Chapter 3

Amara

I was scared at the sudden movement, my eyes were closed, but a familiar scent hit me. Addictive forest air. Alpha Magnus.

My eyes shot open.

The sparks from his touch were so intense they made me want to pull him closer, to feel him everywhere. But what I saw when my gaze met his stopped me cold.

Angry blue eyes. He stood proud and dominating, his height looming over me until I felt like a pup.

His grip on my arms tightened, tight enough to hurt. The disgusted look carved into his face made my heart ache. Zia felt it too. She whimpered inside me.

"You know I am your mate, right omega?" he asked through a clenched jaw, like he was barely suppressing something violent.

I nodded meekly.

His grip tightened more. I hissed. "It's hurting me, let go," I said. His hold loosened slightly but he didn't release me.

"You will not tell anyone that you and I are fated mates. Not a single soul." It wasn't a request. It was a threat.

Hearing those words from his mouth made the pain multiply. A fated mate was supposed to love each other, especially an alpha. Alphas are known to be fiercely possessive over their females. But I guess to him, I was nothing.

"Why?" That was all I could manage. I didn't trust my voice. If I said more I would break down completely.

"Why are you asking why?" His voice dripped with disgust. "Look at you. You're a maid. An omega. I'm an alpha, why would I settle for a lower rank wolf and a lowclass mate, when I already have a strong, intelligent beta female? Chloe is my fiancée. I already chose her."

Those bitter words made me and Zia howl in pain inside me.

I had heard words like that my whole life, from wolves in this pack, from this family. But hearing them from his mouth. The person I had waited for, for so many years.

I forced myself to gather whatever was left of me.

"What if I don't hide it?" I said. "What if I tell everyone?"

The moment those words left my mouth, Magnus's eyes turned dark. I could feel his wolf rising to the surface, ready to break free.

I think he hated that I hadn't submitted, that I'd dared to speak back. He wrestled his wolf down.

"Oh, attitude, hmm?" he said mockingly. "Seems like the omega thinks highly of herself. Doesn't she?" He tightened his grip again, this time with the full intention of hurting me.

"Listen carefully, low class omega, listen very carefully don't you ever forget this. If you said a word of this to anyone, I will kill you. No one will ever find your dead body.

This is an alpha's promise, and I don't break those. If you think being my mate protects you, you don't know me. I will be your worst nightmare. You will never see another day."

He threw me against the wall and walked out.

I hit the ground hard. I covered my face with both hands. The tears I had been holding back broke free all at once and I burst into sobs.

Not once in my darkest dreams had I imagined my mate could be this cruel, he even wants to kill me.

I stayed there on the floor and cried until I had nothing left.

It felt like hours before I finally got to my feet and dragged myself to my room. My eyes were swollen and burning. My arms hurt where he'd grabbed me. But none of that compared to what was happening inside my chest, something kept crashing into me, again and again, and it wouldn't stop.

I changed my clothes and lay down on my bed, staring at the ceiling, replaying everything.

This was supposed to be the best day of my life. Why, Goddess? Why did you give him to me?

I didn't want someone rich or powerful or high rank. I just wanted a mate who loved me. That was all I ever asked for.

I kept questioning but I knew no answer would ever come. At some point, exhaustion won and I fell asleep.

In the morning my eyes shot open. I sat up and looked at the clock on the wall across from me.

Shit. I'm late.

I caught my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were still swollen. I took a slow breath as yesterday's incident came flooding back, his cruel words, the way he'd looked at me like I was something disgusting thing.

I rarely cry. But his words had been bitter enough to make me feel like trash.

I skipped my bath as I was already late, wore my clean clothes, and rushed out to the hall. It was empty.

My brows pulled together. Well, good. The last thing I needed was to walk in on my mate and my sister doing the very things I had once dreamed of having for myself.

I turned toward the kitchen.

"Oh, so the princess finally woke up." Julie's sharp voice cut through the air. She was standing near the kitchen doorway with her arms folded.

"You're late today. Did you forget we have very important guests?" she hissed. "Are you planning something, Amara?"

"No, Julie," I said carefully, keeping my voice flat and small. I couldn't afford to argue with her. If she wanted to throw me out of this house, she could, and no one would stop her. My father certainly wouldn't.

She studied me, eyes narrowed. "You've been acting strange since yesterday."

I shook my head. "Nothing, Julie. I had a fever last night. That's why I slept in. It won't happen again."

She laughed. Loud.

"I think I know what it is. You're jealous of Chloe, aren't you? She's mated to someone as powerful as Alpha Magnus, and you can't digest the fact" she snorted.

"You're still mateless. Your mate hasn't come. Maybe you don't even have one, Amara. Maybe you're just better off as a maid." She laughed again. She told me the same words yesterday.

My heart clenched. I wanted to scream at her. I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and tell her that Magnus is my mate, not Chloe's. But what choice did I have? My own mate had threatened me into silence.

After she finally finished laughing and making her point, she straightened.

"Now go to the kitchen and make breakfast. Magnus and Chloe went out for a run. It's good for their wolves to run together. It helps them bond." She said the last part like she was hoping for exactly that.

I didn't wait to hear more. I walked out.

By the time breakfast was ready I could hear Chloe's voice from down the hall, bright and loud and bubbling over with laughter.

“Where's the food, Mom? I'm starving! You won't believe it, Magnus and I were running in our wolf form. Mark started chasing Tee! He was so fast, oh my God, that was amazing”.

Mark. Magnus wolf. Chasing Tee.. Chloe's wolf.

I knew what that meant. Every wolf knows what that means. When a male wolf chases a she-wolf, it isn't just play, it's something sacred. Intimate. It belongs only to fated pairs.

If that happened between their wolves... It means their wolves chose each other too.

Zia howled inside me. She was crying. I pressed my lips together and wiped my eyes fast before I could fall apart.

I carried the food out. Dad, Julie and Chloe were already seated. I started filling plates when I heard heavy footsteps, and before he even appeared, I knew. His scent.

It took everything I had not to breathe it in deeper.

He sat beside Chloe like he owned the room.

I didn't look at his face. But I felt his eyes on me the moment I stepped closer to fill his plate. His scent hit harder up close.

I saw his fist clench against the table. I guess it affected him the same way whether he liked it or not.

Everyone finished and the table cleared out. Chloe was still sitting, waiting for Magnus to finish, he was eating like a starving wolf, and honestly, I was glad I'd made enough food. Finally they both stood. Chloe looped herself around him immediately, close as a shadow.

It gutted me. I wanted to look away and couldn't.

"Magnus, today I'll show you around the pack," Chloe said sweetly.

My eyes moved without permission, straight to him, and collided with blue,

Electricity shot through my veins.

He looked away first.

Why was he staring at me, did he think I would tell chole that I am his mate?

They walked out. I stood there staring at the empty doorway, a thick lump in my throat that I couldn't swallow down.

The rest of the day was chores. Cleaning. Cooking lunch, cooking dinner. Both harder than they should have been because every hour brought another glimpse of the two of them, my mate and my sister, and I had to stand there and serve them and say nothing.

By night everyone had gone to bed except me. I lay on my mattress, too hollow to sleep, staring at the ceiling.

I was almost under when I heard it.

A heavy thud. Like something, or someone..had dropped from a height.

I rose from my bed quickly. What was that?