Chapter Ten

I glared at the house that I had spent the last fourteen years being worked until I collapsed with exhaustion and starved to the point of death and I felt my heart hardening with hate. It was no longer a warm beating organ, this Pack had squeezed every last piece of humanity out of me and I had encased it in stone to protect me from them. Lifting my head I was about to step forward when the scent hit me again and this time it was very close.

After all, I was the star of their little show, wasn't I?'

My painful demise was to be the climax of their party, and I was determined to play my part well. I rubbed my temple as fear trickled down my spine, thinking about what they were going to make me do later tonight. 

I gazed at my reflection in the windowpane, my eyes had dark shadows in my pale face, and fear stalked my every step as I walked to my small bed and picked up the white dress. There was nothing else, just this plain, thin cotton shift. I was not allowed to wear anything but this skimpy bit of material because if I did shift, I would not need clothing.

I was terrified of what they were going to do to me, and when the four bulky guards came for me about eleven thirty, I desperately wanted to refuse them. They were all well over six feet tall, and their biceps were bigger than my waist. I was so tiny compared to them.

The Leader of the Guard detail looked down at the tiny, frightened young woman cowering on an old mattress and felt a stirring of sympathy; she was very pretty.  He thought his cock was stirring in his pants. I backed away from them, scrabbling over the mattress until my back hit the wall, and there was nowhere else I could go.

‘Bring her into the aren

The Leader commanded, and the other guards grabbed my upper arms, dragging me out of my dingy room, my bare feet barely touching the ground, not caring if they hurt me as they took me to the arena. I closed my eyes, whimpering as I  had the dreadful premonition that I would never see that little room again.

‘Strip her.’

The Pack’s Alpha did not raise his voice, but every single person there heard it, and the two guards holding her each grabbed a handful of the white shift dress and tugged hard, ripping it apart easily, leaving the young girl naked before her whole Pack. Nudity was nothing new to any Pack member; they grew up seeing naked males and females every day of their lives as they learned how to shift into their animals.

I had never shifted, though, and because I had so little interaction with them, I was not used to being naked in front of people, and it took all of my self-control not to try to hide my body from their prying eyes.  

Alpha Reynolds began to speak in a controlled, measured voice.

‘I Alpha Thomas Reynolds of the Mountain Top Pack, do hereby command you, Dakota Lorenzo, daughter of the Healer, Maria Lorenzo, to shift now.’

He infused his voice with every ounce of his Alpha power, which Kaiden thought was unnecessary because the young female was so small it was like using brute force on fragile glass.

His words hit me with full force, and I cried out in agony as intense pain ripped through my body; every nerve cell was on fire as I dropped to my knees and howled 

'I, Dakota Lorenzo, daughter of Maria Lorenzo, do hereby reject you, Alpha Reynolds, and I reject the Mountain Top Pack. I reject all and everything you and this rotten Pack stand for. I chose to go, Rogue, rather than remain a member of the Mountain Top Pack. This ends tonight. I chose to use my right to be free. ’

Horrified gasps were echoing around the arena as they all felt my link to the Pack snap, and I collapsed to my knees, screaming in fresh agony as my rejection hit, breaking all my links with the Pack.

I could not bear the pain I was in; it was so severe, I had no idea what was happening to me;  all I could hear was someone screaming, totally unaware it was me making those animalistic noises. My whole body shook with the dreadful agony I was in.

Kaiden was surprised no one stopped them as he and his soldiers made their way towards the flickering torchlight, wondering what this Pack was up to. He told his men to fan out and surround the arena he could see in the distance; this was where the whole Pack appeared to be gathered. Silently, he shifted back into his human form, and one of his soldiers handed him a rucksack containing his black jeans, a black button-down shirt and black loafers. When he was dressed, he ran his fingers through his long black hair and then shook his head, letting the silky blue/black curls fall where they would. They framed his face, making him look like an angelic devil; he was far too beautiful for any man, with flawless golden skin, magnetic navy blue eyes, full kissable lips and a chiselled jaw. All of which was matched by his six-foot-five frame, firm and toned, not over-muscled but with a six-pack the envy of his men. Kaiden D’Angelino was truly stunning, a perfect Alpha male in his prime, and his temperament matched his looks; he was loved by his Pack for being kind and fair. He was also ruthless in his pursuit of what was right. No one dared cross him and earn his displeasure; his justice was swift and deadly, but it led to a happy, successful Pack who lived and worked hard, but they also had a lot of fun.  

