Chapter 4
1073 Words
The man's words came true within seconds.
The bodies of my attackers fell in grotesque, mangled pieces—decapitated, dismembered.
I was free.
My heart thundered in my chest as I stumbled backward, seeking refuge in the hollow of a massive tree. My breath came in sharp, shallow gasps.
And then he stepped forward.
His presence loomed, shadowed by the night, his chest splattered in blood.
I couldn’t look up.
Didn’t dare.
Something in me felt tainted.
But then, his fingers—rough, strong—tilted my chin upward, forcing my gaze into his.
And everything changed.
The moment my eyes locked onto his, a deep, inexplicable calm settled over me.
He was dangerous. Unhinged. A killer.
But those piercing blue eyes... they made something inside me stir. Something primal.
Heat.
It coiled in my belly, spreading through me in an aching pulse of need.
I swallowed hard as my fingers traced over his hands, checking for wounds, but found nothing.
His body was a fortress—untouched, unscathed.
His smirk deepened as though he could smell the shift in me, as though he already knew exactly where this was going.
And gods help me, I wanted it.
I had just witnessed his feral side—his brutality.
And yet... I still wanted him.
Before I could think, my hands had already guided his palms to my breasts, reveling in the warmth that surged through me at his touch.
My lips parted on a breath, my eyes half-lidded with longing.
"Mark me," I whispered, my voice raw, instinctual.
A silent promise flickered between us, sealing in the moment just before his lips crashed into mine.
Light pierced through my eyelids.
A dull ache throbbed through my body as I stirred, blinking against the sudden brightness.
Where... was I?
A shadow moved above me.
"She's finally awake!"
I recognized the voice instantly—Aria.
A chuckle followed as she took a long, slow look at me, her eyes gleaming with unspoken judgment.
Something was wrong.
I felt dirty.
I sat up too fast, my dress askew, my hair tangled—disheveled.
What the hell happened last night?
Aria’s smirk widened.
"I wonder," she mused, voice dripping with fake innocence, "what a naughty little girl like you was doing out all night?"
My stomach twisted.
Flashes.
Scattered images.
A man. A promise. Lips crashing into mine. Hands roaming my body.
No. No.
I shoved the memories away, my fingers fumbling to fix my hair.
Aria leaned in, her voice a whisper of mockery.
"Let’s see what everyone else thinks about this."
My head snapped up.
"Aria, no! It’s not what you—"
But she was already gone.
And within seconds, she returned—leading an angry, murmuring crowd.
"You w***e!"
"Disgraceful!"
"She slept with an unidentified wolf during the Moon Alignment!"
The rage in their voices was deafening.
Taboo.
A mateless, wolfless omega was forbidden from lying with a man—especially one who wasn't her mate.
My hands shot up in protest, but my voice was swallowed by the chaos.
Then—a command.
Sharp. Authoritative.
Lucius.
"What is going on here?" His voice cut through the noise.
The crowd parted for him like the tide.
"Sire!" Aria was quick to answer. "She's a w***e—slept with an unidentified wolf last night!"
"During the Moon Alignment!"
"An insult!"
"A disgrace to our sacred laws!"
The accusations piled up, the heat of their judgment pressing against me like a suffocating weight.
Lucius circled me, his lips curling with disdain.
And then, in a voice filled with nothing but contempt, he spat, "She reeks of filth and sin."
My stomach dropped.
I had thought—stupidly hoped—he might hear me out.
That he would at least listen.
But I should’ve known better.
"This is why," Lucius continued, his voice rising, "she will be demoted!"
The words shattered through me.
I collapsed.
No. No. No. No.
If I got demoted further, I would be nothing.
A slave. A thing.
"Lucius, please," I choked, desperate, my body trembling.
But his eyes were merciless.
"That is final."
The crowd roared in approval.
Aria, however, looked disappointed.
She had wanted worse.
And maybe... maybe I had, too.
The crowd eventually dispersed, leaving me alone in the dirt, my body wrecked with helplessness.
Lucius lingered.
"You can’t do this to me," I rasped.
His smirk was cruel.
"Oh, I’m not done," he murmured, stepping closer. His eyes darkened with amusement.
"You will become my personal plaything."
A chill spiked through me.
His meaning was clear.
I straightened, my body locking in defiance.
"No."
Lucius scoffed. "You sure about that?" He leaned in, his breath ghosting over my skin. "Women beg for this. You could have a taste of—"
"I said no."
His gaze dragged over me, his smirk widening.
"You’ll be begging soon enough," he taunted, stepping away. "Once you see where you'll be living. Where you'll be working."
Days passed. My reality had changed. I was now the lowest of the low.
No status. No dignity.
Just another nameless omega breaking her body for scraps.
It would have been better if I ran.
If only I could get past the relentless, morning sickness that left me retching every day.
I had barely finished carrying another haul of coal when a familiar, taunting voice slithered into my ear.
"Gee, you’re looking sick."
Aria.
I gritted my teeth.
"Piss off."
But she just giggled.
"You know what I think?" she mused.
I kept walking.
"I bet you’re pregnant."
The world stilled.
A sharp intake of breath.
No. I couldn't be.
I was a virgin. I was—
Flashbacks.
Of a man. Of that night. Of heat and hunger and reckless desire.
No.
No. No. No. No.
I barely had time to breathe before Aria’s voice rang out.
"Just wait until everyone hears about this!"
"Aria, wait—WAIT!"
It was too late.
Within moments, a mob had formed.
And then—pain.
Blunt force slammed against my knees.
A kick to my face.
The next thing I knew—
I was being dragged.
To the throne room.
And at the very moment I thought the world had truly turned against me—
A voice.
Low. Dangerous. Unforgiving.
"You touch a hair on her head—you die."
I looked up. And there he was.
King Avalor.
And beneath my wrist… A mark. A new mate. His.
- Writer
