Chapter six

Ava

“I want her.” He pointed at me, and I froze. My eyes were wide open, and I had a very bad feeling about this whole situation. “Now,” he snarled.

I could hear the gasps from Aunt Portia’s guests. This all seemed like a play, and I knew they would be entertained enough to use it as gossip the next day.

I turned to Aunt Portia with pleading eyes, but she had a blank expression on her face, and then I turned to Avery. Avery’s face had fear in it before it also went blank.

“Your majesty, does it mean that if you have her, my family and I no longer have to worry about the debt?” Aunt Portia asked with faux calm. The way she said it sounded as if she wasn't actually asking anything of him, she sounded almost relieved.

“Yes, unless you have the money now,” He snapped back.

“I don't, you can have her.” She smiled politely, like she was agreeing with him.

All eyes fell on me. I was sure I had misheard, yet I fell on my knees immediately.

“Please, Aunt Portia, please don't send me away with him. I would do anything, I would listen to you more, I would clean, I would do whatever you want, but please let me stay here. Let me be your niece for a bit. Please.” I pleaded, not even caring anymore how desperate I sounded. He could kill any one of us at any moment if he so wanted.

I tried to hold onto Aunt Portia’s dress, but she shrugged my hand off.

“Please take her away, your majesty,” Aunt Portia said, standing up straight, not looking afraid in the slightest.

The King signaled to his men, and they came after me.

“No!” I began to run.

“Stop or you will die, young lady,” the King shouted. The guards caught me quickly, holding my arms behind my back.

I struggled. It was futile. They had the advantage over me, they were stronger.

“Please, please. You can't do this to me,” I sobbed desperately as one guard pushed me down into a kneeling position in front of the king.

The other tied my hands with a rope tightly behind me and dragged me towards a carriage.

“Aunt Portia, please. Avery, Avery, please help me,” I screamed when I felt the ropes dig deeply into my hands. The King looked disgusted but didn't say anything.

But Avery had a smirk on her face. That made everything worse. I started kicking and yelling at every soldier who passed me by, begging them to stop dragging me.

“Do something about those screams,” The King ordered the same man who tied my hands, and he stuffed a piece of cloth into my mouth, which muffled everything I screamed with.

The king came down from his horse and entered the carriage, and I was pushed into it as well.

The carriage began to move, and I knew it was over.

My life and everything I knew had been taken away from me. It was that moment my wolf began to twitch inside of me, there was a familiar smell around her. I couldn't quite place it. She growled loudly inside of me, amid all this chaos, I heard her say, “Yours.”

I froze in the awkward position I was sitting and turned to the Lycan King, but he was already looking at me.

At that moment, there was an intensity in the air. A sort of tension that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. We stared at each other until the king suddenly turned his head to the side and looked out of the window. The tension left in an instant, and I relaxed back into the seat. I knew he had felt it too, the mate bond.

I burst into another round of tears despite the rag stuck in my mouth. My tears blurred my vision, and my nose became sore from crying so much.

It was a lie. Everything I had believed in had been a lie. That was all this whole world was to me right now. A lie, an abomination, a disgusting thing. Everything. Even the moon seemed to have abandoned its orbit around the planet.

This wasn't how I imagined meeting my mate. I had thought of fairytales and roses, love and laughter. My mate was supposed to be my escape plan from Aunt Portia. We were supposed to laugh and be happy together on the day we found each other.

But he was far from everything I imagined, he was far from all I imagined.

The King pointed a silver blade at me, and I shivered instantly from fear. “If you don't stop these endless tears, I'll end your life with this. I know your kind are not immune to it.” His eyes were furious, and I could tell he was not bluffing; he meant it. The wolf within me growled again, this time louder. Her presence seemed to increase, as if a part of her was fighting for control, and my heart raced faster.

I stopped, moving as far as the carriage would let me get away from the object.

My stomach turned and twisted and turned again.

What could be worse than being exposed to silver as a werewolf on your way to an alien planet in a carriage with an enemy of your kind who took you against your will?

My wolf began to growl in my head, my senses were heightened. I could tell what was happening outside but I could hear the horses neighing as if danger had approached us. I watched in terror as the carriage lurched forward violently, everything was shaking, I could hear the noises from the men outside.

With my hands tied, it was impossible for me to hold onto anything while being thrown around the interior of the carriage. Just when I turned to look at the King, something sank into my skin.