"I WANT YOU." With a touch as light as a feather, Cillian hooked a thick finger under her chin to get a better look at her face. "Look at me."

Slowly, her eyes cracked open, but she didn't dare meet his eyes, her gaze glued to his broad chest. His grip tightened ever so slightly, a warning.

Her breath caught in her throat when she looked at him- I mean, really looked at him. His golden eyes were as direct as expected, not even blinking as much as the average person. They glistened in the moonlight that peeked through the blinds, bringing an inhuman shine to them. A satisfied smile stretched across his lips until his prominent canines made an appearance. 

A finger tugged on the collar of her shirt and dragged it down- just enough to reveal the mark that was imprinted forever on her delicate neck.

"Do remember what this means?" It was this speech, this deep, heavy voice of his that immediately set him apart from everyone else.

No longer able to hold his gaze, her eyes fell. A blush tinted her cheeks and she shook her head.

His hand caught somewhere behind her neck and base of her jaw to tilt her head back so her eyes met his. Once he had her gaze, he persisted, "I think you do." His other hand came up to lightly brush the hair back away from her face. "What are we, hmm?"

His fingers trailed down the curves of her body until they settled on her hips to gently tug her closer, pulling a sharp inhale from her. With their bodies pressed together, hearts racing in sync, and butterflies fluttering in both of their stomachs, she peeked up at him once more.

A shudder shot down her spine as he leaned in to nuzzle her neck, his hot breath fanning against the mark. "C'mon, say it." He breathily taunted.

With a shaky breath, she whispered, "we're mates."

(I'm not the best at descriptions 😅)

Being pinned down on the ground and marked against your will by a lycanthrope is bad enough. However, when Sophia Johnson is blackmailed into marrying said lycanthrope, she discovers there's much more to him than just that. All at once, her world is flipped upside down.

Being held captive by humans most his life, she's given six months to teach him how to be an average human out in society, all while resisting the pull of the mate bond weighing heavy in her heart. Not only that, but how will she explain to her family that she secretly got married when she sees them at Christmas?

How long can she resist when her mate, Cillian, is bound and determined to ensure he wins her over before the six months are over?

•••

According to google, lycanthrope and werewolves are the same thing. Also according to google, they are different lol.

To clarify and to hopefully avoid any confusion, werewolves and lycanthrope are going to be the same thing in this book- but my definition of that. In this book, I will go against the "norm" with quite a few things regarding werewolves, what they look like, what they do, etc... this is not your typical werewolf story in many ways, but hopefully a good way!

Hate comments will NOT be tolerated. Neither will passive aggressive ones. If you don't like my book, that's okay. You don't have to. All I ask is that you'll stop reading rather then leave a hateful comment. Please remember, this book is basically my baby. I spent hours upon hours on it. I actually started the idea of it over a year ago and have been working on it over the course of a few months since. In other words, I worked very hard on it. Please be kind 🙏🏻🩷

Spam comments (if they are nice) are super appreciated!! I don't know why some authors don't like it, but I love it! Comment as much as you'd like!

To my loyal, most amazing, loving, and thoughtful readers and rereaders, THANK YOU for reading!! I'm so appreciative to you all!! 🩷

Also, I think this book can best be enjoyed when you turn to pages black :)

Question of the chapter: have you read any of my other books? If so, which book did you come from? 

DISCLAIMER: I own ALL rights to this story. I do not own the few dialogue prompts used, but that's it. I do NOT consent to have my work posted, translated, or published on any third party site or app. If anyone sees my work anywhere but here, on this account, someone has posted it without my permission. Please tell me immediately. If I see someone stole or plagiarized any part of my book, you WILL be reported immediately by me, and my loyal amazing readers 😎

P.S. if you have previously read some of my books before, I sometimes reuse dialogues and scenes from other books. Just a heads up so you don't think I stole someone else's work lol!

