My eyes flew open and I immediately started thrashing but I wasn't terribly worried at first because I assumed that this was Matteo and one of his twisted training scenarios. But when I was smacked roughly upside the head, I saw that Matteo was still in bed only just beginning to stir.

How had this man gotten in without Matteo hearing? Certainly his supernatural senses would have detected an intruder...unless his wolf senses were not working to the fullest of their abilities.

I was yanked out of the bed and for a brief second, the intruder's hand slipped and I was able to let out a scream. I did something that surprised myself, I called out for Matteo.

He was up in a flash, Matteo appeared as confused as I was about how all of this came to be. Matteo moved to cross the room but suddenly there was a cold metal piece being pressed against my throat causing him to immediately stop in his tracks.

"I had my suspicions in the clearing, you did a good job at masking her scent but a human, really?"

I tried to jerk around to see who was gripping me the the metal only dug further into my neck, I winced as I felt a tiny trickle of blood roll down the side of my neck.

Matteo looked completely relaxed, there wasn't a sign of anger or concern anywhere to be seen on his features; nor did he make any move to correct Jack on his assumptions about me. This was the one time I actually needed Matteo to be angry, to do something and he just stood there casually. "Let her go, Jack."

Alpha Jack? His voice coldly resounded in a shrill laugh, "You don't get to trespass on my land and then undermine me in front of a member of my pack, that's just not how things work. You understand?"

I recalled Matteo's words from when Amias first alerted him about the situation.

They don't just let people go.

"I just find it rather humorous, the legendary Alpha of Malice getting stuck with a defenseless human for a mate. It's the ultimate embarrassment for someone like you, no wonder you've done such a diligent job keeping her under wraps." Jack dragged the tip of the knife up the length of my throat, tracing my jawline.

I was doing my best to stay cool and not let on how truly scared I actually was but when I felt the knife graze my cheek I couldn't help the strangled sob escape my lips. "Matteo, please." I whispered helplessly because right then in the dingy motel room, he was all I had.

"Hurting her isn't going to restore your pride, we both know that. Why not just let her go and we can settle this between each other, that's what this is all about in the end really." Matteo ignored the fact that Alpha Jack was holding me at knife point and resumed a slow advance towards us.

Jack gripped me tighter seeing Matteo come closer and closer with every step. "Don't you think I know that? But if it means I get to watch you suffer for even a split second, it will have been worth it."

Matteo hesitated for a moment, looking over at me for a split second before he shrugged his shoulders. I had the sinking suspicion that this wasn't all about what had taken place earlier, there was something else going on. "She's just a human like you said, her pain means nothing to me. Go ahead, make me suffer."

That was it. Alpha Jack finally had enough with Matteo's little games, he dropped the knife and threw me aside. I landed hard on my side against the hard floor of the motel room, my ribs taking the majority of the blow. In seconds both Matteo and Jack were shifted into their wolves and snarling wildly at one another. Jack's wolf was a glistening, pure white coloring with those same piercing blue eyes while Matteo's pelt was a deep brown hue.

It was immediately apparent that Jack's wolf was significantly larger than Matteo's which was strange because if I would have guessed, it would have been reversed. Don't get me wrong, Matteo was still exceptionally larger than any other normal wolf but for an alpha it was interesting to say the least. When Jack lunged snapping towards Matteo, his movements appeared clumsy in comparison to Matteo. It was clear that whatever advantage overall size might have normally played, Matteo made it up with an impressive display of speed. He moved so quickly that if I blinked I would miss him.

Every time Jack would carelessly lash out and attempt to make contact with him, Matteo was always ten steps ahead. He dodged and manipulated Jack, carefully landing several swift blows to Jack's exposed neck when he was least expecting it.

At this point, Jack was bleeding steadily from wounds on and around his neck. Matteo circled around him, he was sporting a few injuries himself but nothing compared to the state he'd left Jack in. Matteo stepped in front of me and blocked Jack from my vision and that's when I knew he was going to end this. He was no longer a human, he was a predator about to move in for the kill.

I scrambled to my feet and stood in front of Matteo, my entire body was trembling ridiculously as I positioned myself between the two alpha wolves. "Please don't do this, don't kill him. Matteo please." Despite my best efforts, I was crying, the entire situation was rather frightening for me. It made me upset that I wasn't as hardened as the other wolves, I wasn't desensitized to the violence; it was still very raw to me.

