Sold By My Mate

The jail was cold and it was yesterday but it felt like a lifetime. My hands were shaking. I just sat there on that hard bench, knees hugged to my chest. The whole place smelled like rust and wet rock. A dripping sound somewhere. The walls were just grey. My heart was just pounding in my ears. I had woken up here and the last thing I remembered was being dragged away by those guards.

How did everything go so wrong?

Just a few days ago, I was smiling at something stupid, Drake showed me and then I'm at my cousin's wedding. I was in this plain black dress, walking around with trays. People were laughing, dancing. Drake—my mate, the man I loved—was marrying someone else. My cousin. Sofia. My own blood. And now, I’m here in jail. For something I don't even understand.

They said I poisoned his grandfather, said I was jealous. That I wanted to ruin the wedding.

But it wasn't true. None of it.

I just put my head in my hands and the tears started. Couldn’t even cry loud. The guards outside were laughing about something. Like my pain was a damn joke. I felt so, so alone.

Then, footsteps. Heavy ones. Coming closer. I sat up fast, trying to scrub the tears off my face.

And Drake walked in.

Standing there in his suit, so sharp and tall and cold. His face was a total blank. And his eyes, his golden eyes, they had no warmth left. He wasn't looking at me with love. He was looking at me like I was a complete stranger.

“How could you?”

I shook my head. “Please…”

My voice was a wreck. “Please, just hear me out. You have to hear my side.”

He raised his palm up. “You disgust me.”

His eyes flickered. That was it but he was still quiet.

I didn’t—”

“Stop,” he said. His voice was completely flat.

I froze.

He looked away. His jaw got all tight.

His head snapped back to me, eyes narrowed. But not with worry. Not with love. His voice, God, it was even colder.

“That doesn’t matter anymore,” he said.

I think my mouth fell open.

“I married Sofia,” he went on. “That’s my choice now. You... you mean nothing.”

A pain, so sharp, went right through me. “I mean nothing?”

“You lied. You embarrassed my family.”

“I didn't!” I cried. “Drake, I didn't lie! You know me. I wouldn't do this. Someone framed me—”

“I don’t care.”

Those words.They hit me so hard and made me dizzy. “I'm here to make it official.”

“I don't understand.” I stammered.

“To reject you as my mate and to sever whatever stupid bond the moon goddess used to hold us together.”

My mouth fell open. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do.”

Tears were just pouring down my face then.

I tried to reach him through the bars.

“Please, I’m carrying your child—”

He took a step back away from me.

A woman in red a dark cloak swaying behind her.

Aunt Clarissa.

She smiled. “What a dramatic scene,” she said, her eyes on me. “Tears? How boring.”

My fists clenched. “What do you want?”

She totally ignored me and turned to Drake. “The Rogue Alpha is here,” she said, calm as anything. “He’s asked for her.”

Drake frowned. “He is early.”

Clarissa’s grin just got wider. “Del Morino. The infamous Rogue Alpha. He’s here. And he wants her.”

Drake’s whole face changed. He was tense, all over and then relief came on him a little.

“What do you mean he wants her?” he practically growled.

Clarissa let out this light little laugh. “He says she’s his bride.”

My heart stopped. Bride?

“I’m not—”

“Oh, but you are,” Clarissa purred, walking right up to the cell. “You see, dear, while you were so busy chasing your precious Drake, someone else was watching you. Very closely.”

I just shook my head. “No... I don’t even know him.”

She clicked her tongue. “You don’t need to know him. All that matters is he wants you. And unlike some people—” she shot a look at Drake, “—he knows your worth.”

Drake’s fists were white-knuckled. “I don’t want her,” he snapped. “She can go.”

And my heart just shattered all over again.

“Very well,” Clarissa said with this wicked smile. She motioned to the guards. “Release her. She belongs to someone else now.”

They unlocked my cell, pulled the door open.

I didn't move. My legs wouldn't work. My heart was just... numb.

Clarissa stepped aside. Waved a hand. “Go on, girl. Your new Alpha awaits.”

I looked at Drake. One last time. I wanted him to stop it. To change his mind. To do *something*. But he turned his back on me.

That was it, then.

No love.

No goodbye.

Just… silence.

Then I saw him.

A tall man, by a black jeep. Broad shoulders. Black hair and an eye patch that still made him look dangerous and alluring.

Del Morino.

The Rogue Alpha.

He looked right at me. Sharp, grey eyes. No smile. No words. But something in the air just shifted.

Power and danger.

And something else. I don't know what.

Clarissa put her hand on my back. “Be a good girl, now. He doesn’t like weak women.”

I turned to her, my eyes burning. “Then it’s a good thing I’m done being weak.”

She actually looked surprised.

Without another word, I walked toward the Rogue Alpha.

When I reached him, he opened the car door. I paused and looked up at him.

“You don’t know me,” I said.

He leaned down a little. His voice was deep. “I know enough. And I’ll protect what’s mine.”

I stared at him. So confused. “Why me?”

His eyes scanned my face. “Because you were thrown away. And I don’t like waste.”

Whatever that means, I don't care, I just have to get away from this nasty people.

The door closed. I looked back at the jail. At the man I once loved. The man who just let me go.

He didn't come after me.

He didn't fight for me.

But this other guy, this stranger… he did.

And maybe, just maybe that was enough. For now