The Day That I Met You
| Matilda Mann |

I Lose Control
| Teddy Swims |

Creep
| Radiohead |

Happier Than Ever
| Billie Eilish |

Evergreen (You Didn't Deserve Me At All)
| Omar Apollo |

Satellite
| Harry Styles |

Chemistry
| Kelly Clarkston |

Open Arms
| Journey |

I Want to Hold Your Hand
| The Beatles |

Strangers By Nature
| Adele |

Ceilings
| Lizzy McAlpine |

My Mind
| YEBBA |

Baby It's Cold Outside
| Esther Williams & Ricardo Montalbán |

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
| Andy Williams |

I Don't Know What Christmas Is
(But Christmastime is Here)
| Old 97's |

Moonlight
| Ariana Grande |

Wrapped in Red
| Kelly Clarkston |

All I Want for Christmas
| Mariah Carey |

Impossible
| Nothing But Thieves |

Hooked on a Feeling
| Blue Swede |

Impossible Year
| Panic! At the Disco |

The Way You Make Me Feel
| Michael Jackson |

Beat It
| Michael Jackson |

Turning Page
| Sleeping At Last |

Vision of Love
| Mariah Carey |

Skyfall
| Adele |

Are You Gonna Go My Way
| Lenny Kravits |

Beautiful things
| Benson Boone |

The Night We Met
| Lord Huron |

Heartbreak Anniversary
| Giveon |

Bridge Over Troubled Water
| Simon & Garfunkel |

R.E.M
| Ariana Grande |

More to be added soon...

At the beginning of each chapter, I quote each of these songs! Feel free to take a guess what parts of the songs I'll be quoting in each chapter! Songs are listed in order.

"And though I'm still battered and bruised, I forgave the world the day I met you."

~ Matilda Mann, The Day I Met You

8:03 p.m. Just a few minutes past closing. Sophie already took care of the board and train dogs that were spending the night, ensuring they had everything they needed before she headed out for the evening.

The whole building was dim, the only light radiating in was from the dim streetlights that shined through the windows by the exit- which is where she was heading to as quickly as she could right now.

Just before she could get out the door, she went skidding across the floor and landed harshly on her butt. She grimaced at puddle of dog piss she slipped on and was currently sitting in, most likely left by a careless and entitled owner. An irritated groan escaped her and she hurried back behind the counter for some paper towels. She squatted down and felt around under the cabinets, too dark to make out anything more than shapes and shadows.

Sophie had co-owned this dog training facility with a friend of hers for about a year now. Being from a smaller town in Tennessee, they didn't have many dog trainers in the area. It didn't take long for their shared business to boom. Sophie loved her job. She was one of the few people that got to say she enjoyed her job and even looked forward to it. The only thing that made her not like her job at times were the customers. The human ones, not the dogs.

The bells above the door chimed, signaling someone entered the premises. She sighed and straightened from her crouched position to tell the customer they were closed for the evening, only for the words to die in her mouth when she found no one there.

"Hello?" She called out.

No response. She cursed under her breath. This just had to happen when all the lights were off. She just should have left the piss to deal with in the morning.

There was a sudden shuffle from the front of the store, just to the right of the exit- which meant she had to pass by whoever or whatever just broke in. She swallowed hard and stepped a tad closer. At the very least, moving closer brought her closer to the light from outside.

She heard the shuffle again, making her gasp and freeze in her steps. From the help of the dim streetlights, she saw... something. Her guard faltered, realizing it was too small to be a person. It was bulky but short, in the front corner of the store. It didn't even come up to her hip. Maybe an animal found it's way in? She drew closer and realized she couldn't have been more wrong.

Curled up in the corner was a man. From a distance, he seemed... normal. Just big. Hunched over, his bare, broad back was facing her, a few scattered tattoos here and there. The back of his head looked messy, maybe even matted. Considering he was curled up in a ball, she figured he might not have been a threat. What murderer or robber would curl up and hide? She assumed he was homeless, seeking shelter for the night, but what homeless man had access to a gym to get muscles like that?

Hesitantly, she cleared her throat. "Sir, we're closed. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

He trembled when she spoke, making her raise a brow. He must have been cold. That, or he was frightened. Little did she know, the shiver was neither because of the frigid temperature outside, nor because he was scared. The shiver was out of restraint.

"If you leave now, I won't report this to the police, but you need to leave." While she tried to speak confidently, her voice couldn't help but waver.

Obviously, he didn't respond. She sighed and got closer again. She caught a glimpse of the side of his face and gasped. It was bruised, as if he had been hit. The closer she got, the more she noticed some of the marks she thought were tattoos, were actually scars and open wounds. His arms and back were covered in lashes as if he had been whipped. Bruises and tiny needle puncture marks littered the inside of his arms, making her heart sink.

