Mated To The Enemy Alpha

Chapter Three: Taken

That night Vera could not sleep again. She was pacing back and forth in her room feeling trapped and scared. The white dress her father had chosen for her wedding hung on the wall, ghostlike in the fading light. It was like the dress knew she was not happy.

A sudden noise cut through the room. The door burst open.

A man grabbed her from behind, his hand clamping over her mouth.

Vera bit down hard. He cursed and let go.

She bolted - but more men were already there, blocking her path.

Too many. Too strong.

They caught her again.

Vera fought like hell… but she was outnumbered.

When Vera woke up, her head was pounding. Her hands were tied behind her back. She was in a field surrounded by trees and torches. Men stood around her, their presence heavy and suffocating - but one of them drew all the air from her lungs. It was him. Marcus Kane.

He stood apart without trying to, taller than the rest, his broad shoulders cutting a commanding figure in the dim light. Dark hair, touched with silver at the temples, framed a sharp, unforgiving jaw. His storm-gray eyes locked onto hers, clearly cold, piercing, and impossible to escape.

Every inch of him radiated power.

Alpha. The man she had hated her life. He was the leader of the Shadow Pack. He was the one who had ordered her mother's death.

Vera looked up at Marcus. She felt a surge of anger and hate. As she looked into his eyes she saw something there that she did not expect. It was like he knew her, like he could see right through her.

Marcus assured her he wouldn’t hurt her, insisting her father had deceived her all along. He went further, claiming her father was responsible for her mother’s death and that he had proof to back it up.

Vera did not believe him at all.

As Marcus talked to her, Vera felt a pull. It was like her body was responding to him even though her mind was telling her to hate him. She tried to move but she was tied up. Marcus reached out. Touched her face - sending sparks of electricity through her body.

Marcus told her she was his mate, that the Moon had chosen them for each other. Vera froze at his words, even as that strange pull between them refused to fade.

But how could she believe him?

Her father had told her a different truth all her life and now Marcus stood before her, saying it was her father who did it and that he had proof.

It sounded like another lie. A way to clear his name.

Yet he didn’t look like he was lying.

Marcus gave her a choice. She could stay with him, help uncover the truth, and expose her father’s lies or she could return to her pack and marry Tyler, the life already set for her.

Vera’s chest tightened.

Time was slipping. The sun was already lowering. Somewhere out there, her father would be looking for her.

She closed her eyes, torn between hate and the strange pull she felt toward Marcus. And for the first time, she truly didn’t know what the future would bring or what choice she would make.