Attacked

"The alpha's waiting for your arrival," an omega said as she walked into the room twenty minutes later. "The ceremony's going to begin soon and people are waiting. How long is it going to take for you?"

I wanted to run, far away from here, and take my mother with me. But how could I?

My father and Alpha Dane will still find us.

"Just a minute." I wiped the tears off my cheek and ran my tongue through my lips. It felt like I could taste blood in my mouth even when there was none.

The omega closed the door on her way out. I gave myself another minute before leaving the room. The dress was heavy, at least a few pounds, and I had to carry it myself. I killed the sobs rising in my throat as I stepped down the stairs and into the grand ballroom where the wedding was being held.

I could hear everyone in the distance, chattering and laughing as I walked into a lifetime of misery. No body cared and no one could do a thing about it.

Silence spread through the crowd as I entered. My sight blurred with fear. I saw nothing but my doom standing ahead, waiting for me.

There weren't many people in the ballroom, just a few , less than a hundred. I had never imagined I would get married like this. I never thought I would to get married who is not my real mate.

My body turned colder as I walked across the aisle, alone.

I felt like I was in a dream, and I was going to snap awake at any moment. But what if I wasn't? My fingers tightened around the dress as my thoughts rushed. One thing spread a faint smile across my face when I thought about my mother's words.

Maybe one day I will find my mate and he will help me run away from this cursed Alpha.

I let out a sigh and wrapped my hand around the alpha's before stepping onto the stage. But what if I couldn't escape?

He was an alpha, after all. He could do anything to me, maybe even kill me when he gets tired of me, like I suspected he had killed his other wives.

When the priest started talking, I didn't hear him. Everything was a blur. My breaths quickened, and my head began to weaken, almost as if I was going to pass out right there on the stage.

"-do you take him as your husband?" the priest asked for the second time after I failed to respond.

It took me a moment.

I'm sorry, my future mate.

"Yes." I choked out, my voice breaking.

I didn't look at the alpha, not even for a minute, as I took him as my husband and he took me as his wife. The priest continued, but I heard nothing, only the howls from a distance.

It wasn't a cheer.

It was something else.

The alpha placed his hand on the back of my head, stiffly holding my neck before lowering his mouth near mine. But before he could kiss me, we heard something.

"Code red! There's an attack from the pack. The wolves are from the north, Alpha!" A man rushed into the ballroom, screaming at the top of his lungs and disturbing the entire ceremony.

The alpha's hands dropped away from me, and he pulled back at the revelation. Chaos spread quickly and engulfed the ballroom. People rose from their seats and began rushing out. My eyes widened as everything unfolded before me.

An attack?

I couldn't think of anything but my mother. If there was an attack on the pack, there would be an attack all over the town, and I was too far from her.

I had to leave.

I tossed the bouquet aside and fell onto the ground before scrambling down the stairs. Just as I was about to head out, the alpha grabbed my elbow and forced me back onto the stage.

"Where do you think you're going?" he growled.

Rage hid behind his eyes as he tried to comprehend what was happening. "You're not going anywhere. Go up to your room and prepare for me."

His free hand reached for the buttons of his coat and he started loosening them before removing it.

"No, I have to go home. My mother didn't-" I tried to explain, but he didn't listen.

"Shut up."

Most of the crowd cleared out, but soon screams echoed across the pack house. Blood began to splatter on the white walls of the ballroom as wolves from the rival pack forced their way in and ripped people to shreds. I gasped at the horror unfolding before me and stepped back.

The alpha's hand on my elbow was stern. He wasn't letting me go anywhere.

"Go upstairs!" he snapped.

His men surrounded him, protecting him, the coward that he was but the wolves continued to make their way into the ballroom, tearing anyone apart, innocent or not.

My heartbeat faltered. I couldn't breathe. My chest was tight from the dress I was wearing. I needed to take it off and go to my mother.

It killed me to even think about what could happen if someone attacked the area where we lived.

Bodies began piling up on the ground, but none of the wolves were injured. Alpha Dane's wolves were nothing compared to theirs. They were stronger, more powerful.

The crystal chandelier suddenly shattered, plunging the surroundings into darkness.

I blinked frantically to adjust to the darkness and saw a tall figure standing on the dining table, outlined in silver by the moonlight. He was holding something in his right hand, and liquid was dripping from his fingertips onto the white tablecloth.

The scent of blood disappeared, replaced with something even stronger, the scent of my mate.

My eyes met his and I quickly looked away. This couldn't be happening. Not now. My heart raced as I saw his shadow moving from the corner of my eyes. The wolves stopped tearing each other apart, and it got quiet for a minute as he walked further toward the stage where I was standing with Alpha Dane.

The alpha's men protected him, standing still in front of him, but it didn't seem to faze the man who was approaching us. He was dressed in black, his hands soaked in blood. His hair was dark, damp with sweat and gore, his sharp jaw smeared with crimson. His eyes glowed with a cold, merciless fire that froze me in place. Every step he took radiated dominance that rivaled, no-surpassed, Dane's.

The air stiffened and the screams stopped.

"Who the fuck are you?" Alpha Dane asked the man, his eyes burning with anger before he pulled me back behind him.

The stranger chuckled softly, and the sound sent a chill down my spine. He gracefully jumped off the dining table, crushing a porcelain plate under his boot. 'How could you forget? Dane...'

He raised the mangled, bloodied mass in his hand. "I brought hi's heart as a welcoming gift."

"Kane..." I clamped a hand over my mouth. That scent, it was unmistakably my father's.

Dane's chair screeched as he sprang to his feet, his massive form already beginning to distort with rage. 'You... you're that slave's bastard!' His teeth chattered uncontrollably. 'Impossible! I threw you into the frozen lake myself!'

The man tilted his head, smiling cruelly. "And yet here I stand. Back from the grave you tried to make for me."

Dane roared and launched forward, claws slashing. The man moved faster, catching Dane's wrist mid-strike and twisting until bone cracked. Dane howled in pain, but the stranger shoved him back with such force the alpha crashed into his own men.

"You thought killing my parents and drowning me would erase the blood debt?" the man snarled. "I swore on that night I'd return and make you pay."

Dane staggered to his feet, blood dripping from his mouth. "You'll never take what's mine!"

"I already have," the man growled, his eyes flicking toward me. "You just don't know it yet."

With that, he lunged, claws flashing like steel. Dane tried to block, but the stranger tore through him with brutal precision, ribs cracked, flesh shredded. The ballroom shook with the sound of their clash, but it was one-sided. Dane's strength faltered under each blow until finally, with one savage strike, the man ripped his heart from his chest.

Dane's roar died in his throat as he collapsed, lifeless.

The stranger tossed the heart down at my feet, blood splattering across my dress.

My hands reached my mouth as I tried to stop screaming, but I couldn't, not after the horror I had seen.

My knees weakened, and I crouched on the floor, still screaming as the man neared me, bringing Alpha Dane's heart closer. He dropped it onto the floor, where it landed on my white dress. I screamed again and scrambled back until I was pressed against the wall.

The man bent down and his hand wrapped around my face. A warm sensation spread through my body even after seeing what he had done. My lower lip quivered, and I stopped screaming for a moment before raising my head to meet his cold, dark eyes.

"Well, now you're a widow," he said, smearing the blood of the man I had just married across my face before pulling his hand away. "What a pity."