Timidly, she whispered, "do you need me to call you an ambulance?"

Slowly, he turned, just enough to see her face.

He didn't seem completely sold on the idea, so she explained, "they can help you."

He didn't seem to understand, or maybe he just didn't care. He winced and shook his head, as if to talk himself out of something, and turned back around.

Now she was losing her patience and pulled out her phone to dial 911. The moment her eyes were off him, as if he had a sixth sense, he had her by the collar of her shirt, her back pressed against the wall. She let out a cry as her feet dangled high off the ground.

She screamed at the sight of his inhuman claws digging into her shirt. Now standing to his full height, it was obvious to her now how tall he was as he held her eye level with him, her feet well over a foot off the ground.

It wasn't until her eyes met his that she noticed how inhuman he was. His golden haunting eyes flickered between gold and brown as he watched her, seemingly examining her shaking figure closely.

Just when a plea for her life was about to break free past her lips, she was dropped to the ground. She scrambled away, her eyes snapping back up to discover why he dropped her.

Her phone.

With a crunch, it was effortlessly crushed between his hands.

She frantically backed away as the creature prowled closer, his shoulders hunched and hands fisted. He muttered something lowly- almost sounding animalistic- in a language she didn't understand as he scanned the room around them. A low rumble emanated from deep in his chest as he got down on a knee and loomed over her, causing her to lean back so she was laying flat on the ground. He followed her, his strong arms holding himself up on top of her, his big hands on either side of her face. The wooden floor she was laid on cracked and splintered as his claws effortlessly dug into the wood by her head, his shoulders rounding her way as he invaded her personal space. His lips parted until his prominent canines made an appearance.

She closed her eyes to prevent seeing her inevitable death, yet tears still escaped her eyes. Rough fingers traced down the length of her neck, sending adrenaline to fly over her veins, but she couldn't move a single muscle, not even to scream. The absolute horror completely paralyzed her, and the more she thought about running away, or simply moving a bit, the more she felt discouraged and utterly terrified.

The heat of his breath against the side of her neck snapped her out of it just enough for her hands to fly up to protect it, her eyes now wide open. He studied her a moment, before in one swift movement, he had both of her hands in one of his hands above her head.

She swore she heard him apologize under his breath right before his teeth sank into the side of her neck. She screamed at the top of her lungs from how bad the bite almost seemed to burn her, she was sure he was ripping her throat out. Though she trashed and did everything she could to get away, he was far too heavy to push off.

The pain seemed to leave as soon as it came. She almost didn't register when he planted a kiss to where he bit.

Black dots began to flood her vision and her head spun, making her feel faint. As her eyes began to close, she saw a dart hit the side of the man's neck. Then everything went black.

•••

Please don't forget to comment, follow, and vote!!

Question of the chapter: how did you find this book?

"I lose control when you're not next to me. I'm falling apart right in front of you, can't you see?"

~ Teddy Swims, Lose Control

Sophie flinched awake and frantically looked around the room. She fully expected to be on the floor at work or possibly kidnapped and locked away in a basement forever. What she didn't expect was to wake up in her own bed, at home.

She struggled to take a few deep breaths, her nose stuffy and body coated in a light sweat. Her body ached all over and though she was sweating, goosebumps littered all along her legs and arms. She had to have a fever.

With tired eyes, she searched the room, praying she didn't find anyone looking back at her. After some time, she convinced herself to crawl out of bed and search the house.

The upstairs was completely clear, no sign of anyone being there or anything stolen. Just as she was about to convince herself she had some crazy fever dream, she spotted her reflection in the bathroom mirror.

On the side of her neck was the bite.

She frantically reeled backwards and hit the wall, knocking a picture frame off of it, making her scream. Immediately she slammed her hands over her mouth. If the bite was real, the person that bit her was too. If she passed out at work, that meant someone brought her here, which meant that someone could still be in her house.

With no phone to call for help, she hurried to her closet and armed herself a broom. From there she quietly made her way down the stairs. She cursed as they creaked and groaned under her weight, but she kept on.

