C9 Tame the Beast

**Dylan's POV**

"Hello?"

"What took you so long to pick up the fucking phone!" I shout at Zander but my voice sounds as shaky as my legs.

"Easy man, I was in library and my phone was muted. What happened? "

"Emergency. Meet me at the toliet behind the Chinese restaurant. Bring two doses of the depressant and be quick." I feel dizzy and I have to lean against the washbasin for support. Damn, my face in the mirror looks paler than a vampire. How disgusting.

"Who is that?" I can hear Nancy's doubtful voice from the phone, "why does he ask you to meet at a toilet?"

"Don't be so suspicious. It's your brother. He needs some help. I should go now."

"What?! What happened? I thought he was having a date with the human girl. Oh no, did she drug him?! I will kill that bitch!"

DON'T YOU DARE TO CALL HER BITCH. I heard a voice in my mind and I feel so lucky that I didn't actually say that to my sister.

"Calm down Nancy, we don't know what was happening." Zander says as he hangs up the phone and suddenly all the sounds vanish.

I close my eyes, trying to calm down but the meditation doesn't work well. My body is on fire and the voice appears again. This time I recognize the speaker and I am speechless.

My wolf, Mr.Black, the evil beast who should have been slumbering was awakened by Helen Hester's stupid cat.

"Where is she?" Black interrogates me.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"Don't play the fool with me, Dylan. You know exactly what I am talking about." Black warns and growls, "Where is our mate?"

"I don't know."

"Liar! I smelt her scent! And so did you. I can't believe it. You can take her right there and mark her. Why did you run? Why did you fucking run away from our mate? You should have fucked her hard and made her scream your name!"

I am lulled to picture the scene and feel aroused by what I imagined. Black senses that and laughs hysterically." You are pathetic."

"Shut up." I grit my teeth and manage to stand straight a little bit, glaring at the mirror, as if Black were the reflection inside. I desperately hope there won't be anyone coming inside or I would be seen as a maniac who keeps talking to the mirror.

"You think you are in charge, don't you? You own the body and I'm a poor cub who can do nothing but follow the order of the master, is this what you think?" Black snorts and I am pushed by an invisible force coming out of the blue. My abdomen is pressed against the washbasin and I can feel a pain stinging my skin as if my flesh were pierced by his claws.

"Take me to our mate." Despite the force nearly crunching my bones, the voice is Black uses is weirdly soft.

I had heard stories that some Alphas can't get along well with their wolves. I never thought I would be one of them until Black and I met each other when I was 18. The first time I heard his voice, I didn't like his commanding tone. I hate to admit but Black is indeed a powerful wolf. He and I sometimes would even fight for the dominance of the body, for he hates to be stuck in costumes. He prefers the wolf form and deeply believes that's the taste of freedom.

Herb White, Zander's father, Doctor of the pack tamed Black by making him fall into sleep by brewing the magical depressant. I loathed the bitterness of the liquid but have got used to drinking it. After all, a dose a month keeps Mr. Black away.

"I don't want to fight with you, Dylan. But I will if that's necessary." Black says and the pressure on my back becomes stronger. It looks like my head is volunteering to hit the mirror.

"And what makes your meeting with her a necessity?" I protest angrily.

"She is our mate! We want her." There are only inches between my forehead and the mirror.

"YOU want her and you are trying to manipulate me to believe in this …… whatever it is!" I shout at the mirror, which definitely angers Black. All of a sudden I lose control of my body and a force from nowhere pushes me to hit the mirror. My eyes shut close but the expected pain does not come. I open my eyes to see if Black changes his mind, only to see another figure in the mirror. Zander White grasps my shoulder from behind, staring at me incredibly.

"Are you possessed by the Ring?" Zander glances at the mirror and then back at me, dragging me away from the mirror, "Who are you talking to, Sméagol*?"

"What the fuck did he just say? Who is Sméagol? "Black asks.

"A nasty creature as evil as you." I tell Black and all the playfulness in Zander's tone is gone. It is a pity that Zander can't hear Black's voice and now his expressions look much more concerned.

"What happened?" Zander asks.

"No time for explanations." I sigh and look at the depressant in Zander's hand, eyeing him to hand it to me.

Zander is confused. You can tell that from his pinched eyebrow. But it doesn't take my wisest advisor much time to figure out the truth.

"Is your wolf awaken?" Zander mouths and I nod.

Zander's eyes widen sharply and he quickly hands the depressant to me. With a gulp, I drink the whole dose. As the bitterness on my tongue fades, the voice of Black becomes lower and lower.

Minutes later, I hear his snoring and I breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thank you." I say to Zander.

"Always at your service," he answers in a humble tone, with a sense of unnoticeable sarcasm.

I smile at him and decide to stop Nancy from disturbing him for one week. I know how to return the favor. Nancy won't be happy about this, though.

I do care about my little sis, but she is not my prior concern right now. I need to find a perfect excuse for my leaving or my relationship with Helen will be ended before starting. I need Zander's assistance and seeking advice from him always costs something.

"I will keep Nancy away from you for one week," I promise him as we walk towards the car. I can see Nancy is applying lipstick. She is too focused to notice our existence. So we decided to have a private conversation before going to her.

"I appreciate that."Zander smiles knowingly, "Do feel free to ask any questions."

The word free sounds quite ironic.

"I need to convince Helen I didn't ruin the first date on purpose. You will help me find a reasonable explanation so I can ask her out again."

"Ok. But I need to know what happened. What awakes your wolf from the slumber? Don't tell me it is the magic of love because I won' believe it. "

"Yeah, you believe in nothing but your phone." I roll my eyes.

"Nope, I don't trust it. Not a bit. Phones can listen and record people's conversations, anticipating their next move with a kind of algorithm. Digital devices are the best cunning spies in this era."

"And why are you addicted to the screen if you already knew they are our enemies?"

"Knowing your enemies so you can defeat them." Zander shrugs, "Besides, I won't call them enemies. They are tools and you can turn them into powerful weapons if you know how to use them wisely. Then, they can be used against our real enemies."

"The vampires."

"Educable."Zander nods and gives his praise.

"That's not very encouraging. You can call me a genius."I am not quite satisfied with his comment.

"Ok." Zander laughs, "Tell me genius, what did the human girl do to wake up your wolf?"

"She shouldn't take the blame. The perpetrator is her cat."

"Her cat?"Zander blinks at me.

"Yes, as fat as a ball. Whiter than a vampire's face, which is why the cat is called Snowball I guess?"

"But you've been around cats and none of them woke up your wolf. There must be something different about this cat." Zander furrows his eyebrows and mutters, " I read an article on* Creatures* few years ago but I can't remember it clearly. I will check that and inform you later."

"Cool." I snatch the car key from his hand and walk to the car.

"Were you drugged?"Nancy sends me a worried look. After applying lipsticks, she finally has some time to show her concerns to me.

"No."

"Ok."she nods, "then you can drive."

"I had thought you would ask me why I called Zander to meet me here."

"Because the human girl stood you up, obviously." Nancy smirks, "Just like what your fiancé did to you. I feel sorry for you, brother. They are similar in this sense."

"They are more than similar, dear sister. The human girl is my fiancé and you should be ready to call her Luna someday."

With that, the smirk on her face falls and reappears on my face.

——

Author's note:

I am a super fan of Lord of the Rings and Sméagol is the name of Gollum before the Hobbit turns into the horrible creature. I will be very happy if you can share your thoughts regarding this story with me.