"Why the sudden change in attitude?" At last, Olivia could summon enough courage to confront him with a question.
The alpha was speechless. He tried to cover up. "Were you hurt by Ruana?''
"No, I wasn't hurt,'' she lied. "Why did you send everyone away? Is it time? Are you planning to kill me right here on the spot?"
"Believe me, if I want to kill you, I will not be the one to do that. They are the ones. (Referring to his wolf warriors) That's their job and not mine." He removed his hands completely from her body before asking her a question. "Olivia, tell me more about yourself. How was life like living under Catherina?''
"Do you care? Look, all of these don't matter. I'm going to be killed by you after all so, I don't see any need for us going into this talk,'' she shifted a bit away from him.
"I know life has never been easy for you. You can't hide that. I could see that from the very first day Catherina your stepmother promised to exchange you, for setting her free, and for the good services we rendered to her.'' He made a bold move and grabbed her hands. He lifted them, "don't move Olivia or you are going to get hurt.'' He cut the rope tied to her two hands with a small sharp knife he had brought from his pocket.
Olivia felt relieved but, it doesn't change the resentment she feels against the werewolves, stemming from the way she had been treated.
"How do feel now? A bit relief I guess?''
She never answered him but maintained an unusual silence.
"Don't tell me human girl you don't want to talk?'' He waited for some seconds for her to speak nevertheless, Olivia was silent. "Fine if you don't want to talk then, I will have no choice rather than send you back into the dungeon.''
While he waited on her, one of the wolves he had sent out previously came back on his own without the alpha wolf's order. "Is it time to take her back lord Ramon?'' Asked the guard.
"Probably but, give me some seconds?'' Replied Ramon. The wolf guard nodded in concurrence before exiting the scene once again. Ramon quickly turned to speak with Olivia again. Her face had been facing downwards. Perhaps, she could be thinking about how she will spend her last breath of life, in the hands of the wolves before they waste her on a sacrificial day to come.
Even though Ramon was beginning to fall for the human girl Olivia, he still has to live with the ultimate reality that, his sudden infatuation with Olivia is far from being normal in the world of the werewolves. He made an attempt to leave, but not without calling the guards to take her away. Nevertheless, that will never happen as Olivia quickly reacted just as the alpha was walking out.
"Stop! Can I ask you a question please?''
He turned around to face her again. This time he found a troubling look on her face. 'This must be related to the sacrifice of a thing,' Ramon assumed.
"Yes. What can it be? I promise to attend to your questions. Anyone one of them, ''
"Is it right to offer humans as sacrifices to your moon goddess in the name of acquiring more powers? What powers are you thinking of again when you are already endowed with relative immortality? Is it right wolf? Think again! Is it right to be spilling the blood of innocent humans once every ten years, on the altar of your so called moon goddess? Does your craving for extra powers worth that alpha?''
"You seem to know pretty much about the nature of this sacrifice. How did you know about them, human girl?'' He was shocked, not only did she know the exact purpose of the sacrifice but also, the years it will take to perform one. 'Have some fed Olivia some vital information or she is just making up this story,' he asked himself silently.
"You promised to answer my question, now is the time to fulfill that promise,'' she reminded him.
"Well, Olivia I thought you were bent on asking me for something more significant?''
"This is significant too. I want to confirm from you the reason why I'm getting killed," her recessive voice appeared to back up her question.
Here, alpha Ramon found himself doing the unthinkable. Talking to an inferior human girl destined for sacrifice to their goddess. The very girl when killed will unlock the powers he longed for. The worst part of the whole thing is the fact that right now, he is being moved by compassion. He doesn't know if it's love, infatuation, or loss for Olivia. He has found himself in an unfavorable condition to answer her difficult questions.
He never imagined for a second if, his Luna may come back and stand behind him and Olivia in concealment and listen to every word they said to each other that night.
"Fine, I will tell you, Olivia,'' he began, "I was not the first alpha who started this tradition of sacrificing a girl to our moon goddess every ten years. It was a tradition that I inherited and it must not end with me. A special power will be given to me to preside over all other wolf clans after the sacrifice. Ruana will also, become my official mate after the ritual in the presence of our moon goddess. You see, it means a lot to me but right now, I will not deny the fact that I'm beginning to have some cracks about this whole thing.''
Surprised by his words, she was moved with the courage to proceed deeper. "And what are the cracks you are talking about?"
"All I'm saying is that….,'' he cut short the original words he intended to say. He switched over to a different sentence. "All I'm saying is that I wish I could do something about this, Olivia."
While he talked, Olivia noticed a humanoid figure standing behind one of the large trees not far from where the alpha stood. There was no way Ramon could see it because his back was turned against the strange figure. She was horrified at the sight of what she was seeing but, Ramon paid little or no attention to where her eyes focused at the moment.