Her heart sank the moment she rounded the corner. Causally sitting on her living room couch were three men. One was dressed in an US army general uniform, everyone of his gray hairs in the perfect place. The second man was also in an army uniform, but the army combat kind, telling her he wasn't as high of a rank. Unfortunately for her, the third person was the man (or creature) that attacked her last night. He was the only one standing. He didn't move a muscle or hardly even blink. He stood tall with his gaze glued to his shoes.

She fell against the wall behind her, her broom raised. "Absolutely not! Get him out of here!" She screamed.

The general barked out an obnoxious laugh as he stood to his feet. "Put that thing away before you hurt yourself, short ass. We only wanna talk."

Her jaw dropped, but her grip on the handle only tightened. "Watch your freaking mouth. You're in my home, with that... that thing! He attacked me last night! He wanted to kill me!"

The man in the army uniform seemed to be holding back a laugh. Out of the corner of his mouth, he muttered, "more like he wanted to bang you."

"Lieutenant!" The general barked in correction, making the man straighten and apologize.

"Excuse me!?" She exasperated as she flailed the broom around. "Who even are you people!? Why are you in my home and what even is he!?" She demanded with her weapon pointed at the creature.

The general shot her a deadpan look. "Shoot, kid, the fangs and claws didn't give it away?"

She scoffed. "What, a vampire?"

The lieutenant made a pfffft noise. "Don't be ridiculous!" He waved her off with a laugh. After his laughter died down, he smoothed out his uniform and composed himself. "He's a lycanthrope..." he said, seriously.

Her eyes widened. "A... A w-werewolf?"

"Wow," was the muttered deadpan response. "Didn't realize we were in Einstein's house."

The general took a step closer, making Sophie take several back. "Don't you freaking move!" She yelled, broom up and ready. "I will use this thing."

The blank stares she received immediately had embarrassment rising to her cheeks. "Stop judging me!" She sputtered in defense. "It's all I have you little jerks!"

"Ouch," the lieutenant blandly replied. "You kiss your mama with that mouth?"

The general stepped forward and this time, she held her ground. "I'm General John J. Hoppers. This is Lieutenant Carlos Garcia. Listen, Sophia, we just want to talk."

She pointed her broom at him. "How do you know my name?"

"Why don't we sit and talk, and we'll explain everything." He tried to negotiate.

"You can even keep your weapon on you." Carlos chimed in.

She turned her weapon to him. "It's the best I have, stop making fun of it!"

He raised his hands in surrender.

General Hoppers tried again. "C'mon, what do you say?"

"Not with him here." She sneered at the creature, who still had yet to say a word. He just stood there, head down, eyes glued to the floor.

General Hoppers sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. "That's what we wanted to talk to you about, Sophia. He can't leave you."

She scoffed. "I beg to differ. He should be in jail for assault."

"I don't think you understand... he quite literally can't be apart from you for both of your sakes."

She faltered, her broom lowering ever so slightly. "What do you mean?"

Turns out, they knew way more about her then just her name. They knew things like where she was born, even at which hospital and what time. They knew every single place she every moved to or worked. They seemed to most interested in her most recent job as a dog trainer and her old volunteer work at a veterans support group.

As for why the brooding werewolf was in her living room...

"Claim me?" Sophie spat, as if she couldn't believe her ears. They were now sat at her kitchen table, but the man that attacked her was still in the living room. "I don't care who or what he is. He can't... what does 'he claimed me,' even mean!?"

With his finger pointed at her in accusation, Carlos's eyes narrowed. "Don't tell me you never read any good werewolf books as a teen. I bet you were even team Jacob."

For a brief moment she looked offended, before she caught herself and narrowed her eyes right back.

Carlos reclined back in his chair as a smug smirk stretched across his lips. "Oh, she definitely knows what that bite on her pretty little neck means."

Unfortunately, if everything she read growing up was true like they said it was, she did know what it meant. While books romanticized mates, and maybe even she did as a teen, she obviously never thought something like that could be real!

According to the books she read, all she knew about werewolves was that they have one mate and they mate for life. To show their commitment to each other, they bite each other on the neck, and the mark stayed for life.

How in the world did she used to find that romantic?

