Chapter Four

FIONA

I grunted in pain as my mother roughly pushed to the center, in front of the eight pair of judgmental eyes that belonged to our pack’s council. “Here she is,” she spat on my face.

“Mother,” I tried to reach out to her but she slapped my hands away. The way she looked down at me in disgust made tears to form in my eyes.

“So this is the rebellious teenager.” I heard an elder mutter.

“Fiona Akida” Thorne’s voice echoed off the vaulted ceiling. “You stand accused of bringing shame upon our pack through unlawful conception outside the sacred mate-bond. How do you answer?”

I bowed my head in shame as the rest of the hall erupted in whispers and chatters. How would I explain to them that the Alpha King of the Northern Territories was my fated mate. And that he slept with me at a seedy hotel in our pack slums, and that he rejected me and left me pregnant? Who would believe me?

Instead they would execute me for slander and blasphemy, so I just stared at my dusty feet, tears splashing from my eyes.

“Explain yourself, now!” Elder Thorne slapped the desk and I jumped.

“Mother,” I called out, my voice cracking. “Please tell them. Tell them why I —"

“Silence!” he slapped the desk hard. “This is a formal hearing and you will not address the observers.”

Meanwhile my mom turned her face away from me, her hands folded across her chest. I had never felt so alone.

I faced Thorne. “Yes, I slept outside my mate bond. I did it for my father’s medications and I did it for Lily and Sam’s school fees. I couldn’t let my father suffer in pain or my siblings to lose their future because ---”

“Enough.” Thorne roared. “Your circumstances do not excuse your shameful behavior. You have violated the sacred laws of our kind. You carry the child of an unknown, and it is not tolerated by our laws.”

Tears streamed down my face. I turned towards my mother again. “Mama, please. You know I would never…if there had been another way…”

When she looked at me, I could see the coldness in her eyes. Why did she hate me so much? Her consistent verbal abuse about how I never provided enough was what pushed me to make this decision. I just wanted all our suffering to end, and now she’s gonna live off the money while I face my punishment.

What she said next was as painful as death.

“I have no daughter who would bring such disgrace upon our family name.”

I staggered backwards, one hand protecting my unborn child.

Elder Thorne rose from his seat, his voice final. “By the ancient laws of our pack, Fiona Akida you are therefore exiled from these lands. You have until sunset to gather your belongings and leave. You may never return and your name shall be struck from our records.”

“No, please,” I whispered, tears falling from my eyes. The heaviness of the pregnancy could not allow me bend, if not I would have bent down to beg them. “This has always been my home. I have nowhere else to go---”

The pack elders filed out one by one.

When my mother passed, her nose was high up in the air, like I was some scum. “Then go to the man who did this to you, because we cannot tolerate this here.”

I finally crumbled on the floor weeping, and then when I could console myself a little, I went back home to pack my bags. I found my belongings thrown outside, with the front door locked. I knocked but there was no answer. I wanted to ask for even a little money so I could take care of myself.

How could my mom choose pack dignity over a daughter that had loyally worked all her life for her?

I started limping to goddess knows where and a harsh rain broke out, soaking me to my shoes. I was glad I lived at the border of the Northern Territories. I wanted nothing to do here, not with any of their cities that was ruled under their egoistic crazy king.

I was going to go to the Southern Lands. I have heard rumors that rogues and outcasts could find refuge there, as everybody was friendly, and that their pack laws were more accommodating. It means I could start life anew there with my unmarked pup, and nobody would look down at me.

But first I had to pass through the forest that divided the two territories. That was going to be the hardest part.

After two hours of walking under the rain, I was starving, and that’s when I realized that I had not packed any food with me. Nothing. I tried to scavenge but my pregnancy had sharpened my smell to the point that found wild berries and food nauseating. Even finding shelter from the downpour was difficult. Everywhere was wet, and my legs started to tremble from exhaustion and cold and hunger.

I finally collapsed on the ground, the forest spinning around me. I was too weak to push myself up, tocontinue. I just wanted to lay there and begone.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered to the life growing inside of me. “I’m so sorry that I couldn’t do better.”

Darkness crept in from the edges of my vision and I gave into it.

The first thing my body noticed was that there was warmth. When I flicked my eyes open, I was staring at an elegantly designed ceiling. By my side, a large fire roared in an antique fireplace keeping me warm. I was on a very soft bed. My hands trailed to my tommy; no cramping, no signs of distress from the baby.

I closed my eyes trying to remember the last thing that had happened to me, how did I get here?

Someone walked in, and even with my eyes closed I could feel the authority from that presence.

“How is she?” The voice was deep and commanding.

“She will recover,” came another voice. It sounded like a healer. “She fainted from exhaustion and malnutrition. The child is stable though she was close to losing it before you came in. Another hour in that storm…” her words hung, and It dawned on me that I was so close to losing my child.

“I found her collapsed about three miles east of the border,” the male voice spoke again. An Alpha, I realized. It had to be. “I suspect that she is from the Northern territories. She has their distinctive scent. When she wakes, we will ask her some questions, try to know the pack that she is coming from.”

They will try to send me back, my heart fell.

“She must have being exiled, it’s the only thing that makes sense.” He continued. “A pregnant female alone in the wilderness, and she’s very young.”

I waited for the disgust, the condemnation, but there was only thoughtful silence.

“she’ll need time to recover her strength,” the healer finally said. “The baby is taking from the little reserves that she has left.”

“See that she gets whatever she needs when she wakes.’ The Alpha’s voice was gentle. “And be kind when you are questioning her.”

“Alpha, this is rare. You finding and bringing in strays. The territorial council will have something to say about this.”

“Yes, but it’s not in my nature to turn away pregnant females no matter their circumstances.” He replied without hesitation.

The door closed softly, leaving me thinking.

There were only two Alphas that answered to the Territorial Council. The Northern Alpha King and the Southern Alpha King.

This Alpha that just left didn’t sound like Alpha Sergius, The Northern Alpha King, the rude, and cold man I had a one night-stand with. He sounded very gentle and nice.

How was it that the goddess let me cross the path of the two Alpha Kings?