THE MAN LOOKED over her, from her head to her feet. His staring was by no means perverse but just concerned.

"Are you hurt, Luna?" he asked with concern dripping from his words.

Ophelia almost chuckled at the situation. He had a bloody gash on his head but was asking her if she was hurt. But despite her thoughts, she decided to respond, just to pacify him.

"I'm fine, don't worry."

The man breathed a sigh of relief. "That's great. The Alpha would have my head if anything had happened to you."

"You belong to Darius' pack?" she asked curiously.

"Yes, Luna. Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Noriel Adler, the Duke Beta of the Royal Wolf Pack."

Ophelia nodded with a small smile. "Darius has mentioned you a few times. How do I address you?"

He returned the smile warmly. "You can call me Noriel, Luna. Alpha Darius is my best friend and brother by choice so that would make you my sister."

Ophelia decided then and there that she liked him. He was one of the rare kinds of people that could radiate warmth and happiness even in the darkest situations.

"How does your head feel, Noriel?"

His reaction to her question was surprise mixed with joy. Ophelia wondered if there was any hidden surprise in what she said and she was not aware of it. she decided to ask and satisfy her curiosity.

"Did I say something wrong?"

Noriel quickly responded. "No, Luna! My wolf and I are just lucky to have received this much care from Luna."

Ophelia was surprised. "Are Lunas not supposed to care?"

"A Luna is the mother of the Pack but the Luna Queen is the mother of the entire kingdom."

He then paused. "I would have loved to explain more but we have to get out of here first. Luna, can you tell me how you got here?"

"A few minutes after I spoke to Darius on the phone, I began eating the breakfast Keano brought for me.

"I don't think I finished the plate before probably passing out, and waking up here," she explained, her eyebrows narrowed as she tried to recall if she missed any important details.

"For them to have poisoned your food, it seems the culprit is a lot closer than we imagined."

Ophelia silently agreed. There was no doubt that whosoever that was behind everything had to be either close to the hotel or probably had someone working for them inside the hotel.

If it was the latter, that meant there was a traitor in their midst.

After letting her thoughts known to Noriel, his immediate response was a dark chuckle that sent a chill running down her body.

"If there is indeed a traitor then they had better start running or better still, they should take their own lives because they would wish they were dead if the Alpha gets his hands on them."

Ophelia froze at the sudden change in temperament.

Gone was the charming and friendly man she saw a few minutes ago. Replacing him was a sadistic and evil-looking Noriel. Ophelia thanked her stars that his fury was not directed at her.

"So, how do you suggest we get out of here?" She asked, wanting to move past what she witnessed.

"Look around..." Ophelia gestured to the four walls of pure hard concrete and the door that looked like it walked out of an old castle. "... I doubt we will be able to even make it out of this room."

"I guess we have to wait for our captors to show themselves so we know what we are dealing with. Don't worry, Luna, I will protect you with my life," Noriel swore and Ophelia could tell he wasn't joking.

Ophelia frowned at the realisation. "I would rather you don't trade your life for mine, Noriel. I don't know much about what a Luna is meant to do but I know I will never allow you to give your life for me."

Noriel smiled softly, looking like he wasn't ready to rip someone's head off a few minutes ago.

"The Moon Goddess chose well. You are indeed the best fit for our Alpha. You are kind, caring and virtuous. You will make a wonderful Luna."

Ophelia felt embarrassed by the praises. She wasn't used to it.

At that moment, she did not want to think about being a Luna. As she sat back by the wall in silence, Ophelia had one major worry racing through her mind and it was about the captors.

She wondered what they could want from her. Noriel sat quietly waiting for them to show themselves but Ophelia would rather they didn't come.

She couldn't help the dread that everything would go awry once they arrived. However, she could only cross her fingers and hope that somehow they would make it out alive.

Ophelia hadn't dropped the thought when the steel door was pushed open. In a split second, Noriel had her safely tucked behind him.

He did it so quickly that she felt her head spin. She was going to reprimand him for making his injuries worse but her tongue got tied at the sight of the man in front of her.

If Ophelia thought Darius was big and scary then this man was gigantic and absolutely terrifying. His ink-black hair was tied up in a man bun above his head.

His face was set in a hard scowl as though it was made that way, with his brown eyes fixed in a piercing glare that was directed at either Noriel or her, Ophelia wasn't sure.

She also wasn't sure if it was the numerous tattoos that littered all over his body, from his neck and running down his naked arms or his frighteningly muscular build that scared her.

All Ophelia knew was that at that moment, she could only pray that he stayed as far away from her as possible.

She noticed there were three other men behind him but her eyes were focused on the monster of a man that she refused to really look at the others.

There was something in his eyes that revealed that his intentions were anything but good.

{•}

Thank you for reading.