A Howl In The Night by Lorelei Sutton (life books to read .txt) 📕

"Are you sure?" he questions, peering into my eyes.

"Of course," I nod, though I am anything but. My head hurts, a throbbing pain that nearly swallows me whole. It is diminishing slowly, yet not quite slow enough. I truly have no idea what just happened. My mind seems to be fuzzy, only the pain and the strange screams echoing in my head over and over...

Xavier rushes into the room, his expression of pure alarm. "Mona!" he cries, coming to meet me. He demolishes me into a huge, bone-crushing hug. It is comforting... more than I can ever admit. "I was so worried..." he whispers, his breath dancing along my cheek. I smile, tilting my head downwards so he can't see it.

The rainbow man stands up, watching me with a warm smile that makes my heart go fuzzy. "So she really is your mate," he says, without any doubt, "I'm glad. This will stop our alpha from being such a player."

Xavier blushes slightly, my eyebrows rising. "Xavier was a player?" I rip away from him to ask the man. It is hard to believe, for the way he shows me such devotion is not like a player at all.

"Was," the handsome man winks, "but now that he is mated, all he can think of is you."

“You are a player too!” Xavier protests, his voice ignored by us both.

"So mating makes you instantly fall in love with each other?" I ask dubiously. He nods matter-of-factly. "Then we didn't mate," I say confidently.

"What?" they both stare at me, Xavier frowning as I back away from his grasp.

"I am not in love with Xavier," I firmly state.

The man looks at me, and chuckles. "Yes you are," he says, "I can see it in your eyes. You just won't accept it because you still don't understand it. Your body is probably trying to reject these foreign feelings."

I stare at him for a second, and then I begin to laugh.

"Think whatever you want," he grins, "my name's Jake, by the way. Wes said that he wants to meet you, so he will be coming soon..."

A figure bursts into the doorway, his breathing heavy. "Where is she?" the guy asks, and then his eyes find mine. Grinning eagerly, he crosses to be by my side. "My name is Wes. And your name, my beautiful lady...?"

"Mona," I can't help but grin, instantly relaxed by his playful attitude. Also, his entire appearance is enchanting, invoking awed silence. His hair is a bright blonde, almost pure gold, and he has those green eyes that seem to be the common thing between all these werewolves. His skin is as tan as Yi's, with nice lips and a thin but strong body. His face reminds me of Xavier's, with a likeness to a lovable puppy.

"She's my mate," Xavier carefully informs Wes, and he rolls his eyes.

"Oh really? I haven't figured that out yet." After snapping at Xavier, he turns to me. "Your smell is so wonderful... have you met Yi yet? Because he will love you."

"Why?" I ask. He certainly doesn't seem to love me.

"Because he likes stealing other men's girlfriends... as do I. And especially one who possesses an intoxicating fragrance like you," he smirks, casting a white-toothed, glistening smile that shines brightly. I blush, the red rushing to my cheeks. I snap my hand away, a scowl decorating my features.

"I'm not anyone's girlfriend!"

"Ooh, you're feisty." Wes only smiles brighter, his enthusiasm unstoppable. "I like it."

Xavier grabs my arm. "You're jealous aren't you?" I laugh, letting him start to drag me towards the door. He blushes slightly, a cute expression on his face.

"No, why would I be?" he asks. Wes and Jake cheer behind us, obviously amused that Xavier is experiencing that kind of emotion.

Just before we exit the room though, a huge form fills the doorway. "Hey," he nods at Xavier, and then turns his gaze to me. "I'm Ray," he introduces himself, without a smile.

"I'm Mona," I note his similarity to Xavier, their likeness almost startling. Ray is muscled, even more so than Xavier, and sinewy. He is tall with brown hair, his face an almost perfect copy of Xavier. However, a thin scar stretches from his forehead to his cheek, marring his otherwise beautiful face. If Xavier was the Prince of Light, Ray would certainly be the alluring Prince of Darkness.

"Now I guess you've met all of us, Mona," Wes says loudly, "this is our pack. We used to call it the 'pack of players', but now that Xavier is settled, we can't exactly say that anymore."

"No girls?" I question, only to see four faces shaking their heads no.

"We like to be free of all women," Jake grinned, "love 'em and leave 'em, I always say."

"You people are terrible," I laugh, instantly feeling at home with these handsome men. After a second, I nearly jump in alarm at the realization that I can barely recognize myself. The old Mona would have run away by now. The old Mona would have never fallen for these wily werewolves' tricks. It must be those strange feelings Jake was talking about.

Ray just stares at me, a forbidding expression on his face. "She needs to leave for a minute while we have our meeting," he says, his voice rough and completely unlike Xavier's.

