Something wasn't right. I knew it long before I opened my eyes. Something bad, something I didn't want to remember, had happened and it was waiting for me on the other side of wakefulness. And though my subconscious tried to protect me from the pain that waited for me on the other side, my body was already resuming its normal functions without any prompting from me. My eyes sprang open. I immediately squinted at the bright lights overhead.
I sat up quickly, too quickly. The room spun for a moment, then steadied. I groaned as my fingers touched a raised bump at the back of my head. The bump immediately brought everything into clear, sharp focus. I remembered trying to run away from the huge men. I remembered Lora screaming for me to be caught while my father looked on. I remembered being grabbed and knocked out cold. I whimpered in fright. That meant I was in Alpha Ryder's pack now. I took in my surroundings. I was in a small room, sitting on a single sofa. The only window here had bars. Was I some sort of prisoner then? Was Alpha Ryder already angry with me for trying to run away? Lora's words echoed in my head. "Alpha Ryder is a ruthless man... There are rumors, terrible rumors of what he does to people who make him angry." I put my hands in front of my face and saw that they had begun to shake. But there was no one in the room with me. Perhaps I could still escape. My gaze darted to the door and just before I could make a move towards it, it opened. The biggest man I had ever met walked in. Apart from his build, his face was breathtaking. Nearly overlong lashes framed his vivid green eyes, while a tousled thatch of glossy, black hair framed his handsome face. We stared at each other for a long moment. "Finally. You're awake," he said in a deep rumbling voice only a man of that build would have. Seeing him sucked my breath away. I was transported back to the night of the mating ceremony. I felt an inexplicable pull towards him as though my life had been leading to all this moment. My wolf stirred within me, claiming him as her mate. I gasped at the realization that this man, whoever he was, was my second chance mate. "I was beginning to think that my people hit you a little too hard," he continued. "You may have guessed who I am, or maybe not," he amended as he took in my still-wondering expression. "I am Alpha Ryder." I gasped again. I didn't think I was capable of normal speech just yet. Ryder? This was Alpha Ryder? I had heard of him. Everyone in my pack had heard of him. Everyone said he was a savage, cruel man. How could a man everyone thought of as a beast be so devastatingly handsome? And why was he acting as though he couldn't sense our mate bond? I was curling my hands into fists to keep from launching myself into his arms. So far I was succeeding, but my wolf was by far harder to control. "Alpha," I said breathlessly. Then I paused as I tried to marshal my thoughts into words. He merely raised a brow, watching me struggle. Apart from the fact that he was completely disregarding our mate bond, he was also more than a little intimidating. "Alpha, don't you... feel it? The- the bond? The mate bond?" He was quiet for a long moment and I thought he wouldn't answer. "I suppose I need to make some things very clear," he said. "Firstly, you are not here to relax, to be at ease." He looked meaningfully at the sofa I was still sitting on. "Secondly, you will be working in my pack as a slave to pay back the money your father owes me. Yes, a slave," he acted, reacting to my startled look. He kept looking me over, like I was a particularly good specie of cow he wanted to trade. "As for the bond you mentioned, it's quite laughable that you would think for a moment that I would claim you as my mate. Kiara, you aren't even worthy to be a member of my pack in the first place. Did you get that?" I simply stared at him, as my brain desperately tried to play catch-up with my ears. "I said, did you get that?" he repeated a note of menace in his voice. He took half a step towards me. His eyes flashed and burned. It was at that moment I knew why people referred to him as a dangerous man. Fear pooled in my stomach. I nodded twice jerkily. "Yes, Alpha," I squeaked. A muscle in his jaw jumped as he stared down at me. "You will find that I expect prompt answers whenever I ask you a question. And like I said, completely erase the notion of a union between us because that will never happen." He was almost at the door before he turned once more. "I hope for your sake that you're physically strong enough to work. I have no patience for weaklings." The door clicked shut behind him and the tears I had been desperately holding back spilled over. I buried my face in my hands as I wept uncontrollably. What was wrong with me? I had been rejected by my first mate and turned into a slave by the other. What had I done in my past life for the moon goddess to punish me so cruelly? I nearly fell off the bed when I heard the door open again, thinking Alpha Ryder had returned. I quickly wiped my teary eyes and looked up. Another devastatingly handsome man had walked in. He was staring right at me. For the third time, I felt that this stranger was a missing part of me, the part that kept me whole. 'Mate,' my wolf screamed.Ryder’s POV It was 11:57pm when Brandon and his battalion finally arrived at where I parked my car. I was beyond relieved to see them and as if he knew how much I felt at that instant, he proceeded to hug me upon seeing me getting out of my car. I returned the hug and received little taps on my back as a form of encouragement from Brandon. “We are here to get her brother,” Brandon said to me before releasing me from his embrace. I had been so overwhelmed with emotions that I didn’t know when my eyes deceived me and released tears. But I had to catch them quickly before they could roll down my cheeks. I had these because as much as I tried to bottle up my emotions, I was scared—scared of losing Kiara, scared of losing another woman I loved. I was scared of allowing her to slip through my fingers and I was determined not to let that happen, not tonight, and not ever. “What do you have in mind on how we are to move in,” Brandon questioned, releasing me from my thought consumed b
