Jasmine: The Cursed Alpha's Mate

Brink of Despair

Jasmine's POV

I was feeling my bare feet pound the earth, my lungs burning with all the forces I possess, running, until streaks of trees came along against me, and I reached the edge of the village, disappearing into the forest.

He was gone, yet the ache still lingered. My chest was aflame, and my heart was in pieces. I didn't know where I was going or what I was running; only that I needed to be gone.

Asher's words just continued to replay in my head like some broken record, cold and unyielding.

Pathetic.

Just a weak omega.

I reject you.

I let out a choked sob, and my legs threatened to buckle out from under me, but I kept running.

A soft unfamiliar voice whispered in the back of my mind, "Leave here."

I don't know whose that was or why that's a fact, only that it could matter less. I had to try to.

I couldn't face him again.

I ran until my legs gave out, collapsing onto the forest floor. My body shook with silent sobs, the taste of blood still on my lips.

The Moon Goddess had cursed me with a mate. And that mate had ruined me.

I kept running until my legs gave out from underneath me. My breathing was coming in ragged gasps, each scrape against my throat raw and rawer, but I dared not stop till the forest swallowed me whole.

Scratched by scratchy branches, the leaves tangled in my hair, the earth gave its loose trust and felt like it should…swallow me alive the very next minute. Further in, the light went. Daylight would barely pierce that canopy above; I all but stumbled through a going world of shadows and shades in sound.

Finally, my body gave out, and I slumped to the root of the tree. My ribs hurt because of the effort of hard running. My wolf whimpered quietly, reeling with rejection, but too exhausted even to do more than huddle into herself.

The soft whirl of leaves in the breeze was the only sound. My heart pounded loudly in my ears and drowned out the quiet.

I didn't know how far I'd gone, or in which direction I was running. For the time being, it didn't matter. Nobody had come after me. No voices to tease me. No sliver eyes. No bonding snapping painfully against my chest.

I was alone.

And for the first time in my life, that thought didn't bring relief—it brought terror.

Days melted into a haze of nothingness.

I plodded through the woods in no particular direction whatsoever, searching for anything just anything that would permit me to keep living. My legs throbbed, my feet bled, and that ravenous growling in the belly felt like it could cave in my skull at times, but survival was cruel that way.

The first time one crossed my path, I just about saw a fruit tree. My vision swam from exhaustion, and my mind was too muddled to process what was right in front of my eyes. Then the scent of ripe fruit hit me, and instinct took over. I scrambled up that tree like some feral animal, hands shaking, and plucked a handful of small bitter berries.

They weren't sweet, and they weren't filling, but I didn't care. I crammed them in my mouth, chewing fast, swallowing before my body could turn them back up.

The forest wasn't kind. It gave me nothing but leaves to chew on some days. On other days, when I was desperate enough, the streams of murky water made my throat scratch.

Nights were the worst. The cold seemed to seep right into my bones, and every sound was like a jolt to the heart. I spent many nights curled up under trees or small patches of bushes, often praying whatever prowled the dark would pass me by.

I'd never felt so alone.

It was in those moments, when the silence strangled my chest a bit too tight, that my mind would stray to the pack-to Cara, to Asher.

His rejection still echoed within my brain, cruel and final. The ache in my chest due to this severing of the bond wasn't an ache that distance could soothe.

I clung to the hope that somewhere in front of me, I was safe: a village, a city, a place to start over, where none would know me as the Omega cast off by her mate.

It had almost been a week when finally, it reached me.

“Teach me some manners, boy!”

I felt like it was just my imagination; some smothered rustling noise from far, far away. It came again, with low mumblings, then,

Voices.

This surge of hope tore through the haziness of exhaustion and made my heart jerk in my chest. People. And, after days of walking on my own, I was so far beyond relieved or scared.

But the need for contact, for anything more than the mindless sameness of the woods, kept me going.

With every step, the voices grew clearer, and I crouched low, using the trees for cover as I peered through the undergrowth. My breath caught at what I saw.

People.

But not the kind I'd hoped for.

Coarse cages lined the clearing, rusted but sufficient to hold with strength: inside huddled men, women, and children; their faces white daubed with patches of filth, chain rattles as their bodies moved, nervous eyes darting to the men who stood standing guard not far away.

These were burly guards in stained garments; the arms, shining with a menacing view in the poor light.

A cold feeling glided down my spine while my instincts yelled at me to run, to turn around before they noticed me.

But it was too late.

One of them finally spotted me, his eyes narrowing before a cruel smile oozed across his face.

"Looks like we've got a little lost lamb," he drawled, his voice sending shivers down my spine.

I turned to run, but another guard blocked my path, his hand shooting out to grab my arm. I struggled, kicking and clawing, but he was too strong.

"Let me go!" I shouted, my voice hoarse with fear.

The man chuckled, hauling me back toward the clearing. "Feisty. You'll fetch a good price."

They dragged me, pushing me into one of the empty cages, and slamming the door behind me. I flung myself against the bars, shouting and screaming, but it was useless.

"Let me out!" I shrieked, my voice breaking. "Please!"

The guards took no notice of me, and their laughter continued to die away as they went back to their stations.

Despair settled on like a heavy shroud. I sagged to the bottom of the cage, my body shaking below its weight of exhaustion and terror.

How had I gotten here?

I was thinking of the pack, thinking of Asher, the mate bond that once-stupidly—I'd assumed would see me through. And, again, my chest's constricted hollowness expanded and was even worse this time around.

Nobody was coming to find me.

Later on, all this turned into one vague journey of hungriness, pain, and hopelessness.

Not giving their captives even a chance to rest at least for a day, the slavers pressed on with great speed. Beatings were administered to the ones who could not press on, their voices resounding through the forest.

My head hung low, while even my body was too weak to do anything else but just stumble forward. Hunger nagged inside my belly, and the taste of contaminated water just clung to my throat.

When night fell, they shut us again in cages and would throw stale bread at us, which barely kept us alive. I cried until my tears dried out, my voice hoarse from screaming into the void.

Hope was a cruel thing, and it had left me long ago.

Two days later, we arrived.

They took us to a market that reeked of sweat, rot, and desperation. My heart fell at what lay before me.

The streets were lined with cages of men and women like me: captives who had their freedom, dignity, and hope taken from them. Merchants shouted raucously and avariciously to the crowd, touting their wares.

The slavers dragged me out of the cage, their hands rough as they shoved me forward. My legs buckled, but they didn't care.

I stumbled, my eyes scanning the market in a daze. Everywhere I looked, I saw despair.

And I knew, with a sinking certainty, that I was lost.