3 Seek refuge

Azura

“You’re a murderer. Why will we believe you?” Becky, Aria’s best friend speaks up and the pack members resume their verbal assaults against me. 

“Enough,” Nicholas raises his hand and commands in his Alpha voice. “Silence, everyone.”

The power of his Alpha command makes everyone bow to him except me. I don’t know why but his Alpha command never worked on me, not even Alpha Lucius’s but out of respect, I always obeyed. 

Well, not anymore. 

With a defiant stance and a piercing gaze, I face him squarely, my eyes refusing to waver under the fiery contempt emanating from his brown orbs. His jaw clenches as he glares at me with disdain, his Alpha ego is wounded when I don’t submit to him.

“Father will return by this weekend. Till then, keep her locked in the dungeon,” my mate ordered in his glacial tone, turning his back on me.

Despite the agony gnawing at my heart and my wolf howling in anguish, I presented a facade of indifference as the Gamma locked my hands with shackles.

‘This is it? Is this how you show your faith in your mate?’ I asked him through the link, not wanting to create a scene in front of everyone.

He didn’t respond and put the barrier between us. I had never felt so alone in my life as now. Gamma Sean strides ahead while his two men follow him and the other two walk behind me, pulling me along toward the dungeon while the pack members erupt into frenzy, throwing stones and pebbles at me. I wince as a few connect with my head, blood starting to trickle down my face.

‘Zuzu?’ Ella, my best friend’s voice rings in my head. She was out of the town to shop for her brother’s wedding. 

‘When did you return? I ask her back.

‘I just came back and got to know what happened while I was away. You need to fight those assholes and run away. They are planning to kill you before Alpha Lucius returns. I just overheard your stepsister and Nicholas talking when I went to your room to show you my dress,’ Ella replied hurriedly. ‘Meet me at the North borders.’

What the fuck Aria is doing in my room. My blood starts boiling but my wolf reprimands me as I ignore the bitter fact that my mate and stepsister are planning to kill me that means they know that I’m innocent but they have framed me into this. What hurt me the most is that my mate whom I loved more than anything in this world betrayed me. 

I regretted falling in love with an asshole. All my life I tried so hard to get his attention, his affection, and his validation but he didn’t acknowledge my efforts and feelings until the last Blue Moon when he found out that he was my fated mate. 

I grit my teeth and endure the pain till we reach halfway and then, I channel all my pain and rage into my power. 

My father instructed me in the methods to harness and disguise my powers, cautioning against the attention they might incite. I obediently heeded his warnings, acknowledging his apprehensions but it was the moment where it was fight or perish and Dad would never want me to be a coward and succumb to the misdeed.

The shackles break as I shift into my wolf, catching them off guard with my sudden action and before they can even comprehend what to do, I grab the necks of two of them and send them flying to the oak tree. 

A gasp leaves Sean’s lips as he takes a few steps backward and barks, “Go and fight her.”

Two remaining men shiver in fear, eyeing me in awe as my huge black wolf emanates the power I had always concealed. They flinch and kneel in front of me, Sean following the suit unwittingly. 

‘Leave if you want to stay alive and tell your shitty Alpha that I will find the real culprit and clear my name,’ I say menacingly, looking at Sean who nods his head vigorously. 

I turn my back and sprint toward the North borders of the Dark Shadow pack but hear them whispering how I could be so powerful when I was from a Beta bloodline. 

“Zuzu, are you okay?” Ella asks with worry, passing me my clothes as soon as I shift back.

“Of course. They are no match for me,” I smile smugly at her.

“Oh, Zu.” She throws her arms around me and I hug her back. “I have packed some of your stuff after they left your room. Here,” she handed over a backpack after pulling herself away. 

“Thank you, Ella, but what will I do now? Who will help me find the real culprit? The whole pack hates me and wants me dead. I can’t fight alone against the whole pack.” I massage my temple as my head is throbbing with pain.

“No one would dare to make the Dark Storm pack its enemy except one,” Ella says as her eyes twinkle with mischief and I know the name before she even speaks, “Alpha Ryker.”

Alpha Ryker is the half-brother of Nicholas whom I dated in the Lunar Academy to make Nicholas jealous. Ella was the one who encouraged me to date him because Nicholas always wanted what Ryker had and it worked as Nicholas ended up asking me out on the day of our graduation but I’m not a teen anymore and that silly thing still makes me feel remorse. 

“No, Ella. I would rather die than ask him for help again after knowing how arrogant and jerk of an Alpha he is,” I tell her and sigh helplessly. 

“Alpha King,” I whisper as my eyes glint with hope. “I will ask him to look into the matter. As the King, he should be able to help me. The Alpha combat is near and I will participate in this combat to get the only chance to speak to him.” 

“But how can you participate when the only Alphas are allowed there? And don’t forget that you’re a she-wolf. Only males can participate in that combat, Zuzu.” Ella sighs, shaking her head in disappointment. 

“I will find a way, Ella. For now, I’m going to my mother’s pack to seek refuge.” I tell her in a stiff voice and she knows better than arguing with me. After all, she was my only best friend and we grew up together. 

Once I have set my mind on something, nothing or no one can make me give up. I bid her farewell before getting on my way to the Black Cliff pack with a backpack on my back and the goal of getting into the Lunar Academy once again in my mind.