My head spun as I opened my eyes, feeling my wrists tied behind a solid rock on the floor. Kevin was next to me with ropes around his body against a tall stalagmite.

What the hell?

I stretched my left leg toward Kevin, tipping my toe against his left leg. “Kevin! Kevin!”

His head shook and opened his eyes. “Where are we?”

I glanced around at the dome-shaped chamber cavern, connected by two tunnels. Stalactites hung above like sharp nails. Candles lined along the walls, giving out light to the entire cave. 

Geez, the cave was like a total place where cultists performed human sacrifices. 

“I totally don’t know.” I shook my arms, but it was too tight.

Kevin shook his arms too. “I can’t reach the silver daggers in my pockets. But I don’t feel them.”

I growled. “Who the total heck captured us?”

As if someone heard my question, someone laughed from the left tunnel entrance.

“Hello sweetie,” said a familiar voice.

My heart dropped as a tall boy in a white tank-top and short jean pants stepped into the chamber without shoes on. His black short hair looked messy. 

“Mark?” My bitter words slipped through my lips from my pumping lungs.

“Congratulations, sweetie,” my boyfriend answered with a devilish grin. “I never expected you would survive from me.”

Oh, my god! I want to break loose and totally hug my hunkie! But….. Something doesn't look right about him. His mean stare felt like daggers piercing through my soul. “What do you mean?” 

  Mark kneeled close toward me. The musty scent I followed was coming from him. 

 “Well, there is something I never told you, sweetie," he whispered into my ear. "I am the werewolf.”

My eyes widened. “What?” 

Mark glared. “Do I have to repeat myself? I am the werewolf. W.E.R.E.W.O.L.F! Werewolf!”

My lips trembled. “B-b-b-but that can't be!"

Mark frowned. “Really?”

“The werewolf attacked you when you left the car.”

“No sweetie. I left the car to attack you.”

I shook my head. “No!”

“Yes! Yes! Yes! When I hid in the woods, I screamed to get your attention. Then I placed clues for you to follow until you reached my destination. By the time you reached my house, I let out the beast on you. Hehehe.”

Tears dripped down my cheeks. “But why?”

Mark stroked my hair. “To test you, sweetie. Ever since my father turned me, I have been lonely for a long time.”

“Your father?” Kevin asked.

Mark stared at him. “Yes, nerd. He is Mr. Roachshire. Or at least he was. After he left to go hunting, he came back as a strange man with a wolf bite mark. One night, he transformed into a wolf and killed my mother. My sister killed him with a silver blade, but he bit me and her before he died. When we turned, Betty and I couldn’t control ourselves."

He stared at the ground, grimacing as if he got a nasty taste in his mouth. "Feeding the beast was the only thing we could do. So we hunted human prey for centuries. But the more we killed, the more we grew used to it. As a reward, we get to live longer."

This was totally crazy! But I could see in his beautiful eyes that he was serious. Still, this was insane!

"Where is your sister?" Kevin asked.

Mark shook his head. "I don't know, but I don't care. Betty left me for her own path. But I stayed because it is easy to survive here."

Geez, he never told me he had a sister. Based on his sharp look, I bet they didn't get along well. Two werewolves would totally be a pain in the ass. 

“But you are still young,” I said. "How could you-"

Mark laughed. "I am immortal, sweetie. It is one of my gifts from my father.”

So if he was born in the eighteen hundreds, that would mean-

"Oh, my god! You're actually an old man?" I screamed.

Mark rolled his eyes. "Geez, sweetie. I'm only one thousand years old."

"But that is worse!"

"So, you still enjoyed our sex, right?" He winked his brows. "My body is still hotter than your grandfather."

Oh god….. My stomach was already tripping. I could puke now, but I didn't want to ruin my shoes or covered my legs in vomit. How could I be so stupid?

Immortal or not (with a cute body), was still totally gross! I never understood why girls in romantic supernatural novels dated vampires or werewolves who were way too old for them? The authors and ready must be sick in the head!

Don't think I was totally being hypocritical. I never read those books, except my old friends. They kept bugging me to read them, and it only took one shopping spree for me to read one book.