He moved to the periphery of the crowd, listening to the excited whispers around him; they were all so intent on what was about to happen in the centre of the arena that no one noticed this stranger in their midst. He felt the mood shift as a tiny figure was dragged into the centre of the arena, the lights catching her stunning golden hair and setting it aflame with a myriad of colours. The guards dropped her to the floor, and he stared mesmerised as the slender young woman slowly pushed herself to her feet and tossed that amazing mane of hair over her shoulders. She straightened and lifted her head proudly, and his heart stopped while his wolf went crazy.

‘MATE!!!’

The animal danced in his head, howling with pleasure.

‘Free her, claim her. She is our mate. She is our fated mate.’

Be quiet.’

He commanded it, reining it back as far as he could so he could think and assess the situation. He needed to know what was going to happen next.

Kaiden watched in awe as the stunning beauty bravely lifted her head and faced the Pack Alpha head-on, never losing eye contact, shaking her long golden hair so that it drifted around her like a cloak in the night breeze.

.Her high yelps of agony made Kaiden want to race down and tear that dumb Alpha to pieces. As he watched, Dakota took a deep breath and then lifted her bowed head, incredibly, fighting against his power and the agony his words had invoked and spoke.

Then the miracle happened.

I was thrown onto my hands and knees, and my head fell forward with my forehead touching the floor as my bones began to break and restructure, and fur erupted from my skin.

For the first time in my life, I  was shifting.

I opened my eyes and stared down at my paws

‘Holy fuck, I was a wolf.’

My mind was taking its time processing what had happened to me, but if I  could have smiled, I would have at my dainty golden paws, they were such a pretty colour.

‘Hello Dakota, I’m so sorry I took so long to show myself. You were so weak because they starved you that I had no choice but to wait. I am Solar, your wolf.’

‘My, my, wolf?’

I stuttered at the voice in my mind, then gasped as I realised I wasn’t actually talking with my mouth but thinking the words.

‘Is this how we communicate?’

Solar chuckled in my head,

‘Of course, you do know that a wolf is a canine and can’t actually speak human words, don’t you?’

I  chuckled too,

‘Of course I do, it's just, well, I believed for eighteen years that I did not have a wolf, so I’m really not sure how I’m supposed to behave.’

Then I sensed a number of the male wolves beginning to close in around me, their arousal, a dark scent I had become aware of, growing stronger as they tried to circle me. I was now an unmated female and therefore fair game to every single male wolf in the Pack, including the Alpha’s three sons. Solar went on full alert. I had only just shifted and had no intention of letting any of these Pack males subdue and mate with me. Solar knew what the Pack’s law entailed, unlike her innocent human, so she quickly took control of the situation.

‘We have to run.’

She told me harshly as I suddenly became aware that I was an object of interest to these huge male Werewolves.

‘Oh hell no.’

I instantly agreed with Solar,

‘Get us out of here.’

I gave myself over to her superior knowledge, and in an instant, my pretty golden wolf crouched low, bunching her powerful leg muscles and then took a huge leap forward, sailing over the wall of male wolves trying to block me in before I raced off into the surrounding woods. Together, we moved quickly, considering I could barely control my legs.

Panting hard, Kaiden lifted his head and howled his victory to the moon, his deep Alpha voice echoing around the mountains for all the Shifter Packs to hear.

He was making sure everyone knew he was claiming his mate, the little russet-tipped golden female was his, but when he turned around to face her, she was gone.  

I had watched the two wolves fighting frantically over us, and although it excited Solar, I was appalled by the violence and decided I would not wait around to be the prize for the winner. It had taken all my courage to reject Alpha Reynolds and the rest of my old Pack, and there was no way I was going to allow myself to be taken back into slavery, or as the male wolves called it, mating.] again. This huge black wolf was a stranger to me, but I did know who the muddy brown wolf was, and I also knew exactly what he wanted from her. So, even though every exhausted bone in our body screamed for us to lie down and rest, I  forced my wolf to move and get us out of there.

