Chapter 3 Scheme

"What the hell did you do to me?" Iris raged as she coughed hard.

She wiped the unknown liquid from her jaw, her eyes full of anger. Danny, who had fallen to the ground because she shoved him in the midst of the struggle, got up. He smiled strangely.

"It's just water," He calmly said. "You don't need to worry too much."

Iris shot a sharp gaze toward him. She advanced, and before Danny could evade, she already grabbed his collar.

"Do you think I am a retard?" Iris snarled. "Quick, explain what you just gave me!"

Other pack members had helped Danny to hold her as he forced her to drink that suspicious liquid. She swept her gaze toward them and they instantly avoided her eyes.

Danny still insisted on keeping his silence, and she almost couldn't help herself from punching him. Iris gradually took a deep breath and let go of his collar. Danny took a few steps back.

"I will never hurt you, Iris." He assured. "I know you trust me."

She closed her eyes before turning around. Her announcement was loud enough for whoever was present in the building. "My decision is final. I don't want to pretend to be Selia in front of her mate!"

After she said that, she stormed off the building.

Iris went to the woods and stood up below a huge, towering tree. She tried to cough up whatever had gone down her throat, but even as she tried to make herself puke it out, she failed.

It was very unusual. She was sure there was something wrong with it. Danny lied. He always did. He always expected her to believe his lies and get away with it using his gentle smile.

Her face was red in anger. Frustrated that she couldn't make that suspicious liquid to leave her body, she punched the tree. The big three shook, and there was a creaking sound. After that, it was split in two.

Iris was alarmed, realizing that she had used too much force. She hurriedly left the place, shifting to her wolf form and dashing through the towering trees.

In case someone found out, that tree, which was now split in two, would surely cause a some commotion. She wasn't keen on showing those people her actual power. Let them continue to regard Selia as the strongest in the pack.

"I want to punch them all!" She growled.

She stopped below another three and slid down there. Running her hand through her long, silky black hair, she let out a sigh. Her body leaned against the tree trunk. The fresh air making her able to relax slightly.

There was no way to find out what those despicable people's actual plan was, and if she stayed as far away as possible from them, she would surely not fall into it, right? Let's just find out what the effect of that liquid was and deal with it.

That was Iris' last thought before she fell asleep. The exhaustion of overthinking, running, and exerting too much energy lulled her to the dreamland.

"It's you..." a man's voice muttered. Her eyes fluttered slightly, but she didn't wake up.

She was too exhausted. When she woke up again, she instantly became alarmed. She found that she was in an unfamiliar environment. Sleepiness was gone, and she became alert of her surroundings.

"Miss, are you awake?" A voice asked. She snapped toward the source.

It was a young girl around her age, someone that she had never seen before in her pack. Had she run so far that she trespassed to another pack's territory?

She erased that thought as soon as she scanned the place she was in. She wasn't out in the open. The tent was so big that she almost mistook it for a small dwelling.

"Who are you?" Her voice was sharp.

Iris was sleeping below a tree, and she would never forget that. She had actually let her guard down that someone could take her away like this. Their intention was also questionable.

The girl seemed a bit stunned, and she quickly recovered her senses.

"Miss, we found you sleeping under a tree earlier and there were some wounds on your hand, so we also bandaged it," she explained. There was hesitation flashing in her eyes. Iris managed to catch that in her expression.

"Who are you?" Iris repeated.

Before the girl could respond, the tent was opened, and a man walked in. Iris' pupil constricted; she felt the man was very strong, stronger than anyone in her pack.

She guessed that those people must be from a large pack. However, there were no large packs around the area, and some packs were only the size and possessed similar power to her pack.

Could it be...?

A slight despair took over her heart. They were building tents and also from a large pack. Most likely, they were the traveling Silver Royal pack members heading to her pack for Selia.

She glanced at the robust figure that was heading toward the two of them. He had such a towering figure that made him look like a giant, and a terrified thought flashed across her mind. He couldn't be Selia's mate, right?

"Miss, you are awake." His voice woke her up. "The young lord is already waiting for you."

Iris almost heaved a sigh of relief before she became tense again.

She tentatively asked. "You know me?"

There was a brief silence. Iris began to wonder whether she had said something wrong. She suddenly became nervous; after all, she wasn't very sure of the relationship between Selia and her mate herself, not to mention people around him.

"Miss Selia might not remember me, but I am one of my lord's guards. My name is Caleb Hector." He said, noticing Iris' nervousness.

"This is my mate, Mary Davis." He continued as he gestured to the girl beside her.

Oh, no wonder he received the news so quickly. Mary must have informed him through their mate bond.

She only entertained the thought briefly before panic gripped her. She subconsciously bit her lips. In order to avoid them, she had stayed far away from the pack. As luck would have it, she stumbled upon them instead.

No wonder they didn't stop her from escaping. Was her pack confident that she wouldn't be able to escape or did they know beforehand this Silver Royal pack's group was heading there? Was it a coincidence that she stumbled upon them?

"Miss, can you follow me?" Mary asked, and Iris realized that Caleb had walked out of the tent.

"S-sure," Iris stuttered slightly before she gave her a forced smile.

Mary looked concerned. "Are you still feeling uncomfortable anywhere, Miss?"

As she glanced at her bandaged hand, Iris went silent. The force she exerted to punch the tree had ruptured her skin, but she was not hurt anywhere else.

"No, no." She shook her head, and there was a slight pause before she unwillingly said, "Please, lead the way."

Iris racked her brain as she followed behind Mary. She really needed to get away before she met the Alpha's son of the Silver Royal pack. She was confident that she was one of the strong werewolves, but seeing this small group, she still wasn't sure she could fight off all of them.

"Um," she then coughed to gain Mary's attention. The girl looked over at her and she began to ask, "Do you have a bathroom?"

Mary thought for a moment before she led her toward the temporary bathroom. Iris followed as she secretly hatched a plan that she would run away after they arrived there. When Mary was the least expecting it, she would dash toward the woods.

Sounds like a plausible plan, right?

It would indeed have been an awesome plan, if not because she didn't look where she was going and tripped over a branch of a tree. Cursing her luck today in her mind, Iris hurriedly struggled to balance herself.

She must have been the most stiff werewolf in the world.

"Watch where you are going, little wolf?" A deep chuckle resounded from in front of her as she bumped into a hard chest.

Iris could feel the dangerous aura that suddenly enveloped the entire area. This kind of threatening presence; strong, evil, and full of oppression. The kind that was impossible to be ignored, even if one wanted to.

At that very moment, she realized that she was doomed.