The Heir

Leora

I stayed in the dungeon for two days, before Caleb came to visit me. During this time, I was barely given any food or treated of my wounds. Life in the pack continued, with no one coming for me. Amara couldn't save me even if she wanted to, and I knew she was worried out of her goddamn mind. Each night was spent crying and praying for a miracle.

My wolf had retreated to the deepest part of my mind, weaker than ever, and sad that she could do nothing to help. Even if I managed to shift, I couldn't rip the dungeon's iron bars apart. I wasn't that strong.

After the second day, I heard firm footsteps coming down the staircase, but was too weak to care. My stomach rumbled, empty. My mouth tasted bitter, and the blood from my wounds had all dried up, but still needed stitches. When Caleb drew the iron bars apart, his eyes landing on me with an inscrutable expression, my wolf resurfaced, chanting MATE with all ferocity.

Quiet, I chided her. You don't know what he might do to us. He might be like his father.

But he's here, my wolf protested. That counts for something.

Let's watch and see, I replied.

Caleb stepped into the dungeon and knelt down in front of me, his large hands finding my face and going over the bruises caused by his father's strong grip around my neck. I held my breath, my eyes closed. He sighed. "I'm so sorry. So so sorry. I should never have left you alone with him."

I pursed my lips, wondering where he was going with this. My wolf wagged her tail happily.

See! I told you!

Oh, shut up, I said.

Caleb swooped me off the floor, bridal-style, and I melted into his arms. I didn't have to retreat into my happy place in my mind, because it was playing out in reality. I couldn't believe it. Alpha Brennan's son, Caleb...the most sought after Alpha of the Redwood Pack was my mate, and he was here, saving me from a cruel fate caused by his father. It was all so too good to be true.

He carried me up the staircase, and out into the pack house's open. My entire body ached, and got worse when I kept hearing gasps from anyone we came across. I was too weak to observe with my eyes, so I just kept my head close to his chest, enjoying his warmth and manly pheromones. His biceps were so firm, and when he carried me into the pack clinic, lowering me onto a bed, I got an excuse to touch them. Boy, they were so strong.

He pushed my hair back from my eyes and kissed my dirtied forehead softly. "Rest here for a while, my love. The pack nurse will treat you shortly."

I nodded. "Thank you," I said weakly.

"You're welcome."

—

Caleb stayed by my side the entire morning and afternoon, and only left for an hour or two when Alpha Brennan called. The pack nurse stitched me up real good, and I was given food, so I had gotten stronger to sit up and even talk. Amara still hadn't come to see me, and I took it as she might have been getting overworked by Amarie or Luna Celestine. When Caleb got back after his meeting with his father, I noticed a troubled experience on his face.

"You're up," he said absentmindedly, coming to sit beside me on the small clinic bed. He was bigger, so he took up more space, but I didn't mind. Us, sitting in proximity seemed like a scene out of my wildest dreams, and the air around us buzzed with lukewarm electricity caused by our attraction to each other. "Hope you're comfortable?"

I nodded. "I-I-I can't t-thank you enough for everything. Really, you've tried for me."

He shrugged. "What are mates for?"

My heart swelled with pride.

Mates.

Tears sprang up my eyes. I couldn't believe my luck.

He drew me closer, so that I sat on his lap. I rested my head on his chest, and the tears finally fell. All these years of pain, all these years of sorrow, of hard work, of abuse, of everything bad. It was all coming to an end. Me, a weak excuse of an Omega finally had a mate.

He saved me. Caleb. My mate. My Alpha.

I drifted to a calm sleep. Nothing could go wrong now. Nothing at all.

Nothing.

—

I woke up in darkness, cuffed on my both wrists.

Again.

"What is going on?" I exhaled, my voice echoing against the dungeon walls. I couldn't believe my eyes. How did I get down here again.

My wolf whined, confused. I was still in my clinic gown, my stitches intact. "Caleb? Amara? Hello?! Is someone out there?"

What could have happened? Why...why did Caleb return me here? Or was it Amarie who did it? Caleb was my mate. I knew it was too early to trust him, but he'd proved to be unlike his father. Kind. Compassionate. I mean, he'd saved me. He'd ensured I got treated, got food and was strong enough again.

There was no way he'd bother doing all that and return me back here.

It just wasn't... possible.

A bright light came from the staircase and Caleb appeared in view. Happiness swelled in my chest as he pulled the dungeon doors open and stepped inside, shutting it quietly behind him.

"Caleb," I whispered. He stopped a few meters short, staring at me, his eyes unreadable. "What...what is happening? I was sleeping in your arms one moment, and then I woke up and I'm back here..."

"Weak..." He spat.

Pain sliced through my chest. "Huh?"

"You are weak," he muttered, stretching out his left hand to touch my jaw, his fingers light against my stitched bruises. "You're weak for me, Leora. We...we can't...we can't be together."

His words felt like a dagger stabbing into my chest. My eyes watered, and my wolf whined in pain. "What are you saying, Caleb? We're destined for each other. The Moon Goddess wants this for us. We're meant to be... together."

His eyes gleamed, and then I couldn't believe what happened next.

He burst out laughing.

A loud, long, scathing laughter that made my hackled rise.

"By the fates, you're so damn delusional, little Omega. There is no us. There will never be us! I am set to take over after my father, and I can't have a weakling for a Luna. It has never happened in the history of the Redwood Pack, and it won't start with me. I won't pass on my chance to rule because of you."

I blinked back tears, as the realization hit me. The meeting with his father...this was the outcome. Alpha Brennan had placed a condition on him. Reject our bond, or lose the chance to be a future Alpha.

I fell to my knees. Fates, when would this suffering end? Just when I thought things would turn around and be good, it was only getting worse. My alpha. My mate treasured a position over loving me.

"And so," Caleb continued. "I have to do what I have to do. I'm so sorry, Leora. The Moon Goddess might want this for us, but I don't want this for myself. I can't defy my father, or the pack. Not for you. Never."

Bastard, my wolf howled. Fucking spineless coward.

"I, Caleb Brennan reject you, Leora Alabaster as my mate and Luna. You shall remain here for a long time until my coronation with my chosen Luna is done in future. If you want to survive, it'd do you well to accept the rejection."

Pain, like boiling water engulfed my entire being, sending me writhing on the floor. I gnashed my teeth in anguish, crying and thrashing around as the agony wracked through my weak body. After what felt like eternity, it subsided a little. "I accept your rejection, Alpha."

It was never worth it in the end.

Never worth it.