Chapter 2

Lindsay's Pov

Smack!

A loud slap landed on my face, knocking me to the ground right away.

The slaps made me dizzy and sick.

My cheeks were sore and hot, and I could not help coughing and retching.

The Alpha looked at me coldly and did not take my explanation seriously at all.

He grabbed me by the neck and pinned me against the wall.

“How dare you touch Kristen?! I raised my sister like a princess, and you killed her for a spot in the varsity?”

The man grimaced, and his voice was icely cold.

He did not even listen to my explanation. He just wanted to vent his anger at me.

The wound on my back hurt even more under his assault. 

The Alpha gradually tightened his grip. I was suffocating, and it felt like all my senses were being cut off.

My face turned reddish purple with veins bulging on my forehead.

I was certain that he would strangle me to death in no time.

He suddenly released his grip right before I black out.

I slid off the wall, collapsed to the ground, and coughed violently.

It was because of his mercy; he just did not want me to die so easily.

As expected, he lifted his foot and kicked me hard in the stomach.

I rolled to the ground, and blood gushed up to my throat.

I swallowed the blood in my mouth and looked right at that tall man.

“I didn’t! I told you the Rogues attacked us! I—”

“Lies! Our pack is so powerful. How would the Rogues dare to come in? Do you think you’d be perfectly safe after shifting the blame onto the Rogues? Do you think we’re all fools?!”

“It’s true! I’m not lying! I’m not!”

“You’re still denying it!”

He lashed out another kick.

I felt my ribs break. The immense pain numbed my mind, such that I could hardly even move.

Even so, the assault went far beyond that. The Alpha kicked over the meal that my mother had brought for me. The scalding hot broth splashed onto my exposed wounds. I couldn’t take it anymore and started to scream.

“Do you think you deserve to eat?” He sneered while crushing the food with his shoes.

“Eat it!” He shouted, stepping on my head and pressing me down to the pool of broth.

The broken glass pierced my skin. My blood blended with the soiled food.

I couldn’t even whimper for pain. I could only lie on the ground and pant heavily.

Immediately after, he threw more punches and kicking my way..

I wanted to resist, but it was in vain.

He could easily have me killed, not to mention that I was now severely injured.

I curled up, and my mouth twitched slightly, as painful moans escaped my gritted teeth. .

No one, including my mother, rescued me.

It was laughable. She did not believe me.

In her eyes, I was a disgraceful daughter.

She wanted me dead as much as those people did.

How ridiculous!

The violence stopped suddenly.

The Alpha was furious. “Are you trying to cover up for your daughter?”

I raised my eyes and looked up.

My mother stopped him!

My mother had actually stopped him!

My mother still loved me!

I—

“Tyler, it’d be letting her off easy if you beat her to death. A filthy person like her should be expelled so that she can feel what it’s like to suffer as an outcast.”

The last bit of hope in my eyes was shattered.

I could hardly believe that those vicious words came from my own mother.

How much did she loathe me to treat me like this?

The Alpha narrowed his eyes slightly. He was clearly considering her words.

After a while, he snorted coldly. “You’re right. I have to let this bitch taste the cruelest punishment to offset the hatred in my heart and make up for my sister’s death.”

I was tied up and dragged to the square of the marketplace.

All eyes were on me as the Alpha stood at the top and stated my crime.

“Lindsay Blackwood, a shameless, jealous and wicked bitch. She brutally murdered my precious sister fora spot in the varsity. I hereby expel her from the Crimson River Pack. She can never set foot in the pack again.”

The crowd was in an uproar with insults, accusing me of the crime and calling me shameless, vile, and vicious.

“Oh gosh! Isn’t she the prettiest girl from our school?”

“To hell with the prettiest girl. She’s a murderer!”

“How disgusting. I used to have a crush on her.”

“Me too! What shitty luck!”

“A bitch like her must have slept with many men.”

“How filthy!”

***

I looked at those people coldly. My classmates and my friend were among them, but at this moment, all of them had become the ones who hated me the most.

Someone suddenly spat at me.

I glanced sideways, and it turned out to be a little girl whom I had once rescued.

She was looking at me resentfully. “Villain! Murderer! You should die!”

I could not stop sneering at that moment.

Just then, something even more ridiculous happened.

My mother came forward and pointed at me as she said, “As Lindsay’s mother, I’m sorry and ashamed for what she has done. She doesn’t deserve to be my daughter at all. I’m willing to disown her now.”

An immense pain struck me!

My mother’s words hurt me even more than the wounds on my body, as if she was twisting a knife in my heart.

The soldiers paraded me in public. My festered wounds bled with pus under  the blinding sunlight.

Passers-by threw stones and spat on me.

Their spit made my festered wound even more painful.

Then, an even more painful punishment came—I was expelled from the pack.

Before I left, I tried to beg my mother to let me bring my coyote cuddling toy with me. The doll's color was the same as my mother’s white wolf, which gave me a sense of security in the dark nights as a child.

However, she threw the coyote doll into the fire in front of me, burning it to ashes.

My last shred of hope was crushed ruthlessly. I knew I was already dead in her heart.

The moment my body left the pack, a soul-splitting pain engulfed my entire body.

The pain of forced expulsion was even more painful than the Pack Bond removal ordered by the Alpha; it was like flesh being sliced off by blades.

What was more urgent than stopping the pain was how I was going to stay alive.

The stench of blood on my body was so strong that it would attract the Rogues easily.

I had to get out of this place fast and find a cave or a water pool, at least.

I gritted my teeth and climbed forward, leaving crimson bloodstains along the way.

Despair overwhelmed my heart.

The Rogues would definitely be attracted as long as there was blood.

A wolf howl was suddenly heard from the distance, as if trying to prove my thoughts.

That howl sent shivers down my spine.

Terrified, I crawled faster with my scarred body.

However, my movement was way too slow. I was soon surrounded by the strong smell of the Rogues.

It was two brown male wolves. One of them had a long scar over its eye.

Looking at me, they huffed and drooled.

I tried to run away, but I struggled to even stand up.

At that moment, the shadow of death enveloped me.

I gasped heavily and closed my eyes as soon as they ran toward me.

I knew I was going to be torn into pieces soon.

Why!!

I had done nothing!

Why was I being treated like this?

***

The imagined pain of being torn apart did not come.

The smell of tequila flooded in the air. My skin was burning, as if it was being scorched by fire.

Was this... the smell of my mate?

I was astonished. Just then, I was picked up by a pair of muscular and strong arms.

I exclaimed and opened my eyes.

It was a shockingly good-looking man with  a straightnose, deep eye sockets and well-defined jawline.

He glanced sideways at me and sneered. His curled lips were neither of sarcasm nor disdain, and a faint smile spreaded over his gorgeous face.

The corpses of the two brown wolves were lying next to his feet.

Who was this man?

I looked at him and panicked.

He threw me into the passenger seat of an SUV.

My bones shattered from the impact.

I wanted to sit up, but he lifted my chin casually with his cold hand.

He shook his head. “Who ruined this pretty face like this? Such a pity.”

After the remark, he got up and closed the door of the SUV.

“Sit tight,” he shouted before he hit on the gas immediately. He whistled at me in the roaring sound of the starting engine.

I hurriedly fastened my seat belt.

“Who are you?” I asked him loudly.

He ignored my question and turned his head sideways with his dark yet mysterious eyes. “Do you want to find out who killed Kristen?”