Claimed by the alpha heir

I was picking up some herbs from the forest and laying them in my basket, when I felt a blade pressed against my throat. The basket I was holding with all the herbs and flowers crashed to the ground. Panic flooded my limbs, and I stood at the spot terrified. I tried to struggle against the attacker, but then they pressed it tighter to my neck.

“Please,” I whispered, my voice barely audible against the roar of my heartbeat sounding in my ears.

“You witch,” a voice snarled, cutting through the air like ice. I recognized the voice instantly. My limbs went slack.

“I haven’t done anything wrong,” my voice came out like a squeak, eyes wet with tears.

Marcus’s laugh was as cold as steel. “You killed my mother. And now that she is dead, you will die too.”

His words made me gasp. She died? I tried to save her. Damn, I did all I could to save her, and yet she died.

“I didn’t kill her,” I coughed, the blade pressed viciously against my skin making it harder for me to breathe. “I tried to help her ---”

“With your poisonous remedies! She was doing even better before you came in and killed her.”

The accusation was like a punch to my gut, I reeled. It was a lie. I had tried everything I could to save Elena Blackwood, the Beta’s Luna, but the sickness had already wasted her before I came in. She was on the last thread of her life, and she was going to die with or without my intervention.

When the Beta reached out to me to try and save her, I was more than shocked. In the shadowmere pack, I am an outcast, I am a curse, the people avoid me like a plague. The only time I am needed is when someone is sick, but the most powerful wolves in the territory have their own healers.

 I should have known that this wouldn’t have ended well.

“You are a curse upon our bloodline, just like your mother was. Everything you touch withers and dies.” Marcus continued, his blade pressing deeper until I could feel a squirt of warm liquid trickle from my neck.

The tears fell harder at the mention of my mother. I could barely remember her face, but i still had warm memories. The pack said she had practiced black magic, and that she had brought a curse on our territory. It was why everybody avoided me. Now they were going to say the same about me. It was just a matter of time before they kicked me out.

He then threw me roughly on the ground. I scrambled around to face him, still scared that he might plunge that blade into my skin and end me here and now. His expression twisted with disgust that I was used to seeing from other pack members.

“The pack has voted, and your execution is set for dawn.” His eyes glowed amber in the moonlight, his wolf barely contained beneath his human skin. He stepped closer to my frightened form and I flinched. “But I thought we might have some fun first, you have caused me nothing but trouble over the years, little witch.”

Terror froze my blood as his true intentions became clear. He was planning to get rid of me himself even before the execution. The foot of his boots kicked me flat on the floor, and I wheezed as I tried to catch my breath. He stamped his boots on both of my wrists above my head, keeping my buckling body in place. Rage glowed in his eyes like a rabid wolf. I screamed as he raised his blade above me. I shut my eyes, bracing for the impact. So this was how I was going to end. “Please, please---”

My plea was caught shut by a bone-chilling howl that shook the grounds of the forests. The sound was wrong. Something was very off about it. I didn’t know what it was but it made my wolf instinct scream in alarm. When I flicked my eyes open, I saw that his blade hung midair. His eyes darted to and fro, trying to see beyond the treeline around us. The howl was accompanied by even more howls that were more savage. It sounded like mad dogs.

Goddess please.

“Rogues,” Marcus breathed, his boot leaving my chest. I could hear fear tainting his voice. Before I could move, the forest erupted into chaos. Dark shapes bust from the trees, wolves with dirty fur matted by blood and mud. Their eyes glowed with madness. But these weren’t ordinary wolves. My enhanced senses could detect a bit of dark aura following them.

They moved fast. Before Marcus could shift completely into a wolf, they lunged. Razor sharp claws raked across his chest, sending him flying into a nearby tree trunk. I could hear the sickening crack of his ribs.

I scrambled backward, as they all moved slowly towards me. Then the largest of them all stalked forward, saliva dripping from its muzzle. Its red eyes locked onto me.

I tried to shift, but I couldn’t. My wolf was too weak, she was broken by years of abuse, and malnutrition. The largest wolf tensed to spring.

It pounced and I screamed, shutting my eyes in fear. I heard the loud impact of a body on the floor, and when I opened my eyes again, I saw an even larger wolf fighting them off. The rogues met swift deaths in the jaws of this larger wolf that seemed to be protecting me. It’s fangs and claws were longer and larger than my fingers and it struck each of them down with lethal power.

When the last rogue fell, everywhere was quiet, except the roar of my heartbeat in my ears, and Marcus labored breathing from across the clearing.

The wolf turned towards me, our gazes locked and the world…stopped. Heat flooded my veins, as everything clicked in place. Mate.

