Page 15 of Chased By My Grumpy Alpha
“I refuse,” I say, my voice deadly quiet. “Find someone else.”
Alpha Gareth’s expression darkens. In one swift motion, he stands up and backhands me across the face. The blow sends me stumbling sideways, my cheek exploding with pain.
“You will go to the Blue Crest Pack tomorrow morning,” he snarls. “Whether you walk there willingly or we drag your unconscious body is up to you.”
I touch my stinging cheek, tasting blood where my teeth have cut my lip. Around the room, no one moves to help me. Beta Leroy looks tense but doesn’t intervene. Daciana stares at the floor; I can see her teeth sinking into her lower lip. And Harper...Harper is sobbing quietly, but she doesn’t meet my eyes.
“Henrik, George,” Gareth snaps. “Escort her back to her cottage. Place guards outside. She doesn’t leave until morning.”
“No!” I start to back toward the door, panic rising in my throat. “You can’t do this! I have rights—”
“You have no rights.” Alpha Gareth’s voice is ice cold. “You’re a burden I’m finally disposing of. Be grateful I’m not simply having you killed outright.”
The guards grab my arms and haul me toward the door despite my struggles.
“Harper!” I call out desperately. “Don’t let him do this! You know this is wrong!”
But Harper just cries harder, her face buried in her hands.
“Please,” I try one more time, staring at Daciana. “Someone help me!”
My friend finally looks up, and the sadness in her eyes tells me everything I need to know. She knew. She knew this was coming, but she couldn’t stop it.
The guards march me through the pack hall, past the staring faces of pack members who are clearly enjoying the show. Outside, the evening air feels too thin, like I can’t get enough oxygen into my lungs.
At my cottage, Henrik shoves me roughly inside. “Don’t even think about running,” he warns. “We’ll be right outside all night.”
The door slams shut, and I hear them taking their positions on either side of it.
I stand in my living room, swaying slightly, my mind struggling to process what just happened. Luna jumps down from the couch and rubs against my legs, purring softly.
I stare down at her numbly.
When she purrs louder, I slump to the floor, scooping her into my lap with shaking hands. “What do I do now, Luna?”
Tomorrow morning, they’re going to hand me over to the Blue Crest Pack like a piece of property. And everyone knows what that means.
They’re going to torture me. Maybe for information about our pack’s weaknesses, maybe just for the fun of it. And when they’re done, they’ll kill me.
I think about Harper’s tears, her desperate pleas. She is terrified of what the Blue Crest Pack would do to her, but she’s willing to let them do it to me instead.
“This is what my whole life has amounted to,” I tell Luna, my voice hollow. “Twenty-four years of existence just so I can be sacrificed to save someone more important.”
Luna purrs and nudges my chin with her head.
“What’s going to happen to you when I’m gone?” I stroke her soft fur, my heart breaking. “Who is going to take care of you?”
The thought of Luna starving to death in this cottage, waiting for me to come home, makes tears burn in my eyes. Maybe I should ask Selene to look after her. But will she even be allowed to associate with anything connected to me once I’m gone?
I consider my options, but there aren’t many. The cottage is surrounded by guards. Even if I could sneak out, where would I go? Into the Wyvern Woods at night? That’s suicide. And Alpha Gareth would just hunt me down anyway.
I’m trapped.
Hours pass in numb silence. I can’t even cry. I feel so empty. I try to sleep but keep startling awake at every sound outside.Around midnight, exhaustion finally takes over, and I doze fitfully on the couch with Luna curled against my chest.
I wake to the soft creak of my front door opening.
My eyes snap open, my heart hammering. Luna tenses in my arms, but she doesn’t hiss or run—which means whoever is entering isn’t a threat to her.