Solar still had enough agility to guide us through the thick scrub, heading down the mountain and onto the main road. The mountain was a haven to many kinds of shifters, and it did not take my wolf very long to sniff out some clothes hidden in a rucksack behind some rocks. We shifted back into our human form, with me biting back my cries of pain as our bones broke and reshaped, leaving me collapsed on the floor.  It took me a few minutes to catch my breath and push myself to my feet, tugging on the jeans and hoodie we had found. I could barely function as I stood on wobbly legs; the tiredness was getting so desperate that I knew I had to find somewhere to rest. Keeping to the shadow of the trees, I followed the road towards the human city, and by a fluke of luck, I noticed an old dilapidated wooden cabin set back off the road and hidden behind some trees. It was virtually invisible if you went past it in a car, but as I was on foot, it had caught my eye. I  approached it warily, keeping myself hidden and using my wolf senses to discover it was empty and had been for some time. Morning was fast approaching, the night sky was fading to pale grey, and soon the sun would rise, making her an easy target to spot. Inside the cabin was inches deep in dust and damp, but I did not care; the roof was reasonably sound, and there was an old hand-woven blanket under the dust sheet covering the sofa. Finding a sweeping brush and pan, I  made a clean spot for myself in the corner facing the door, curled up and fell into an instant deep sleep.

Kaiden searched and searched, but he found no trace of the pretty golden wolf, and eventually he had no choice but to return to his Pack without her. He was the Alpha, and he could not leave his Beta, Matty, in charge indefinitely, but his wolf was outraged that he had allowed their mate to get away. He paced and paced inside his head,d giving him migraines and making him lash out at people with his normal good temper evaporating quickly. The members of his inner circle met together a week after his return; they were so concerned about his deteriorating behaviour that they needed to thrash out a plan of action.

‘We need to find the female.’

Matty told them simply, and the other three looked at him in surprise.

‘Female?’

James asked the question that the others were thinking.

‘Hasn’t he told you? While he was out with the Patrol a week ago, seems he followed a scent all the way to the Mountain Top Pack. When they got to the border, he scented a change in the scent; it darkened with intense fear. Kaiden could not control Midnight’s protective instincts, and the black wolf raced across the border, and what they found was unbelievable. The Mountain Top Alpha, Reynolds, was trying to get one of his Pack to shift, a young female on her eighteenth birthday, from what he discovered.  

‘Why would he do that?’

Liam asked in confusion. Force shifting was not a concept any of them were familiar with; it was not something Kaiden’s Pack had ever used because it was so dangerous.

‘Are you serious?’

Carter frowned at Matty.

‘That asshole was trying to force some poor kid to shift?’

Matty nodded and was pleased to see the look of disgust on all their faces; like him, they hated this ancient practice.  

‘What is worse, the old fool was force shifting Kaiden’s fated mate.’

Matty explained, and the other three stared at him in shock now,

‘Fated Mate?’

They said in unison, finding such a thing was virtually impossible for Alpha Werewolves and for those with Lycan blood, like their friend Kaiden, it was almost unheard of. Seeing their incredulous faces, Matty explained everything that had happened with the pretty golden wolf, ending with Kaiden’s fight with Alpha Reynolds's second son.

‘He killed him?’

Carter shook his head as Matty continued,

‘He would not submit to Kaiden’s Alpha command; the other two wolves witnessed everything, and Alpha Reynolds had to accept Kaiden was within his rights.’

They looked at each other and frowned,

‘So what is the problem? Didn’t he claim her?’

Liam was confused,

‘That was what any one of them would have done, so why was the Alpha different?’

He said, and Matty went on to explain what had happened.

‘That was the problem, when he had finished fighting, he turned to claim her and she had gone.’

‘Gone?’

All three of them said in unison, and Matty nodded back at them, his face miserable.

‘Didn’t she understand what the fight was about?’