Chapter 5

A cold feeling washed over me. 

“Claiming ceremony? What are you talking about? He rejected me as his mate and I've accepted the rejection.” 

Grannie Alba's hand flew to her mouth. Her eyes darting between the Alpha and me.

The man who spoke raised an eyebrow.

“That wasn't a request, Miss Rossi,” Alpha Moretti said.

“I thought you wanted nothing to do with me? I don't want anything to do with you either,” where my newfound confidence came from, I had no idea, but I had to speak up.

 “Do you know who I am, Elara?” He asked, cocking his head to the side slightly. 

“I'm not going anywhere with you. You can find someone else to play house with,” I retorted.

Just as the words left my mouth, the door was forced open. 

My cousin, Freya, whom I hadn’t seen in almost a year was dragged in by a huge man.

“Freya!” I exclaimed, making a move to run towards her but the man who spoke before stood in my way.

“Please let her go. She hasn't done anything,” I cried out, looking from the alpha to Freya and to the man.

“Elara, what’s going on?” She asked. 

The man by her side gave her a slap that sent her head whipping in the other direction. Freya snarled under her breath. 

Freya was one of the strongest she-wolves in Open Creek before she got mated, we barely saw each other after that.

“Hey!” A voice suddenly called from outside. 

Jamie, one of our neighbours peered into the house through the opened window. 

“Freya?” he exclaimed. “What are you doing to her?” He asked, making his way to the front door.

I tried shaking my head to warn him but it was futile.

The alpha smirked and I recoiled back in shock. 

He was enjoying this! 

As soon as Jamie burst through the doors, it was like something inside of Freya clicked. 

She broke free from the grasp of the man and shifted mid-air. The man at the door shifted as well and so did the other men in the room. All except Alpha Moretti and the man from before.

The wolves circled each other, snarling and baring their teeth. Alpha Moretti’s men were bigger, I knew Freya and Jamie didn’t stand a chance. 

I turned to Alpha Moretti and got on my knees. “Please… please stop this. I beg of you.”

Grannie Alba was trembling at the edge of her seat. 

Jamie jumped in the air and all hell broke loose. The wolves from Alpha Moretti’s pack were ruthless. Their attacks were with a single aim, to kill.

Within seconds, a pair of fangs dug into Jamie's neck and his wolf fell to the ground. 

Freya's wild eyes moved to his discarded body and in that moment of distraction, a much larger wolf grabbed her by the neck and had her pinned down.

Grannie Alba was screaming so loudly, I was sure the whole pack could hear her. 

Freya thrashed and flung her claws. She had done some damage but not nearly enough to weaken the wolf. I could clearly see fear beneath her eyes.

“Shift,” Alpha Moretti ordered her and she suddenly stopped moving. 

I could tell she was fighting his compulsion but she eventually gave in and shifted back to her human form.

 He pushed himself off the wall and walked into the light where I could see him clearly.

 I turned back to him. “Please, spare her. I'll do anything,” I pleaded.

His dark eyes that bore into mine held no expression. Without breaking off eye contact with me, he calmly uttered two words. 

“Kill her!”

I don't know which was worse, Freya's screams as the wolf tore into her flesh or the silence that came after. I crumpled to the floor like abandoned sheets, my screams breaking into sobs.

My body was pulled off the floor and pinned to the wall. As I looked up into the dark eyes that would forever haunt me, he let out a disgusted scoff. 

“You’ll make a terrible Luna,” he said before letting me fall back to the floor.

I could see his shoes as my head hung low. 

“I have no regard for life, Elara, much less a human one,” the Alpha said in a warning tone.