My broken wolf surged to life within me, stretching muscles that has been dormant for years.

The black wolf eyes widened too, and I know he felt it. The pull. The mate bond.

He shifted and my breath caught in my throat. He was devastating in his masculine beauty. Tall and powerfully built. His hair was black as his wolf form, falling across features that would have been carved by the goddess herself. He had the most captivating eyes.

I knew that face. Everyone in the Northern territories knew that face. Kael Draven. Heir to the Draven bloodline. Son of the Alpha king himself.

And apparently, my mate.

“No,” he breathed, his voice a low rumble that sent shivers down my spine. “This can’t be possible.”

His words demoralized me. He was going to reject me. And I knew the excruciating pain that a rejection brought. Of course, it was not possible. I was a nobody. Less than a nobody. A condemned witch who would be dead by sunrise, while he was….

Everything I could never have.

I could already see the rejection on his face before he could utter it.

“You’re hurt,” He said, his tone shifting to something gentler as he nodded to my throat.

“It’s nothing,” I whispered, standing up and brushing myself, acutely aware of how I must have looked in his impeccable presence. With my clothes that have seen better days, and with dirt in my hair and face.

His gaze flicked to Marcus who was groaning on the ground to me. “He tried to hurt you before the rogues came.”

I picked my herbs and flowers. “Like I said, it’s nothing.”

I turned around to walk away.

“Are you going to pretend like that never happened?” He was referring to the matebond.

“You’re engaged to Selara Crimson.” I snapped, the words like poison on my tongue. “YOU should pretend like this never happened. Besides, I am no longer a pack member.”

He took a step forward, his brows furrowed in confusion. I didn’t understand why he was so eager. He probably didn’t know me before now. We didn’t move in the same circles.

“My Lord,” Marcus cough broke through the air. “With all due respect, step away from her. She is a witch.”

His gaze snapped to him. “Explain why you were threatening a pack member instead of ensuring the safety of the territory.”

“She is not a pack member! She’s been condemned---”

“By whose authority?”

“The…the pack council voted ---”

“Without consulting the Alpha king or his heir?” Kael’s voice grew dangerously quiet. “Lyria Moonhart is under my protection until proper investigation is conducted. Anyone who harms her will answer directly to me.”

The pronouncement hit me like a thunderbolt. Marcus stared in shock, while I felt the world tilt under me. So he knew my name, he knew me.

“My lord,” Marcus said carefully. “Her mother was a witch---”

“Her mother is dead, and until someone proves actual fact of whatever she did wrong, she will be treated with the respect accrued to a healer who has saved this pack for many years.”

Marcus stood up, holding his injured ribs. All the time, his eyes were on me, dark with venom. “Of course, my lord. But the pack---”

“The pack will be informed that the previous vote is now void.” Kael said. “Anyone who has a problem with that can take it up to me personally.”

The threat was unmistakable. Marcus nodded stiffly. He glared at me with his beady eyes before hobbling away and disappearing into the trees.

I looked at Kael, trying to process what had just happened. “Why?” I whispered. “Why would you risk so much for someone like me?”

“Because,” he said quietly. “Fate does not make any mistakes. And whether we like it or not, we are bound together now.”

The mate bond pulsed between us. It felt so warm. But even as my heart soared with his words, reality came crashing down. Before I could open my mouth to speak, he cut in. “My father will be holding a gathering tomorrow night, and all the major packs will be there, including yours. Selara will be formally introduced as my bride-to-be.”

The reminder was like a dagger to my heart. Before I could reply, the sound of approaching footsteps made us both freeze. Multiple people were marching through the forest with purpose in their steps. Marcus had probably told them about the rogue attacks.

“Go,” I urged. “If they find you here with me---”

“They won’t find you here at all,” he said firmly. “Come with me.”

“Huh?”

“You are under my protection, remember? That means you are coming to the gathering tomorrow night. As my guest.”

My heart stopped. “That is impossible. I can’t---”

“You can and you will.” His voice brooked no argument. “Unless you prefer to stay here and face whatever Marcus has planned for his revenge?”

The approaching footsteps were getting closer. Soon, whoever was coming would reach the clearing and find the rogue bodies. Questions would be asked, and I doubted that the result would be pleasant.

“One night,” Kael said, extending his hand to me. “Give me one night to figure out how to keep you safe.”

I looked at his outstretched hands, knowing that It would change everything. One night in his world, surrounded by the most powerful wolves in the territory. One night pretending that I belonged somewhere I never could.

One night with my mate before losing him forever.

I took his hand.