His Little Human Mate

Chapter 3

Noella

I have no idea what the word means or if it's even a word, but the second it leaves my mouth, the man in front of me starts to growl. That's right. He growls. Like. A. Dog.

The panic that had eased rushes back in with a vengeance as I slowly stand, trying desperately to keep steady despite the trembling of my legs.

"You have no right to speak that word, rogue," he practically snarls.

Rogue? Why do I feel like I just walked into an entirely different dimension?

I pull every ounce of confidence I definitely don't have and square my shoulders.

"I am not a rogue, and I would like to speak with the Alpha."

That sounded normal, right?

The man pauses before sniffing the air with a frown on his face. Is he...... smelling me? What in the actual-

"Kyler!" A voice from my left shouts.

Big, bulky, broody, and way too muscular. That's what walks out from the trees. He's at least twice my height, and I don't even think he'd have to do much but pinch me and I'd pop.

I'm going to die here. I'm going to die alone in the forest and nobody will know.

"Stop fraternizing with the rogue and haul her ass to the pack house," Mr. Muscular says.

"She's demanding to speak with the Alpha, and I'm not locking her up without a cause," the man I now know as Kyler, says.

"The cause is that she's a rogue!"

Something incredibly strange happens then. Kyler's eyes turn frosty, like fogged glass in the winter, and then Mr. Muscular's do the same. It goes on for not even a minute before they both turn back to me.

I swallow audibly as they stare.

"Go talk to him, but be fast, and tell me his answer as soon as you get it," Mr. Muscular says.

I blink, and Suddenly, Kyler's gone.

"How did he..?"

Pressure on my throat hits me right before a tree trunk meets my back. I gasp as my hands reach up to grip his, but his hold is ironclad.

"Listen, I don't know who you think you are, but showing up here with a masked scent is a great way to get yourself killed. You just invited yourself into a world of misery."

I shake my head aggressively as my eyes well from the pressure.

"I don't-" I try to take a deep breath and fail miserably. "I'm not... who.. you think... I am."

He sneers at me, and everything within me recoils.

"That's what they all say."

He releases me, and I drop into the snow, gasping for air that can't come fast enough.

"Don't move a single inch, because unlike Kyler, I will kill you on the spot."

A shudder moves up my spine as I wrap my arms around my trembling figure. I hadn't even realized how cold it was until now, and I can't seem to stop the shaking that overcomes my body.

"Maybe if you gave up the charade and shifted, you would warm up."

What?

"I don't understand," I whimper.

The weird eye fog thing happens again to him, and then he grabs my shoulder and yanks me up.

"Looks like you get to see the Alpha, but I can guarantee it won't be on your terms."

I don't know whether to be happy or terrified, so both settle in my gut as he pulls me through the forest. I know I'm being dragged into something I can't walk out of, but there's nothing I can do except follow the man in front of me.

*•*•*•*•*•*

Adrenaline starts to wear off around 20 steps in, and I had forgotten about the twist my hand took in my fall, but the pain that's pulsing through it isn't afraid to remind me. The chills from earlier have only gotten worse, but I feel like I'm burning up, which makes no sense.

"You walk like a handicapped sloth," Mr. Muscler grumbles.

There's no way I'm about to give him a reason to toss me by whining about my hand, so I say nothing.

"Have you finally realized you're not in charge?"

My body gives a violent shiver, and I wrap my arms tighter around myself as I keep my eyes glued to the ground to keep the dizziness at bay.

He chuckles at my silence, and I hold back a whimper.

"He's gonna have some fun with you, isn't he?"

I swallow the bile that rises. I will not show this arrogant bully how utterly terrified I am. I will not succumb to helplessness. There's a way out of this. There has to be.

We walk for a while longer before shadows ahead soon turn into buildings, and I'm in awe of the hugeness of this space. There's so many houses, gates, gardens, fields. It's massive.

People had always said that the forbidden forest was full of monsters, and trees that howled with warnings, and it could just be my mind hallucinating from pain and exhaustion, but this town is... beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. It's a whole life that lives just beyond our reach. Well, I suppose I've reached it now, but-

"Move."

My wonder crumbles beneath rough hands and harsh words. No matter how beautiful this place is, it will most likely be the last thing I see. Monsters covered in roses, I guess.

We approach the largest building, and my eyes track six floors before I'm roughly pulled inside.

My head swims, and nausea threatens to push my stomach upward, but I breath deep and slow, trying to focus on my surroundings. Marble flooring makes my boots click lightly, and my breath is no longer fogging my vision. The walls are white. There's a twirly staircase to the right. I can see-

Nope, it's not working.

"I'm gonna be sick," I whisper, and the man barely has time to move away before I'm heaving my guts onto the marble.

"Jeez," he mutters. "You rogues are disgusting sometimes."

The comment makes me pause, but then another bout of sickness has me forgetting that he even spoke.

"Oh my goodness!" A woman's voice sounds from my right. "You poor soul! What happened?"

A warm hand touches my shoulder before it's ripped away.

"Not now, Cara. Miss sickness here has a straight route to the dungeon after she's done hurling."

"You can be truly heartless sometimes, you know that?"

"My job description doesn't require niceties, so I'm failing to see the problem."

A scoff sounds right before I'm yanked to my feet once again, and the room spins as we start walking again.

The rest of the trip is a blur of dizzying pain and more nausea, so finally being able to sit down, even if it is in a cell, is bliss.

"Welcome to your new suite. I'm going to get the Alpha, but he tends to be busy, so I'd make yourself comfortable," Muscles says.

His footsteps are the last thing I hear, and then silence is in the room finally. Maybe? I can't tell, actually, because my ears start to ring. My head gets way too heavy all of sudden, and it hits concrete as it drops.

The cold floor cools my cheeks, and it feels so good to get a break from the heat.

Maybe I'm dreaming, and when I wake up my father will be right there, relieved that I came back for him.

When I wake up everything will be normal again. At least, that's what I tell myself as my eyes shut, blocking out everything until unconsciousness takes me under its wave of blissful ignorance, and I sleep.

A/N
Thank you for reading!
I would love to know what you think so far!