Fated and forbidden

Episode4

Chapter 4

Snow POV

Jack’s arms locked around me,my heart raced as I stared in shock, looking at the werewolves that had suddenly invaded The pack, Jack's chest heaved hard. I could feel the rage shaking through him. It poured into me through the bond, heavy and wild, mixed with fear so sharp it made my stomach twist.

“Don’t touch her,” Jack snarled.

I barely saw the soldiers move before they surrounded us. Spears pointed. Blades drawn. Dozens of them, all closing in.

His father stepped forward from the shadows of the gate, calm in a way that felt worse than shouting.

“You will go and fight the rogues,” the Lycan King said. “Right now.”

Jack didn’t move. His arms tightened around me instead. I could hardly breathe.

“I am not leaving her,” Jack said. His voice was low and deadly.

“You have already chosen her,” his father replied. “Now choose your people.”

Jack laughed once, bitter. “You are choosing my people for me by turning them against me.”

The soldiers surged closer,one of them reached for me but Jack snapped in rage.

He twisted, knocking the man back with a savage strike that sent him crashing into another soldier. The chaos exploded again. Wolves lunged. Steel rang. Shouts ripped through the air.

I clutched his shirt with shaking hands. “Jack, don’t,” I whispered, though I didn’t even know what I was begging him to stop.

His mouth dropped to my ear. “No matter what happens now,” he said, voice rough, “you stay alive.”

Before I could answer, hands tore me from him.

“Ah! Get your hands off me!”I screamed.

Everything moved at once. I was yanked backward by my arms. My feet dragged across the stone. Jack turned with a roar that shook the courtyard. I saw him fight toward me, blood on his knuckles, eyes burning. He was stopped by a wall of soldiers. They slammed into him from three sides.

“Jack!” I screamed again.

“Take her,” his father ordered coldly.

They dragged me away.

I fought, I kicked. I scratched at anything I could reach. My nails ripped skin. My throat burned from screaming his name. It didn’t slow them. They were too strong.

Jack went mad behind me.

He broke free from two soldiers and slammed one into the ground. Another took his place. More poured in. I felt his fury ripple through the bond like a firestorm.

“Don’t touch her!” he roared. “I will tear you all apart!”

His father raised his hand slightly.

“If you want her alive,” the king said, “you will follow my command. Go and fight the rogues. Now.”

Jack froze.

The bond went tight, like something had seized my heart in a fist.

“No,” I whispered.

His eyes found mine across the courtyard. Blood splattered his jaw. His chest heaved like a trapped beast. Pain burned in his gaze.

“They will kill you if I don’t go,” I felt him say through the bond more than through sound.

My head shook on its own. Tears streamed down my face. “I don’t care,” I sobbed. “Don’t leave me.”

His jaw clenched so hard I heard his teeth grind.

Slowly, with every part of him resisting, he lifted his hands.

“Do not harm her,” he said to the soldiers holding me. His voice cracked on the last word. “If one scratch appears on her, I will kill every single one of you when I return.”

The king turned away. “Take her to his chambers. Lock her in.”

Jack took one step toward me and stopped himself. It was the hardest thing I had ever seen.

“I will come back,” he said to me. “This ends tonight.”

“I love you,” the words broke out of me without thought, my face lit up for a smile, which I gracefully gave him. Immediately I was dragged, the courtyard fell silent for a breath.

Something shattered behind his eyes.

“Wait for me,” he said.

Then they dragged him away in the opposite direction.

I reached for him as they pulled me back, my fingers cutting through empty air. The bond screamed with distance and fear and fury until it hurt to breathe.

They hauled me through the corridor like a criminal. My feet barely touched the floor. I sobbed openly now, chest aching, lungs burning. I couldn’t stop shaking.

Jack’s chambers were torn open and they shoved me inside.

The door slammed behind me.

I stumbled forward, barely keeping my balance. My dress was torn at the side. My arms throbbed where fingers had bruised me. My whole body felt hollow without him near.

The lock slid into place with a loud heavy sound.

I turned slowly to the door. “Jack,” I whispered to the wood, like it could hear me. My knees weakened and I sank against it.

A few seconds passed. Or minutes. I didn’t know.

Footsteps rushed toward the door.

It burst open again, relief hit me so hard I nearly cried out his name.

Then I saw it wasn't him but her.

Ariel.

Her eyes were wild, her hair was half loose as she approached me on the couch. Her breath came fast like she had been running. Two guards stood behind her, startled.

She saw me and her face twisted more.

“You,” she spat.

Before I could even speak, her hand flew across the room and struck my face.

The sound cracked sharp and painful.

My head snapped aside. My cheek burned instantly.

