The Alpha’s Hated Mate

Chapter 5

Kael

The moment I caught her scent, my world stopped.

Not literally, of course.

The warriors surrounding me continued talking. Boots scraped against the stone floor. Someone laughed near the entrance, while the familiar sounds of Blackthorn Pack carried on as though nothing had happened.

But inside me?

Everything went silent.

Then my wolf lifted his head.

Mate.

The word slammed through my skull with such force that I clenched my jaw.

No.

Absolutely f*****g not.

Mate, my wolf repeated, his voice reverberating through my mind. Ours.

I stared at the woman standing several feet away from me.

Elowen.

I didn’t know her surname. I didn’t know where she’d come from, who had hurt her, or why she had crossed into Blackthorn territory.

And I certainly didn’t want to know any of those things.

Because the moment I learned something about her, the moment I allowed myself to look beyond the dirt on her clothes and the exhaustion etched into her face, I might begin to care.

And caring was a weakness I had spent ten years cutting out of myself.

I had buried my family.

I had watched my childhood friends die.

I had carried scars across my body that reminded me every morning of what happened when I failed to protect the people who mattered.

I would not allow the Moon Goddess to decide that I needed another person to lose.

Especially not a woman who appeared to have trouble keeping herself alive.

“Alpha?”

My Beta’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.

I turned my head sharply.

“What?”

He studied me with the caution of a man who had survived years of working beside me.

“Did you hear what I said?”

“No.”

His eyebrows rose.

A few warriors exchanged glances.

I could practically smell their curiosity.

I was Kael Varyn, Alpha of Blackthorn Pack. I didn’t lose track of conversations. I didn’t become distracted by strangers. And I certainly didn’t stand in the middle of my own territory staring at a woman as though she’d reached inside my chest and wrapped her fingers around my heart.

“Repeat it,” I ordered.

My Beta’s gaze flicked towards Elowen before returning to me.

“The patrol found her near the eastern boundary. She says she’s looking for somewhere to stay.”

“Then she can keep looking.”

Elowen’s head snapped up.

For the first time, I looked directly into her eyes.

And something inside me twisted.

They were beautiful.

Not the kind of beautiful that made a man forget his own name. There was nothing soft or inviting about them.

Her eyes were guarded, shadowed by exhaustion, and filled with a stubborn defiance that suggested she’d rather die on her feet than beg a man like me for mercy.

I recognised that look.

I’d seen it in the mirror for years.

Unfortunately, recognising it didn’t make me any more sympathetic.

“With all due respect, Alpha,” she said, “I wasn’t asking you to marry me. I was asking for a place to sleep.”

My wolf surged.

She has teeth.

I nearly snarled.

She’s ours.

She is nothing of the sort.

The growl escaped before I could stop it.

Elowen stiffened.

Several warriors immediately straightened, their attention shifting between us.

I forced my expression into something cold enough to freeze the air.

“You’re standing on Blackthorn land, woman. You don’t get to dictate what you deserve here.”

Her chin lifted.

“And you don’t get to decide what I deserve simply because you’re wearing a crown.”

Silence.

Absolute, breathtaking silence.

My Beta slowly closed his eyes.

Someone behind me muttered a curse.

I stared at the woman who had apparently decided that insulting her Alpha was an excellent way to begin her stay.

My wolf, traitorous bastard that he was, sounded suspiciously pleased.

I like her.

Of course he did.

He had the survival instincts of a drunken i***t.

“Watch your mouth,” I warned.

“Then stop giving me reasons to open it.”

My fingers curled.

For one brief, dangerous moment, I imagined stepping towards her, catching her by the arm, and demanding to know why her scent was driving my wolf into a frenzy.

Instead, I stepped back.

One pace.

It felt like retreat.

I hated it.

“Put her in the east wing,” I ordered my Beta. “A room. Food. Nothing more.”

Elowen’s expression changed.

Only slightly.

But I caught it.

She’d expected me to throw her out.

Perhaps she’d even expected me to hurt her.

That realisation lodged beneath my ribs, irritatingly sharp.

My Beta nodded. “And the boundary report?”

“Later.”

“Alpha—”

“Did I stutter?”

“No, Alpha.”

“Then move.”

The warriors scattered.

Elowen remained where she was, watching me as though she expected another blow to fall.

I should have walked away.

I should have forgotten her.

Instead, I found myself noticing the way her fingers trembled at her sides, the faint bruise disappearing beneath her sleeve, and the way she kept her back angled towards the nearest exit.

My wolf went deathly quiet.

Then he whispered something that made the blood in my veins turn cold.

Someone has hurt our mate.

My gaze dropped to the bruise.

Something ancient and vicious stirred inside me.

I wanted a name.

I wanted a face.

