Alpha’s Forbidden Mate

Avery’s POV “By the power vested in me by the Moon Goddess!” A deep, commanding voice rang out, echoing through the air like thunder. I knew that voice. I’d know it anywhere. That was the Alpha. “Alpha!” I dropped to my knees, sobbing. My eyes were blindfolded, but I knew he heard me. “Please, you and my parents are friends, right? They aren’t bad people. Let them go” He ignored me. “I, Alpha Erick of the Moonlight Pack, hereby sentence Lilian and Garcia Bennett to death—by beheading.” The crowd went wild with whistles and applause. Why were they cheering for him? Why would they be happy that my parents were going to die? “Stop!” I fought and kicked, but I was hoisted off my feet by rough hands. The blindfold slipped from my eyes, and I saw it. Then I saw him. Zach, the pack’s executioner. Our eyes met for a second and he looked away. He raised the axe above his head. “Mom! Dad!” I screamed. Mother turned to me, smiling through blood and tears. “Stay away from bad people, Avery.” Everything went still, as the axe came down. “Avery!” A voice shouted, yanking me from my nightmare. The door to my room—if a prison cell could even serve as a room—slammed open, and Hilda waltzed in. “Are you daft? I’ve been calling you for ages,” she hissed. I rose to my feet. “I heard you.” “You’re late!” She stood with her hands on her hips. “Oh really? I don’t have a clock to tell the time.” I smiled. “Get up your ass and move.” She pointed outside the door. “Sure thing, boss.” I picked up my bag and threw it behind me. “Lead the way, ma’am.” “Those jokes will be the end of you someday,” she hissed behind me. “Too bad I’m still alive.” I flashed her a grin. I walked through the hall, staring at the prison doors on either side of me. Women—those my age and younger—slammed their fists against the iron doors, hollering at me. “Let Avery go!” one of them yelled. “Avery, don’t let them win!” I gave the girls one last salute. I’d miss this place. I stepped through the double doors and winced when a stray ray of sunlight hit my eyes. I hadn’t been outside in days. “Move it!” Hilda shoved me forward. “Don’t push me!” I said through gritted teeth. She shoved me again. "Or what?". I clenched my fists and turned to face her. “Try that again.” “Avery Bennett!” A loud voice called out, and I froze. That voice. I turned around and stared into onyx-colored eyes. It was him—the man who killed my parents. He sat on his throne like the bastard he was, golden goblet in hand, wife at his side. His golden hair was brushed and braided behind him—the same style he and my father always wore. His gaze on me wasn’t pity. It was disgust. “On your knees, child,” Alpha Erick said. “I’m not your child.” “On your knees.” Hilda forced me down. “Do you know why you’re here?” he asked me, as if I didn’t already know. My upper lip curled into a smile. “Because you’re an asshole who can’t rule his pack?!” “How dare you speak to the Alpha like that?” Hilda raised her hand to strike me. “Enough!” Alpha Erick interrupted. “Let her speak. After all, I’m generous enough to grant the dead the freedom to speak.” "The same way you granted....", I yelled and his fingers tightened on the goblet. "Enough." He said. This time it wasn’t Erick. It was Zach. I froze. He shook his head, eyes pleading. I clenched and unclenched my fists. Despite being the Alpha’s puppet, Uncle Zach was the only one who saw me as human and not livestock. Alpha Erick continued. “You, Avery Bennett, are a curse to this land. A dangerous, uncontrollable omega wolf who, if not put down, will lead to the destruction of us all.” I clicked my tongue in annoyance. “Is that why you kept me in prison for no reason? Because I’m cursed?” “Yes!” He hurled the goblet across the wall and it crashed against the wall. “Might want to control your temper, Alpha. You don’t want to look like the dangerous, uncontrollable wolf now, do you?” I smiled. In a split of seconds, he was standing before me, his hand ... He leaned closer. “I expect nothing less from the daughter of traitors.” “My parents weren’t traitors! They weren’t bad people!” I tried to wriggle free, but his grip was unbreakable. If I could shift into my wolf, things