I stiffened as each step the beast took led to a new morph.

At first, its fur began to dissipate and flatten against its skin, then, its whole form began to shrink. But surprisingly, it shrank only a fraction, meaning that this particular werewolf was huge both in its wolf form and its human form.

Subsequently, its forelimbs rose and morphed into large arms, its hind limbs into long thick legs, and its once furry chest into a less hairy yet chiselled and muscular physique. Its shoulders broadened and the muscles thickened and bulged as the transformation proceeded.

Then finally, the wolf's snout pushed in and gave way to a face. A face which housed a bright pair of intense, grey eyes that seemed to shine even brighter than the light in the sky. Eyes that I was glad were as captivating as the full moon, otherwise, I would've been forced to come to terms with the fact that he was standing devoid of any sort of clothing.

My whole body turned rigid as the noticeably naked male giant took a step towards my lying form. Each movement causing my heart to pound faster.

This is it. I'm going to die, I thought with an unexpected ache in my chest. An ache due to the chance that I might never see my mother again.

Yet, instead of finishing me on the spot like I'd expected it would, the beast stopped just millimetres away from my figure and crouched low, searing his gaze through my dull, brown eyes.

He didn't speak, he just stared. As if the answers to whatever questions were swirling in his mind were written plain on my face.

The erratic pounding of my heart didn't slow, and I feared that if he didn't do or say anything soon to break the eerie night's silence I'd combust from the suspense. But before I could die from the severe anticipation, the male giant seized my left arm and effortlessly lifted me to my feet.

I gasped at the sudden act and grabbed a stone off the ground before he could get me to stand. I hid the stone - although inwardly I knew that it was a useless weapon - in my right hand behind my back and raised my head in order to meet his piercing gaze once more. Though I had to strain my neck to do so since the top of my head reached his chest halfway.

His heavy grip on my hand tightened as he studied me intently for reasons that I couldn't see buried beneath his stare. I told myself that it was only rational that I'd feel a strange stirring within my belly while each second passed without him spilling out a word or even any sort of action.

Unconsciously, I fisted my hold on the stone, preparing for any sort of surprises.

"Tell me your name."

I flinched. The sudden command given through the rough baritone of his voice had me blinking and gaping more times than necessary.

"W-What?"

"Your name," he repeated, seeming impatient, "Tell me."

My name instantly wedged its way to the tip of my tongue but I held it back. Even though his stature was incredibly intimidating, I wasn't going to allow him to coerce those words out of me. "I don't-"

"Do not lie to me." He took a step way closer than he ought to, bent his head to level us eye-to-eye and growled out once more. His tone taking a rougher, deeper edge that I was almost positively familiar with. "Tell me your name."

His eyes flashed with a hint of red surrounding the deep silver colour in the middle and I didn't have to be told in plain English that his wolf was fighting for control. I gulped and struggled to come up with a convincing answer, knowing that if he found out I was lying that'd be the end of me.

"I-I..." Damn it! Not to mention that his eyes too were weirdly captivating.

Unnaturally, because I was a hybrid, I didn't normally submit to other potential Alpha werewolves as any other werewolf would, but this stranger's controlling manner plus his suddenly intensifying deep silver irises made it difficult for me to spill out the lie I'd intended to utter. I was already bad at lying, yet the harsh authority evident in his voice made me even a worse liar than before. Not forgetting those eyes.

He watched me for a moment before his eyes, which had weirdly returned to their natural grey colour within that millisecond, narrowed accusingly. "It is you, is it not?"

I froze. The wolf's commanding tone had also dimmed, but the sudden outburst made me stare at him in confusion mixed with disbelief. What the...?

"Alba." He said the name like it was poison, "I know it is you. Do not bother lying."

What the hell is he talking about? Despite the awareness creeping up my spine, my wolf, who had quieted after my parents had left, gave a soft whine and attempted to paw at the bars of her cage. But I didn't have the time nor brain capacity to wonder why.

"Do not act so clueless. I know it is you. Though, you should have changed your appearance a little more." He snarled, hatred laced his tone. "It would have made the chase more competitive and exciting. You were too easy to find this time."

Oh no, I thought as dread flooded my system. He's completely mad!

I cleared my throat hesitantly and opened my mouth to speak, but the words at the tip of my tongue died on my lips when I found myself immediately shoved against a tree and felt a big, calloused hand clasp around my throat.

I gasped in pain as a strong sense of déjà vu hit me in the face as his words did at that moment.

"What are you planning this time, Alba? Tell me."

Nothing! I wanted to scream at him. Maybe that would put some sense into him and show that I was not this 'Alba' person he kept on referring me as. I doubted that I even looked like her and wouldn't be surprised if this stranger was indeed out of his mind.

But it was kind of hard to let out those words with my windpipe blocked. Yet again. Plus, the anger emanating from his stance didn't add up to my confidence in any way either.

"Playing the silent treatment, are we?" he growled out through clenched teeth, his eyes flashing again before he suddenly released his firm grip from my throat.

At his absent grip, I would've been relieved and would've taken in a deep breath if I hadn't caught sight of claws the size of long needles and as thick as his monstrous fingers protrude from that same hand that had earlier imprisoned me in its grasp.

Immediately, the deep breath that I was in the middle of taking suddenly ceased in my throat, blocked by a thick clog of fear that had appeared out of nowhere and was now preventing me from breathing normally. But I hardly even noticed. I was too busy staring frightfully at that large hand threatening to strike me if I didn't give him the information he wanted.

Which, of course, I knew nothing about.

The deranged werewolf's claw twitched a bit, and before I could decide whether it was an involuntary action or a deliberate movement in preparing to mar my face, I swung my right hand - the one that held that harmless stone - as hard and as fast as I could.

As I'd hoped for, the stone impacted on the stranger's cheek and a sickening crunch could be heard as it dislocated some internal structures.

But then as I'd dreaded, the defensive action didn't even faze him. Instead, it made him even angrier than he already was.

His expression grew dark. The red colour dancing around the edges of the grey colour of his eyes now covered every inch of the iris as it blazed, and his fangs elongated as a terrifying rumbling sound echoed from within his chest.

I blanched as a foreboding sense of terror struck me so fiercely in the chest that I could hardly move a muscle, even when the deranged stranger's wolf took the reins once more.

"You are going to regret doing that."

☆~☆~☆