I wanted to find whoever had put their hands on her and teach them precisely what happened when they mistook my restraint for weakness.

The thought was so sudden, so utterly unlike me, that I recoiled from it.

No.

She was a stranger.

A complication.

And if the Moon Goddess believed she could force me to care for another person simply by tying our souls together, she had made a grave mistake.

I turned away.

“Take her to her room,” I told my Beta. “And make sure she understands the rules.”

Then I walked out before my wolf could humiliate me any further.

Behind me, I heard Elowen speak.

“One question, Alpha.”

I stopped.

Against every sensible instinct I possessed, I looked back.

“Do you always treat people like they’re prisoners?”

Her eyes held mine.

For a moment, I saw something beneath her defiance.

Fear.

Not of me alone.

Of something she had brought with her.

My wolf pressed against my consciousness.

Protect her.

I bared my teeth.

“Only the ones who give me reason to.”

Then I left.

And spent the next ten minutes trying to convince myself that the ache in my chest wasn’t the mate bond tightening its grip.

I failed.

⸻

Elowen

I had survived worse men than Kael Varyn.

At least, that was what I told myself as I followed his Beta through the enormous corridors of Blackthorn Pack’s main residence.

The walls were dark stone, broken by tall windows and heavy wooden doors. Everything smelled of cedar, leather, and wolves.

Powerful wolves.

The kind who could tear a person apart before they had time to scream.

I kept my head down and my eyes moving.

Old habits.

Useful habits.

The Beta walked ahead of me without speaking. He was broad-shouldered, with dark hair and a scar running from his left temple towards his ear.

He hadn’t introduced himself.

I hadn’t asked.

Names were dangerous things. They gave people something to remember you by.

I’d learned that lesson the hard way.

We passed two warriors standing outside a closed door.

Both stopped talking when they saw me.

Their gazes followed me.

One of them sniffed the air.

Then his expression changed.

I nearly stumbled.

The Beta noticed.

“Keep walking.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

“That didn’t look like nothing.”

He stopped so abruptly that I almost collided with his back.

When he turned, his expression was no longer indifferent.

“Listen carefully, Elowen. You’re inside Blackthorn territory now. Whatever trouble brought you here, leave it outside these walls.”

My stomach tightened.

“I haven’t brought any trouble.”

“Good. Then you won’t have anything to worry about.”

He resumed walking.

I stared at his back.

That was a lie.

I knew a lie when I heard one.

I had survived too many of them.

We reached a narrow corridor at the eastern end of the residence. Unlike the grand halls we’d passed through, this one was dimly lit and almost deserted.

The Beta opened a door.

“This is yours for now.”

I stepped inside.

The room was larger than any place I’d called home in years. A proper bed stood against the far wall, beside a small table and a wardrobe. There was a private bathroom, clean sheets, and a window overlooking the forest.

For a moment, I couldn’t move.

A bed.

A door that locked.

A place where I might sleep without listening for footsteps outside.

My throat tightened.

I hated that something so ordinary could make me want to cry.

“Meals are served downstairs,” the Beta said. “Stay out of the restricted areas. Don’t enter the Alpha’s private quarters. Don’t approach the western training grounds unless you’re accompanied by a warrior.”

I turned towards him.

“Why?”

“Because those are the rules.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the only one you’re getting.”

He reached for the door.

“Wait.”

He paused.

“Am I allowed to leave?”

His expression became unreadable.

“If the Alpha permits it.”

My stomach dropped.

“And if he doesn’t?”

The Beta didn’t answer.

He didn’t need to.

The door closed behind him.

I stood alone in the room, staring at the wood.

Then I crossed the distance and turned the lock.

Once.

Twice.

I pressed my forehead against the door and breathed.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

I was safe.

I was inside a pack.

There were warriors everywhere, an Alpha who could protect his territory, and walls thick enough to keep the world outside.

I should have felt relieved.

Instead, a cold, familiar sensation crept along my spine.

Because I’d seen the way those warriors had looked at me.

I’d seen the change in the Alpha’s expression.

And I’d heard the growl that had escaped him when our eyes met.

He hadn’t looked angry at first.

He’d looked—

I squeezed my eyes shut.

No.

Whatever had happened between us, I didn’t have the energy to think about it.

I needed food.

Sleep.

A plan.

Three things I’d been denied for far too long.

I crossed to the window and looked out over the forest.

Blackthorn territory stretched farther than I could see. Beyond the trees, mountains rose beneath a grey sky. Patrols moved along the perimeter, their figures appearing and disappearing between the trunks.

It was beautiful.

And heavily guarded.

Almost as if the entire pack were preparing for something.

A knock sounded at the door.

I jumped so violently that my hip struck the table.

“Who is it?”

“Your food.”