would be very different right now. “Did they tell you how they funded the enemy pack with weapons?” He smiled. “You’re lying. Father would never do that.” My eyes burned. He and Mother would never. “What would you know? You were a child when it happened.” He released me. “Now their traitorous blood runs through yours. Don’t you see it, Avery? You’re like a cancer. If not removed, you’ll spread.” “I’ll show you what cancer is!” I lunged, but Zach pinned me down. Alpha Erick gestured to the court. “Look here, people, at the daughter of traitors. She spreads lies and falsehoods, claiming I’m a bad man.” The court erupted in laughter. “That’s because you are!” I yelled. “Oh really? If I were as bad as you say, wouldn’t I be in your position?” He smirked. Bastard. “What do you say, my people?” He gestured to the crowd. Their responses came in angry shouts: “Banish her!” “Throw her to the enemy pack!” “Kill her!” “You hear that, Avery?” Alpha Erick smiled. “No one wants you. Not even your so-called followers. Oh, that’s right. They aren’t here, are they?” “That’s because you put all of them in prison!” I barked. “Hmm. Did I? They threatened my leadership, and anyone who goes against me goes against the law. Isn’t that right, folks?” he grinned. “Yes!” the people chorused. “It is settled, then.” Alpha Erick smiled. “By the power vested in me by the Moon Goddess, I—” “You won’t hurt me!” “…Alpha Erick of the Moonlight Pack…” “Go to hell!” “…banish you, Avery Bennett, from this land. You are to roam the lands as a vagabond, and no pack will ever receive you.” “It is done,” Uncle Zach said solemnly. The crowd erupted in cheers and applause. How could they do this? I scoffed. Why was I even surprised? These were the same people who condemned my parents to death. I was no different. “Get her out of here.” Alpha Erick gave the order. The guards moved toward me, but Zach beat them to it. “I’ll escort her out,” he said. “Good.” Alpha Erick smiled. “Let’s go.” Uncle Zach hoisted me to my feet and pushed me outside. As we walked through the streets, his grip on my arm tightened, preventing me from running. I looked up at him. No scowl. No grimace. Just the same bland expression he’d worn eight years ago. “There’s the cursed girl!” Thwack! A tomato hit me in the face. Then another. And another. “Ignore them,” Zach whispered. When we reached the pack gates, he released his grip and pulled a black pouch from his jacket, pressing it into my hand. “It’ll be enough to take you across the river to a faraway pack.” I stared down at the pouch, and for the first time since I was arrested two weeks ago, I sobbed. “Why?” My hands trembled. Zach knelt before me, his gaze lowered. “Please, forgive us, Avery. Forgive… me.” Angry tears blurred my vision. I wanted them to stop, but they didn’t. He moved closer and put his arms around me. “Everything will be okay. Just head to the northern pack and ask for Matteo. Tell him Zach sent you. He’ll help.” “Thank you.” “Now go.” I hid the pouch in my bag and turned on my heels. “Get away from here!” he called out through tears. I tightened the strap of my bag and ran. The forest was endless. I ran blindly, branches slicing across my arms, thorns snagging my dress, until my feet bled and my lungs screamed. But I kept going. Because the voice in my head told me to find a boat and find Matteo. Hunger gnawed at my insides, hollowing me out until I could almost hear the echo of my own emptiness. Grief anchored me to the ground like chains of lead, yet somehow, I refused to fall. I clawed through the wilderness like a wounded animal — too afraid to stop, too hurt to scream. Every step was a plea for survival, every breath a reminder that pain could coexist with persistence. The forest around me whispered secrets of those who had lost their way before me, but I kept moving, chasing the faint shimmer of hope that flickered somewhere ahead. And just when I found a clear path — when the shadows seemed to retreat and I could finally see a sliver of light — they found me. Hunters. Eyes sharp, hearts colder than the steel they carried. They didn’t come for mercy. They came for the broken, for the ones who dared to crawl toward freedom.