07

Killian

"Who are you exactly and what's your mission here?" Tucksberry, one of the Blue Wave pack elders questions with his audible voice which is capable of stirring up fear in the hearts of vulnerable people. And there's immediate silence as I make my presence known in the council hall that consists of my pack members.

"Alpha Killian," Tucksberry acknowledges me, along with the rest of the elders and crowd looking at me with interest.

I walk towards my reserved seat, but I don't sit down.

 Dylan, my Beta, and the rest of my men chose to stand at my side.

"So I heard there's an exiled wolf in town," I say, slowly curling my fingers and raising them to my face.

"Over there, Alpha." Someone points at a fragile-looking girl who has her head lowered to her chest. 

Wait a minute, that familiar scent?

I can already feel her before I see her face.

"My name is Peyton Adabelle Barlowe, I am nothing but an Omega wolf from the Crimson pack in Chicago." The girl croaks out, then raises her head to look in my direction. 

Mate.

I have no idea how my wolf said this word in my head, but he did, shocking the living daylight out of me because I didn't expect it. 

"We don't know if she might wreak havoc in our pack. Because we were informed that she ran away before she got exiled." Elder Matteo holds his hand out as he explains for emphasis from his seat, staring at the girl with distrust. "She has to be punished for trespassing because she is nothing but a rogue now."

"Either death or life imprisonment." Elder Tucksberry pins and everyone shifts their gazes to my direction, waiting for me to speak, but I am too occupied staring at the girl who the moon goddess has made my mate, and I am as well sniffing.

 There's a familiar scent that I can't seem to figure out where I've perceived it before. The scent is different from the rest of my pack wolves. It's as though it's coming from the girl who I am still in shock to believe she's my mate.

I leave my chair and advance towards the direction of my mate that has blonde hair, bulgy hazel eyes, who in turn has her eyes narrowed as if she too is trying to figure out something.

"Alpha Killian?" Someone whose voice sounds like Dylan calls out to me, but I don't reply.

When I am a foot away, I stop, sniff around and realization comes slamming through my brain that the girl, my mate, is the one who saved me and tended to my wounds two nights ago.

There is silence for twenty seconds because I still have my eyes on the pale skin, fragile-looking girl. The urge to take full possession of her is overwhelming, because my wolf is in desperate need to connect with hers. 

This feels like some sick mind game the moon goddess is playing on me, but it's too good to be true. My mate is my savior.

I turn around to face the crowd.

"This meeting has come to an end, everyone head to your respective homes," I announce, raising my chin in the air and watch as the faces of my pack members squeezes into confusion and disbelief.

Elder Tucksberry has a puzzled expression on his face.

"What are you doing, Killian?" He inquires, staring at me with disappointment.

"Leave everything to me," I assure him with a fake smile, when I see that his face isn't being cooperative, I turn away from him to Dylan.

"You've heard the alpha, the meeting is dismissed." He announces. "Get your asses up and start taking them home." He's clapping his hands as a sign that they should start exiting the council hall.

When I return my gaze to my matel, I see her biting on her bottom lip nervously. She looks like she'd rather be anywhere than here, and my wolf can perceive how frightened she is. 

I give access to my mind to link to hers, and I figure out that she recognizes me as the person she saved, but still in a shocked state that I am the Alpha of the town's pack. 

Thankfully there's a blockage to her wolf connecting with mine for some unknown reasons, and she has no clue yet that she's my mate, which makes things less complicated. Because I can't even deal with the thought of having a mate at this point. But I have to keep her close to me, to protect her. 

Peyton

He grabs me by the arm, pulls me away from where I am standing, and starts taking me out of the council hall.

I avoid the eyes of everyone as I let him pull me away because I too don't know what he is up to. 

It turns out that the stranger who I saved two nights ago, is the Alpha of this town's pack.

Who would've thought he is an Alpha? Because he was on the verge of dying that night.

"Get in the car," He orders when we're outside, next to a convoy of cars.

I obey instantly because if I don't want to get killed or thrown into prison for life, I have to take his every word.

He joins me in the backseat of the car, while his Beta takes the one in front next to the driver.

When the car engine roars to life, I quickly stare out the window because I am too scared to look at the man beside me.

He's too intimidating, so tall, and well built.

"Your name is Peyton?" He suddenly asks, causing shivers to transport themselves down my spine and generating goosebumps on my every single pore. Because his voice is deep and distinct, and full of authority. 

"Look at me," He orders.

Gulping, I slowly shift my gaze away from the window.

And I almost pee on my pants when I turn to see him staring at me already. His blue gaze is so intense and powerful.

 His dark brown hair is styled in a taper fade, bringing out more of his hard facial features. A droopy nose, and a hard unforgiving mouth.

 Gulping down the gigantic lump stuck within my throat, I give him a firm nod to his question regarding my name.

"It was you who tended to my wounds two nights ago." He says.

Again, I nod with my lips thinned.

"I am known as Alpha Killian," He introduces himself and I want to hit my head against the car window to find out if this man is the one I saved two nights ago. Because he looks different, much more good-looking. Even his clothes scream thousands of dollars. Unlike how I found him unconscious and butt naked.

"Why did you leave your pack, Peyton?" He questions, eyes never leaving mine. "Stepping foot into this land as an exiled wolf makes you nothing but a rogue. And we do kill rogues, or lock them up because they're never to be trusted." The lines on his forehead are furrowing as he makes this known to me.

"My mate got attacked and killed by vampires some nights ago. When I told my Alpha and the pack members, they chose to not believe me. They went ahead and tagged me as a murderer because I was adopted into an Omega family where I was treated more like a maid." I provide, staring at the curled up fingers on top of my pajamas' clad thighs.

I can see the Alpha's Beta listening to me with keen interest from the front seat of the car. And Christ, I don't know where they're taking me to. 

The look on Alpha Killian's face when I return my gaze to his makes it obvious that he's pondering over something. And I hold captive my inhale, anticipating his reply because I don't even know if they're taking me to where I'll get killed.

My eyes slowly begin to water when I think about my ill-stinking predicament these past few days. Lancelot's death, the pack holding me hostage and keeping me in chains, everyone not believing me when I told them how my mate was killed. Me running away from my pack and moving into a new town. Then getting caught by the town's pack members, interrogated like a criminal which currently throws me in the position of being in the same car with their Alpha, and waiting for him to pass on his judgment.

"I will set you free," Alpha Killian says after a slice of silence, then holds up his finger to silence me before I can attempt to process his words.

"On one condition." He adds with his lips stretching into a frown as though what he's about to say would be of no use to him, but has no choice.

Letting out a low breath, he maintains eye contact with me for the third time.

"You'd be my slave."