CHAPTER 4

My skin prickled as we got ready to travel back.

Most were travelling in their wolf form but some others were using the horse-led cart that held the supplies they'd gathered from their conquest of the Midland Packs.

Yes, I have heard about this male.

A terrifying beast rumoured to kill with an intense stare, he's the unofficial King of our species by all margins.

Anyone unlucky enough to cross his path might as well just bury themselves alive rather than letting him come for revenge.

And what does my father do?

Goes and stupidly acquired a loan from him for the past five years, doesn't pay and now he's here to collect.

His mode of payment?

Me.

My tears were nonexistent at this point, I'd cried so much as the omegas came again to prepare me for the journey ahead, wrapping me in this thick fur that was itching me as I stood at the edge of our territory, wishing all of this was a dream.

But it wasn't, his scent was so thick it felt like an incensed fog filling my nostrils, as much as his voice as he threw out orders for his men.

‘Pack that up!’

‘Get him another log of wood, Casper!’

‘Get a sturdier horse for that sack, Ansel!’

Suddenly I felt him thundering towards me, his feet making it feel like the ground was shaking.

I'm the one who's shaking involuntarily by the way.

I quickly stepped out of his path so I don't get thrown off into the bushes by the annoyed look on his face.

“You already wanna run?” He threw at me, his voice lower.

His men chuckled, sending waves of embarrassment across my body.

“No Alpha,” I squeaked, stepping back in his line of sight.

“Good. It'll do your Pack no good if you do.”

As if I could care less for this pathetic Pack but I feigned fear and as much of a pleading face as possible.

“I'm sorry Alpha.”

“Good girl. Take off that thin coat. I won't have you dying on me before you do your job.”

My job.

The way he said it so casually increased the vengeful anger growing in the pit of my belly.

How is the end of my life for his satisfaction a job?

What will become of me after I deliver this child?

I'll be useless, and knowing how easily people die at his hands, what's to say he won't kill me too?

I did as told and took off the coat my father ranted and complained about as he handed it over to the Omegas.

His most prized possession wasn't me, it was a bear’s hide and it pained him that I was parting with it.

Well, not anymore.

I turned back and signalled to one of the omegas staring with gaping lips, admiring the man by whose hands I'll be going to die.

Lucky them.

She rushed over and took it from me and I turned back to the Beast then I watched him pull off the thick, giant fur on his back and he pushed it in my direction.

I couldn't help frowning.

“What? You're too good for Iron Claw Pack fur?” He sneered, making me tremble.

“No Alpha,” I quickly took it and wore it.

Or tried to.

His sweat coated its insides and although it didn't smell bad, I just felt odd.

I'll be so thickly wrapped in his scent we might as well have done the deed.

Ugh.

“Good.”

That was all I heard before my feet lost touch with the ground and I found myself being carried over his head and towards the caravan that we were travelling in.

I stopped screaming when he squeezed my ribs threateningly.

The journey lasted a mere five seconds, that's how tall the man was, I would have needed two or three minutes to cover the distance.

He plumped my ass down on a horse and pushed the ropes in my head.

And then he walked away.

My lips widened in confusion as I watched other women expertly pull their horses into a trot, the men driving the carts doing the same and soon, bones began cracking.

Most of the men had gray coloured wolves and judging by their large size, I knew the Beast was going to equally beastly in size.

I was lost, watching and waiting for him to shift but he didn't.

“Alpha,” someone yelled loudly, “I don't think the lass knows how to ride a horse!”

My cheeks blazed red, embarrassment filling my body for the umpteenth time since I came in contact with these people.

The fury in his eyes when he turned to look at my incompetent self made me feel like I was burning.

“Is it true?”

“Yes Alpha,” I breathed, my voice small and shaky.

“Fucking hell,” he grunted and walked towards me, each step driving me towards tears.

Fight or flight.

Flight of course but I was too high up on this enormous horse that I don't know how to navigate that reaction.

He didn't say another word, just jumped behind me and gripped the ropes he'd handed me and pulled.

The horse reared, neighing loudly.

I screamed alongside it.

“Shh!”

I clasped my lips immediately with two hands, which meant I was heading to the ground immediately.

I didn't make it to the ground though, he caught me with one arm, and with an annoyed huff, he dumped me in the middle of his legs again.

“You're already making me regret this stupid decision,” he muttered, and then yelled a command to the horse.

One hand wrapped around my stomach, holding my body tight against his and the other controlling the horse.

He didn't go easy, just straight into a full run.

“Good bye Maya!” Someone yelled from my Pack.

'Former Pack, Maya,' I reminded myself, dead or alive, I'm never returning to this hellhole.

But it irritated me so much but I still had to pretend that I was doing this for them, so I turned and waved with my free hand for half a second before focusing back ahead.

This was my life now; giant horses and journeying through the wild to a strange Pack with an Alpha that is irritated by me.

The tears I was so sure were done falling, fell as we travelled until I dozed off, my head on his shoulder.