Meeting Adrian

The door creaked open. Madeline braced herself for whatever she was about to see.

Knowing she could've just waited for Adrian instead of considering leaving to tour the place herself, Madeline left anyway, changed into more comfortable clothing she happened to find laying on an ottoman.

'I've got to see what's up with this place,' she thought.

Truth be told, she was tempted to leave. What was there to stay for?

Sure, she found her soulmate. But surely she wasn't actually destined to spend the rest of her life with this guy, right? This had to be some joke!

Maybe, this was all a dream. That would explain it.

She pinched herself, covering her mouth to prevent herself from yelping in pain.

"Yep, totally not a dream," she grumbled.

Taking a look around, she let out a gasp. It was a whimsical wonderland in the woods. Or at least, to her it was.

It was now morning, much to her surprise.

'How long was I out for?' She asked, before she heard a snap sound.

She had stepped on a twig.

"Crap," Madeline frowned.

"Hi," she heard someone greet.

She flinched.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," she heard someone say from behind her.

Madeline's hand went to her chest.

"You scared me," she said, whirling around to see who it was.

It was the same man from that gathering!

"You must be Adrian," Madeline nodded.

Adrian scratched the back of his neck, "Yep, that's me!"

"I really didn't mean to scare you. Just… I forget humans are sensitive to us werewolves having super speed most of the time."

He straightened himself.

"Right, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Adrian, Xavier's loyal advisor and beta of the werewolves. If you're wondering what beta is, I'm second in command. In the unfortunate case anything happens to the current alpha, who's Xavier, that is," Adrian chuckled.

Frankly, he seemed like a friendly guy.

Madeline took the information in, not knowing what she'd gotten herself into. But, she couldn't help but think… Adrian was much sweeter than Xavier was.

He grinned at her, "So, I should probably get to doing what I was sent here to do, which is to show you around the place!"

"And don't worry, I don't bite hehe," he reassured, shooting Madeline a gentle smile.

Finally, someone who wasn't cold and distant.

'Hmm, maybe I'm just being prejudiced against werewolves,' Madeline reasoned.

'I just got to talk to one werewolf.'

"Not all werewolves are as cold as Xavier, right?" Madeline asked.

A drop of sweat formed on Adrian's face.

"That's outside of my… paygrade."

"You get paid?" Madeline creased her brow in confusion. What was this

"Err, no I don't actually. I just don't like to speak of why the alpha's…"

Adrian paused a second before continuing, "...the way he is."

Madeline pouted, "So you can't tell me anything?"

Adrian looked fairly guilty for someone who was meant to be the alpha's advisor. Wasn't he supposed to be cool and calm?

"I'm sorry, I can't," he apologized before trying to change the subject, "Let's just get moving."

"I was asked to give you a tour after all," Adrian spoke, a grin replacing his frown.

Madeline agreed reluctantly; the sensible thing to do next was to get to know the place well anyway.

After a whole hour of getting to know the place, Madeline was well-versed to the lodgings in the wood and everything else. Obviously she hadn't gotten to see the entire place since that would've taken much longer, but she'd seen all the important facilities and places. And, she learnt more about werewolves.

"So summarizing everything you said, alpha's the leader, beta the advisor, delta and omega protectors except omega's lower in rank. That, and prowess varies depending on rank."

"Yep!" Adrian smiled reassuringly.

"If you've got any other questions, feel free to ask me."

'He really is sweet, nothing like Xavier,' Madeline thought, peering at him.

"Speaking of which, where is Xavier?"

"Oh look, there's Alpha Xavier!"

Speak of the alpha.

Adrian bowed, prompting Madeline to do the same.

Xavier glared at her, and she glared back.

Noticing the tension between the both of them, Adrian made the decision to leave.

"I should get going now," he declared, waving Madeline goodbye.

"Bye Adrian!" Madeline greeted, flashing him a dazzling smile with her pearly whites.

Once he left, she turned to him.

"So what now?" He questioned.

"You're asking me that?"

"You're the one with a lot of things to say," Xavier pointed out, a distasteful look painted across his face. He looked somewhat displeased, as though she'd done something to tick him off.

"If you have something to say to me, you could just tell me."

"Well, I apologize if I don't find confiding rudimentary to a stranger."

"Cut the fancy talk."

"You're not telling me you can't comprehend a couple of moderately difficult words, are you?"

"Did you just--"

Madeline wanted to slap him.

"Are you calling me dull-witted?" She demanded, her eyes flaring from rage.

How dare he!

She stomped away.

'Hmph, how dare he call me unintelligent!'

"What are you doing?" He called from afar.

"Going somewhere I'm not made a fool of," she flipped her hair.

Xavier pressed his palm against his forehead.

What was she doing?

"Seriously?"

"You're leaving?"

"I am!"

"Did you forget we're bonded by a red string or something?"

"No I didn't, for your information. But that doesn't mean I can't leave," Madeline said.

"This is all too much for me to handle."

'I'm a normal person. I'm not someone that gets paired up with the alpha of the werewolves - if werewolves even exist - so how am I supposed to deal with all of this in one day? I'm leaving.'

Madeline had been given proof werewolves exist, and yet she was still in denial.

However, whilst she was occupied ignoring Xavier's warnings and so focused on leaving the place, she didn't notice a large branch falling towards her.

The hairs in the back of her neck stood, and when she looked upwards, it was much too late.

A piercing scream echoed through the woods.

CRASH!