STREAKS OF EMBER

RIONA'S POV 

‘Riona…’ Elara made to speak, but I cut her off before she even finished. 

“Learn your place, and don't try to attract the Alpha's attention to you,” I responded to her, blocked her out, then knocked on the door.

“Come in.” A deep baritone voice responded behind the thick oak door. I drew in a long breath, then walked into the office.

Father's face lit up briefly, and my heart fluttered with warmth. The happiness in his face melted as fast as it had appeared. “Sit.” his voice was a command.

I nodded and started toward the chair opposite his desk when a strong, masculine scent wafted through my nose, serenading the air around me. I froze in my tracks.

I whipped my head sideways, and my lips fell apart when I took in the intimidating figure standing at the corner of the room.

Chiselled jaw. Sleek black hair well styled to match the stoic expression on his face. His sterling gray eyes with golden orbs were devoid of the slightest bit of emotion, cold and distant. 

Gosh! My eyes trickled down, to his broad shoulders that easily filled the shirt. Even beneath the shirt, I could clearly make out his honed muscles. The sight made my stomach flutter with a strange need. 

His eyes narrowed, searching mine, and I quickly looked away. Expensive masculine scent rushed into my nose, snagging my insides of its oxygen supply.

It wasn't just about his devastatingly handsome face. The stranger's aura filled the atmosphere, without breaking a sweat. And from the scowl that creased his textured face, he didn't give a flip.

Elara whined inside of me, sniffing his scent. In that instant, she became uneasy, twirling and grinding her fangs. The more I tried to push her back, the harder it became for me.

There was something about this stranger that threw her off balance. Another jolt of pain spiraled through my spine when my wolf sensed his wolf at the surface.

Heck! I bit down on my lower lip, in a bid to put her in a mindlock. I couldn't risk Elara being seen by anyone. To the world, she never existed.

My father cleared his throat and said almost immediately. “Alpha Theron, we're honored to have you in our pack—”

Alpha Theron. Alpha Theron Moretti.

That name sounded so familiar. I tried to rack my brain, trying to click the puzzles into place, when he made a tsk sound. The sound was so sleek, yet so commanding, it made the air around the room stand still.

He pushed himself from the wall. Scratch what I said about his physical appearance. Alpha Theron didn't have the conventional kind of beauty a man should possess. He was…he was… nothing like I've ever set my eyes on.

Alpha Theron's presence made me feel equal parts chills, and equal parts warmth. However, the feelings snapped when he looked around my father's fairly spacious office, and shook his head. The scowl on his face was replaced with disgust.

“You and I know there's nothing significant about this pack. I could burn it to ashes in a sec.”

Father bowed his head. “Yes–yes sir. You-you…” he stuttered as his voice trailed off. I whipped my head in the direction of my father, and I could see the fear that clouded his expression.

Alpha Theron scoffed. “Save me the stress of coming here again. Else, I might be forced to make you and your entire subordinates my captives for the rest of your lives.” The confident undertone in his thick voice, sent fear trickling through my veins.

In that second, the puzzles pieced together. Alpha Theron, the young, brutal, and power-obsessed Alpha who ruled his pack, Silverfang, with an iron fist. The other packs around the province cowered at his very presence.

Rumors had it that he killed his own parents. What was he doing here? What deal did he cut with my father? I'd barely wrapped my head around it when my father spoke.

“Come here!” Father ordered me. “Here, take her and do whatever you wish with her. From now on, she's your slave.”

A loud bang sounded in my head, blurring my thoughts. My own father sold me out to a ruthless Alpha? Betrayal, and one other emotion I didn't have a name for hit me like a ton of bricks.

‘Mate!’ She hissed.

For a split second, I lost control of my wolf, and she broke out. I looked down to hide my eyes and pushed her right back. 

Alpha Theron Moretti was my mate.

A low growl rattled his chest. I looked up, and our eyes locked. His scowl on his face melted for a quick second, I blinked, and it was gone.

He knew it! Alpha Theron must have felt the mate bond between us as well. I shook my head to clear the haze that gathered in my mind. My entire body tingled with a surge of electricity. I feared my legs would give way, and I'd collapse to the ground. 

“Father, please!” I begged. Theron would know I have a wolf! He would know I have a beast in me. My fate in this pack was enough torture. And being sold to the ruthless Alpha wasn't my definition of freedom. 

Bile sloshed in my stomach, and I pushed back the mental images to the farthest back of my mind. 

My presence around my pack only reminded Luna Stacy of my past mistakes. Every mistake was an excuse for more punishment. 

Alpha Lukas face was clouded with a mixture of pain and fury, “You have no speak here. You belong to Alpha Theron now,” 

I'd heard a ton of creepy stories about the Silverfang pack. How ruthless their warriors were. I could only imagine what my fate would be with a man whose name made packs around the province shiver in terror.