I hesitated before unlocking the door.

A young woman stood outside carrying a tray. She had kind eyes and a braid hanging over one shoulder.

She glanced at my face, then at the bruise on my arm.

Her smile faltered.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you.”

I reached for the tray.

She didn’t release it immediately.

“Did you meet the Alpha?”

My fingers tightened around the edge.

“Yes.”

Her expression changed.

“Oh.”

One little word.

But it carried enough meaning to make my stomach twist.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Everyone keeps saying that.”

She glanced down the corridor before stepping closer.

“Listen, I don’t want to frighten you. But if the Alpha has taken an interest in you, be careful.”

My blood chilled.

“An interest?”

She immediately shook her head.

“I didn’t mean—”

“What aren’t you telling me?”

Her eyes darted towards the stairwell.

For one brief moment, she looked genuinely afraid.

Then she thrust the tray into my hands.

“Lock your door tonight.”

Before I could ask another question, she hurried away.

I stood frozen in the doorway.

Lock your door tonight.

Why?

What was supposed to happen tonight?

I shut the door and turned the lock.

Then I carried the tray to the table, although the smell of food had suddenly become unbearable.

There was something wrong with Blackthorn Pack.

I could feel it.

Something beneath the polished stone, the obedient warriors, and the cold authority of its Alpha.

Something people were afraid to discuss.

And now I was inside its walls.

I sat on the edge of the bed and pulled my sleeves down over my arms.

Perhaps I should have kept walking when I reached the boundary.

Perhaps I should have taken my chances in the forest.

But I was exhausted, hungry, and running out of places to hide.

For tonight, I would stay.

Tomorrow, I would learn the rules.

And if Blackthorn Pack proved as dangerous as it felt, I would find a way out.

I had escaped one nightmare.

I wasn’t about to let another one swallow me whole.

⸻

Kael

“Tell me you felt nothing.”

My Beta stood across from my desk, looking as though he’d rather be anywhere else.

I stared at him.

“What?”

“The woman.”

My wolf growled.

I shoved him down.

“She is a stranger.”

“That wasn’t what I asked.”

I rose so quickly that the chair scraped against the floor.

“Careful.”

My Beta didn’t flinch.

He’d known me long enough to recognise when my temper was a warning and when it was a distraction.

“Kael, I’ve never seen you react to anyone like that.”

“Then consider yourself fortunate.”

“You growled at her.”

“I growl at plenty of people.”

“Not like that.”

I gripped the edge of my desk.

The wood creaked beneath my fingers.

My Beta’s gaze dropped to my hand before returning to my face.

“Your wolf recognised something.”

For a moment, the room seemed to shrink around me.

I could still smell her.

Rain-soaked earth.

Warmth.

Something wild that made my wolf pace restlessly beneath my skin.

Mate.

“Get out.”

“Kael—”

“GET OUT!”

My Beta held my gaze for another second before turning towards the door.

He stopped with his hand on the handle.

“Whatever this is, you can’t fight it by pretending it doesn’t exist.”

The door shut.

I stood motionless.

Then I swept everything from my desk.

Papers scattered across the floor. A glass shattered against the wall.

My breathing came hard and fast.

“I will not lose another person,” I snarled.

My wolf slammed against my consciousness.

She is not them.

“You don’t know that.”

She is ours.

“She is nothing to me!”

The words echoed through the room.

And for one terrible second, my wolf went silent.

Then he answered.

Liar.

I sank into my chair and pressed my palms against my eyes.

The Moon Goddess had a cruel sense of humour.

She had taken everything from me, left me with scars that would never fade, and now expected me to offer my heart to a stranger.

A woman whose very existence made my wolf want to kneel.

No.

I would not tell Elowen about the bond.

I would not claim her.

And I would not allow the pack to discover that their ruthless Alpha had been brought to his knees by a woman who could barely look at him without wanting to run.

Tomorrow, I would speak to her.

I would discover why she’d come to Blackthorn.

Then I would find a way to sever whatever connection the Goddess had forced upon us.

My wolf laughed inside my skull.

A low, humourless sound.

You can deny the bond, Kael.

His voice softened into something far more dangerous.

But you cannot deny what happens when someone tries to hurt her.

I stared into the darkness beyond my window.

Outside, the wind rose.

And somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled.

Not one of mine.

My entire body went rigid.

A second howl answered from the eastern boundary.

Then a third.

My wolf surged to his feet.

For the first time since Elowen had entered my territory, his attention abandoned the bond.

Rogues.

I was already moving.

Because there was one thing I knew with absolute certainty.

Rogues never came to Blackthorn without a reason.

And tonight, for the first time in ten years, I had the sickening feeling that the past I’d spent a decade trying to bury had finally found its way back to my door.