Bella woke up and found herself tied in a tree. Both of her arms and feet were tied tightly. She saw three men talking to each other. When one of them noticed that she is awake and the person who saw her stood up and left. And after some time, the man, who Bella thought is their leader, came with the man who left earlier.
Their leader walked to her and smirked at her.
"You're awake. You sure enjoyed your little nap."
"Who are you? Why are you doing this?"
Bella knew that this person didn't want money nor her body because if they did, then they would have harrassed her earlier, but instead, they tied her in a tree.
"I'm sorry for the late introduction. Wyatt Dillon, the heir of the Dillon Tribe."
Bella's mind was flooded with questions when she heard the word tribe. She is thinking that maybe this island isn't uninhabited, nor is it still undiscovered. It's just that no one dares to come in here. This is an island that normal people wouldn't want to be near.
"How about you? What is your name?"
"I don't think you deserve to know my name."
"Now, now. That is not fair, is it? You ask for my name, and I let you know it, but when it's my turn to ask, you say that I don't deserve to know? What a rude female."
He laughed, and the other three started laughing too. The man who called himself Wyatt suddenly grabbed Bella's chin and inched his face closer. Bella dodged when their faces are centimeters away.
Wyatt scoffed and gripped Bella's neck hard. Bella started coughing when Wyatt's gripped was getting harder and harder. Tears started pooling at the sides of Bella's eyes.
"Don't be cocky, woman. You will be tied here for days without giving you food or water. And in those days, make sure that you realize what you have done wrong."
Wyatt his grip, and Bella gasped for air. Her eyes were red, and her neck was bruised from Wyatt's grip. Wyatt walked away, and he disappeared on sight. The men walked away from her, but not too far away to not see her.
Bella stayed there for thirty minutes. Earlier, the men kept disappearing, but after some time, they returned to their posts. This time, the three men left, and Bella just grunted. Her whole body started to feel numb. And she is slowly losing her consciousness. She can see the sky in the distance, and it is pitch black. She also heard thunders a few minutes earlier.
She sighed heavily, slowly giving in in her wearing consciousness when she heard the leaves rustling behind her. She started to panic, thinking that it might be a carnivous wild animal that will devour her. She was ready to scream but stopped. The animal she was thinking about has a human form. A big and tall human form, to be exact.
Bella realized that it wasn't an animal but a man. She should be calming down, but for some reason, her heartbeat was becoming faster and faster. She can't see the man's face because it was dark and he is hiding in the shadows.
Bella knows that the man was looking at her because she can feel his gaze. He just stood there for a brief moment before walking to her. Bella didn't notice that her breathing became heavier and faster. It was as if she was looking forward to seeing the man's face.
When the man is finally close enough for Bella to his face. She was shocked, shocked by his beauty. The man was standing tall in front of her. He was looking down at her while Bella had her neck craned to look at him.
When Bella came to her senses, she lowered her gaze and spoke in a low voice.
"Please. Please help me."
The man didn't answer her and she almost thought that the man didn't understand her. She slowly looked up to the man, and his eyes met hers. The man being an enemy crossed Bella's mind, and her eyes became filled with terror.
Bella's eyes turned to her right side where the guards left when she heard some rustling leaves in that direction. One of the guards appeared and looked around.
"Huh? I thought I heard something. There is nothing here."
Bella became stiff when the guard met her eyes.
"Hey, Aru! Come back here! It's just starting to get fun."
"I'm coming!"
The guard glanced at the surroundings once more before disappearing again. When the guard disappeared, Bella immediately breathed a sigh of relief. She realized that the mysterious man was also an enemy because the guard didn't panic when he saw him.
Bella glanced at where the mysterious man was earlier, but there was no one in there. The man was gone. Bella didn't even hear anything when the man disappeared, nor are there traces of him. He was gone in a flash
"Am I seeing things? Or was it a ghost?"
Bella mumbled, but she almost let a scream when the man suddenly appeared in front of her. If the man didn't cover her mouth, she would have let a horrifying scream.
"Shhh."
The man placed his index finger in his lips using his other hand. Bella stared at him before nodding her head slowly.
The man cautiously removed his hand from her lips, and he grabbed the ropes that tied her to the tree and easily ripped it. There was a crunching sound, and Bella immediately looked at where the guard appeared earlier worried that he heard the sound. When no one came, she calmed down.
She rubbed her freed hands but winced when she saw wounds around her wrists. The man gently grabbed her shoulders, and she looked at him.
"I will help you run away from them. But I'm also on the run, so I can't help you after this. You're on your own."
Bella lightly gasped when she heard his voice. His voice was low, husky, and manly. She loved his voice.
"Please, help me. Even if it means you will not help me later on. Please help me escape in this situation."
The man walked to her. He didn't stop walking until their bodies were touching. He wrapped his arms on Bella's waist, and Bella's face became beet red from his actions.
"What are---"
"Hold on tightly to me. Make sure you grab me, or you'll fall."