"Come on," Wes protests, "she's not doing any harm! Let her stay-"

"No," his voice is firm, insisting, “she isn’t part of the pack.” His words are forbidding and fierce, striking me cold. I turn, walking out of the door. Xavier sticks his head out after me, issuing a warning.

“Don’t go outside of the grounds,” he says, “it isn’t safe.” Then, Yi comes up and brushes past me into the room. Right before they shut the door, I see their faces, turned serious by something Ray said.

He's not exactly a ray of sunshine.

How could he be a player? Maybe he’s the strong and silent type all the girls like to go for. He certainly is handsome enough… I mean, they all are. Especially Xavier, having an authority hanging over his head like a crown. Everyone in the pack seems to respect him.

Looking up, I wonder how they all live in such a big place. It is so old-fashioned, obviously not built by these handsome teens... oh, of course. They are probably fifty to a hundred years old. However, most of them don’t even look nineteen, though Jake might pass for being in his twenties.

After gazing at the beautiful artifacts for about ten minutes, I decide to head outdoors. Xavier said I couldn’t leave the grounds, but he never said I couldn’t take a walk in the grounds. After searching for a while, I find an exit, going through it to find that I am now located in the mansion’s garden. It is beautiful, alerting my senses with sweetness and beautiful colors. I circle it, but soon dismiss it to be too uninteresting. Just like the mansion; old fashioned and dreary.

The stars wink at me as I survey the area once more. A small path to the side, strewn with pine needles and leaves, catches my attention. Slowly I begin to walk it, not knowing quite where I am going.

The moat is nowhere to be found, leading me to believe that I am not outside of the mansion’s boundaries. However, when I spy the dark, forbidding trees that remind me of the forest Xavier and I traveled through, I am not so sure.

Quickly I dismiss my doubt. Of course I am still in the borders, for I haven’t passed the moat yet. Surely...

Everything is quiet now, the only whispers being the ones of the rushing wind. My hair brushes behind me, blown by its frightful gales. I squint, wondering how a wind this fierce could have just started up out of the blue. It is strong, but I hold my stance against the invisible monster.

However, my troubles only increase as a white apparition appears before me, coming out from behind the trees. The fear, the pain... it begins to pound again as I gaze in surprise upon the curious creature. It has no shape, a white ghost with the same red eyes as the men on the mural I had seen earlier. Suddenly, memories start flooding back to me, ones I can’t stand to remember.

My scream rips into the night as the creature starts flying my way, the familiar eyes delving into my soul. I definitely know those eyes. But where? When? Who?

The haunting eyes that are causing me to have a serious migraine pause, the white blob still. Then, they squint slightly, and the ghost-like form charges towards me. Escape is impossible. I am frozen, still with shock and remembrance.

My parent’s murderers...

The ghostly figure zooms towards me, its deathly intent clearly evident. However, I don't notice its speed at all, my mind suspended in a hazy fog of memories that are coming together, returning at an alarming speed. The screams I had heard earlier starts again, reverberating throughout my thoughts, distracting me from the present. I clearly hear two voices, one high pitched and the other a little lower but still womanly. The one that clearly belonged to an older woman strikes pain in my chest, recognition forcing itself to the surface. That beautiful voice, contorted with pain and surprise...

Mom. My eyes widen as everything comes back; the pain, the sorrow, the hurt.

The tears start to flow as the ghost hastens to meet his destination. I can remember every detail now; the way those creatures had delved into him... when his eyes turned a frightening red...

It finally reaches me, barely more than a whisper of air, charging towards my chest. However, the ghost bounces off, my body suddenly surrounded with an eerie glow. What is this? It is green and bright, like the emerald in my ring, almost like one of those auras I have read about in fantasy books.

I back up against a huge oak tree, fear mounting in my heart. Am I going to live against this deathly thing? How can I fight against something I don't even understand?

I watch the deathly creature, at its cloudy form and its bright red eyes. They are like lasers, ripping into me, seizing my terror and amplifying it. My heart beats faster as the horrifying eyes squint, determination in its depths. Foreboding races through my blood, symbolizing what is to come.

I wrap my arms around my knees, burying my face into my legs as the ghost once again zooms my way. This, I suppose, is my punishment for disobeying Xavier's orders. But how was I supposed to know there is a way out of the boundaries without crossing the moat?!

Peeking once more at the apparition, I almost shriek as I survey its closeness. It seems to be observing the things around me, as if it is looking for something. I shudder as it crosses its murderous gaze across my body, hunched up into a tiny ball. It looks at the tree behind me, a huge one that might even be four foot in diameter, and smirks with its beady eyes. With a screech that cuts