Chapter 4 I Know Him

Alana POV

"What did you do?" From our captivity, the werewolf asked me.

The night fell dark and heavy; there was no light in that deep, dark hole that could guide us; the tree canopy was so dense it barely allowed any crack of moonlight to penetrate the dark and dangerous forest; and there were sounds of nocturnal creatures that had awakened to their vigil. Everything there seemed mystically dangerous.

I looked at my kidnapper, who was half-lying down, his chest rising and falling slowly. "What did you say?" I asked.

"Did you tear your dress?" He questioned, and I adjusted my posture, feeling embarrassed. I had torn apart my dress to make a makeshift pillow for him.

"Oh, it wasn't a big deal..." I said with a small smile, thinking he was already asleep, so I didn't mind doing what I did.

"Totally in vain. What do you do down south to survive?" He asked, taking me by surprise.

"What?"

"You don't know anything about survival, do you? Here in the north, the nights are deadly cold. You tore your dress, and now that your legs are bare, you simply won't survive the cold tonight. I feel sorry for you, everything I did to save you was in vain, you fool," he said in a reprimanding tone.

My eyes widened at that information. Deathly cold nights? I had never studied it, but I also never thought I'd end up trapped in a dark forest. I looked at myself; my dress was long, heavy, and expensive since my aunt wanted me to be dressed up to impress the wizard Lightsun, but all that fabric on the dress had only served as more of an obstacle when I was running away from my kidnapper, so I didn't hesitate to get rid of that fabric, and now I was dressed in a short rag that barely reached my knees, and it was true that I was already starting to feel a little cold.

I swallowed hard. If what this man is saying is true, then I would not escape certain death. I raised my chin towards him and said accusingly, "Then we will die of cold together!" He was only wearing black pants.

He chuckled skeptically and replied, "I'm going to turn into a wolf, and my fur will protect me from the cold." He seemed convinced, and I thought it was unfair.

"Good for you then," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Yeah. And you? I heard that witches are so powerful that they can transform into whatever they want, so what animal are you going to transform into? I suppose a polar bear, but wolves have more cold-resistant skin," he suggested. "No, don't turn into a wolf, it will be so cold. I'll keep trying to mate." He rested his head on the makeshift pillow.

I was grateful that the night was so dark that he couldn't see my red face from his last words. Me and him mating? How could he have thought of such a thing? That was never going to happen; he could very well have been a married man and was thinking about mating with someone else. Well, he had said if I turned into a wolf, he would be tempted...

Suddenly, the urge to transform into a wolf came over me, and then I felt ashamed of my intrusive thoughts. I couldn't deny that I was feeling attracted to my captor. By the Great Wizard, this man was intriguing and had an attractive appearance. It was obvious that he was popular among the women of his people, but imagining myself with him was almost inconceivable since we were of different species, and neither he nor I should love each other.

And even if I wanted to transform into a wolf, that would be impossible since I don't have any magic. I would certainly die today because I had no way to protect myself from the cold that was already beginning to ravage my skin. I huddled in a corner of the hole where we were and rubbed my hands together to ward off the cold.

"The cold hasn't even really started yet, you haven't seen anything yet," he said as if he were amused by my situation. He threw the fabric of my dress at me, the fabric with which I had made an improvised cushion for him, and said, "Try to improvise a blanket."

I nodded, tried to fix the fabric, and covered myself with it. But just like my kidnapper said, the more night fell, the colder it became.

The cold was starting to make me groan, and my teeth were shaking. I just wanted that night to end. The man had transformed into a wolf and seemed protected from the cold, while my improvised blanket was like the finest silk there was. "Damn Aunt Mag," I thought to myself, "why the hell did you have to take me out of Belmont?"

While I was almost fainting from the cold, I kind of felt something heavy and warm covering me like a living blanket. The fever, hunger, tiredness, and sleepiness were so great that they made me think that maybe I was delirious and that maybe, in fact, I had already entered the kingdom of the dead, where the Great Wizard would cover me with his arms and protect me from the cold.

When I woke up, the day was already clear, and there was no longer any cold. I couldn't believe I was alive. When I tried to move, I noticed a heavy body above me; it was my kidnapper, who was sleeping heavily on top of me in his human form. Then I realized that the heat I felt that torturous night had come from him; he had laid on top of me and had saved me yet another time. A feeling of emotion came over me, and I almost cried. Why did this wolf save my life twice on top of that?

He was heavy and snoring softly, but I didn't want to wake him; I didn't want him to get off me. I turned my face to his so slowly and looked at him. When he was sleeping, he didn't seem arrogant at all. In other circumstances, I would easily fall in love with him.

Suddenly, an idea popped into my head; my cheeks even blushed, but he was sleeping and would never know. I slowly lifted my head and pressed my lips to his in a kiss that was my first kiss, and it had been in the most forbidden way possible, but no one was watching, no one would see, but he woke up.

I almost panicked.

His black eyes were looking at me with such depth that I wanted to speak to explain myself, apologize, or maybe close my eyes and pretend I was asleep, but he brought his lips to mine and kissed me, making me gasp in surprise. But this time, the kiss wasn't as pure and innocent as when I kissed him; my kidnapper overwhelmingly took my mouth, like when an addict meets his addiction; he held my face with his hands and kissed me with so much desire that made my whole body shiver; his tongue was silky in mine; he was the one guiding; our bodies were intertwined; and he managed to pull me closer to him. My shock was realizing that I was responding to him so well.

This was so unrealistic, so inconceivable. So forbidden.

Our heavy breaths mixed, and I was very aware of every part of his body pressing against mine, his hardness made me desire that strange werewolf like I had never desired anyone before. He had broken the kiss and was looking at me so heavily, his eyes locked on mine.

"W-What's your name?" I was embarrassed; I had kissed a man without even knowing his name first. He smiled, and for the first time, his smile wasn't sarcastic. He had such a beautiful and charming smile.

"My name is Sedrik," he said, and my eyes widened.

"S-Sedrik?"

I had heard a lot about Sedrik the Barbarian. The imposing and fearless werewolf who dominated all those lands of the Moon People. He was the merciless alpha Sedrik Moonwalker, the greatest enemy of sorcerers, and I had just lost my first kiss with him.