Chapter 7 Outfoxed

Squeaks!" Karen's eyelids peeled open when she heard a loud, violent noise banging against the door. Tensed, she quickly sat up on the bed as her eyes sharply narrowed toward the direction of the doorpost. A feeling of insecurity haunted her mind when all she saw were strange shadows, standing at the entrance of the door. The heat of their intimidating scents only revealed to Karen that there were more of these unknown lycans outside the cabin. She stealthily came down from her bunk, her heart thudding against her chest like a wild beast, as tiptoed towards the door. When Karen reached, the first thing she did was to place her right ear on the door, hoping to eavesdrop on them since there were no peepholes. However, the deafening sounds created by the violent knocking banged into her ears, making her regret her decision. "Bad idea", she hissed uncomfortably while covering the affected ear. With the increasingly loud knocks, Karen was forced to snap the locks. As soon as the door gave way, the unfamiliar faces of dreadful-looking men who glowered with dangerousness and disgust greeted her. They were all dressed in sophisticated black suits, dark shades, and matching black shoes. Everything would have looked perfect with their gentlemanly outfit except that there was no atom of a smile on their stoic faces. Immediately, Karen was alerted. Although she couldn't tell whether they were from their pack, she was sure that their intention of paying her an early morning visit wasn't a good one. " The Alpha has ordered us to bring you to his castle. You have an interrogation waiting for you so I urge you to remain silent and follow us now", a front man sneered at her, keeping a straight face that made him look imposing. Karen, thinking that it was her father who had sent the bodyguards to bring her home bluntly refused. Going back home meant she would be seeing that backstabber, Charlotte, who called herself her sister and that would certainly serve as a reminiscence to yesternight event. The outcome might not turn out well since she might end up hurting her as a result of anger. And that, she wasn't prepared for. " Tell him that I'm not coming with you people. I wanna be left alone for the meantime", Karen responded abruptly, attempting to close the door but the man suddenly held the door frame. His grip tightened the more causing a slight crumpling of the metal frame. In one pull, he ended up detaching the door from its hinge. Karen was dazed. ' This man must be strong but not as tough as I am', she thought to herself, meanwhile, taking five steps away from the permissive lycan, who was now advancing towards her, like a deadly predator stalking its prey. " I'm sorry princess but we can't leave without you", he said frowning, his face assuming animalistic features as claws were starting to grow out of his fingers. Seeing this, Karen's eyebrows creased in vexation. "Then you leave me no choice", she grinned callously. Since violence was the only language they would understand clearly, she had no option other than to teach them the hard way. On the spur of the moment, Karen launched herself towards the lycan who instantly swiped his clawed hands, reaching out for her cheeks. However, the young girl was quick to dodge those vicious claws. Following her momentum, Karen drew a long slide on the floor, her head thrown backward which caused her beautiful wavy brownish hair to flow like a fountain. She skillfully passed between his legs which were spread open in a fighting stance, lifting herself almost immediately to deal with the man next. As the furious man spun around to find her, a kick banged at his face and sent him crashing against the wall at the other end of the room. Blown with surprise, the other men widened their eyes. They kept throwing confused glances at each other, as they had witnessed the impact of the kick from a fragile eighteen-year-old girl which sent an able-bodied man flying half meters across the room. Now, they could prove that the rumors going on about Karen being the strongest wolf of the Blood Moon Pack weren't lies anymore. Groaning, the attacker rose from the floor and straightened his neck, his spines also cracking up in the process. Just as he was about to charge at Karen, he noticed a warm liquid trickling down his nose. Slowly, he raised his hand to his face and scraped the sticky substance only to see blood smearing his fingers. Damn! His nose was broken. At first, he exhibited fear and then it turned to rage. Maddened by pain and anger, the bleeding lycan yelled furiously at his colleagues who were yet to do anything. " Someone get that bitch!" Now, the men were stricken with fear– great fear for Karen, stood frozen that they could barely move a finger. The rumor was true. No eighteen-year-old girl could inflict such pain on an experienced warrior and going to attack her means that they could be dead meat too. As they strived with this conflict in their minds, another yell from the man forcefully slammed into their ears, jolting them back to consciousness. Timidly, they encircled their target. Although their hands were shaking terribly, they didn't retreat because they pledged to fulfill the alpha's orders; dead or alive. Karen on the other hand was apt to stop them from