Chapter 1: Escaping The Pack

"Whether you like it or not, you'll be bound to marry the feared Alpha!"

My heart almost skipped its beat, realizing that my Alpha father had betrayed me. He once told me my wolf, and I could choose the right guy to be mated with. Yet, his decision suddenly changed, and I couldn't protest. I didn't want him to pick any Alpha out there I could marry.

"Please! Don't do this to me, father! Give me freedom!" I begged, almost kneeling before him, standing at the door with three guards and the beta on his back.

Tears already fell on my cheeks, but it seemed my father hadn't moved. He remained staring at me ruthlessly and treating me like an average pack member, not his daughter.

I always dreamed of escaping in this prison-like pack. I mean, in my teenage days, I was so free, but things turned upside-down unexpectedly.

"I….I don't want to be married to whoever that Alpha is! This is not the life you promised me!" I yelled.

Father moved closer to me and didn't hesitate to slap me in the face.

"Don't disrespect me like that, Nyla! I am your father and the Alpha of this pack!" He countered as if he was ready to attack me anytime soon. "I'm doing this for your good and the pack. And still, you'll be married to him tomorrow night on the first full moon. Everything is ready, and prepare yourself!"

"No—" I couldn't continue what I was about to say as he interjected.

"Just think that the wedding will be your last option to obtain the freedom you want and get out of this pack….."

After he told so many things, he walked out the door and ordered the guards to close the door. I started begging once more, stopping them from locking the door. I even told them that I agreed, but they were no longer listening. They slammed the door shut and left me alone inside my room.

I tried banging the door, but I didn't hear anyone outside. They all left.

'Don't let this happen, Nyla,' my inner wolf, Nila, whispered.

'I know. I'll find a way to escape from this pack tonight,' I responded.

Hours had passed. It was already midnight—the right for me to escape. My room had a balcony on the left side, where I could see the woods and the starry night above it. Its door was locked, but I had a spare key I hid, so every time my father thought he should have locked me inside my room, I still had a way to escape. I always do. He just didn't catch me.

Opening the balcony door with my spare key, I slowly opened it and peeked down to see if there were roaming pack guards. Luckily, there was no one there. I remembered our head guard's birthday today, so I presumed all guards were invited to his celebration and drank a lot of wine. Nice!

When I assured myself it was safe to jump, I did so and used my werewolf speed so no one could catch me and successfully reached the woods without anyone chasing me.

'Where will we stay? Will we look for a safe pack to migrate with?' Nila asked me while I still kept running away from the pack and didn't exactly know our destination.

'I don't know yet. All I want is to escape.'

Fingers crossed, I will be successful and surely forget I belong to the Northern Wolf Pack.

Still running into the woods, Nila warned me of possible danger awaiting me within the woods. She couldn't pinpoint where exactly it was, but she wanted me to be careful now that I was out of the border of our pack. It means that rogues mostly roamed the area.

'Rogues! Be careful!' Nila panicked, halting me from running.

I was too alert, looking left and right, listening to the footsteps surrounding me. I smelled their unfamiliar scent, and I assumed they were rogues. I was already over the moon that I was out of our pack, yet another problem arose. And I wasn't ready for this.

"What the beautiful lady is doing here in our land, huh?"

I almost jumped when I heard someone in front of me. It was a man, probably in his early forties, grinning at me. He kept moving forward while I kept moving in the background.

"What are you trying to do? Please don't hurt me. I didn't do anything to you!" I reasoned out.

"You're trespassing! It means, as a punishment, you'll be ours now!"

"Yours? No way! Let me go! And this is not your fucking land!"

I was about to run away from them, but I was being surrounded. I couldn't shift and let Nila take over to fight them, as they used a potion forbidding me to shift.

"Take her to our quarter! Let her be our new princess!" One of them commanded and laughed.

"Please don't bring me there!" I begged, but it wasn't working. They wouldn't listen, like my father.

They tied my hands and feet, and three men carried me. One held my feet, one held my waist, and the other held my hand. It was the unfortunate fate I had met. Did the moon goddess want me to be punished for what I had done?

"I can give you anything you want. Just release me now!" I demanded. "I have a ring and a pair of earrings that cost a lot! You can have this!"

It was an offer I wanted them to take, but they refused and only laughed at me.

"We don't need it! We all want your body and own it!" One replied and laughed evilly.

"Come on, this can make you all rich!" I added.

On our way to their headquarters, wherever it was, they suddenly halted from walking. I wondered why, or perhaps we already arrived. As I roamed around, there was no house built nor a tent.

"Shut up, will you?!" One of the rogues covered my mouth.

I asked one more time, but only a moan could get out. The rogues weren't listening to me, too, as they focused on the surroundings as if they heard someone approaching. I also heard footsteps going in our direction.

And as I blinked, each of the rogues was attacked by unknown werewolves. Their hands stopped holding my body, so I fell to the ground and still couldn't move. I was tied and only hoping they wouldn't attack me, too.

Closing my eyes, I heard the growls and howls of the wolves and the rogues fighting each other. I didn't want to join the fight and waited until it ended.

Upon hearing the silence, I slowly opened my eyes and witnessed two werewolves furiously heading in my direction.

"Oh, don't attack me. I'm not part of them…I'm their victim, I swear!" My voice shook in fear, glimpsing how red one of the werewolves' eyes was.

He glanced at his back, and slowly, he shifted back into his human form. Since he suddenly became naked, I covered my eyes so I wouldn't see his figures.

"A rogues' victim. Take a look at this, Alpha, and let us know if you want us to kill her too."

"I'm ready to kill that woman. Either way, she deserves to die."

I overheard their conversation and opened my eyes again. I was shocked to see a handsome man kneeling on one knee on the ground and bringing his face closer to me.

What the hell was he doing? Was he trying to kiss me?

All I thought was that he would kiss me, yet he only smelled my neck and felt how his hot breath landed on my skin.

And when he was too close to me, there was a strange connection between us, making my inner wolf rejoice and fear simultaneously. It was the first time I felt this…..would it be because he was my destined mate?

Before I could even ask the Alpha, he had already decided.

"Hmm, still not time for her to die. Bring her to the pack and make her my slave…."