The alpha’s forbidden mate

Episode4

Kaelie’s POV

I flinched, closing my eyes and waited for the pain.

Instead, I felt his fingers gently brush against the pouch. He didn't tear it away, his touch was surprisingly soft.

"The Moonshade," he said. "You risked your life for a weed?"

"It’s not a weed to me," I said, a sudden spark of courage hitting my chest. "It’s his only hope. If you’re going to kill me, just let me send the flower to my friend Mira first. Please. Then you can do whatever you want."

Jaxen went very still. He looked at me like I had just grown a second head. Behind him, the two guard wolves moved forward. They were snarling, their teeth bared at me.

"Alpha," one of the wolves growled. The sound was half-human, half-beast. "She saw the execution. She is a human trespasser. We must end this now. The law is clear."

The wolf lunged forward, its jaws snapping toward my leg.

"NO!"

Jaxen’s voice was like a thunderclap. He moved so fast I didn't see it. He swung his arm out, hitting the large wolf in the chest and throwing it back into a tree. The wolf let out a painful sound and hit the ground hard.

"She is mine," Jaxen roared. The sound was so powerful it made the leaves on the trees shake. "Nobody touches her. If any of you lay a claw on this girl, I will pull your hearts out through your throats. Do you understand?"

The guard wolves immediately dropped their heads. They tucked their tails between their legs and whimpered, backing away into the shadows. They were terrified of him.

Jaxen turned back to me. His face changed. The colors around him were shifting. Usually, I saw wolves surrounded by a jagged, angry red. But Jaxen was different. Around his body, I saw a deep, swirling purple… the color of royalty and ancient secrets. And as he looked at me, a thin line of golden light began to stretch from his chest to mine.

“Ahh..” I gasped.

I had never seen a gold line before, It felt like an invisible rope was pulling my heart toward his’. My body felt warm, and the fear that had been choking me began to turn into something else. A strange, magnetic pull.

"What are you doing to me?" I asked, my breath hitching.

Jaxen didn't answer. He reached down and picked me up, swinging me into his arms as if I were a child.

"You aren't going home, Kaelie Thorne," he said.

"How do you know my name?" I cried, struggling in his grip. "Put me down! I have to save my grandfather!"

"The sensors told me your name the moment you touched the fence," Jaxen said, his voice cold again. He started walking through the woods, heading toward the giant black tower. "And your grandfather will be taken care of. My doctors will send him the medicine. But you... you are coming with me."

"Why?" I begged. "Why keep a human girl?"

Jaxen stopped walking for a second. He looked down at me, and for the first time, I saw a flash of pain in his eyes.

"Because my wolf won't let me breathe if I let you walk away," he whispered. "You are mine."

The word felt like a heavy stone falling into a quiet pond. A Mate? I knew the stories. Wolves were tied to one person forever. But a wolf and a human? It was impossible. It was forbidden.

"I can't be," I said, shaking my head. "I'm just a florist. I'm nothing."

"You are the girl who smells like the Void," Jaxen said, his grip tightening. "And that makes you the most dangerous thing in this city. If I leave you here, the other packs will hunt you. They will kill you just to hurt me. In the Spire, you are safe. In the Spire, you belong to me."

I wanted to fight him. I wanted to scream that I wasn't an object to be owned. But as he carried me toward the Obsidian Spire, the golden light between us grew brighter. I felt a deep, strange need to put my head against his shoulder. My body wanted to be near him, even if my mind was terrified.

We reached the base of the Spire. A giant metal door slid open with a hiss. Inside, the walls were made of black glass and glowing blue lights. It looked like a palace from the future.

Jaxen walked through the halls. Other wolves stood in the hallways, watching us. I saw their colors, bright orange and red. They were confused and angry. I heard them whispering as we passed.

"A human?"

"She smells like the old stories..."

"The Alpha has lost his mind."

Jaxen ignored them all. He took me into a private elevator that moved so fast my stomach dropped. When the doors opened, we were in a room filled with soft carpets, silk curtains, and a giant window that showed the entire Grey City below.

He set me down on a large, plush sofa.

"Stay here," he commanded. "If you try to leave this floor, the security droids will stun you. I have to go deal with the Council. They won't be happy about you."

"Wait!" I called out as he turned to leave. "The flower. You promised you would save Pa Elias."

Jaxen paused at the door. He looked back at me, his blue eyes glowing softly in the dim light of the room.

"The medicine is already on its way to your shack," he said. "He will live. But you must understand, Kaelie. You can never go back to that life. You are the…." He paused and didn't complete what he wanted to say.

He stepped out, and the door locked with a heavy metallic thud.

I ran to the window. I could see the slums far, far below. I could see the tiny light of my grandfather’s house. I was safe, and Pa was going to live. But as I looked at the golden line still connecting me to the door where Jaxen had stood, I realized my life was over.

I was no longer a girl who sold roses. I was a prize in a war I didn't understand.

Suddenly, I heard a voice. It wasn't Jaxen’s voice. It was a whisper that seemed to come from the walls themselves.

"The Void Queen has returned," the voice breathed. "The moon will turn to blood, and the wolves will fall."

I spun around, but the room was empty. My hands began to glow with a faint, purple light. The Moonshade flower in my pouch began to hum