The guards stepped in. “Lady Ariel, you must not.”

She shoved them. “Get out!”

They hesitated, then one of them muttered something and stepped back out into the hall. The door remained open behind her.

Ariel grabbed a fistful of my hair.

Pain exploded across my scalp as she dragged me forward. I cried out and grabbed her wrist, but she was stronger than I expected.

“You harlot,” she hissed in my face. “You filthy creature. You came to steal what was mine.”

“I never wanted this,” I gasped. “I swear I didn’t.”

She slammed me against the wall. The breath flew out of my lungs. My back hit a stone.

“You think your lies will save you now?” she screamed. “You shamed me before the entire tribe. Do you know what you took from me tonight?”

Tears flooded my eyes. “He is my mate,” I whispered. The truth fell from me before I could stop it.

Her face went blank for half a second.

Then she screamed.

Her hand flew again, uncontrollably. My vision blurred with tears and pain. I tried to curl in on myself, but she kept yanking my hair, pulling my head up so I couldn’t hide.

“You witch,” she shrieked. “You cursed him. You bewitched him. He promised me!”

The guards rushed back in at the sound of her screams. Two of them seized her arms and dragged her away from me as she fought and writhed.

She kicked at me even as they pulled her toward the door.

“I will kill you,” she screamed over her shoulder. “I will carve you apart with my own hands!”

They dragged her out. The door slammed again.

I slid down the wall and collapsed onto the floor.

My body shook uncontrollably. My face throbbed. My scalp burned where my hair had been ripped. My chest hurt so badly I thought I might stop breathing.

For a long moment I couldn’t even cry. I just sat there in silent shaking, listening to the distant chaos outside the room. Shouts. Howls. The clash of war.

Jack was out there.

Fighting.

Because of me.

I forced myself to stand. My legs barely held me. I stumbled across the room toward the window. My hands pressed to the cold glass as I looked down into the courtyard below.

Smoke rose into the night. Torches moved like fireflies in panic. Wolves and soldiers clashed in flashes of fur and steel. I searched desperately for one face among hundreds.

Jack.

Fear clawed at my throat with every passing second I could not find him.

A sharp prick hit my neck.

I gasped.

Cold fire spread through my veins instantly. My fingers spasmed against the glass.

My vision swam.

I turned slowly, heart slamming, breath shallow.

A shadow moved behind me. I tried to focus. My knees buckled.

“Jack,” I tried to say, but his name barely left my lips.

The room tilted. The world went dark.

Cold stone scraped against my back, that was the first thing I felt.

Then the pull.

Someone was dragging me across the floor, my body heavy and useless, my head rolling to the side with every rough movement. My dress caught on something and tore. I tried to scream but only a broken sound escaped my throat. My tongue felt thick. My limbs would not obey me.

Voices drifted in and out.

“She’s lighter than I expected.”

“Move faster. If the prince returns and finds her gone, we are dead men.”

The bond stirred weakly inside me, restless and aching, like it was searching for him. Jack. Panic surged through me, slow and heavy like water rising in my chest.

I was lifted.

My body rolled over a shoulder. The sudden change made my stomach twist but I could not vomit. My eyes fluttered open for a second and all I saw was dark fabric, armor, the sharp edge of steel.

“Where are you taking her?” another voice demanded sharply ahead.

The footsteps slowed.

Not as if the person was stopping.

“Orders,” the man carrying me replied. “She is not to remain in the prince’s room.”

A pause.

Then another voice spoke, calm but carrying weight. “She is not to be taken outside the pack house.”

My heart thudded painfully. Even through the haze, fear ripped through me. Outside the pack house meant rogues.

“Repeat that,” the first man said.

“She stays within the walls,” the calm voice said again. “The king was clear. If she disappears beyond this ground, the prince will turn on everyone.”

A rough curse followed.

They changed direction. Even in my fading state, I felt it. The turn. The pull shifting.

I tried to open my eyes again. Everything swam. My vision doubled. The hallway ceiling spun slowly above me.

“I need air,” I whispered, but it sounded like breath slipping through water.

“Too late for that,” a voice said near my ear.

Anger flared faintly inside me. I tried to move my arms, nothing happened, they carried me up a short set of steps. A door opened. Warm air rushed over my skin. I was dropped onto something soft, like a mattress. My body bounced slightly and sank, shortly after, I heard the door closed, then the loud clicking came through.

Tears slipped from my eyes without my permission. I could not wipe them away. I could not turn my head. I could barely breathe.

The drug inside my veins pulsed again, stronger this time. My chest tightened. Darkness crawled back over my vision.

“Please,” I whispered into the empty room. “Come back to me.”