Polly rose from the wooden log, glancing around the dense trees. Blake was busying himself with the herbal ingredients, unaware of the frantic commotion spiraling inside of her, but if there was really someone here with them, watching them, shouldn't wolves be able to sense it?
"Blake." Polly approached the blondie and asked, "If there's someone other than your pack, for example, let's say someone different from your pack trespasses into the crescent moon territory, you or anyone else has the ability to sense it, right?"
Blake's eyes were on her for a few seconds. She was awaiting his reply, and a look of puzzlement brushed his countenance before he nodded slowly, "yes, why do you ask? Did something happen?"
He had risen to his full height, and Polly shook her head in response before quietly returning to the log, but she didn't bother to sit down anymore. When Blake's attention returned to the plants he was uprooting, Polly brought out her phone and responded.
Polly: Lying bastard!
Stalker: You wanted to fuck me up, remember?
Polly: It wasn't an empty threat!
Stalker: Prove it. Come find me in your little raincoat.
At the end of his sentence was a smiling emoji, and Polly squeezed her phone at his audacity. Fear and anger tangled inside of her, a volatile mix that made her fingers tremble as she shoved her phone back into her jeans pocket.
If he wanted a chase, she was going to give him one.
A figure in black shifted in the corner of her vision, messing with the underbrush, and she instantly veered in that direction, convinced that it was him. Without thinking, she took off running in that same direction, her footsteps muffled by the damp earth.
She knew she shouldn't be chasing a murderer alone, but the need to confront him, to see his face was constantly biting at her. She needed to know why he killed Andrew, and why the bite mark on her father's skin was similar to the ones on Andrew.
Why did he tell her to come here?
She needed answers.
The forest seemed to close in on her, and she skidded to a halt. Every tree seemed to serve as a potential hiding place, and a flash of movement behind branches and underbrush told her he was near. She could sense someone was watching her, but there was nothing at sight, no matter how hard she looked.
"Show yourself!" She screamed, her sound swallowed by the thick foliage. Her breathing came in ragged gasps, and she wondered how long she had been running to be so out of breath. The silence pressed in, the dripping leaves a taunting reminder of her isolation, but she had run farther than she expected, cause she was lost.
The path seemed unfamiliar now, and just when she was starting to reason how she'd return back to Blake, the same figure moved quickly through the underbrush, and Polly darted towards it. She found herself in a clearing, and a frightful scream escaped her lungs.
A man in black was standing at the other end of the clearing. He was dressed in a white shirt topped with a black lightweight hoodie jacket and jeans. Half of his face was obscured by the hoodie, but even so, Polly knew he was watching her, because when he lifted his head, his stiff lips curved into a devastating smirk.
He didn't hide this time, and Polly knew if she aborted the mission and just ran away, it would be fruitless, and he'd certainly come after her. However, her toxic trait was believing she can stand up to this stalker.
She wasn't going to run away, not with that lame smirk decorating his lips, as though he was enjoying the different reaction she was unfortunately entertaining him with.
With her hands tightly balled at her side, she approached him and angrily tried to push him.
"What do you want from me?" She demanded, but he said nothing. He barely budged at her violent push, not even taking a step back, and Polly was instantly mindful of whom she was messing with here. She used half of her strength due to her anger, yet he was steadily rooted to the ground, and she was going to ignore the hard warm muscles she felt when her hands reached for his abdomen to push him.
He was a murderer, a stalker, and she was going to report him with full evidence this time.
"Can't speak?" Polly pressed on as his silence bothered her, "you were so chatty on the phone but can't seem to find your voice during confrontation. You are going to answer all of my questions today, and what I have to say is—"
Polly was silenced when he suddenly closed the distance between the two of them, and her heart skidded in panic when his cool hands cupped her face, only for her lips to be met with his. He tilted her head up and didn't hesitate to lock lips with the raging woman, and what felt like a sizzling spark went through both of them.
Polly was paralyzed, and her eyes were wide open. She was shocked, bewildered, afraid, puzzled, and so much more. She did not move, her body did not listen to her mind that was currently screaming in her stead. The man fortunately did not drive his lips further, as it was only a mere brush of lip to lip– a soft caress, yet it sent relentless shivers coursing down her spine.
When he pulled back like he was visibly struggling with himself, his cool hands caressed her beet-red cheeks, and his voice finally flowed from his lips. "Keep your distance from your pack members. Don't trust anything they tell you, are you listening to me?"
He pulled back his hoodie, revealing his face, and only then did Polly's brain reset to normal.
"R-Rafael?" The disbelief in her voice was palpable, and she tensed up when he gently brushed a stray lock from her green eyes.
"Remember what I've told you. A few more days, just a few more days left and I'll take you away from them." The light ray hit his eyes that seemed to darken with something feral, making them sparkle like jewels, they looked more purple than blue for some reason, and Polly was so out of her mind that when she recovered, he was gone.
She looked around desperately, but there was no one in sight. Her weak legs made her sink to the earth, and her trembling fingers touched the lips that had been kissed by a stranger. Her heart wouldn't stop racing, and just the recollection of that kiss made her relive the same strange current that jolted through her body.
Rafael was her stalker????
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A/N: Original art of Rafael in comment section <3