Chapter 3: Innocent Slave

'It's not you that they're referring to as the runaway mate. Don't assume too much that the Alpha will choose you as his mate.'

I shook my head and sighed after I reached the Alpha's room on the second floor, wearing a servant uniform and some equipment for cleaning on my hand. Those words echoed in my mind, and I accepted it wasn't me. Well, I am over the moon with that, yet Nila, inside me, felt saddened and told me we and the Alpha had a connection and it shouldn't be cut.

The time the Alpha was hurt, Nila and I were also affected, like a true bound mate. Was he the man I was about to be married to?

Those almost made me damn crazy, so I shook those thoughts away and entered inside the Alpha's room. As I roamed around, nearly all things were scattered all over the floor, even a woman's sexy underwear. He was indeed a womanizer.

"Is this the Alpha's room? Am I mistaken?" I murmured, thinking I had chosen the wrong room. Yet, scanning everything inside, I concluded it was his room. "But how come this is so dirty?"

There was a portrait of himself on the wall, and the room smelled like him. I assumed I wasn't wrong.

It gave me a headache about where to start. I had never done this kind of work, but my room was presentable compared to his.

I was about to get the underwear scattered on the floor when I heard the door slam from the bathroom and heard a familiar voice.

"What are you doing here?"

In his deep voice, I paused, slowly moving my gaze up and leveling it into the Alpha's eyes. As soon as I realized he was half naked, with a towel wrapped around his waist, my eyes widened. Those freaking six-pack abs were exposed to me, including his broad chest, which almost made me collapse.

"So, will you just stand there and won't answer me, huh?!" His voice became more profound as he walked closer to me.

My heart was racing, and I couldn't move my feet anymore. Yet, I needed to calm down briefly, so I said, "I….I am here to clean the mess in your room. That's what Marga told me to do."

"Right. But it seems you came here on purpose to see, hmm?" He teased me and continued, "Do you want me to punish you?"

He moved his gaze to the bed and stared back at me.

As I came back to my senses, I realized what he meant. "I—I am sorry, but no. I guess I'll be back here later. Sorry again."

Without waiting for him to respond, I ran away and went downstairs.

'And now, I can sense it. We were indeed mates! You must stay there and tell him our connection!' Nila told me.

'Nila, come on, it's not the right time for that. He's about to punish me, can't you hear that?'

If I stayed longer there, I didn't know what would happen to me. But with my rank here, I presumed the Alpha would not dare. Maybe in his eyes, I am too dirty.

Even though Nila kept on insisting I come back already, I instead headed to the hallway and looked for Marga. She was the only member here that was nice to me. I couldn't trust anyone apart from her. Though, I wasn't still sure about her either.

As I kept walking, I heard a commotion in the hallway—a voice from a woman and the pack guards, as if they were looking for something.

"I swear, someone stole it! It's a woman, a slave, and her face is not familiar to me!" said the woman loudly. "It's worth millions!"

It was a somewhat common problem in the pack, and I was about to get past them as I was not interested in those shits. Still, when the woman saw me, she pointed her fingers at me.

"That slave! She stole my money! She's the thief!" She yelled.

I glanced behind me, thinking there might be someone out there she was pointing to, but there was none. With that, I glanced at her again.

"Me?" I asked while I pointed my fingers at him.

"Are you acting dumb, huh?! You stole it!" She was too furious and almost attacked me. "Imprison her!"

With her command, the pack guards rushed towards me. I explained I wasn't the thief they were looking for as I didn't know what they were talking about. The guards didn't listen to me and brought me again to the dark prison.

"Please, listen to me! I am innocent!" I yelled at the guard who locked the cell. "Even if you scan all my body, you can't see anything!"

"Stop shouting! We won't listen to you anymore! You are a thief!" The pack guard shouted again and left.

I cried as I sat on the dirty floor of the prison. They were too unfair, and I started regretting going there again.

Hours passed. The pack guard arrived and brought me out. I thought I was proven innocent until he told me, "You'll be brought to the council. They will decide what punishment to impose on you."

****

In the pack council hall, the council members, and in witness with the pack members and the one who accused me were there. The Alpha's chair was empty, so I presumed he wouldn't attend the session and wouldn't see me being punished.

The pack guards let me stand in front. A lot of them suddenly shouted at me.

"She is a thief! She doesn't deserve to stay here in the pack!"

"She must be punished! That's the rule of this pack!"

Many laughed at me, but I remained strong despite all the ridicule I received. I couldn't voice I was innocent because I was a slave, and I guess being a slave didn't have the power to explain.

"One of our members saw you stole money worth millions. With that said, we won't hesitate to punish death," said one of the council.

That made me bring my gaze up, stunned, and wait for Alpha Hadar to attend this session, but he still wasn't there. If it were true that we were a mate, then he would feel hurt and saddened if I would die, and he should be here to save me.

Nevertheless, I shook my head. "I am not a thief. Please listen to me!"

Tears fell on my cheeks, but they only laughed at me.

"I'll wait for the Alpha to decide! You can't decide on your own!" I shouted again, still waiting for him to come.

One of the council members seated on the right stood and told me, "Nah, don't wait for him. He is busy and not interested in you. He gave us the authority to decide and punish all the members without his approval."

He then signaled the two pack guards beside me.

He added, "You know what to do with that slave thief. Punishment must be imposed now."

The two guards didn't wait any second and pulled me out of the middle. I forced myself not to walk with them, but they were strong compared to my strength.

I couldn't accept that this would be part of my fate here. To end by being punished to death due to the sin I hadn't ever committed. Before we could reach the area where two pack guards had transformed themselves into werewolves, eyeing me furiously, I closed my eyes and summoned the Alpha's presence.

'I will believe we were mates if you'll come here and save me from death. Alpha Hadar, if you're listening to me right now, save me…..'

My eyes were forced to open when the pack guard on my left pulled me hard and pushed me near the almost hungry werewolves to kill me. I shook in fear, but I had no chance to escape. They were circling me, plus the pack members were cheering, even commanding the werewolves to attack me already.

As I was about to close my eyes and called Alpha Hadar's presence once more, the cheers of the pack members suddenly halted, and even the werewolves stepped backward away from me. I wondered why, yet I heard a voice shouting behind me.

"Hmm, whoever attacks that slave, I will cut your head!" His voice reverberated around, feared the werewolves and even some pack members walked away and didn't dare to come close.

Only the woman who accused me went closer to the Alpha, pointing her fingers at me again, and said, "She's a thief and not part of the pack members! Why are you defending that slave, Alpha Hadar?!"

Alpha Hadar faced the woman seriously. "And who are you to question me?"

"I…." The woman's body already shook in fear. "Sorry, Alpha Hadar. I should have not questioned you. It's my fault, but I hope you'll give a fair—"

"I have been giving you all a fair treatment here. A member or a slave, but that slave you're talking about is innocent," said the Alpha and pointed his fingers at the side. "She is the real thief, and we caught her hiding all the money in her house."

The woman, even I, was stunned, unaware an Alpha could do that. As I stared to the side, a woman was being held by the pack guards with a bag full of money placed at the side.

"You must think before accusing someone, and if this happens again, I'll be the one to punish you," warned the Alpha to the woman.

I cleared my throat, and when the Alpha's eyes met mine, I mindlinked him, 'Thank you for saving me, ma—I mean, Alpha.'

He responded, 'We are not done yet, slave. Don't think this is free, and I am not saving you. You're not even special in here to be saved."