Typically, it was two werewolves that had a knowing that they were mates. Instantly, they're totally obsessed with each other and are totally cool with biting each other and starting their lives together right off the bat.

Unfortunately for Mr. Werewolf, Sophie is a human. There's a possibility she'd never feel the same about her "mate," nor did she want to at the moment. What he did was absolutely wrong and quite frightening.

She slumped in her chair, her face in her hands. "No, because this isn't real. Werewolves don't exist. This... this is impossible." She breathed, her brain running a million miles an hour.

Leant back in his chair, General Hoppers ran a hand over his beard and began. "Lycanthrope, while nearly extinct, are very real. They're natural born predators. They can run faster than us, they're stronger than us, they heal faster than us, hell, they can do just about everything better then us. Being the predators they are, they're excellent at hunting, tracking down, and eliminating our enemies. They're animals and almost need to be treated as such."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "He doesn't look like an animal to me."

"No, but certainly not human either." He pointed out. "Lycanthrope have been helping us win wars for centuries. Just as a service dog is medical equipment,  lycans are military equipment. They're quite literally our secret weapon. It takes some time to break 'em enough to get them to comply, but when they do... we're nearly fully expected to win any fight, any battle, or any war. Just that lycan alone has had multiple tours to Afghanistan, a few to Iraq, and more."

She winced at his words, unsure what he meant by 'break them.' Being considered to be military equipment, that meant this lycanthrope certainly wasn't treated humanely. The scars that were littered across his body was proof of that. Sounds like he hasn't had a break in years.

"Sounds like he needs some time off." She huffed, sarcastically.

General Hoppers pursed his lips and actually agreed. "Exactly. His brain's probably going haywire."

"He's shown symptoms of PTSD." Carlos chimed in.

"Hold on," she butt in. "If he's military equipment, how did he break in my workplace and bite me last night?"

"You can take the werewolf out of the woods but you can't take the wolf out of the werewolf." Carlos joked.

All he got were blank stares.

"I thought it was funny." He grumbled with a shrug.

"He's an animal, Miss. Johnson." General Hoppers stated. "No matter the training he's had, his instincts will always come first. He must have picked up your scent from our base. He broke out and tracked you down."

"Me specifically?"

Carlos rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. You know all about mates. What, did he not say 'mine,' in a deep sexy voice after he bit you-"

"You are so unfiltered for no reason." Sophie exasperated in disbelief. She shook her head and turned back to the general. "So what does this mean now?"

"He'd die without you." He responded, shortly. "There's a chance you could too, but since you're human, you may not have the same effects. Have you felt sick or off in anyway since yesterday?"

She opened her mouth to respond and quickly realized her fever was gone. She went from feeling like absolute death when she woke up, to completely fine now. "No." She lied, quickly. "I feel perfectly fine."

General Hoppers hummed at that. He drummed his fingers on the table as he thought before saying, "well, it could be because it was a short period of time. To be honest with you, we're not entirely sure what could happen to you. A werewolf mated to a human is unheard of."

"Of course it is." She groaned. "Typical."

"Romantic." Carlos corrected.

She ignored him. "He looks just fine to me."

The two men glanced at each other and leaned forward in their seats. "That's the thing, Miss. Johnson. He looks fine now, but he was far from it this morning."

Carlos nodded in agreement. "Last night, he refused to eat and his fever spiked to 104 degrees. By the morning, he was having a hard time standing, let alone walking around. All of that went away once we got here."

She bit back a groan of defeat. Her fever broke the second she saw him.

"We want to make a deal with you." General Hoppers began to explain. "It comes with an ungodly amount of money you could only dream of."

While she felt bad for not only her "mate's" situation and for possibly being the cause of his soon to be death, she couldn't help him. Not for any amount of money in the world. She shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm sorry, but I can't and won't go anywhere with you."

"We're not asking you to, Miss. Johnson." The general corrected. "Ever since the werewolf has been transferred to our military base here around a month ago, he's been acting... unreasonable. Lashing out, defying orders, and some... other things. We're thinking some time with you can not only save his life, but get him back in the right headspace. In fact, we'd like you to see if he can in time, blend in with society."

"I already told you, I'm not going anywhere." She told him, firmly.