Jack breaking into the room was wrong, Jack trying to murder me in front of Matteo for some kind of twisted revenge was abhorrent but it still didn't justify Matteo killing him, to me at least. Living with no wolf really put things like this into perspective, I was constantly at the mercy of others so seeing Jack staggering defenselessly, it pulled on my sense of better self.

Matteo's wolf stared me dead on, his eyes flashing orange and black as if he was fighting with his two halves. He suddenly turned away from both Jack and me, shifting back into his human form. The wounds immediately became much more obvious without all the fur, he had a few scratches across his back and one particularly good bite mark around his ankle. But he made out pretty good if you asked me.

He turned back towards Jack, "If I ever see your face again, you're a deadman." Jack's wolf lowered it's head ever so slightly as a show of submission, albeit a rather indignant display. He quickly darted from the room and then we were alone.

Matteo quickly slipped a pair of pants on, I suppose neither of us had realized in the heat of the moment the lack of clothing. It still didn't entirely register to me. All I could think about was the cool metal that had been pressed against my throat so tightly, my hand involuntarily flew to my neck. I held onto it and somehow the feeling of my pulse raging wildly under my hands reassured and calmed me.

I flinched when I felt a hand cover mine, I looked up and saw Matteo gently taking my hand from my neck. He lifted my hand away and I was horrified to see the amount of sticky blood that coated my palm. My knees instantly buckled out from under me but Matteo was quick to snake a firm hand around my waist. He caught me and pulled me into his chest for support, "C'mon, we need to get that wrapped up."

He helped me to the bathroom and by helped I mean basically carried me there. My life had literally flashed before my eyes. The knife danced across my neck, ready to sever my lifeline at any given moment and there would have been nothing I could have done to save myself if Jack decided to follow through.

It would be easy...

Matteo set me on the ledge of the bathtub, he picked up a shirt from the floor and tore it into pieces, no doubt my shirt from the shower I took earlier. He took a seat beside me and ran one of the strips under water and began to cautiously clean the blood away from my neck so he could see exactly what he was dealing with.

His jaw was tight, I could tell he was angry but there was something else there. I flinched and Matteo immediately retracted his touch, his concerned eyes finding mine for a moment before he took a new strip and wrapped it like a bandage around my neck.

Once he was done he sat back, his brow was pursed deeply. He was clearly somewhere else. I hesitantly reached out to touch his shoulder and examine the small injuries he'd received but he pulled from my touch as he so often did.

"I didn't hear him come in." His voice was low, it was course.

He looked over at my neck once more before angrily pushing himself off of the tub. Matteo's fist connected with the wall beside the mirror and he suddenly spun around towards me with an accusing finger pointed at me before he just as quickly dropped it. Matteo twined his hands through his hair and tugged at the roots before sighing loudly and leaning back against the vanity.

Matteo stared at me from across the small room, I had a million things I wanted to ask him to the point where I think my confusion became visible, "You're not what I expected, you know."

That was definitely not one of the many pressing questions buzzing around my brain at the moment, it threw me off.

I nodded once, "I know."

He sighed and leaned forward, my hand was wrapped around my neck again. Matteo coaxed my grip from my throat but this time he didn't let go of my hand. He looked immensely uncomfortable, he was clearly not enjoying it but we both knew that what had happened tonight was a direct result of the reclusion of his wolf. So, Matteo was making an effort to restore the bond and save his wolf and I was leading him on a farce and endangering lives.

I opened my mouth to say something when Amias and Fran entered the other room. "Don't worry about us, we just had to bust our way out of solid silver chains no big deal or anything."

At the sound of Amias' sarcastic call Matteo dropped my hand. There certainly hadn't been a spark between us but I felt the loss of physical contact a little more than I should.

He straightened and stepped out of the bathroom without another word or glance in my direction. I followed Matteo out a little while after, entering the main room to Amias explaining how Fran and he were ambushed with silver by a couple of Noble wolves during the same time Matteo and Jack had been dueling each other.

I stood a little bit away from the small group, taking in the destroyed room, the blood that littered the floor and the conversation around me. It became painfully apparent that these were real people's lives I was toying with, they were all were in this situation and in harms way because of me.

It suddenly felt like the only monster that was in the room was me.