Chapter 5

Luka

My food was scattered all over the pavement, and it may as well have been my insides. The whole crowd gasped at first, followed by whispers, laughter, and moans of pity.

My eyes careened between Declan and the alpha king, not knowing who to fixate on. The mate bond was more overwhelming and disgusting than it had ever been, mixed with humiliation and despondence.

I had never seen Declan’s face this shade of red or his chest heaving with such violence. He raised his hand in my direction, and I cowered.

“You…insolent…pig!” he bellowed. “How dare you! I…you have been nothing but a disgrace, not just to the pack, but to all shifters everywhere. To humanity. You are truly reprehensible.”

He spit a wad of saliva that landed just in front of my knees. “You are not even worthy of my spit.”

We both looked at the alpha king, although Declan was smiling with self-satisfaction, and I was holding up my hands in a likely futile gesture begging for mercy. I fully expected a worse dressing-down from him than from Declan, as well as a hearty ‘attaboy’ for Declan as a reward for laying down the law.

The alpha king stepped forward to Declan, and I braced myself for my ultimate downfall. This was the end.

“This woman,” the alpha king said to Declan, and I was ready to hear vile insults. “She is a member of this pack, no?”

Declan’s smile vanished, and his face turned ghostly white. “Well, um, it’s…”

“Answer the question, alpha.”

Declan pursed his lips and shifted his weight. “In a sense, she could be considered a member of the p—”

“All right then,” the alpha king said, cutting him off, leaving Declan bewildered. “So, tell me. Why is she disheveled in the square and physically broken, if she is a member of this pack? Her dress has blood on it, and holes. Even for one untethered to a pack, this is…unusual.”

I appreciated the words of support, but I also felt ashamed. I looked down at my skirt and the bruises and wounds all over me. I felt less than human.

“This woman, Luka, is just a slave, your highness, and even that lot is too good a position for her. She interrupted a ceremony that is sacred, as you saw. That is sacrilege, blasphemy, treason. She deserves death for her actions.”

I felt myself shaking, close to passing out, but my face was stoic. If this is how it ends, so be it.

“Guards! Constables! Take this cockroach and place her in the dungeon. She is to be chained and executed.”

I started to hyperventilate, and I could feel the plaza receding, everything turning dark. I couldn’t take one more session of torture. I would rather take a cyanide pill right now than have to face more torture leading to a death sentence.

The sad part was I didn’t even have anyone sympathetic enough to give me that cyanide pill. I had no choice.

“You’re coming with us,” one of Declan’s goons said, one who had always been particularly cruel to me. He grabbed me with both hands, pressing hard, dragging me. A broken dam of fluid and dribbling cascade of puss streamed forth from my wounds.

I shouted in pain from the depths of my soul. “No! It burns, my hands are infected!”

I knew I sounded crazy, but it was my breaking point, literally. It was an angry sore, thick and inflamed, and my arms and hands started to look twice as big as usual. It was infected, and I was afraid my hands might have to be amputated.

“Put her down,” Alpha King Caleb said to the guards with such calm that it was more alarming than if he had screamed. They complied.

Relief washed over me in waves. I truly felt he was saving my life, at least for a little while.

The alpha king beckoned to Declan with his fingers, and he drew closer to Caleb. “What happened to this woman?”

Declan shuffled in his spot. “She was clumsy. She burned herself.”

The alpha king looked incredulous and stared at Declan for a long while, clearly unnerving him. Caleb nodded slowly, considering the statement.

“So tell me then,” he said, “If it was a matter of her burning herself, why are her wounds infected? Why has she not been given medical leave?”

No matter what question the alpha king asked, he came up with an answer. It didn’t matter if none of it was true. “She was, she’s just a slow healer. And it could be the stress of the change, becoming my mat—”

Declan put his hand to his mouth, realizing he had messed up royally.

“She’s your mate? And you abuse her?”

“No, no, never, I would never do that.”

The alpha king looked away from Declan and down at me, still on the ground. “Your name is Luka? Is this true, what Alpha Declan says?”

I couldn’t speak and looked at both of them, not sure at all what to say. But my name in this man’s mouth sounded like I was safe here, even if it was just an illusion. I paused, searching his face, silently asking for confirmation.

“You may speak, you have nothing to fear,” Caleb said.

I instinctively looked at Declan, whose arms were crossed and whose face was twisted in hatred. I looked away and focused on the alpha king.

I wasn’t sure where I got the courage, but I said it like a religious vow. “Alpha Declan did not treat me as a mate at all. He just tortured me and abused me. I, Luka Shaw, reject Declan Shaw.”

The crowd gasped, and Declan grew even angrier, balling his fists until his fingers were pale white.

“I refuse your rejection,” Declan said as soon as I spoke.

My soul cratered inside me. My punishment might have lasted forever. Then the alpha king spoke clearly, with conviction.

“That is not your call, Alpha Declan. All evidence points to your abuse of this woman, your mate. As your king, I order you to accept Luka Shaw’s rejection.”

“No,” Declain said. The crowd grew more incredulous. I couldn’t believe it.

I don’t think the alpha king quite believed it either. His eyes burned. “Pardon me?” Caleb turned back to me. “You have the right to speak, Luka. You have just as much say in what happens to you. Tell me, what are your opinions on this matter?”

I felt more confident this time. “He is abusive. He has threatened to torture me, to imprison me, to kill me. You heard it yourself. If I am forced to be his mate, I have no doubt I will die.”

He nodded, making eye contact with me, those deep, intense, understanding blue eyes. When he turned to Declan, his eyes were frosty, cold, pitiless. “Alpha Declan, your mate has made a choice. Now, do as your king says and honor that choice.”

Declan muttered his statement, barely audible, but understandable enough to be binding. “I, Declan Shaw, accept Luka Shaw's rejection.”

Thank God. I wouldn’t have this diabolical bastard as a mate. I was ready to leave, and I had permission to. It was hard to do it alone without my wolf, who was still gone. I hoped that maybe one day I would find a pack that would accept me, and maybe she’d feel safe to wake.

Alpha Declan spoke again. I couldn’t imagine what more he could say.

“Luka Shaw, I hereby pronounce you exiled,” Declan pronounced. You are consigned to the life of a rogue, forced to roam in isolation. No pack will accept a rogue, which you know. You have made the wrong choice.”

Declan gave orders to his guards, the ones that had minutes ago attempted to imprison me. “Take her away to the edge of the pack boundary. She is on her own now.”

With Nela asleep and gone, I felt utterly alone and powerless. I would die out there among the rogues. Still, even death among the rogues was a better fate than death at the hands of Declan.

Caleb approached Alpha Declan and his minions before they could place their hands on me and stopped him.

“Get out of the way, Alpha King,” Declan growled. I was taken aback at his lack of deference to the leader of all the territory. “You know as well as I that I have the power to manage all members of my pack and decide their fate.”

My heart sank. I knew Declan was right. The alpha king has authority over the packs within his territory, but that didn’t mean he could overrule an alpha’s decision regarding a member of their pack. Each level had its own authority, and there were traditions, codes, and rules to respect.

I was done for. I prepared for Declan’s guards to drag me off.

Alpha King Caleb, however, didn’t budge. “That may be true, Alpha Declan. But this woman is mine now.”