~Lyra's POV~
Rogues.
I pushed harder, but exhaustion and a day without food had taken their toll. They surrounded me within minutes, three of them, all grinning with the kind of hunger that had nothing to do with food.
"Well, well," the largest one said. "What do we have here? A little lost lamb?"
I pulled out my father's knife with shaking hands.
"Stay back."
They laughed.
"She thinks she can fight us," another one sneered.
"How adorable."
They moved quickly. One grabbed my wrist and twisted it until I dropped the knife.
Another caught my other arm, while the third pulled out some rope from somewhere.
I fought. I used every dirty trick my father had taught me, every ounce of desperate strength I had left. I even managed to break one of their noses before they overpowered me completely.
The rope bit into my wrists as they dragged me through the forest. I tried to memorise the path, looking for landmarks in case I got a chance to escape, but eventually I blacked out.
The last thing I remembered was the rhythm of their footsteps and the growing certainty that I had traded one hell for another.
—
I woke to cold stone beneath my cheek and the smell of old power in the air.
My head was pounding, my wrists were tied, and when I finally opened my eyes, I realised I was in a huge courtyard surrounded by tall stone walls.
This place didn't look like any pack territory I had ever seen… not like I've seen any than the one I grew up in. Everything felt older, darker, more dangerous.
I tried to sit up, but I immediately regretted it. My wrists were still bound, and every muscle in my body screamed in protest. But I managed to get to my knees just as footsteps approached.
"Alpha Kael," someone called from outside the courtyard.
The name made my blood run cold. Alpha Kael Blackthorn of Shadowfang Pack; he's one of the most feared leaders in the territories. They said he was ruthless, powerful, completely without mercy.
And I was kneeling at his feet.
I looked up slowly, taking in black boots, black pants, a black shirt, and a black jacket.
Everything about him was dark except for his eyes, which shone like fresh blood in the torchlight.
His dark grey hair fell to his shoulders, and his face had strong, sharp features that made it look like it was chiselled from stone.
Even without seeing his wolf, I could feel the power radiating off him in waves that made my skin prickle.
The realisation hit me. I was in the Shadowfang pack territory, under the Moonstone Kingdom, and I was at the mercy of Alpha Kael Blackthorn.
His red eyes locked onto mine, and the entire world seemed to shift.
Then the rogues' hands tightened on my arms, but I barely felt them. I was drowning in those red eyes, in a sensation I'd never experienced before; a pull so strong it was as if gravity had flipped on its head.
"Let go of me," I heard myself say.
The rogues laughed, but Alpha Kael didn't. His eyes never left mine, and something unreadable flickered across his expression.
"Let. Go. Of. Me," I repeated to the rogues, or guards, emphasising each word.
Still, Alpha Kael's gaze never wavered. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and dark as midnight.
"You're my mate."
My heart stuttered. The words I'd dreamed of hearing my entire life had finally been spoken. Hope flared in my chest like a wildfire, burning away eighteen years of pain and humiliation in an instant.
"What?" The word came out as barely a breath.
"The bond," he continued, something flickering in those crimson eyes. "I can feel it."
This was it… my chance.
After everything, after the abuse, the rejection, the failed shift, the Moon Goddess had given me a mate. I, an ordinary nobody without a wolf, was the mate of the strongest Alpha in the kingdom. An Alpha, someone who would protect me, value me, and want me.
Someone who would finally prove that I wasn't worthless.
But then, I saw his expression shift. The brief warmth in his eyes froze over, replaced by something cold.
"I won't accept you."
Four words, that's all it took to shatter everything. The hope in my chest died instantly.
"What?" I whispered.
"I won't accept this bond." He said it so casually, like he was discussing the weather.
"I've chosen Ari as my mate."
As if summoned by her name, a woman stepped out from behind one of the stone pillars. She was everything I wasn't: tall, curvy, and confident, with blonde hair that caught the torchlight.
Her eyes were the golden amber that marked her as a born wolf, and when she looked at me, her lip curled in disgust.
"She's nothing, Kael," Ari said, "No wolf, no worth. Look at her, bleeding, broken, pathetic."
I tried to find my voice, to plead, to ask why. "Please, I…"
"I don't care," Kael cut me off. "Ari is everything you'll never be. Strong, beautiful, worthy of an Alpha's attention."
The pack members who had gathered to witness this spectacle murmured their agreement, their eyes reflecting the same disdain I'd faced my entire life.
Nothing had changed. Even with the mate bond, even with the Moon Goddess's blessing, I was still nothing to them.
"She's weak," someone said from the crowd.
"Wolfless trash," another added.
"How could the Moon Goddess curse our Alpha with something like that?"
Ari's lips curled into a cruel smile as she stepped closer to Kael, pressing herself against his side in a possessive way.
"We should exile her."
Kael's eyes flashed with something I couldn't place… anger? I doubt. "No, why?!"
"I mean… you aren't accepting her, so I was thinking if she would even be of any use."
"Doesn't mean I have to exile her for no reason."
"Then, let me have her, Kael. She can be my new personal maid. I've been needing someone to scrub my floors and tend to my chambers."
Kael seemed to consider for a bit before nodding. "Fine," he said, dismissing my existence with a casual wave of his hand.
"She's yours. Do with her what you will."
"No," I breathed. "Please, you can't…"
"I can do whatever I want." His voice was ice.
"I'm the Alpha. And you... you're nothing."
As they dragged me away, I looked back over my shoulder, catching one last glimpse of my mate, the man the Moon Goddess had chosen for me, watching my departure with complete indifference.
"This is better than you deserve," one of the guards muttered as we walked through the stone corridors.
"Most rogues would be executed."
"She's not even a rogue," the other one said with a laugh. "Just human waste that someone forgot to dispose of."
They dragged me through long hallways, past wall hangings of fierce wolves and ancient battles, and through windows that showed a much larger territory than I had ever seen.
Finally, we reached a set of ornate double doors.
"These are Lady Ari's chambers," the first guard said, shoving me inside.
"You'll serve her now. And if you cause any trouble, you'll answer to us."