Eve’s POVI was sentenced out of the pack that same morning, pushed out of my home like I was a stranger. I found myself roaming in the wild with tears streaking down my face. I hid from rogues when the heat period came, afraid that I would be molested and killed.

An unclaimed wolf attracted a lot of danger. My scent was savoury to the noses of others, and they were unable to resist. It was the reason I changed direction and headed instead to the human territory.

Here, I knew that I was safe. At least, save from wolves.

But not my boss, the owner of the café I worked at.

I heard his voice from where I worked, bent over the croissants. My job was at the bar, yet sometimes, I was made to come in here even though my pay hadn't been increased.

“Stay here, honey,” I went on my knees, whispering to the boy who had become my whole life in the last four years. The boy who had the same eyes as the man I saw last before I was pushed into the wild.

“Mummy will be right back.”

He nodded, watching me as I raced out of the kitchen. A blinding slap hit my face in the next second, the force pushing me to the floor.

“Where the hell have you been?” My boss, Mr. Rochester, yelled, his voice travelling through the walls of the café.

“You asked me to…”

"Yeah," he rolled his eyes. "There you go again, blaming the authorities like every other lazy person out there. Don't forget that I took you in when you had nothing but a huge belly and empty pockets. Now, you are too lazy to man the bar like your job demands of you."

“No, Sir,” I whimpered, shaking my head and trying so hard to push back the tears threatening to pour down my face. “The croissants…”

"Oh shut up about the croissants," he snapped. "There is an important customer who has been around for the past hour. You'd better pray to whatever God you serve that he doesn't stop eating here. I promise you, Eve, it will be the last day you have a job."

He stalked away, leaving me on the floor. Suddenly, I saw a pair of feet in front of me. I lifted my eyes, but the sun got in the way, making me close my eyes sharply.

Something stirred inside of me. I felt my wolf whine, threatening to force her way out of me.

"Not now," I whispered, reigning her in. She never tried to do this before. Since I got to the human territory, she'd always been so compliant that sometimes it felt like she was not even there.

But now, she fought relentlessly, trying to claw her way out. There was a sudden awareness, as if my brain was trying to make me remember something my mind had forgotten. I looked up at the stranger again, trying to search for the reason for this.

I’d heard of similar stories, about a stranger awakening something in a wolf. But he seemed human. That was unnatural.

“Here.” He stretched his hand out, his husky tones settling in the pit of my stomach. “Let me help you up.”

"I'm fine," I mumbled, pulling myself up and dusting off the unseen dirt from my already dirty uniform. My wolf was still fighting me, and I feared I would lose control. Heading towards the bar, I walked to the back and grabbed a cup. "Coffee?"

He didn't answer, walking over to me slowly and leaning on the counter. He angled his head, resting his chin on his palm as he watched me.

I stopped. "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting," I muttered, keeping my eyes on the ground, just like how my boss mandated I treat all customers. "I shouldn't have done that. It was stupid of me."

He said nothing, still watching. I moved mechanically, brewing his coffee. The seconds trickled past, and my eyes looked towards the kitchen. My son wasn't out yet, but I knew how uneasy he got each time I wasn't around.

“Plain?”

“You don’t like taking help, do you?”

I moved either way, pouring milk and sugar into the cup before pushing it over to him. His hands remained glued to his side, and for the first time that day, I looked up into his eyes.

Definitely human. It couldn’t have been him.

“Finally.” A grin stretched on his face. God! He was such a beautiful man.

“I’m Malik. You?”

I swallowed and moved to the side, keeping him out of my sight. "I am not allowed to give you my personal information."

“You aren’t?” He takes the cup. “There’s something about you. Something I can’t place my hands on.”

Humans always said that. It was because they could sense the supernatural, but they couldn't put a name to it. It felt alluring to them, and it was the one reason I tried to keep myself and my son away. Mr. Rochester was the only human with whom we had a cordial relationship.

And he never wasted time in inflicting pain on me.

I caught him in my line of vision, watching. And at once, I plastered a polite smile on my face. "Will that be all, or do you need me to send you something else?"

“You don’t have to smile when you really don’t want to,” he murmured, bringing the cup to his lips. He grimaced, pushing it away from him.

"What?" I raised my eyes, and I panicked. "You don't like it sweetened?"

He was about to say something when his phone rang. Giving me an apologetic glance, he pressed it against his ears and listened for a few minutes. My son walked in, his stature easily hidden by the counter.

I bent at once, holding his arms and whispering. “Honey, I asked you to stay put. Why did you come out?”

“Daddy,” he mouthed, his eyes sharp and clear.

I narrowed my eyes, fear inching towards me slowly.

“What did you say?”

“Daddy has just been made an Alpha.”