"And again, we're not asking you to." The general repeated. "Based off our research over the decades and our own experience with our lycanthropes, he would never hurt you. Based off our research, that mark on your neck means you two are bonded for life." He said and pointed to the sore wound.

While the general didn't look to be a very warm man, he hadn't done anything yet to show she couldn't trust him. He's served this country for Pete's sake. What's the worst he could do? Her opinion immediately changed as his expression dropped and his eyes darkened, sending a shiver down her spine. "Based off our research on you... this is the perfect place for him. You live in the middle of no where, you have experience with animals, and you have experience with veterans with PTSD. It's no wonder he picked you."

Her jaw dropped. "So you think just because I'm a dog trainer and I volunteer to help veterans who have PTSD, even though I have absolutely no education in the latter.... you think I'm the one that can help him? That's ridiculous!"

"Well when you put it like that, it does sounds ridiculous." Carlos nodded in agreement.

The general shot him a glare.

"Sorry, sir." Carlos muttered and looked down.

"I didn't consent to any of this!" She exclaimed, mentally debating whether or not she needed to pick her broom back up. "That creature is not staying in my home. I want nothing to do with this, you, and especially not him! I don't know what he's capable of, but I got a small snippet of it last night! What if he tries to- to kill me!? Or eat me!?"

"It's not like he'd eat her or anything, right?" Carlos asked. "Even though wolves... wolves do that. A wolf would. And he is that... a wolf..."

The pair looked at Carlos for a long time, Sophie looking more scared than angry compared to the general. His eye even twitched.

Carlos sheepishly looked down at the ground and kicked an imaginary pebble with his boot to look busy. "I see now that my contribution was not helpful and for that I apologize."

"Do you even think before you talk?"

"To be honest, I don't even know what I'm thinking until I hear myself say it. Sometimes after I hear myself, I don't even agree with me." He admitted, a far off, blank look in his eyes.

"Miss. Johnson, our research nearly guarantees he wouldn't hurt you." General Hoppers ensured her. "As I said earlier, if you agree to our terms, it comes with a hefty pay. All you have to do is legally marry the mutt and have him wrapped him around your little finger to ensure me a mean military machine. In doing so, all of your expenses will be covered. You don't leave your home without him, so you will not work. You'll be compensated accordingly for that as well. In six months time, I'll be back to check on him."

"Marry him!?" She exclaimed.

"We need to make him feel secure. I can't have his mind remain how it is now. Additionally, we need his life out in the world as believable and as realistic as possible. If he can learn to blend into society and act more... well, human, we can use him for so many more things."

That was it. She stood up from her chair so fast, it tipped backwards and hit the wooden floor below. With her broom raised, she demanded, "you're crazy. Now get out of my house."

The men shared a knowing look and sat back in their chairs. It was a move as if to show she couldn't make them leave if she even tried. "I didn't want to do this, but I'm afraid you leave me with no choice..."

•••

Please don't forget to comment, follow, and vote!!

We got 100 reads in under 12 hours!? That's crazy! In just under 48 hours, we're at over 170 reads!! Thats never happened to me before! I had a feeling it would have a few more reads than usual because the werewolf genre is pretty popular on wattpad, but I didn't expect this much. Thank you so much!!

Just so you all know, this is an early update. I plan on updating every five days to a week or so, unless I get more ahead in my writing than I'm expecting. I want to pace it out because I have 17 chapters written, but I'm probably only halfway through the book. I don't want to post all my chapters at once before the book is finished, get writers block, and leave y'all hanging with an unfinished book.

However, I mean it when I say comments really encourage me to keep writing! If you liked what you read, please let me know! It literally makes my day and pushes me to continue my stories.

Question of the chapter: what do you think of Carlos?

"I don't care if it hurts, I wanna have control."

~ Radiohead, Creep

"I didn't want to do this, but I'm afraid you leave me with no choice."

Carlos took a device out of his pocket and slid it across the table. Sophie glanced down at it and gasped at what she saw. The screen was split into four squares with live footage of four different locations with four different people- four people she loved very dearly.

Her eyes snapped up to meet the general's, only to find him staring at her with an evil glint in his eyes a sinister smile on his lips. "First and second square on the top of the screen, Angela and Robert Johnson, age 60 and 62 years old. You'll find their address at the bottom of the screen. Your childhood home, correct?" He casually listed the information off.

