MATED TO THE COLD ALPHA

Chapter.3

Sera P.O.V

I couldn't resist them.

Not because I had accepted what was happening. But because of the throbbing pressure on both my arms. Which was firm enough to make struggling seem pointless. In contrast, another was pushing me from behind. Walking me forward towards the dark, scenic landscape I was being drawn to.

The sensation in my legs is still wobbly from the earlier impact. But they didn't care and kept moving me forward.

The woods had completely disappeared from the viewpoint. Each step had a pleasant, spongy recoil that took the bite out of my usual stride.

The three wolves had already shifted back to human form. Broad. Stone-faced men. Already dressed in their black sweat pants they received from the pack gate. They all had a look of indifference on their face.

I kept my head up anyway.

A house appeared ahead of us and my steps halted for a moment.

House was the wrong word for it.

It was enormous. A three-story building of dark brick walls and clean glass windows. Wide and imposing. Iron details running along the upper railings. Lights are brightening behind tall windows on the ground floor. The kind of building that doesn't need a gate to tell you that you weren't welcome. It showed that on its own just by existing.

The Lycian estate.

So this is where the most feared pack in the entire werewolf world lived.

One of the men holding me gave my arm a firm pull forward. I started walking again without much resistance. My eyes were still wandering around the building. Feeling a bit of admiration for it.

The bag is still hanging on my hip. They haven't taken it from me yet. The one thing I have to hold onto right now.

He was walking ahead of us.

I had been careful not to look towards his direction. Partly because looking felt dangerous. Because I wasn't sure what he might do if I stare too long at him. The man who had just ordered my capture.

But I ended up looking anyway.

He walked in a style that radiated dominance. Like the ground itself existed specifically to welcome him home. Unhurried. Completely composed.

His black hair is still slightly disheveled from his shift earlier and his right hand was inside the pocket of his black sweat pants. Acting like this was a routine for him. Like dealing with trespassers was just another thing to do on his to-do list.

His eyes no longer held that red glow.

I caught that detail before coming here. They had shifted to golden brown now. Sharp and unreadable. Catching the light the way a predator's eyes caught movement. Looked calmer than before. But not fully calm. Not even close to it.

He hasn't looked back at me once ever since we left the woods.

That alone bothered me more than it should have.

The front entrance consists of two heavy black wooden doors. One of the stone-faced men from behind me pushed it open without first knocking. Of course nobody would knock. This was their house after all.

As I stepped inside. The warmth of the interior hit me like an ocean wave. Clean. Quiet. Expensive. amazing high ceilings. Sparkling Dark floors. Minimal furniture. Everything about this place had a kind of deliberate precision that looked like it was done by an interior designer.

We stopped at the entrance hall.

He finally turned around.

And just like that. Every carefully maintained thought in my head scattered, because facing him directly in proper light had an entirely different feeling to it. Different from how I saw him in the woods.

He looked—. I couldn't think of a proper name for it. Intimidating. That was the word that came to mind. His face looked like the kind that makes you want to look but at the same time feel stupid for looking. The sharp jawline. Dark brows pulled together in a resting line that sat somewhere between boredom and danger. And those golden brown eyes were moving over me with a slow assessment that made me feel like he was reading a document rather than a person.

I instantly straightened myself up.

"Your name." The words scraped against the silence like a sharp blade. Low. Brutal. Uncompromising. It wasn't a question. But a demand.

"Um, I'd like to know yours first." I asked.

The throbbing feeling in my right arm tightened harder. The pain seeping in. Making my arm ache. A warning.

The man in front of me didn't react. Didn't blink. His expression neutral. He just looked at me for a long-flat moment. Like he was deciding whether the answer I'd given was worth responding to.

"You broke into my territory." he said. "So you don't get to ask any questions."

His territory? Could he be the alpha? The most feared rumored alpha throughout the entire werewolf world? No wonder these men seem so loyal and obedient to him. Which means I need to be careful with my words.

"I—I wasn't breaking in." I justified. "I was just borrowing some herbs. I promise I'm not here to cause any trouble."

Something moved at the very edge of his expression. It was too small and fast for me to see it. It was gone before I could decide if it had actually been there or not.

"The bag." He ordered the man on my left without looking away from me.

The man reached for my hip.

"Don't." The word left me before I could stop it. My body had already moved to cover the bag. Both men holding me reacted immediately. Their grips tightening. Bodies shifting. And I felt the tension in the room climb several degrees high in less than a second.

He raised one of his hands. Just barely. And both men went still. He looked at the bag hanging from my hip. Then back at my face.

"What's in it. What did you steal?" He questioned.

"Just some herbs." I responded. "For someone who needs it. That's all there is to it."

He studied me for a moment. The golden brown eyes flashing red. Thorough and unblinking. Moving over my face like a hungry predator.

"Who sent you?" he asked.

"Nobody sent me." I answered. "I came alone."

"Nobody would dare have the balls to come to Ironveil territory without my notice. Especially alone." He took one step toward me. Just one. But the distance it closed was enough to make the air between us feel noticeably different. "So I'll ask this again one last time. Where are you from and who sent you"

I held his gaze. My heart was hammering against my ribcage. But I kept my face still.

"I'm telling you the truth." I said. "I came alone to collect some herbs. Nothing else."

He kept staring at me for a long time after that. With the kind of intimidating gaze that had probably made men confess the things they hadn't planned on saying.

I didn't say anything else.

He turned away from me finally and spoke to the man at my right without looking back.

"Lock her in the chamber room." His voice carried no emotion. Just order. Final and absolute. "Bring me the bag, and her phone too."

Before I could react. The man on my right had removed the bag from my hip and phone in my pocket in one sweep motion.

"No wait." I twisted toward him but the grip on my other arm yanked me back instantly. "That bag. It's for someone who really needs it. You can't just—"

"Take her away. I'll be the one to deal with her later." He ordered. The man with the bag and phone gave it to him. Then he started walking away.

"HEY." My voice broke through the silence like a snapped wire. Duplicating my words in dozen ghostly repetition throughout the hall. Tears began spilling from my eyes. "Please, that herb is for my sick brother, he's dying."

He stopped.

For one suspended second. The entire entrance hall held its breath. The three men beside me went rigid. Even the air felt like it stopped moving.

He didn't turn around. He simply stood there with his back towards me for a moment. His back long and straight. Then he continued walking without uttering a single word and turned around a corner. He was gone.

The two men holding me were already pulling me towards the opposite direction down a separate hall. William's only chance of surviving had been taken away from me. I felt something cold and heavy sipped deep into my chest.

The tears rushed down fast from my eyes. I couldn't stop them from falling as I kept walking.