Chapter 02

Alana’s POV

I opened my eyes, gasping for air and looking for the guards who were beating me, but they were gone. I was in a different room. I looked at my body, the pain had vanished, and I was wearing a white bridal gown.

“What is this?” I mumbled to myself.

“Sky?” I reached out to my wolf, who surprisingly answered happily.

“Yes, Alana. You look so beautiful.” She purred, wagging her tail in my mind. “We are finally walking down the aisle with our mate, Alpha Jared, soon.”

“Wait, what?” I looked around the room. Flowers. A gigantic mirror and a logo on the door saying “bride-to-be.” I juggled my memory. This was exactly five years ago. My wedding day to the monster that took my life.

I am reliving my past? Different thoughts clouded my mind at once, but most importantly, I knew I needed to run.

“Sky, I need you to cooperate with me. I will explain everything later. WE NEED TO RUN!”

“Okay,” she replied, confused. My bones cracked as I shifted into my wolf. Sky hurried out of the room, passing a different route that I could not remember.

“Alana!” I heard the familiar screams of Jared from afar but didn’t stop. My future has been placed in my hands now, and I’m not going to make the same mistake.

Sky kept running until we were out of our pack, but she didn’t stop. After hours of running nonstop, she got exhausted and stopped. I took over so she could rest.

“You are not my Alana, right?” She suddenly whispered.

“Yes. I have lived this life before.” I explained my story to her, and she was as furious as I was.

“So what’s the plan now?” Sky asked.

“Firstly, I am never returning to Jared. Secondly, I am going to get my revenge.”

Tweak, tweak,

A noise came from the trees. I stood up to check the area, my ears fully alert in case it was Jared’s men.

All of a sudden, three wolves jumped up and lunged at me. Although I was never much of a fighter, I had a survival instinct.

I dodged the blow from my side and knocked down the wolf on my left. A blow I didn’t see coming landed on my jaw, sending me flying in the air and landing on the ground with a painful impact. Slowly, my vision blurred, and everything became darkness.

The sound of keys and chains woke me up, and I found myself in a prison cage. The nauseating stench of blood filled my nose.

“Seems I have a thing for prisons,” I mumbled to myself.

A guard walked up to the guards watching my cage. “Unlock her chains. The Alpha wants to pass his judgment on her.”

One of them smirked at me as if he knew the fate that awaited me. I glared at him as they dragged me out of the prison, cuffing my hands so that I wouldn't escape.

I closed my eyes and inhaled the fresh air outside after being knocked out for only-God-knows how long. I wasn’t particularly thrilled about my situation because I was determined to escape at any given chance.

I must get my revenge on Jared regardless of the circumstances.

We entered a new room that looked similar to the courtroom back at my former pack. It was big and twice the size of ours.

As we walked in, I couldn’t resist the aura of the man who sat at the stone-carved throne at the upper part of the room. I’m guessing he’s their alpha. His presence commanded the room even without him talking.

As we got closer, I locked eyes with the most handsome man I’ve ever seen in my existence. His face looked like it was specially sculpted from the magazines. His aura was so suffocating, it made my knees weak, and I struggled to stand strong.

A single look from him froze me in place, but I was determined not to show any weakness. I had been broken before, but not anymore!

“How dare you walk into my territory uninvited?” His voice cut through the room like a knife. A voice soft yet each voice laced with threats that made goosebumps rush to my skin.

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Dexton’s POV

“This is bullshit!” I growled, struggling to keep calm.

“Alpha Dexton, you will do well to watch your tone before the Council.” Alpha Micheal, Head of Council, shouted.

“What do you mean I’m suspended?” I asked. “What am I supposed to do? Force a woman with Alpha blood and make her mine?”

“Like you did your first mate who rejected you?” One of the Alphas with the tag “River Pack” muttered.

“What did you just say?” I snapped, finding it difficult to contain my anger.

“You leave us no choice, Dexton. We gave you six months to provide a Luna who will sit beside you in the Council, but you have refused.” Alpha Michael said.

“How would he get a Luna when he couldn’t even keep his mate?” Another Alpha mumbled enough for me to hear.

“I dare you to repeat what you just said!” I growled, grabbing his collar.

“Enough!” Michael shouted. “You are suspended, Dexton, and that’s final. Until you bring a Luna, you are banned from coming to any of our meetings.”

I smirked and walked out of the council’s court. It was a waste of time convincing these people.

“Noah,” I called my Beta through the mind link.

“Yes, Alpha,” he replied.

“Pack our bags and check out of the hotel. We are leaving now.”

“I’m guessing it didn’t go well,” he said, and I hummed in response. A few minutes later, Noah drove into the car park, and we zoomed off.

After a few hours on the road, he swiveled into the pack and parked in front of the pack house.

“Welcome Alpha,” my Gamma said, bowing. “How did it go?”

Noah shook his head, answering for me. I wasn’t in the best of moods. “Any news?” I asked.

“We captured a woman around the northern borders. She isn't a rogue, but she won’t speak.”

“Who dares enter my territory without permission??” I growled. Whoever this woman was, she had better say her last prayers because she just became a tool for me to release my pent-up anger.

“Where is she?” I asked, entering the Pack’s court.

“At the pack’s prison.”

“Bring her to me,” I said, sitting on my stone-carved throne, placed at the beginning of the court. After a few minutes, the guards opened the door, dragging in a woman.

As they came closer, my eyes focused on the woman at the center. Even in cuffs, she swayed her hips like she owned the room. She glared at me audaciously, not backing down. There was something defiant about her.

Her deep oceanic eyes were fueled with something I couldn’t quite place. Usually, women bowed and shrieked before me, but this one was different. Ever since the whole experience with my brother and mate, which happened five years ago, I have become one to be feared by all.

Although it stings to see that the very people I protect act like they need protection from me. Over the years, I’d gotten used to it. That way it keeps anyone from crossing my path.

I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Who was this woman?”