He didn't let her respond and kept going. "Third square, Darcy Hopkins, your business partner and childhood best friend. You built your dog training businesses as co-owners from the ground up. Opened the shop almost a year ago, December 16th of last year. Lastly, your brother. Tommy Johnson, 30 years old, one of the top lawyers in NYC. Just like all the others, their home addresses are at the bottom of the screen."

Her eyes snapped up to meet his, fear written all over her face. General Hoppers leaned forward, hands folded on top of the table, just inches away from her. With a twisted grin, he sighed, "I'd hate if something were to happen to them."

Before she could blink, he flipped the table over and backed her up a against the wall, her picture frames that were hung on the wall went flying from the sheer force of her body slamming against it. The wind was knocked out of her and all she could do was wheeze out a cry. She tried to push him away, but the grip he had on her neck was strong. He easily used his own body to hold her to the wall.

"I wouldn't like hurting them." He told her, quietly. "But I'd hate losing my very important and expensive military equipment even more."

She sobbed, pathetically, and gripped his hand with all her might, quietly pleading with him. He squeezed her throat just enough for her to struggle, but enough for her to still get small breaths.

"Let me make this clear." He said, lowly, his face inches from hers. "We expect you to do everything the lycanthrope wants to ensure he stays alive, and I mean everything. You train him. You make sure in six months time, he's ready for combat again. When I give an order, he's on it before I even finish my sentence. When he walks out in the street, people don't even blink at him or look at him the wrong way. To them, he's just another person."

He pulled back just enough so his eyes could scan her body up and down. "While you're at it, make me another one of him too. A half mutt and half human wouldn't be too bad."

Startled, she frantically wheezed out, "get off me!"

He slammed his free hand down dangerously close to her head and with the other hand, he briefly cut off her oxygen. "Do not test me, Sophia!"

In a flash, he was ripped off of her and thrown backwards. From the sheer force of whatever grabbed him and sent him flying back, the general slammed into the wall with a sickening "thud," then hit the ground, flat on his face.

The massive lycan didn't waste any time charging towards the general at an inhuman speed. Before anyone could blink, he had the human's uniform fisted in his claws, ready to finish the job.

Not even thinking, Sophie desperately cried out, "stop!"

The lycanthrope froze, just mere moments from ending General Hoppers's life. After a few labored breaths, with a huff, he dropped the human back to the floor.

Like a predator stalking his prey, he change direction and prowled towards his mate. She trembled from where she was on the floor, keeping her head down and body curled up to protect herself. To her surprise, he didn't grab her. Instead, he took a protective stance in front of her.

A low growl rumbled in his chest- a warning. In that moment, she wasn't sure who to be more fearful of: the monster standing in front of her or the monster of a man getting up from the floor.

General Hoppers groaned as he lugged himself back up to his feet. "See what I mean, girl? You're safe with him." He snickered and wiped the blood that dripped from nose just from the impact of hitting the ground. "He's not finishing me off out of respect for me, or the fact this entire place is surrounded.... But because you told him not to."

From the floor, she shook uncontrollably. She didn't look up. She couldn't, really. Looking up would confirm what she was desperately trying to convince herself was a delusion in her mind. Nonetheless, the lycanthrope guarding her was very real, and very mad. Unfortunately for her, so were the humans in her house.

A wicked grin stretched across General Hoppers' lips, the blood from his broken nose dripping into his mouth, making his teeth stained red. "You don't get it how good you have it!" His horrifying laugh boomed through the house. "He'd do anything for you."

"What's it gonna be, kid?" He continued with a sneer, papers in his hand. "You gonna decide?" He asked and sauntered over to her. The lycan allowed it, but his eyes never left the general. "Or shall I decide for you?"

Hyperventilating at this point, she attempted to calm her breathing by taking slow, deep breaths. They were shaky, but she needed to do something to clear her mind. Weighing her options seemed impossible. Marry a dangerous and murderous lycanthrope? Or say no and risk something happening to her family and loved ones?

The papers were dropped to the floor in front of her. With trembling hands, she took the papers and skimmed over them. The first pile was a contract, a written agreement she wouldn't work, wouldn't tell people about the US Army's involvement in this, wouldn't tell people that the man living in her home was a lycan, and many, many other things she didn't have the time to read. The second paper was a marriage contract.

