5

Chapter 5

Zoey Malik

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I still had no idea who the man was, but I had no choice but to follow him. It was my only way to escape the punishment. 

The moon goddess finally gave me a miracle. 

My legs felt weak as he carried me away from the crowd. The pack members were murmuring behind us, but I didn’t look back at them. 

I already knew that most of them weren’t pleased that I was leaving without getting my punishment. I was even surprised that Conrad agreed to let me go. 

But how could I trust a stranger to expose the real killer in two weeks? 

The thought of being thrown into the dungeon was scary. 

He didn’t speak to me as we walked. He didn’t try to comfort me. He didn’t ask if I was okay. But I felt safe as he held my hands. 

Once we finally left the crowd, I stopped. 

 

“What?” He asked, narrowing his eyes on me. 

“Who sent you?” I asked, folding my arms. “Why did you call me your mate?” My mind was racing with different unanswered questions. 

At some point, I thought it was Selena who asked him to pretend like we were mates just so he could save me from my punishment. 

But I was confused about why Conrad listened to him. 

Why would an Alpha surrender a supposed murderer to a complete stranger?

“Who are you?” I added, my eyes raking over him from head to toe. 

He didn’t say anything, he just continued walking. 

I trailed behind him. 

After he while, he stopped in front of a car. He opened the door and gestured for me to get inside. Without thinking, I entered the car and he sat down beside me. 

“I’m Sean. A Lycan king from the Moonbeam Pack.” 

My eyes grew wide in shock. 

What business did I have with a Lycan king?

I exhaled sharply. “What do you want from me? Why did you save me?” I asked, my voice laced with curiosity. “Did Selena send you here?” 

“Who is Selena?” 

He seemed genuinely confused, so it was clear that Selena didn’t send him. “Never mind, what is your deal? Why did you save me?” 

Sean cleared his throat. “I need you to be my pretend mate for a year.” 

My lips parted slightly and I blinked. “What?” 

“It’s either that or I leave you here to face punishment for a crime that you didn’t commit.” His voice was cold and calculated. 

I shifted in my seat, anxiety creeping through my chest. “How do you know that I didn’t commit the crime?” 

Sean laughed. “Have you met yourself?” 

I scoffed. “What do you mean?” 

“Did you kill him?” He asked, disregarding my question. 

I shook my head. “No, I’m being framed.” 

“Exactly,” Sean replied, a slight smirk tugging at his lips. “I’ll help find out who really killed your pack’s beta. You just have to be my pretend mate.” 

I exhaled sharply. “Why?” 

“Don’t ask me too many questions.” His expression became sharp. “Would you rather stay here or come with me?” He asked, his voice laced with a hint of urgency. 

After weighing my options, I knew that I had no choice but to leave with him. “I don’t want to stay here, but I can’t leave with you without getting answers.” 

Sean sighed, dragging a hand through his blonde hair. “Fine.” He responded reluctantly. “What do you want to know?” 

I had a lot of questions. 

“Why do you want me to be your pretend mate for a year?” 

“My mother is on her dying bed. She wants me to find my second-chance mate before she dies. But I’m not interested in being with any other woman. So I settled on finding a pretend mate.” 

“Wow,” I muttered more to myself than him. 

“You’ll be compensated heavily for your time.” He added. 

I wasn’t concerned about his money. I was just curious about why he would want to lie to his sick mother. Wasn’t that a horrible thing to do? 

I wanted to ask, but I didn’t want to upset him. 

“But why did you choose me? I’m sure you have a lot of girls in your pack who would be willing to pretend to be your mate.” I couldn’t help but ask. 

He smiled. “Of course, but it would be risky getting someone from my pack. I might get caught and the last thing I want is for my mother to know that I lied to her.” 

I nodded. “Okay.” My response was clipped. 

Before anyone could say anything else, I saw Wendy storming towards the car with a group of men. My heart began racing as I realized they were about to cause trouble. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of them.” Sean placed a comforting hand on my shoulder before stepping out of the car. 

I stayed inside the car and watched as he spoke to Wendy. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but Wendy seemed pretty upset. 

After a few minutes, she glared at me before turning around to leave. Her men followed, their faces hard and angry. 

I let out a relieved sigh as Sean returned to the car. 

“What did you say to them?” I asked, my eyes locked onto his.

“Don’t worry about that.” He responded coldly. “Can we leave now?” 

“Before I leave, can I tell my best friend so she won't be worried?” 

I already knew that Selena would eventually know about my whereabouts because it would be the talk of the town. But I wanted to tell her by myself. She deserved to hear it from me. 

“Sure. But you can’t tell her that it’s a contract.” He replied, his tone serious. “You can’t tell anybody that you’re my pretend mate. Or else, I’ll hurt you.” 

His voice was low but I could feel the weight of his words. 

I flinched. “You’ll hurt me?” I asked, my voice cracking slightly. 

He nodded. “Yes, only if you give me a reason to do so.” He replied casually as if it was a totally normal thing to say to someone. 

Was I really making the right decision by going with him? He was practically a stranger. What if my life would even be worse than the one I had here? 

But what could be worse than being thrown into a dungeon?