Chapter 4

I hung up, forced myself to crawl to the door of the room, and knocked on the iron door again and again.

The guard outside snapped impatiently, "What?"

I said weakly through the gap in the door, "Get me something to eat. I haven't eaten in three days."

"Then how are you not dead yet? Wait here. I'll go ask the Alpha."

The footsteps went away.

When the guard came back, the door finally opened.

A rusted iron tray was dropped in front of me, full of rotting meat that stank.

I gagged.

"How am I supposed to eat this?"

"Eat it or don't!"

I picked up the tray, resigned, and was about to bring it to my mouth when something occurred to me.

I looked at the guard.

"Come here a moment. About Lilia being kidnapped... you go and tell Eric..."

Hearing that it had to do with Lilia, the guard hesitated, then came closer anyway.

"What...?"

The instant his head came through, I got my arm around his throat.

Days without food had left me terribly weak. Even using every ounce of strength, it took me a long time to choke the guard unconscious.

I got the keys off his belt and unlocked the chain on my legs.

Back in the army, I was better in a fight than most men.

And badly hurt as I was, I was still an Alpha female, and the instinct to fight was still there.

I kept clear of the patrol and ran out along the passage.

Just when I thought I was about to make a clean escape, Eric came charging in with the pack's medical team.

When Eric came face-to-face with me, he fixed me with a vicious stare and strode toward me.

Before I could speak, he raised his hand, and the slap landed hard across my face.

The force knocked me to the ground. Blood immediately trickled from the corner of my mouth, and my ears rang.

The unhealed wound in my uterus tore wide open.

"Dora, who gave you the nerve to do this?"

I had no idea what he was talking about.

The pain was so bad I was nearly in shock, with nothing left to fight back with.

Eric was still out of his mind. He kicked the back of my knee.

The Beta behind me came forward at once, wrenched my arms back and forced me to my knees on the cold floor.

Eric smashed the blood-smeared ceramic figure covered in runes against my face.

The pieces flew apart and cut my face open.

"You've kept quiet these six months, and it turns out you've been using black magic to curse Lilia! Dora, you make me sick to my stomach!"

I looked at the broken infant figure on the floor, and I didn't even have the strength left to be angry.

Eric's expression darkened.

"I hadn't gotten around to settling the score with you, and here you are trying to escape. I'd almost forgotten what you're capable of, General."

The pain in my abdomen was excruciating. I had started bleeding, and my body could no longer regulate its temperature.

Eric saw the blood on the floor and clearly froze.

But a second later his brows drew together in disgust.

"Playing the victim by hurting yourself again?" He sneered without a trace of pity. "You think a little blood means I'll let this go?"

I was held down on my knees, and I looked up and forced out a wretched smile at him.

"Eric, I'll say it one last time... I want to dissolve the mate bond!"

Eric raised his hand to strike me again, but stopped mid-swing.

He glared at me, his teeth clenched.

"Dissolve the mate bond? What gives you the right to reject me? The Moon Goddess arranged this mate bond. Unless you die, don't ever expect to break your link to me."

I laughed at myself. All these years together, and it had come to this. I had failed badly.

Just then, Lilia cried out in pain from a short distance away, "Eric! My stomach hurts!"

Eric's face changed instantly, and he rushed over and carried her to the nearest room.

It was a long time before Eric came out of that room.

He looked at me lying in a pool of blood. A flicker of pity crossed his eyes, but he still turned away coldly.

"You hurt Lilia and the child. I sentence you to exile."

The Beta dragged me into a car and dumped me beyond the border.

The sky went dark quickly.

I walked along the border for a long time, the smell of blood from between my legs spreading on the wind.

I could feel more than a dozen pairs of red, hungry eyes locked on me.

There have always been plenty of rogues outside a pack's territory...

Eric knew that perfectly well, and he left me here anyway.

I was desperately weak, unable to fight, and even my blood regeneration had begun to slow.

Just as my consciousness began to fade and I was about to pass out, a crazed wolf lunged at my throat.

I had lost too much blood and gone into shock, and I didn't have the strength to lift an arm to block it.

In despair, I closed my eyes.

The pain I expected never came. What I heard instead was a scream.

Then a pair of warm hands caught my falling body and held it steady.

I opened my eyes and looked up from his broad, solid chest into a pair of golden wolf eyes filled with anguish.

"Why are you here?"