Chapter One - Alina's P.o.V

I’m watching my fated mate fuck another she-wolf.

And no, I can’t lower my head. I can’t look away either. That’s the rule. One of many in the long, rotting list of “creative” ways my mate likes to humiliate me.

Marcus’s grunts are low and satisfied, the kind of sound that would send a shiver through another wolf’s spine. To me, they’re just background noise to Sable’s exaggerated moans.

My so-called best friend arches her back like she’s auditioning for the Alpha’s Favorite Whore award, and judging by the pleased, self-satisfied smirk tugging at Marcus’s mouth, she’s winning.

The mate bond writhes in my chest like a living thing, claws dragging down my ribs with every movement he makes inside her. It’s a pain that’s part physical, part emotional, a twisting, acidic reminder that he’s mine… and I’m nothing to him.

I’ve learned how to breathe through it. Five years of going from “omega” to “slave” will do that to a person. The bond can’t kill me, but Marcus is doing his best to make it try.

I bite the inside of my cheek and focus on a scuff mark on the far wall. I’ve stared at that same mark through so many of his “shows” that I could trace it with my eyes closed, a jagged crescent, probably from a claw. I’d rather burn it into my memory than commit the shape of their bodies to it.

Sable wasn’t always like this. Or maybe she was and I was just too naïve to see it. She and her father stumbled into this pack after being thrown out of another. I thought we were the same… outsiders clinging to the bottom rung. But wouldn’t you know it? She found a faster way up.

I was dumped here as a newborn, a squalling bundle on the pack’s doorstep. The old Alpha, Marcus’s father, followed the Kingdom’s law and took me in. Fed me. Raised me in the loosest sense of the word.

Marcus…well, let’s just say that Marcus doesn’t share any of his father’s values.

He hates outsiders with a passion, pretending to welcome rogues and wanderers as they show up at the gates. But once the pleasantries are over, they vanish. Or, their bodies turn up in the woods, if you know where to look. The only reason Sable’s still here is because she learned the one thing that trumps Marcus’s hatred: his lust.

I once tried to pull her off his bed, thinking she was trapped. She laughed at me, laughed in my face, and called me pathetic. I still have the faint scars on my palms from the whipping Marcus gave me for that little rebellion. The skin splits every time I grip something too tightly.

I rub my aching hand now, my eyes unfocused. The dull, throbbing pain is easier to handle than what’s happening a few feet away. I just need this to end so I can clean up, grab what I came for, and get back downstairs.

Because someone is waiting for me.

A sharp, breathy cry yanks me out of my thoughts. I look up in time to see Sable’s gaze lock with mine, her mouth twisting into a smug smile. She turns her head toward Marcus.

“She lowered her head, Alpha.” she purrs at him, like she’s offering him a gift.

Damn it. What happened to the girl who spent the night sobbing in despair while I consoled her? The terror that wracked her body every time someone passed a little too close to her, or raised their voice? She was convinced that our pack wasn’t anything more than a place where she would meet her painful death... it’s funny how things change.

Marcus stills as his eyes snap to me.

“What’s the matter Alina?” He says softly as his eyes seem to burn through my soul.

He  pushes away from Sable and steps slowly towards me, deliberately almost, and the concern that shone in his eyes and the dip of his brow confused me for a moment.

I say nothing, the way he looks at me reminding me of how he first won my heart, before everything changed.

He stops in front of me and it feels as though my heart is going to beat through my chest.

“Alina?” he murmurs, the question hanging over me as his hand reaches up to caress my face and for a moment, I can feel myself becoming lost in that gaze.

“What the fuck have I told you?” He snarls as his fingers become a painful claw that grips my face, his nails digging through the flesh of my cheeks as he tightens his grip, “ Are you suddenly deaf now as well as fucking stupid?”

I know what’s coming before it happens. He hates when I break the rules, especially this one: eyes up, head high, watch every second. It’s not enough for me to endure the pain of the bond, oh no. He wants me to witness every detail of his “sadistic dominance.”

The lash comes fast, a white-hot stripe of pain across my chest. I bite down hard, the scream lodging in my throat as I refuse to allow its escape. Another rule: don’t make a sound. Cry out, and he’ll double the punishment.

He steps back from me and wrenches my head up until I’m forced to stare deep into his eyes. My heart sinks as I realise the concern he had shown before was nothing more than part of his performance. The cold, calculating amber irises that make my wolf recoil deep inside me replaced any sign of humanity that he had left inside of him..