"Fall -"
Bella was confused about the man meant when he said that she would fall if she didn't hold tightly. But her confusion vanished when the man hugged her tightly and started to run so fast.
"Grab me."
Bella didn't hesitate a second when the man said that. She instantly hugged the man's neck. The next moment, they were on a tree branch. Bella's eyes widened and gasped. She asked inwardly, "How was the man able to move like this?"
The man jumped from branch to branch and only stopped when they were at a good distance away from where Bella was tied.
The man sat at a brach and rested his back on the tree. He was still holding Bella, and she can't help herself, but she feels self-conscious.
"Uhm, I think it's okay to let me go now."
"You'll fall."
Bella's heart started racing when she heard his voice again.
"I won't move much. So I won't fall."
"Your heart... it's beating fast."
Bella pushed the man's chest and looked away from him. Even though Bella managed to push him away, his big hands remained on her waist. Her face was red from embarrassment. The man stared at her before resting his head on the tree.
When Bella regained herself, she faced the man and asked.
"Why did we stop? I think this distance is good enough for me to escape. Can you please help me get down?"
The man shifted his gaze to her while still resting his head and back on the tree. He breathes heavily before pulling Bella to himself. She was slammed into his hard body. Bella's head was resting on the man's chest, and it made Bella hear the man's fast heartbeat.
Bella thought that hearing his heartbeat was making her at peace, calm.
"What's your plan after I leave you here?"
The man spoke, and Bella's heart pounded hard inside her chest. She asked herself inwardly, "What is wrong with my heart?"
"I will go to the beach and escape using the boat that I rode to go here."
"You'll die first before you get to the boat."
Bella raised herself from the man's body to look into his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"The beach where you left your boat is the Dillon tribe's land. Now that you manage to escape their grasp, they won't hesitate to kill you the next time they see you. Well, looking back at your situation earlier, they were probably going to kill you after starving you for days."
Bella felt the man's resting hands on her waist suddenly tighten, and it made her flinch from the man's pure strength. The man noticed Bella's reaction and immediately loosened his grip.
Bella glanced at her waist only to see the man's bleeding hand. She took his hand off her waist to examine it.
"Your hand is bleeding. Is it from earlier when you ripped the ropes?"
"Don't worry about it. I just didn't gripped the rope hard enough. My hand slid from it."
Bella felt responsible for his wound and unconsciously caressed the wound. The man just stared at Bella, who was caressing his wounds before leaning his head on her shoulder. Bella almost fell, but the man immediately stopped her from falling while still leaning his head on her shoulder.
"Uhmm..."
"I will stay with you."
Bella was startled at the man's words and looked at her shoulder.
"Stay?"
"I will help you. I will help you survive in this place."
"Do you mean you will help me escape this place."
"..."
The man stayed silent. He didn't answer Bella's question and stayed at their current position. Bella was so stiff, and her back started aching from the man's weight. The man seemed to notice her condition and pulled away from her and leaned yet again at the tree. Bella was about to breathe a sigh of relief when she got pulled to his body again, but this time, he pulled her gently.
Bella looked at the man's hands that she was holding and noticed big and thick ropes tied at his wrist. Bella looked at his feet, and both of it also had the same type of rope tied at it.
'I remember him saying that he was also running away from someone.' Bella thought and caressed his wrists.
Bella remembered that she still didn't know the man's name, so she asked for it.
"You haven't told me your name."
"You haven't, either."
"My name is Bella."
"Mine's Lucaon"
"Lucaon..."
Bella whispered his name, and she felt his hold on her tighten. She looked at his eyes, and he did the same.
"Can I call you Luca?"
"Then I will call you Belle."
Bella smiled at him and nodded her head. The man who introduced himself as Lucaon smiled slightly, and Bella couldn't help but stare. The corner of his lip just rised a little bit, but his face was undeniably like a god's.
Bella felt the immense tiredness in her body and was slowly drifting into a deep sleep. She leaned at Lucaon before the darkness engulfed her completely.
***
The guards held their heads low before Wyatt, who is inspecting the severed rope. After a while, he dropped the ropes on the ground and stared at them with an expressionless face.
"So... what happened?"
Wyatt was coming back to where their captive was being held when he saw his men on their edge. He looked at the tree where their captive was binded only to find the ropes on the ground.
"We also don't know, Wyatt. We were having fun when suddenly we heard a crunching sound and when we looked she wasn't their already."
Wyatt, who was still looking at the severed ropes with an emotionless expression, suddenly had a murderous look on his face.
"Find her. And make sure to bring her to me. That girl's identity is surprising. She was far more important than I thought."
The three men confusedly exchanged gazes before answering their master.
"Yes, Wyatt."
They ran in different directions, and Wyatt, who was left alone, started chuckling. Then, his chuckle turned into an evil laughter. He laughed so hard that the birds resting at the treetops flew away.
"Bella Sutton... I will definitely find you no matter what it takes. And when I do, be prepared. You might be everything to them, but you are just a stepping stone to me."