helping the butler who was left to clean up the mess. 

“You should have your hand wrapped by the cook...I will clean this up…” It was by the butler’s words that she noticed the knife had slipped in her hand, causing a small wound of her own to form on her skin. As of right now, she didn’t care about this-she wanted to know what Astrid meant by her words-and more importantly, why Drew was almost ended when he possessed enough strength to kill the intruder with one bite.