Yeah, totally stupid books for girls who never got laid. I never believed a girl would fall in love with a hundred-year-old man, no matter how handsome he was. Yes, Mark was handsome as ever, but I didn't know he was way too old for me. If my daddy found out about this, he would totally lose his shit. Thank god he wasn't here….. Although he would totally help us. “Still gross, but what are you going to do to us? If I stay out too long, my daddy will find me and kill you!"

Mark smiled. “I doubt that, sweetie. But I will not harm you. After all, you are now outside the food chain.”

A bean of sweat dripped down my forehead. “What do you mean?”

Mark placed his hands on my shoulders. "Like I was saying to test you. Since my sister left, I was lonely. Human beings don't make easy companions when they are my cattle. I wanted a mate. A female mate who I can grow close to. So I tried turning my first girlfriend, but she was too weak to bear the transformation. Each girl died after I bit them. Like my bite was poison to them. But if my father could turn my sister and I into wolves, so can I! I just have to keep biting my dates until I find the one. To make it easy for me to choose wisely, I tested them in the woods. Hunting them after I bit them to see if they can survive.” 

He glared at Kevin. "I even attacked couples to take their girlfriends for a chance. But they are all weak! Fragile, and stupid! All….." He turned toward my face. "Except you, sweetie."

His lips touched my right ear. "You are the only one who won my big prize. I watched you, waited for you, and now you are here to become my mate. We are going to make lots of puppies for our own pack."

I was too frozen in his eyes as he laid his lips against mine, kissing me hard. His fangs pressed on my lips like needles, but I kissed him back, anyway. Licking and touching his tongue as our breaths fogged over our panting faces.

His male werewolf scent collided around me, embracing me in his heat. As my blood boiled, my inner sexual desire was ready to burst.

He was right….. I am his mate….. And I wanted him inside me so we can-

Wait! No! What was wrong with me?

I swung my head off his face and spat out his saliva. "No! Stop that!"

Mark stepped back, looking puzzled. "Sweetie….."

"I'm not you, sweetie! You tried to kill me!"

"But you won my test, sweetie."

"What about the people you totally killed? And the girls you raped before slaughtering them?"

Mark bit his lower lip. "They are nothing. All part of the food chain. I have been alone for a long time. Living among the sheep never changed that. All the girls I have been with were the same. They are just food to calm down my hunger."

Unbelievable! Everything I thought about my hunkie was a lie? Well, he totally wasn't my hunk anymore. "You are sick!"

"You think I enjoyed living in this cave and eating people? I had to enjoy it! It is the only way I can live!"

He touched my chin. "But I don't have to do this alone. You are the same as me now. If you didn't escape, you wouldn't be here with me."

I snarled. "I am nothing like you!"

Mark pointed his finger at Kevin. "Do you think weaklings like him will accept who you are? What would you do if the entire town discovers you are a monster? Would you still live with them?"

I stared at the ground, holding back my tears. 

Yes, I feared what would happen if everyone knew my werewolf issue. Not only my dad would totally freak out, all my friends would kick me off the team. Maybe the entire town would chase me into the woods with torches and pitchforks. I don't want to live like an animal outside human civilization. My parents raised me as a human being, and I totally enjoyed that. Why should I give it all up? And I still have the chance to control my beast, thanks to the princess of darkness. Mark can totally suck it! "I can manage that."

Mark snickered. "Then prove it to me."

From his back pocket, he pulled out a knife and cut the rope off my wrists. He grabbed me and pushed me to the ground. I rose on fours to sprint, but he placed his foot on my back, pushing me down to the ground. 

Geez, I couldn't get back up! It felt like an anvil was on my back!

"It's nighttime now, sweetie," Mark whispered. "If you can avoid eating your nerd boy, I will let you go. If not, my point is true."

"No!" I pounded the ground. "Let me go! Let me go!"

Mark laughed. "You think you can control the beast inside of you? Show me!"

Without the seal, I couldn't prove Mark was wrong. The moment I turn, Kevin will be a total goner!

All my fears of eating people would totally come true. I would lose everything I loved, and the normal people will hunt me down forever. I needed to resist!

But the pain shot through her body, and the heat rose inside my bungling muscles.

Oh no! The beast was coming out!