Chapter Four: The Banishment

~Hazel~

“I need to question her privately. Please excuse us”

The werewolves in attendance, including Freya and my step-parents, filed out of the interrogation room, but not after giving me disgusted looks. Once the door had shot behind them, Ryder stalked towards me, his anger evident.

“I ordered you not to let another man touch you. How dare you defy my orders?”

“You might be the alpha, but you do not own my body. I can do whatever I want with my body! My body, my choice!”

“Hazel!” he growled, his grip tightening on my arm.

“You do not want me as a mate, so why do I need to obey that sort of command? Another man found me attractive and wanted me. He made love to me and I liked it”

I could see the veins shooting out on his forehead. His eyes were almost crazed, and his grip on my arm was becoming unbearable. I tried to wiggle out, but he held me even tighter, and then pulled me to his body.

His breath was heavy and labored as he grabbed my face. He brought his face closer to mine, his gaze lingering on my lips for a while before he moved to my neck and took a deep inhale.

“You fucking still have his scent on you. Did you sleep with a Lycan or what? Why do you still have his scent on you weeks after?”

I mustered all the strength that I had and pulled myself away from him. “That is none of your business, Alpha Ryder. Shouldn’t you be focusing on your already-marked mate? Why concern yourself with me?”

“Because you violated an order from your alpha! That violation is subject to punishment”

I scoffed and shook my head. He must be really high on cheap drugs. He wants to punish me for having sex? Is this some kind of joke of the century?

“Are you serious right now? You won't have me and you still won't let any other person have me? What sort of obsessive behavior is that?”

“This is nothing about obsession, especially towards you,” he said, glancing at me. “This is about maintaining order. Hazel Opal; you have disobeyed your alpha, and because of that, you’ll be banished from this Pack, never to return.”

I gasped. “What? You can’t do that! You can't banish me just because of that”

“Upon return to this Pack, you will be publicly disgraced and executed.” He said coldly.

“Alpha!” I cried, holding in the tears that were starting to bubble in my throat.

He gave me a long hard look and then called out. “Is anyone there?”

Two guards rushed in immediately and bowed to him.

“Take her past the borders of our Pack. She’s not allowed to return here ever again.  She’s not to take anything with her, she’s not to go say goodbye to anyone. Take her straight to the border and wait to be sure that she has gone past before you return”

The guards grabbed my arms and started to pull me towards the entrance. Alpha Ryder stood there, watching as they pulled me away, his eyes cold and emotionless.

As I watched him, my body vibrated with anger. I wished that I had the power to give him some kind of torturous illness that would make him want to end his life instead. I wished that I was a witch of some sort with that kind of power, then I would have snapped his neck with just a look.

But I wasn’t any of those. As I was dragged through the Pack grounds, I was booed at. I saw Amy, crying and trying to get to me but was restricted by the guards around. My step-parents had a happy smile on their faces. They’d always wanted me gone anyway.

I planted the memories their faces onto my head. Those who had booed at me, those who had called me names, those who had labeled me all kinds of things.

Soon, we got to the Pack border and I was thrown on the ground. My knees scraped on the sand, and I winced. The guards stood there, waiting for me to make a move to get back into the Pack so that they would carry out Alpha Ryder’s instruction.

Knowing that there was nothing else left for me there, I turned and started to walk towards the South. I didn’t know where I was going, all I knew was that I was walking towards a place.

It was getting late already and I hadn't headed anywhere good. Tired, and nauseous, I slumped against the back of a tree. I was so thirsty and hungry. Normally, I’d go a whole day without food but right now, I felt as if I had been starving for a week. Was that how it was when werewolves got pregnant?

My hands went to my belly again. “Little werewolf; do you have any idea of what your father would look like?” I whispered.

Closing my eyes in resignation, I prayed silently and wished that the father of my baby would somehow show up immediately and save me from this mess that I found myself in.

With my eyes still closed, I started to doze, the tiredness seeping through my bones. I’d almost dozed off when I heard leaves crunching underfoot. My eyes flew open and I immediately sprang up to run.

But it was too late. I was already surrounded. There was no way for me to escape. The huge men, who all had a similar tattoo of a star-shaped circle, closed in on me. From their appearance, I saw that they were not rogues. They weren't hunters either. They were more like guards, Gammas.

“She’s the spy from the rival Pack,” one of the men said.

“No, please. I’m not a spy. I just got lost along the way. I’m harmless”

Whatever it was that whispered to me to make a run for it didn’t have my interest at heart.

Before I could run ten steps away, I felt something hit my thigh. The pain paralyzed me, and I fell to the ground.

“Take her to the car. We’re taking her to Alpha Orion immediately”

That was the last thing I heard before darkness took over me.