ELIJAH'S POV:-

　　After I was done telling everything to Lauren and Gregory, I heaved a sigh of relief. After telling them everything, u felt a little light. It felt like a heavy burden was lifted off of my chest. When I looked back at their faces, a confused frown appeared on my face. "I know I crossed a line and I told you I have no idea why I did that. You can't say anything to anyone else. I came here because I knew you both would keep my secret safe. You can't even tell Uncle Grey what I just shared with you." I pleaded again as I saw their shocked faces. They were staring at me with this unusual emotion in their eyes. Something that I had never seen before in their eyes.

　　As soon as they heard me pleading again, they turned their heads to look at each other. Then they turned their heads back towards me. "No, Alpha! You got it wrong. We are not staring at you because of what you think is the reason. You trusted us with your secret. It is our duty to bury this secret of yours forever in our chests. You came here because you knew you could trust us with your deepest and darkest secrets." Lauren replied to me in a low tone. That unknown emotion was still in their eyes. But their words made me sigh in relief. I knew that they wouldn't say a word to anyone in the pack.

　　That was the very reason why I came to meet them in the first place. But I was not sure why they were still staring at me like this. They were shocked. Maybe because they never thought they could hear something like this from me. I had built a strong reputation. "Then what's with these looks on your faces? It looks like you are disgusted by the story I just told you." I bluntly asked them instead of wandering around the point. Lauren sighed as she heard my question. She walked towards the fridge and grabbed a cold can of beer for me. Of course she knew I was not much of a water person. I liked to have beer more than I consumed water.

　　She gave me the can of beer from her hands. I opened the can and took a big sip. "You took it wrong. It's not what we are staring at you. Everything aside, the feelings, emotions and sparks you were talking about, that's what left us speechless. It's actually near to impossible for any of the wolves to feel that way. In fact, it's impossible for any of the night creatures to feel that way." Gregory replied to my questions in a calmed tone. But even his calm tone panicked me. I was not sure what he was talking about. I was starting to think if my gut feeling was absolutely right about her. But I had to confirm it before I could say anything to Artemis.

　　For some reason, I had this feeling that hurting Artemis in any way would be as impossible as controlling the end of the world for me. And I just didn't want to go through that hard time. Even the thought of it made me shiver. "What does that supposed to mean? Are you saying I am under a spell or something? It occurred to me more than once that she might be a witch or something. But… I don't know… I don't know what I feel. I don't know what I should do. What the fuck I have gotten myself into?" I asked in a panicked tone. I took another big sip from my beer can. Thinking it would help me cope with the panic rising inside my chest.

　　I felt like I was caught up in a spider's web. And Artemis was the spider. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't free myself. I even felt bad for thinking of her as a cruel predictor as a spider. Hearing my response, Gregory and Lauren shared a confused look then they turned back to me. "That's not what we are saying. Sorry for all the confusion. We are as confused about this as you are. We are talking about the ancient mate bond. Everything you just said, as written in the ancient books, that's how mate bond used to work, Alpha." Gregory replied to my questions as calmly as he could. He knew I was panicking about everything that was happening in my life.

　　It was the very first time they were witnessing me panicking like that. It was also shocking for them. Hearing his explanation, I spat out the beer that was in my mouth as I almost choked on it. Lauren was beside me within a few seconds, rubbing my back as I coughed hard. "Mate bond! Are you fucking serious? Mate bond no longer exists in the creatures. It's impossible. How can I feel something that doesn't exist anymore?" I asked Gregory in a low tone. I didn't want to yell at them as whatever was happening, it was not their fault at all. I was not sure whose fault it was. Or maybe it was me who made the biggest mistake of my life.

　　Artemis was just a simple human girl. She was minding her own business that night. All I had to do was to save her from the wild wolf Alpha. Instead, I took my time, took my chances, she almost lost her life because of my foolishness. Then I bit her selfishly and turned her into a werewolf. And here I was, blaming her for everything. "We are going to need some time to be able to find the answers to your questions. Until then, you have to treat her as if you are treating a princess. Because believe me, if she is actually your mate and you misbehaved with her, if you ever hurt her, you know how that curse actually works." Lauren replied in a low tone. Her words made me shiver and gulp hard. I nodded my head slowly because I was afraid of the consequences.

　　ARTEMIS' POV:-

　　Someone grabbed my feet and pulled me off of the bed. I fell on the floor with a loud thud. I even heard a loud crack in my left elbow. Tears welled up in my eyes because of the pain I felt in my elbow and in my back. Someone grabbed my hair and pulled it so harshly that I felt like my hair would be ripped off of my scalp. "You fucking dared to sleep on our alpha's bed. You fucking whore. You think you can do whatever you want just because Alpha screwed you for one night." It was that same woman who dragged me to this place. She was yelling at me with a hatred filled tone.

　　I tried to open my mouth to clear it up to her. That I didn't sleep on his bed on my own. I was told to sleep on his bed. But she stuffed a piece of clothing inside my mouth. The bitter taste and salty scent made me gage. It was someone's used panty that she forced into my mouth. She tied my hands as the man kept me pinned with the ground. "Tracy! Help me. Shift now. Or they will kill us." I asked Tracy for help. But for some reason, she has not responded to me ever since we shifted back.

　　They tied my hands and legs. Then they dragged me all over the apartment, pulling me with my hair. With all the strength I could gather at once, I finally pushed that dirty underwear out of my mouth. "Stop! I didn't do anything." I yelled as loudly as I could. But instead of listening to me, they threw me on the floor. The woman grabbed the same panties and stuffed it in my mouth again. And the man taped my mouth so I wouldn't push that underwear out of my mouth. They stood up and started kicking me harshly. I was not even sure where their kicks landed. My body ached due the constant beating I had been taking.

　　"What the fuck is going on here? What are you both doing? Who is this girl? Why is she here?" I heard another man asking. The man and the woman who were beating me, stepped away from me. Although I knew it was not Elijah, I still hoped it would be him. Because for some reason, I knew he would come to save me.

　　"She is a slave we bought for Alpha. Alpha is not home. I found her sleeping in his bed. She dared to be in Alpha's bedroom when he was not around." The woman replied to the older man. I turned to look at him with tears in my eyes. I shook my head and tried to humm so he would listen to my side of the story.

　　He looked like a man who would never hurt me. "If she is actually a slave, why would Elijah leave her here alone. She should have been chained in the basement. What was he thinking leaving his fuck thing here all alone? What if someone would have used her while he was not around? I can't even sense Elijah's scent on her." Another woman who looked almost the same age as I was, yelled as she walked towards me. She grabbed my hair and dragged me towards the elevator. She threw me in the elevator and punched the button for the basement. I was not sure why she was taking me to the basement but the chills I felt deep inside my stomach told me that wherever she was taking me, was not a good place.