taking her back to the pack. She wouldn't think twice about harming them if they tried to seize her. With every second passing by, the large circle got smaller and smaller as the timorous lycans closed in on Karen. At their final encroachment,Karen's glowed a brilliant purple light. Her hybrid form revealing as the witch in her is awakened to destroy her enemies. Immediately, a screeching noise filled the air as the metal bunk kept at the left side of the room mysteriously moved, heading towards the men at great speed. Just as the metal was in for a collision from behind— which from all aspects was going to be a fatal one, the loud beckoning of a man outside the circle refrained her from showing them her brutality. Simultaneously, the combatants pivoted around to see a tall, muscular brunette walking into the room. He was dressed similarly to them just that his suit was white and intricately crafted than the others. " Stop, you bunch of scumbags! Is this the way the alpha had ordered you to treat his mate? Don't you know that you'll be punished heinously for laying a finger on his mate?", he scolded his subordinates. " But that was…" " Just shut the fuck up and do the needful!", he interrupted the other guy whose bleeding nose was now healing, though, at a slower rate. As the other men were still dazed at the unexpected attitude their fellow lycan brother displayed to them, the new guy walked up to Karen whose eyes were still sealed in fury and bowed. " Forgive them, my princess. They've crossed the line. I'm Beta Richardson Bale, a werewolf from Golden Paw Pack. Alpha Damion had sent words to me that he needed you to be brought to his castle, safe and sound, unlike the approach this stupid folks had given you", he eyed the other men before he turned back to Karen with a placid smile. " And how do I know you're not lying to me?", she growled, her temper still burning like a fiery furnace. " Uhm…you see, Damion was hurt when he saw you leave heartbrokenly, so that was why he sent you to bring you to him so that he can render an apology to his princess" "All he wants to do is to talk to you about last night", he uttered, a deceitful tone sweetening his tongue that Karen could barely decipher the truth. " Really?"Karen asked, the purple color dimming away from her eyeballs to be replaced with a radiant glow of green. Her eyes widened in excitement on hearing Richard's words. " Absolutely", he affirmed and bowed his head slowly. While he did this, he used the opportunity to hide the foxy smile on his face. " But they never mentioned it that way because if they had, I wouldn't have created a scene", she spoke with partial regret, clearly showing that she hadn't noticed the man's unusual behavior. " Yeah, they must have been really stupid to coerce the alpha's mate to follow them. We must leave now. Damion isn't the type that likes to be kept waiting", Richardson told her, his face now wearing a solemn look which altered his previous cheerfulness. " Okay. But do you have to wait for me to change into something nice? I promise, I won't take that long. It's gonna be quick", Karen said, hurrying away. But Richard caught her by the arm. "That wouldn't be necessary as this meeting is very urgent", he said gravely. " Okay… If you say so", she said, looking suspiciously at the brunet who suddenly gave her an unusual smile. She could feel it…. something wasn't right about this man's approach. However, she decided to go with them as rejecting to meet the Supreme alpha in the whole of Cosmox Woods would show a sign of disrespect. Moreover, Aria purrs at the mention of Damion' name gives her a nudging effect that she couldn't easily overlook. Even after feeling rejected, she still couldn't help but feel a strong attraction towards his wolf. Walking away, Richardson saw the leader of the warriors, who had been hit earlier by Karen's jaw-breaking kick and rushed towards him. When he had reached him, he grabbed him by his collar and pinned him against the wall. " I see you're not thankful that I saved your ass today because if you were, you wouldn't dare to interrupt me while I'm still speaking. I. Am. Your. Beta and there's no room for questioning my authority", he grinded, tooting every word as anger had overwhelmed him. " The next time this happens, I might not be there to help you so you've got to use those goddamn brains wisely, got that huh?", he told him warningly, shaking him so rough that his dark shades fell off his eyes. " I'm sorry, Beta. I promise it…it won't happen again", the man stammered, apologetically. The loud yell of Karen sounded from outside the cabin." I'm still waiting!"Karen shouted, reminding them of their crucial appointment with the Supreme alpha. On hearing her query, Richard quickly dressed the rumpled collar of the man while grinning at him. " Just a minute, someone lost his shades and I was trying to help him find it", he shouted back, hurriedly walking out of the cabin. It would only take someone smart enough as Richardson to outfox Karen into believing that Damion wanted a reconciliation; unlike the other dumb werewolves who thought they could capture such a dangerous hybrid in her awareness. Now, Karen was literally walking into a death trap, a kind that was devised by the man she called mate