Chapter 3 : She is Special

My bones rattle as the alpha’s voice echoed through the chamber. My eyes widened and I looked around. All the other wolves had their heads lowered respectfully. I gritted my teeth and turned to face him again, looking him right in the eye.

I narrowed my eyes, anger welling up inside of me as the alpha looked down at me with his chin raised. His lips were turned toward in a stern scowl, but something in his eyes glinted.

Rage boiled over and I openly glared up at him, keeping my stance firm.

His thick, angular eyebrows rose in surprise, taking me aback for a brief moment as well. I had broken through his strict alpha facade. Even if it was just for a second, I felt as if I understood the expression well. The asshole was shocked that I had challenged his authority. It likely never happened before.

He would just have to get used to it.

The fear I had felt when the alpha announced my sentence was quickly replaced with the stubbornness I needed to survive. 

Who did this asshole think he was, trying to determine my fate? I glanced around the room again, but nothing else had changed. No one in this huge pack would dare go against this arrogant brute, despite the fact that their leader was planning to kill me off without a clear reason. 

I was hoping that with a nice pack member like Avery, the alpha should be at least reasonable. I was clearly wrong, however, rogue or not, I wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

I still had alpha blood in me after all, with or without my wolf.

I straightened, tilting my chin up defiantly and looking him dead in the eye. “You have no right to kill me.”

He leveled me with a look that probably would have caused me to duck my head if I had been a member of his pack, but all his dominant eyes succeeded in doing was irritating me further.

Fury poured from his eyes, and his single bout of anger was enough to bring me to my knees—the fatigue from running from the rogue earlier coupled with days of starvation finally caught up with me. I clenched my fists against the cold floor beneath me, frustrated with myself for being in the submissive position as if I actually respected this jackass without the slightest provocation.

Unless he knew my secret, but how could that be?

I was breathing hard, my knees burning from my fall. No one moved, not a single person dared to come to my aid. Even Avery stayed planted where she was just a few feet away from me, her breath hitching when I hit the floor.

My head snapped up when I heard his heavy footsteps approaching me. I gritted my teeth, willing my body into an upright position, but I was shaking too hard.

He stopped in front of me, his standing shadow completely enveloping me. I managed to narrow my eyes at him once again right as his hand shot out and grabbed my chin. My eyes widened slightly with confusion when a shiver shot through my body.

He leaned down, his cold face inches from mine, but I wasn’t afraid. A hiss escaped through my teeth as he roughly tilted my chin up so our gazes locked. I tried to ignore my racing heartbeat.

“You can’t kill me,” I announced again.

He didn’t respond, instead, tightened his hold. I glared up at him with all the hatred I could muster, while inwardly cursing at myself for once again appearing weak.

I wanted to snap at him to unhand me, but he pinched my chin hard between his thumb and forefinger with a grip like iron. I winced and sucked in some air instead.

His light brown eyes held mine firmly. I was momentarily distracted by the golden flecks that shimmered around his irises. 

Then he brought his face even closer to mine and whispered in a rough and cold voice. “You can try to pretend all you want that you’re weak and pitiful, but you aren’t going to fool me.”

His voice was so low that only the two of us could hear. It rang in my ear so deep, yet musical, sending shivers down my spine, despite the harsh words it carried. His scent of cedar and musk invaded my senses. It was intoxicating, and I felt my knees would give in had I not already been on the floor. 

It was just not fair. How could an asshole have my body submit to him so easily? I bit my lips hard and used all my strength to keep my body straight. 

Rather than cower at his words, I just scowled. He seemed to understand somehow that I was… different. It was the main reason why I didn’t try to join another pack after Uncle passed away. There was no way another pack would ever accept me for what I was. Being on my own was better than being treated like dirt.

“Alpha Jared!”

The alpha and I both turned with surprise.

Avery’s head was still bent with respect, her tiny fists clenched at her sides. From the way her lip trembled, it was clear that she had never spoken without permission toward her alpha. I doubted that any of the other wolves had either. 

Needless to say, others in the room were just as shocked as me.

The alpha, Jared, was the first to recover. “Avery?” he said in a steely voice.

Avery froze at Jared’s icy tone, and I immediately felt a swell of protectiveness toward the girl. I struggled against his powerful grip on my face, but he only tightened it further, keeping me still. My body was still exhausted so I could do little but struggle feebly against him.

“I mean no disrespect,” Avery said softly. Her voice rose steadily as she found her confidence. “Please, I know that we must always be wary of rogues, but I strongly believe that Claire is not our enemy.”

So she did know I was a rogue, yet she still brought me to her pack.

