Her Mates

Chapter 6

Ella's POV

“It is time, Ella.”

Death.

It awaited me. I knew it. So why were my legs shaking uncontrollably, as I followed the head warrior through the halls?

My heart clenched with every step I took, Aria's words replayed in my head.

“You’re not their biological daughter…. A bastard is what you are. They want you gone.” Her words, seared with the images of Alpha Alaric’s lifeless body, tormented me.

A hot tear trailed down my face. I swiped it away with bound hands. What’s the use of life that's unwanted? A truth untold? There’s nothing left to live for.

Absolutely nothing.

At the pack entrance, angry pack members mobbed me, tearing at my clothes, clawing at my face and hurling stones, their eyes blazing with hatred and thirst for my blood.

Murderer! Kill her! Burn her!

My heart pounded.

“Take her to the black ground.” Derek, ordered flatly. “The Alphas and I have decided that she is to be beheaded. So there’s no need to prolong all our sufferings with baseless interrogations.” His eyes stared into mine, unwavering and expressionless.

How could he be so cold-hearted and blind? He’s just like Maria!

And now, I was to be the sacrifice.

Placed on the ancient stone, my blood offered to cleanse the pack. On the black ground, a sacred place once used for executions. A barbaric relic of our past, which has been abolished long ago.

****

“Nooooo!! Ella!!” Inside a familiar voice filled the background just as I was chained on the sacred stone. I glanced to see Maria thrashing in Derek’s arms. “No, please. No, don’t kill my sister. She didn’t mean to! She didn’t mean to kill the Alpha.”

“Shut up.” I fought the urge to scream. This was the only moment that belonged to me, and she was ruining even that for attention.

I watched in disgust as Mother and Father joined Derek in comforting her, while Luna Amelia stood beside them and the other Alphas in attendance.

“Any last words? Speak now, or be silenced till eternity.” The executioner growled.

I remained mute as there was nothing else to say, my fate’s already decided. It was over. I prayed for a second chance at life. To have my revenge on them all.

Then, squeezed my eyes shut and sought solace in happy memories of my childhood with Alpha Alaric. His laugh, the weight of his hand on my head, the hills rushing past as I clung to his wolf. I held onto that.

Then, like a beacon slicing through my despair, a loud authoritative voice reverberated through the sacred ground.

"Stop!”

Startled, I opened my eyes and saw the beheader freeze mid-swing, and the crowd slowly parted to reveal a stranger.

Not just any stranger, the most stunning man I’d ever seen. He was tall, built with muscles that bulged out of his shirt, long dark hair cascading past his shoulders, with piercing blue eyes that stole the air from my lungs.

He was unlike any other Alpha I’d ever seen. He walked with a powerful aura, the omegas whimpering in submission, and something moved through me that I couldn't name.

When his eyes fixed on me, I straightened instinctively, feeling vulnerable in my blood-stained clothes as his gaze swept over me.

“I have been watching this show for quite a while now, but I’m bored.” The intruder scoffed at Derek and the other Alphas, who were also affected by his aura, whispering amongst themselves.

“What is the meaning of this?” My father yelled, his eyes scrunched up in anger. “Where do you think you are, young man? Do you think we’re performing a circus show here?”

I blinked hard at Father's words. I already knew he was as anxious as the others to bury me, but still… it felt like a hundred stabs to my heart.

All those years begging for love, that was never his to give.

“Shut your mouth, old tramp.” The intruder growled at my father. And the insult stunned everyone.

Father opened his mouth to speak but an Alpha of the nightshade beat him to it. “Boy, judging from your lack of manners, I can see you’re not an Alpha. Otherwise, you'd understand and honour this sacred gathering. So I suggest you leave, son, or you'll be taught a lesson you’d forever live to remember.”

Despite the stern warning, the stranger simply raised his hand in mock surrender. “No worries. I’ll leave once the girl is released to me.”

I couldn’t believe my ears, nor understand why a stranger, let me rephrase that. A handsome stranger was risking his life for me. Was this Aria’s final cruelty? To flash me hope, then snatch it?

I turned to her direction, but she was equally as confused as I was.

What's happening?”

‘He must be crazy… Does he have a death wish?’ The crowd murmured, mirroring my thoughts.

“Never! She killed my father.” Derek roared, and I could feel

fury rolling off him. “By the law, she is to be executed.”

“Death! Death!!”