I shut my eyes reflexively and inwardly cringe  as a deep, sadistic chuckle ripples from his chest..

“Pathetic,” He spits, “You make this so easy for me now. There’s no fun in trying to provoke a reaction from you if you continuously break the rules so easily.”

I felt his other hand slowly trail up my side, his fingers moving slowly, purposely towards the front of my dress and despite everything in me screaming to allow him to do what he wanted, I pushed him away.

I knew that was the wrong move.

“HOW DARE YOU DENY ME!” He roared as his face transformed into a mask of fury.

In the next second I found myself flung into the wall face first and the next strike rattled my bones.

Sable’s voice cut through the tension like a blade dipped in poison.

“Alpha, don’t be so hard on her, she can’t help it. You know, she told me she hates watching you with others,” she says, soft and sweet, like she’s trying to save me, to excuse my rule breaking, “Perhaps she’s angry and hurt that…”.

Marcus chuckles, the sound scraping against my nerves.

“Shut up Sable. What the fuck makes you think I give a shit about your opinions? The only part of you I'm interested in is the space between your legs. It’s merely a bonus that you two used to be friends.”

Sable blanches slightly at his callous comments, and I want to laugh out loud. She didn’t understand Marcus at all, she held no importance to him…none of us did, but the next words he spoke still hurt me deeply, despite knowing how he felt..

“Besides,” He sneered down at me, “She’s not my mate. She’s a wolfless omega. Nothing more.”

I curl my fingers into my palm until I feel the sting. He’s wrong. I do have a wolf. But if anyone here found out what she is, what she’s capable of… I wouldn’t live long enough to regret it.

It’s just a pity that she never speaks to me. If I had known that Marcus was my fated mate, maybe I could have done something before he caught my scent…maybe I could have rejected the bond entirely. Unfortunately, he found out first… cornering me in the kitchens and ordering everyone out.

It was an experience that I’ll never forget, nor will I forget that shameful pit in my stomach that bloomed when I realized just how disgusted he was that someone like me would be fated to him. The violent beating I received as punishment for daring to exist was burned into my memory.

I was brought out of my dark thoughts by the sounds of Marcus and Sable restarting their performance. I cringed inwardly at the sounds of her moans and the wet slapping sounds that echoed in the room, this sounded like ti was going to be messy..

As Marcus announced his release inside of her, I knew that this was going to take far too long to clean up.

When it’s finally over, he cleans himself off with a towel close by and throws it at my feet.

“I expect this spotless.” He demanded with a cold, calculating smirk, “Be grateful I even let you come this close to my seed…you wouldn’t be the first female to attempt to impregnate themselves.”

With that, they left, Sable slithering off the bed like the snake she was, and slinking behind him like a dog begging for scraps.

I strip the bed without a word, gather the linens, and keep my head down. The sooner I get this cleaned, then the sooner I can get back to him. I’m already late. Too late. He’s going to be wondering where I am.

I wonder if he worries about me when Im not there? I suppress the smile that threatens to erupt across my face at the thought of it and deposit the laundry for cleaning.

I peek out into the corridor carefully, praying that the halls and corridors have emptied by now. Running into anyone else as I make my way back to my room is the last thing that I want…I’ve suffered enough humiliation for today.

I Race to the kitchen and as soon as I see that it’s empty I rush forward, moving like a shadow. Anything that I can steal to feed my new roommate is a bonus, but there’s never anything too nourishing left where it can be easily taken.

I slip a few loaves of bread into my basket and risk taking the small amount of cheese that lays unused on a plate, clearly left over from some dish or another.

I listen intently at the door that leads to the basement, my heart hammering so loudly that i can hear it in my ears. When I am sure that no one else is around, I hurry down the steps and along the corridor, my footsteps soft and as soundless as I can possibly manage.

If anyone knew that I was hiding a rogue deep in the heart of the packhouse, my life would be over. Only a fate worse than death could possibly await me.

I pushed the thought out of my mind and swallowed nervously as I fumbled in my pocket for the key. I was almost there.

But, as I settle the key in the lock and it clicks open, an inexplicable sense of dread wishes over me and I can feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

I was taking too long… I had to…

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” 

Marcus’s voice drips down my spine like cold water and I know in an instant that my life is going to be over..