She wanted to scream, fight, say no, but... she was backed into a corner. Quite literally.

A pen was extended to her. She glared at the evil man and snatched the pen from his hands. Then? She sealed her fate.

He took the papers back from her and rolled them up to shove them in his pocket. "Pleasure doing business with you, kid. We'll be back soon."

He gestured for the lycanthrope to follow him, and though hesitant, he did as ordered. Not even a glance was given in Sophie's direction.

Just as they were about to be out the door, General Hoppers stopped and said, "oh, I nearly forgot." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small book. He tossed it at where Sophie was, still on the ground. "Might help you to study a little."

While it felt like an eternity, it was only a few hours that they were gone. In those few hours, Sophie's fever returned. She could only assume her "mate's" fever returned as well.

She debated packing a bag and running, but to where? What would happen to her family? They had live footage of them, surely they could be hurt or worse before Sophie had the chance to warn them. That left one option: staying.

Defeated, she wiped the tears that managed to escape down her cheeks and plopped down on the couch. In less than 24 hours, her life had been changed forever. She was married, jobless, most likely under surveillance, and blackmailed into this new life.

Though she was in no mindset to read, she opened the little booklet that was left for her to "study," in hopes of getting some peace. In it was facts about lycanthrope: their diet, the exercise required, their ranks, their abilities, their history, how they shifted, and of course, there was a section about mates.

She skimmed through the pages and turned to that chapter. In it, it read the following...

What are mates?

Contrary to popular beliefs, there is no "moon goddess" that chooses for a pair of mates to be bonded together. How a lycanthrope finds a mate is purely institutional. There is no specific age this happens, but it is not until they fully mature physically after the age of 18. Usually, lycanthrope will pick up on that their mate is near by based on scent. Once their mate is in his line of vision, the instinct is confirmed.

To ensure their mate will not be taken by another unmated lycanthrope, with consent, they "mark" each other by biting in between the other's shoulder and neck. The mark lets others know they are taken and not to be messed with. From the mark alone, another lycanthrope can know information such as who the mark is from, what their rank is, and how long they've been mated.

Side effects to both mates include: infatuation, possessiveness, being overly protective, fevers and physical pain if separated, a constant need to be with one another, being soothed by their voice and presence, the ability to feel each others emotions, a strong pulling towards one another...

The list of side effects went on, which she looked past for now. Unfortunately the part she skimmed over was rather important.

She went on to read...

Lycanthrope mate for life. They do not cheat, they do not abuse, abandon, or cause any type of harm to their mate. Having a mate is one of the most highest honors as a lycanthrope. They treat their mates as such.

Sophie paused her reading. Who even wrote this? How does she know if it's true? She tossed the book aside, too tired and sick to continue.

Loud, obnoxious pounding came from her front door. Turns out, there was no point in them knocking. She couldn't even get off the couch before her house was flooded with men and women in army uniform.

Too sick and too scared to protest, she kept quiet and watched as they all scanned her house. Looking for threats or hidden camera, she assumed.

"There she is!" General Hoppers exclaimed and sauntered over to her.

She cringed at his loud annoying voice and took a step away from him. "General Hoppers." She greeted, shortly.

His eyes scanned her up and down. "Well you look... nice."

Clearly, she did not look presentable. Unfortunately for her, he now knew she got sick when separated from her "mate," just as he did.

She ignored his statement and asked, "this is it? You're just leaving him here?"

"Yes ma'am, this is it until April." He confirmed with a nod. "I trust you'll have a good Thanksgiving and Christmas, being newly weds and all."

Carlos came up being him and said, "all clear, sir." Then he turned to Sophie. "You look-"

"Beautiful, I know." She snapped and plopped down on her couch. She could tell the lycanthrope was close. She was feeling less and less feverish by the minute.

There was some rustling by the door to signal someone was here. Low and behold, there her "husband" was. Someone ordered him to step into the house and he did as told.

Then with a few shouts from all of them, mockingly telling her to have a "nice honeymoon," the lycanthrope was just... dropped off. She was left with a living, breathing, lethal weapon in her house, but no weapon to protect herself from him.

•••

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