Jason’s POV The authority is mine now and I have everything running how I want. Kiara is mine, her powers are mine, and Ryder is misplaced in his emotions. All I knew was I had won. I have proven myself to be a winner—winner of this battle. Ryder had called me a little boy, a man who wasn’t an Alpha, now I have his mate and have disrupted his camp. I have tried having my way with Kiara but she has proved stubborn, over and over again. She still asserts her commitment to Ryder and Brandon—claiming to be theirs and theirs alone. “You are with me now,” I would often yell in her face in anger as she needed to get that fact into her head. Nothing annoys me more than that. I had her in my clasp, so why does she prove stubborn? Haven’t I proven to be more than she expected? I know she despises me but I need her to know that the sooner she begins to accept the fact that she is under my care, the better for both of us.The bracelets I wore on my hands were to protect me from Kiara’s
Kiara’s POV The lady who attended to me couldn’t hide her sympathy and fear. She sighed each time she wanted by back with rose water milk and when she dropped fresh rose petals in the bathtub. All of this experience should have been an exciting one but it wasn’t as I was receiving this treatment not as a princess but as a slave, a captive, waiting to forcefully mate with the man she hates most. “I wish there was something I could do to save you, madame,” the lady spoke to me in a calm tone as she did my hair, releasing it from the rollers that held my curls together. I couldn’t say anything more to her as there was nothing I had to say or think. I had given up on Ryder and Brandon walking in here to save me. I am beginning to accept that maybe this is my new fate and the moon goddess has been playing nothing but a prank on me. The lady helped me into my dress, a yellow flowing dress with flowers at each step. I fell in love with the dress at first sight but I couldn’t bring
Kiara’s POV I watched as the day turned into noon, and noon turned into night, with the full moon flowing in all its glory, unshaken by the sight of anyone. Earlier today, I was forced to take a milk bath to prepare myself for Jason. He demanded that my skin be as silky as satin when he wants to mate with me. The thought of Jason being so hellbent and serious about taking me as his mate seemed like a joke. He rejected me in the past but wants me now because I have powers—he was here for nothing but his selfishness and greed. A lady who would be in her mid-thirties walked into the room where I was held captive and suggested that I come along with her to have my pre-lunar preparations. “Pre-lunar preparations?” I asked her confused because there is absolutely no need for all of that right now. I was being held captive, held like a slave against my own will and the last thing I want to do is to get prepped for Jason to Nate with me under the full moon. “There is no need for that
Ryder’s POV I've been tailing Jason’s guard for over an hour now, wondering where he could be going. “Hope he isn’t leading me on to a wrong path? Or has he discovered that I was following up on him?” I questioned myself repeatedly unsure of what was going on. As much as my heart raced in fear and hope of doing the right thing, I was scared that I had lost Kiara. I have not had this feeling for a while now. The thought of losing my mate once again tore me up from the inside. My car was placed in park mode when Jason’s guard halted, jumped off his bike, and went into a shop. From where I was parked, I could see him staring through the windows of the store as he pretended to check the racks for some goods. I knew exactly what he was doing, he was making sure that he was not being followed, a smart move I must say. I saw him reach into his pocket and pull out his phone, placing it to his ear while looking around. It must be a call I assumed, a call from Jason asking about his w
Kiara’s POV I had lost count of the number of days I had been held captive by Jason. I had lost every glimpse of hope of being rescued from his clasp. My expectations were up when I was held at the apartment in the city but now that we had moved to the middle of nowhere, I might just have to accept my new fate. I prayed each day and night that Ryder would find me and save me from this misery. Although Jason taunted me with Ryder and Brandon forgetting me so soon, I believe that they would not have forgotten me so soon—we shared a greater bond than for me to be forgotten so soon. “The sooner you accept that you belong here, the better for you,” Jason said to me each time he came over to the room where I was being held captive. I had not eaten for days because I do not trust Jason, I knew who he was, and the dirty tricks he played. There could be a chance he might have drugged my meal or my water. One could never know what Jason has up his sleeves. I was drained, sick to my s