Stealing His Mate

Skylar

Emmeline had woken me roughly awake, telling me that our father needed to see me urgently.

When I entered the room, I was shocked and a little embarrassed to see the men I had stared at from my window.

I knew I shouldn’t have stared. I shouldn’t have even been looking.

We all knew that father had invited the alpha of the Tenebris pack to visit. We also knew he was brutal, ruthless, and mateless.

Emmeline was still hoping to find a high-ranking mate. She didn’t care if they were fated or chosen.

I did. I only wanted to find my fated mate.

Staring at an alpha was disrespectful; I didn’t mean to stare at him. I was just curious. He very rarely left his territory, unless it was to attack.

That meant very few could say what he looked like.

Now I stood in the same room as him. I should have been scared, but for some reason, I wasn’t.

My father tried to say something, but he silenced him.

I thought that was a bit rude; this was my father’s pack house after all.

Then he took my chin in his large hands. They were covered in tattoos and he wore several gold rings on his fingers.

I felt like he was eyeing me up like some animal at a market as he tilted my head from side to side. That made me angry. We might not be as rich as him and his pack, but we still deserved some respect.

He couldn’t even address me with his question. Instead, he asked my father. Like I couldn’t talk or answer his question.

Then he commanded me to look at him. I didn’t want to, but he forced me to.

I only looked him in the eye for a second, before I averted my eyes.

Then he had the audacity to question my parentage. I decided at that moment that I didn’t like him. How dare he!

My father hardly spoke before he was silenced again. I think he was going to explain about my mother but he never got the chance.

Then he said the words that horrified me.

“Good, I’ll take her.”

I’d kept my head bowed in respect, but when he spoke those words I lifted my head and looked at him. There was no expression on his face. Not kind, not angry. Just matter of fact.

I looked at my father, concern on my face.

Was this his doing?

“Daddy?” I questioned, only to be cut short by the monster in front of me.

“Skylar? Look at me.”

I swallowed nervously but looked back at him.

Then he said the words that made me feel sick.

“Kneel. Submit to your alpha,” he demanded.

I couldn’t believe this was happening. My father was actually giving me away.

I shook my head and took a step away from him.

“N…no. I won’t. You’re not my alpha,” I responded with a shaky voice.

I looked at my father.

“Daddy? What’s going on?”

He tried to smile, but I could see the strain on his face.

“Sky… You have to go with Alpha Sebastian, you’re to be his mate.”

I shook my head. This couldn’t be happening. My father had been the one who had kept the mateless wolves at bay.

Now he was giving me away to this brute, to be his mate.

“No…no,” I protested, “I won’t go. He’s not my mate, not my true mate.”

I turned and ran toward the door. I’d run away if I had to, but I wasn’t going to give myself to him.

Somehow Alpha Sebastian managed to reach the door before I did. He slammed the door shut and grabbed hold of my hair.

I yelped as he yanked my head back. It felt like a thousand nails were being hammered into my scalp.

He forced me to look at his face, which now looked angry.

“You will submit to me, Skylar, now kneel,” he warned.

I heard a voice in my head; at first I thought it might be my wolf, but then I realized it was Emmeline mind-linking me.

Whatever you do, Sky, don’t submit to him.

She didn’t need to tell me. I had no intention.

I called on my wolf’s strength to give me the courage I needed.

“I will not,” I hissed through gritted teeth.

His hand clenched around my throat.

If it was submit or die, I would rather die.

After that, everything was a blur.

The doors being slammed open as two strange warriors entered, my father’s protests, Alpha Sebastian yelling angrily…

Then one of the warriors came toward me with a rope. I tried to struggle but the alpha’s grip only tightened.

As the rope touched my skin, I screamed.

It burned on contact, and it continued to burn as the warrior roughly bound my wrists together.

There must have been something on it. Wolfsbane, or silver.

I felt my wolf fading as the chemicals did their work.

“It hurts,” I whimpered.

The alpha looked at me and smirked, almost as though he was enjoying my pain.

“There are consequences when you disobey your alpha.”

I was about to scream at him, that he would never be my alpha, but he just walked away.

Even if I wanted him for a mate, what sort of mate would he be? He was vile and loathsome.

I hated him.

I gave my father one last pleading look.

“Please Daddy… Don’t do this,” I begged.

“Just…just be a good girl, Skylar. It’ll all work out if you’re a good girl,” he replied.

Then the rope was yanked harshly. I stumbled forward.

I was dragged out of the pack house by the rope around my wrists, totally ignored by the alpha and the two warriors.

When they didn’t think I was walking fast enough, they would roughly yank on the rope.

I looked behind me one last time as my home disappeared from view. Silent tears ran down my cheeks.

I’d always tried to be good. To be respectful. What good had it done me?

Why hadn’t he wanted my sister?

She would have willingly gone with him. Then why did she tell me not to submit? Not that I wanted to, but it seemed strange.

The thought was soon pushed from my mind as brambles and branches snagged the skin on my legs and feet.

Normally, my skin would just heal, but blood oozed out of the cuts, each one becoming more painful. Without my wolf, I wouldn’t heal. Is that what he meant by consequences?

Whenever I stumbled or fell, the warrior that was hauling me along would give a harsh yank on the rope. Glaring at him would only worsen my plight. He could see I was bleeding, but he didn’t seem to care.

I felt it.

As we approached the boundary line between my pack and his. After I crossed that line, there would be no going back. I’d heard the rumors. Once I was in his territory, I would never be able to leave.

This was my home; I was being taken against my will.

I stopped dead in my tracks.

The warrior who had hold of the rope turned his head and glared.

“Move,” he commanded.

I stood still and shook my head.

He gave one huge pull on the rope so hard that I fell to my knees.

I let out a sob; it wasn’t just the invisible boundary line that had been crossed. I felt something else too. A rejection, a broken link.

I had been rejected by my pack.

I had heard rumors of what it was like when you were rejected by your mate. It was rare, but it happened. But the pain of being rejected from your pack was ten times worse.

No wonder rogues went crazy or became addicted to Wolfsbane.

I clutched my stomach as best I could, with my hands still bound. I doubled over in pain and let my tears flow.

I only lifted my head when I felt a gentle hand on my cheek.

“That’s it, Skylar, kneel and submit to me.”

I pulled away from his hand and looked up, glaring at him.

“You... You did this. You made him reject me from my pack,” I accused.

He looked at me and nodded.

“It’s for the best. Now you just need to kneel and submit to me as your alpha and as your mate.”

I shook my head and glared at him.

“I’ll never submit to you, not ever. I’ll die first. I hate you.”

I looked at the rope which was connected to my bound wrists. I knew it was coated in Wolfsbane or silver. My wrists still burned from the contact.

I realized now, that was why the warrior was wearing gloves.

I grabbed hold of the rope with my bare hands. I didn’t try to muffle the scream that came from my lips as the rope burned the palms of my hands.

Alpha Sebastian ripped the rope from my hands. He glared at me angrily.

“Why? Why do something so stupid? You know that rope is laced with silver and Wolfsbane?”

I sneered at him.

“You want to hurt me... go ahead, or kill me, you can do that too, I don’t care anymore,” I snarled.

He looked at me and shook his head, then he grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet.

He looked at the warrior who was still holding the rope.

“Come on, let’s go,” he hissed as he walked away.

The warrior gave a gentle tug on the rope. More gentle than he had been before. Maybe he felt sorry for me.

I didn’t need his pity. I would just bide my time until there was an opportunity for me to escape.

I didn’t need to heed my sister’s last words to me. I was never going to submit to him. I would rather die first.