Rejected by the Alpha, Crowned by Fate

CHAPTER FIVE

Ilyra’s P.O.V.

I froze the moment I heard them.

Laughter low, cruel, and layered with menace. Then voices, lewd and mocking, carrying over the quiet rustle of the forest.

Men walked out of the forest, a smile on their faces.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” one of them sneered. “The pack’s little loser, wandering alone.”

“Ha!” another spat, stepping into the pale moonlight. “Unclaimed, no Alpha. No one to protect her, just weak little Ilyra.”

My stomach churned, bile rising, my hands tightened around the satchel at my side, but my strength felt hollow, gone. The wound in my hand throbbed violently, my leg still stiff from the stone floors of the pack house.

I was alone, completely alone with no one to help.

“I’m… I’m not” I began, my voice shaking.

“Not what?” the first one laughed, advancing. “Still thinking someone’s going to save you?”

I took a step back, but the path behind me was blocked by more of them. My heart pounded, my wolf screaming silently, urging me to run, but I was surrounded.

One of them grabbed the strap of my satchel and yanked. It ripped from my grip, and my few meager belongings scattered across the forest floor.

“You have got nothing,” the second one said, grinning. “And now, neither do we need to hold back.” before I could react, the first one shoved me roughly against a tree.

The impact sent a sharp shock up my spine, pain flared in my injured hand as the others circled me, like wolves closing in on prey.

“Guess we have got a useless little omega,” he said, leaning close. “Perfect for everything.”

I tried to push him off, but my strength betrayed me. I scrambled backward, kicking at him with what little force I could muster, only to have my foot catch on a root and send me sprawling.

My head struck the trunk of a tree, stars exploding behind my eyes.

“Ugh, pathetic,” another hissed. He grabbed my wrist, twisting it painfully behind my back. I hissed, my wolf snarling, clawing, desperate.

“You think anyone cares about you out here?” the first one asked. “The Alpha? He threw you away. All alone, that’s your reality, little omega.”

I dug my nails into his forearm, scraping the skin, drawing a line of blood. He yelped and shoved me back. My own blood mingled with his tangy, sharp and my wolf roared inside me, enraged, desperate, alive.

“I am not worthless!” I spat, voice hoarse, venomous. “I’m not, you’ll see”

A fist smashed into my stomach before I could finish. I doubled over, gasping for air, my hand throbbed in agony, but I forced myself upright, shaking my head, trying to focus, fight and survive.

They laughed at my weakness, circling, sniffing the air like predators, taunting, daring me to do more than tremble.

“Come on, omega,” the first one said. “Show us you are worth anything at all or maybe we will just take everything you have, starting with your pride.”

The attack began in earnest, they tore at my clothing, slashing and ripping. I fought back with everything I had, scratching, biting, clawing but each strike only left me weaker. My lungs burned, my head spun

My wolf whimpered in frustration, unable to shield me from the blows I couldn’t avoid.

A boot connected with my ribs. Pain shot through my side, stealing my breath. I fell forward, chest hitting the dirt.

My vision blurred, the forest spinning around me. Panic set in. I could feel the pull of darkness, the yawning void of helplessness threatening to swallow me whole.

Then something stirred, deep in my blood.

A warmth, like fire spreading through frozen earth, pulsing from the core of my chest to the tips of my fingers and toes.

I gasped, and the sensation grew. My hand lifted, trembling, I tried to push myself up, but my body wouldn’t obey.

And then darkness swallowed me but even as my vision faded, I felt it.

I couldn’t move, I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t breathe and yet I knew I would survive this too.

A sudden snap of a branch behind me jerked my eyes open just before the world dissolved into black, and in the corner of my vision, I saw movement that didn’t belong to the guards.

Someone, or something was coming.

And then a sharp whistle echoed through the forest.

The men froze, their heads turned instinctively.

“Move,” a voice commanded, calm, hard and deadly.

I barely had time to register it before a shadow fell across one of the attackers, striking like a falling tree. Another went down in a brutal sweep, unconscious before hitting the ground.

I raised my head weakly. My eyes widened as more figures emerged from the trees, every movement was calculated, every strike fatal. They moved like shadows given teeth and claws, and the attackers had no chance.

One by one, the men who had cornered me fell, subdued, beaten, or worse. The remaining few were held down, warned with low growls and cold eyes, their faces pale with fear. “You will never speak of this,” one guard hissed. “Ever.”

I pressed myself to the ground, shivering, bloodied, aching, unable to speak. My wolf trembled inside me, panting, exhausted, but alive.

“You’re safe,” a quiet voice said, barely more than a breath.

A voice, low, commanding, familiar. Ragnar. It reached me even before I saw him, Ragnar’s scent, impossible to miss, burning like fire.

I tried to lift my head to see him, but the weight of pain and fear made my limbs heavy. My vision blurred, my wolf whimpered, weak but alive.