I turned my head enough to gaze at Avery with respect. Here she was, just a healer, who looked incredibly small for a wolf, and yet, she found the courage to speak against her alpha, in order to defend a lowly rogue who she had just met mere an hour earlier?

A shrill voice cut in before Jared could even begin to scold Avery for speaking out of turn. “How dare you go against our Alpha’s decision?”

The crowd parted to reveal a young, redheaded woman. She was clad in tight black pants and a matching long-sleeve top made of leather. Her smooth, round face twisted into a sneer, her nose up in the air as she stomped over to us.

Avery ignored the other girl, despite the fact that the redhead got right in her face. “Well?” she demanded, hands on her slim hips. “Care to explain this sudden bout of disrespect?”

Avery kept her head down, but she turned so she was facing away from the other woman and only facing Jared and me.

“Please, Alpha. Claire and I were attacked by another rogue in the forest, just outside the boundary line–”

She was interrupted when the other wolves began to murmur amongst themselves in concerned, hushed voices.

All Jared had to do was crane his neck and narrow his eyes at the crowd and they immediately fell silent. His hard gaze went back to the tiny healer in front of him. “Explain, Avery. Now.”

Avery trembled slightly. “Yes, Alpha,” she said softly. In a louder voice, she started to describe what happened. “Claire and I bumped into each other and a rogue was chasing after her–”

The redhead shrieked angrily. “So, she led the rogue right to you? And toward our property?”

The crowd started to murmur again, more loudly this time.

Avery lifted her head slightly to glare at the redhead. “Let me finish,” she snapped.

Alpha Jared once again silenced the whole room with a single, firm look. Even the angry redhead ducked her head in submission.

“Claire could have run away and left me on my own,” Avery continued. “but she came back to save me. Had she not returned, I wouldn’t be here.”

“If she hadn’t led the rogue to you, you would not have needed saving,” the redhead snapped again.

This time, I narrowed my eyes on her. Jared finally lowered his hand from my face and pinned me with an intense gaze.

Avery’s voice was clear and strong. “Claire might be a rogue, but she is not dangerous.” She lowered her head forward into a deeper bow. “Please, Alpha. Our pack law prevents us from killing without reason. I beg of you. Spare her.”

I snuck a glance up at his face. His amber-colored eyes were unreadable and still fixed on me. 

“Whether she saved your life or not is irrelevant,” snapped the redhead. She gestured at me in outrage. “She is a rogue and all rogues should be killed. That is the end of it. No exceptions.”

I wondered briefly if she had a death wish. It was a miracle that this hotheaded alpha hadn’t ripped her to shreds by now. Perhaps she was a relative, or someone with rank to get special treatment. 

I was well aware that rogues were looked down on among packs. We carried the mark of shame wherever we went. It was assumed that rogues were kicked out of their packs, and to be banished would have meant we had committed a great offense of some kind. 

Most of the time, if someone lost their pack, they would join a new pack. My circumstance was a unique one.

The crowd had begun to murmur once again, but they were silenced yet again, not by the alpha, but by Avery. The young woman got down on her knees and pressed her forehead to the cold floor.

Her high, but powerful voice echoed through the large chamber. “Please, Alpha. I sense something great in Claire. She is no ordinary rogue. From the moment I met her, I sensed that she was special.”

My eyes widened. What did she mean by special? Could it be that she knew about me? I shook my head internally. There was no way. There couldn’t be.

And yet this young healer continued to fight for me, despite the fact that her entire pack seemed to be against it.

The redhead shoved Avery in the chest, further away from Jared and me. “You’ve said enough. It’s Alpha Jared’s decision now.”

Avery straightened and dusted the front of her dress off. “My thoughts exactly,” she said through her teeth. “The decision is our Alpha’s and certainly no one else’s.” 

She tilted her chin and somehow managed to look down at the redheaded woman, despite the fact that she was shorter.

Jared frowned at the two, causing them to step back and lower their heads respectfully once again.

My eyes widened when Jared turned his attention to me once again. I swallowed, but stood up, unable to stomach being on my knees in front of him any longer.

I straightened as he began to circle me. His eyes not once left me, like a predator watching his prey. He inhaled over and over while pacing around me.

I stiffened. He was inspecting my scent.

Unwilling to submit, I continued to openly stare back at him. However, I regretted it immediately. The more I looked at him, the more I couldn’t deny how handsome he was, frustratingly so with his chiseled jaw and muscular build.

I snapped out of my thoughts when the alpha spoke in a cold, but gruff voice.

“Let’s allow her to prove just how special she is, shall we?”