Elia had never felt this indignant in her life. For as long as she remembered, she had been a calm person. Naviely so. The years of etiquette classes to train her to be a perfect wife did that to her. She had to not show her anger, not raise her voice, always maintain a pleasant look on her face, even when she was feeling bad, and many more.
However, all those lessons disappeared in the last few days. How could anyone keep their rationale when they were kidnapped and now insulted? He called her a puny human. What did that even mean? She wasn't small or puny. She was fairly tall. Maybe not as much as these feral men, but still!
"I will make you regret even if you so as take a step towards me," She warned, which was more of a bluff meant to buy more time. Elia knew better. There was no way she could hurt them, and as though reading her mind, the feral man chuckled.
"Oh yeah?" Eros was amused, "What will you do, Puny human?" It was laughable. The way she glared at him with alertness in her eyes was like a kitten protecting its favourite toy.
"What are you?" Elia finally decided to address the elephant in the room. This had been bugging in her mind from the moment she escaped from the god forsaken club. She should never have gone to that place!
Eros stilled in his place and his smirk fell from his face. The answer to her question was pretty simple. He was a Werewolf, the kind that only existed in fantasy and books for humans. She had already seen him and Sam turn, so convincing her wouldn't be difficult, but convincing her not to freak out was the real job. His brothers were still thinking about the most efficient way to deal with this unwanted mate bond and until then, it was his duty to keep her from wanting to leave.
He was ransacking his brain trying to come up with something to say but before he could, a familiar voice interrupted him.
"We are what you call Werewolves," Samuel said as he entered the ward. His previous messy hair was combed back while he wore one of his suits. His eyes briefly lingered on Elia's form before they went back to the file he was holding. Like his brother, he had also ministered himself with a new concoction of wolfsbane and simultaneously got the required documents ready. He sought efficiency in everything.
He settled on a spare chair before offering another to Elia, "Take a seat, Miss Miller"
Elia was dumbfounded for a second. How did he know her name? She glanced at the one that was called Eros and next at the one sitting before her. This person was the one back in the basement. He was also the second person she had seen turn into a monster...a Werewolf? The two men looked similar to each other, it was as though they were related.
"Eros is my brother" as though guessing what she was thinking, the man answered making her once more taken aback, "I am Samuel Donovan by the way"
She looked at the extended hand for a moment before covering it with her own, "I'm Elia Miller....." Awkward was a light statement to use in this situation. As soon as she touched him, Samuel jerked in his place as though he had been hit in the head. The reaction was too much and too bizarre that she quickly tried to take her hand back, but felt him clasping it instead. The hold was tight and firm.
Samuel felt a sensation he had never felt before. The soft and small hand on his own felt too precious for him to let go. As he traced along the back of her hand with his thumb, he felt a shudder run through his spine. Was this what having a mate meant? How could a simple touch do so much for him? He wanted more, he wanted to touch more.
"Mr Donovan, could you please let my hand go?" That voice made him dazedly look up. He caught the distressed face of the woman who was supposed to be his mate. She looked uncomfortable and kept pulling her hand in hopes of getting it out of his hold.
"Alpha, please let her hand go," He heard Alan say, "You were here to talk to her." Samuel felt like he was dunked in ice-cold water. How had this occurred? Did he really lose control? And that too because of this Human? It was a humiliating realisation. He had been too complacent about this whole mate bond debacle. Its effect was not something they could handle. Not without precautions anyway.
"Sam?" Eros called, a worry in his voice, "You are still holding her," which made him quickly wrench his hand away, making Elia yelp.
He left out a breath he was holding before straightening in his seat. His eyes returned to being indifferent and formal as he saw Alan helping Elia sit in her chair. His hardly returned reason once again crumbled when he saw Alan's hand on Elia's arm. But before he could move, someone else did it.
Eros crossed the distance between them in less than a second and took Alan's hand away from the human. Samuel couldn't help but notice how he, too, felt relaxed when Eros did that. This darned mate bond was driving him crazy! He was losing his composure.
"Miss Miller, I apologise if I made you uncomfortable," He said as Elia returned her attention to him.
"Who are you people?" She wanted to leave this place as soon as she could. These people were weird. The two, except the doctor, looked at her in a creepy way that made her skin crawl, "I saw you two become different with claws and all, what was that?"
Samuel regained the semblance of his calm and replied, "As I said before, we are not humans. Our kind are properly referred to as shifters, me and everyone here in the Donovan pack are Wolf shifters to be precise"
"Pack?"
"Ah, the place where we wolf shifters live is known as packs"
Elia opened and closed her mouth not sure what to say. This was unbelievable; she would have never believed him if she had not seen them shift with her own eyes.
"I don't know what to say" She let out her genuine thoughts. This felt weird no matter how much she tried to think otherwise.
Samuel reclined in his seat, "I can understand your confusion, your kind have no clue about our existence and I wish you would keep it that way" Suddenly the air turned frigid as his face became serious, "Disclosing our existence will not end well for you, Miss Miller"
Was he threatening her right now? Elia pursed her lips, "I never would have learnt about it if you didn't kidnap me"
"That is an error on our side," Samuel said, "And I wish to correct it through this contract"
He opened the file in his hand and put it on the table facing her before saying, "All you have to do is sign this contract that guarantees your silence, and in return, I will guarantee your safety"
Elia furrowed her brows. One after another, she was experiencing whisplash in this place. What did her safety have to do with this contract? And signing anything without knowing fully about it seemed wrong, "I will not sign this"
She noticed how those words made Samuel's face harden. But she ignored it and added, "I want an explanation for my abduction before everything else, Mr Donovan. Is this some kind of non-disclosure agreement? Then I'll happily sign it but I would still appreciate your explanation"
Elia glanced at Eros, "I want to know what excuse you have for kidnapping me"