A Thief!?

Willow’s POV 

He pulled me into a small house hidden behind thick bushes and slammed the door shut. 

“We should be safe here,” he said and then turned to face me.

My eyes widened.

My savior was Lucas Salvatore, the Alpha's son. I had never been this close to him before. From afar, I knew he was handsome, but up close it was almost unreal. His eyes were a piercing blue, and his face had the sharp perfection of someone carved by steady hands. The goddess room time in creating him. His short, curly brown hair softened his masculine appearance though it only made his gaze more intense.

“You're Stella's maid, right?” His eyes moved over me and I felt conscious of the fact that all I had on was lingerie covered by a thin robe. 

I shook my head quickly, heat rushing to my face as I wrapped the robe tighter. 

Maid?

Was that what Stella told people?

“I'm her cousin,” I said and looked around the room. I wondered how long I could stay here? 

I needed to leave this pack quickly. I knew what was coming and it wasn't safe for me. 

“Why were Augustus's men chasing you? And why are you in a robe in the middle of the woods?”

“I… uh…” My tongue faltered. 

How could I tell the Alpha’s son that I had stabbed his uncle to escape being touched?

Would he believe me? 

“Did you steal?” he asked. I could tell from the look in his eyes what he wanted to hear so I told him. 

“No.”

“Good, because I hate thieves.” His words struck like a whip. 

I swallowed hard and wrapped the robe tighter. I was about to ask him if he had a plan before he spoke again. 

“We can't stay here long. They'll come back soon.”

“What do I do?” My voice trembled before I could stop it.

“Come with me.” He stretched his hand toward me. I stared at it, my heart stuttering. No one has ever offered me their hand before. He didn't know me or what I'd done and he was ready to help.

My heart melted at the gesture. 

I placed my trembling hand in his. He froze at the contact, his gaze locking with mine. For a second, something flickered in his eyes, something I could not name but then it vanished. He reached for the door, but then a voice cut through the room, stopping us from moving. 

“Junior Alpha Lucas.”

We spun around. One of Augustus’s guards crouched at the window, his shadow filling the small space. My heart plummeted.

How did he find us? 

“That young girl is a criminal. She is wanted by your uncle.”

Lucas stepped forward immediately, his body shielding me from the guard. 

“What crime did she commit?” His voice was firm.

“She stabbed him and stole money. He is healed now, but if we had not found him, he would have died.”

Lucas’s eyes narrowed in confusion, he turned to look at me 

“Is this true?”

I nodded and was about to explain when a sharp sting pierced the side of my neck. My fingers touched the spot and I knew instantly.

A tranquilizer.

Everything around me blurred. My body grew heavy. The last thing I saw was Lucas’s arms catching me as darkness took over my countenance 

When I opened my eyes, I was kneeling on the cold floor in the compound of the pack house. My head was pounding with pain and my mouth was dry. Chains bound my wrists together and it ached. 

A circle of guards stood around me. 

“Thief! Thief!” they chanted and looked at me with disgust. 

Fear wrapped around me like a thick blanket I couldn't get rid of. I knew what was coming. My heart beat so fast it hurt. I searched the space frantically, but Lucas was nowhere in sight. 

Where had he gone? 

The crowd thickened, eyes glaring down at me as if I were some creature dragged in from the gutter. My uncle and aunt were among the crowd, but they did not step forward. They only watched from a distance.

I knew the only thing on their minds was the money they had received. 

Shame and terror was all I could feel and yet all I wanted was to leave. To leave this pack and go find my father. Maybe he'd accept me even though he ran when I was born. 

“What’s all this ruckus?” A deep, commanding voice roared and everywhere went silent. 

My eyes shot up. The Alpha himself had stepped out of his house.  His presence commanded attention. Beside him stood the Luna, and behind them was Logan, Lucas's twin brother. 

My breath caught.

He looked exactly like Lucas but where Lucas had his father’s features, Logan’s darker brown hair and green eyes belonged to his mother. Two halves of the same coin, both devastating to look at, though I was too terrified to let my awe linger.

“My goodness,” the Luna gasped, her voice laced with disbelief at the sight of me

“Isn’t that girl too young for this? What are you doing to her?”

“Forgive me, my Alpha and Luna,” the head guard said with a bow..His tone carried false humility. “This young lady stole from and stabbed Sir Augustus.”

My knees trembled harder against the stone floor, something told me there was no saving me now. 

“What do you have to say for yourself?” The alpha asked me.

Though my body was trembling, I wanted to speak.

“He…” I had barely started speaking when my uncle and aunt stopped forward and bowed their heads in unison 

“She is our ward. She has always been a naughty and stubborn child. We would send her to our stall to help out and she would steal our profits and squander it on drinks” 

My jaw dropped at the words coming out of my uncle's mouth.

“We thought sending her to Sir Augustus will teach her responsibility and tame her but we were wrong. We are sorry for all of this” he finished and the both of them bowed once again. 

“It's not…” I tried to speak from behind them but a blow to the head by one of the guards and I fell to the ground, silently whimpering, the fall caused my robe to shift and the money I had taken from Sir Augustus fell out of my robe pocket. 

“Your Lordship. Look” the head guard pointed at the money and the crowd gasped. 

Tears filled the brim of my eyes. 

I was not a thief. 

I only took it because I wanted a chance to start over. I was going to use it to survive after I left the pack. I had never stolen before but when I saw the money, I knew I needed it. 

Now no one was going to believe me. 

“200 lashes on her back and she is to return to sir Augustus’s house. If there is a repeat offense. She would be sent to the cages until she learns to behave" The Luna voice dripped with anger. 

I couldn't speak. I felt ashamed to beg. Maybe the beating would kill me and my misery would end. 

A tear fell from my eyes as the guards pulled me up from the ground. Someone had brought a table and a whip. The head guard collected the whip with too much excitement.

I closed my eyes in pain as they pushed me against the table. I thought they would start there but then the head guard had an idea.

“Take off the robe,” he yelled at me.

I froze. I couldn't take it off. What I had underneath was unholy. 

“Please don't make me” I begged, suddenly finding my voice.

"Thief's like you don't deserve to be pitied” with one grasp he yanked the robe from my body, tearing it into pieces. My hand scrambled to cover what bit of myself I could. 

I felt naked with only a little lingerie hiding my nakedness from the crowd. 

I saw someone take a picture and the tears rolled down freely. 

This was it. 

Nothing left but to die. 

“Stop” someone yelled from behind. It wasn't the alpha. The voice wasn't deep enough but it commanded authority likewise. 

A coat was suddenly placed over me. “Have you no dignity?” Logan asked, adjusting the coat over my body. 

“What if she was your daughter?” He glared at the guard 

“She is a criminal but still a person” 

The guard stepped forward 

“How dare….” he began but stopped as the Alpha stepped forward 

“Come here” he instructed. I looked around but it was clear. His eyes were on me. 

My legs shook as I took slow steps towards him. The chains on my hands dangled with each movement. 

What was he going to do to me? 

“Take it off”