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Mia was still speaking. “It's not safe here. Martin has been spreading obscene rumors about you—”
Mia stopped speaking abruptly as we were suddenly surrounded by our pack warriors.
“Ivie Morgan, you have been summoned by the Alpha.” Stein, the head of our pack warriors announced.
What was going on? Just what rumors had Martin spread in retaliation for last night?
Whatever. It couldn't be any worse than what I was already going through.
“You have been found to be in violation of the honor laws, and as such you have been demoted to breeder status until the pack finds you redeemed.”
I stared at my Alpha unable to fully comprehend what he was saying.
The honor laws were an antiquated set of laws that few packs adhered to in this modern age, the Shadow Pack being one of them.
Laws that punished female wolves for “dishonoring” their pack by losing their virginity prior to being mated or given permission by a male member of their family.
In cases of the absence of a male in the family, the authority reverted to the Alpha of the pack.
In my case, that would be our extremely old-fashioned Alpha who had only permitted cell phones in our pack five years ago.
Becoming a pack breeder meant joining the socially ostracized clique of women who were unable to refuse any prime wolf able to impregnate them.
They were bred all year round till they conceived and were left alone throughout the pregnancy period. Then after the birth, the breeding began again.
It was a horrific fate reserved for females belonging to “traitorous” families to encourage loyalty in the pack, and it was yet another antiquated practice.
I fell to my knees, silently praying no one had seen me with my mate last night, as I didn't have our mate mark to prove I hadn't violated the honor laws.
“Alpha, I have never done anything in violation of our honor laws.”
Martin stepped forward, his signature sneer on his lips but the new rage in his eyes told me he hadn't forgotten about our altercation, and he was going to make me pay for it.
“I saw you leave his room, w***e,” his nose wrinkled. “Besides, you reek of Lycan.”
My eyes widened in shock.
My mate was a Lycan?
I’d never met a Lycan before and while I’d noticed his different scent, I’d thought it was because of the mate bond. But if he was a Lycan… was that why he didn't want me?
“Alpha, please have mercy,” I opted for the complete truth this time. “He is my mate; I couldn't withstand the draw of the mate bond.”
My words were met with utter silence.
I raised my head to see Alpha Zane, Alpha Heir Quen, Beta Reid and Beta Heir Martin staring at me with varying degrees of disbelief playing across their faces.
Martin recovered first.
“Lies. We all know Lycans are strength-matched and rarely have true mates. An omega cannot be mated with a Lycan. She is obviously lying, Alpha.”
“I am not. I—” I protested but Alpha Zane didn't let me finish.
“Enough! My decision is final. Ivie Morgan is henceforth a part of the Shadow Pack’s breeders.” He signaled to the pack warriors standing in the back of the room. “Take her.”
The warriors were at my side in seconds, forcefully dragging me out of the room.
“Alpha, please,” I pled. “Alpha—”
My words died on my lips as that potent scent slammed into me once more.
“Take your hands off her,” my mate growled and the guards at my side fell back.
I stared frozen in disbelief at the man who had callously tossed me aside mere hours ago strode into the Shadow Pack’s council room, several men— Lycans at his side.
Alpha Zane appeared at my side in a split second.
Then he bowed. Bowed to my mate.
“Lycan Prince Dante, what brings you to this humble pack?”
He… He was… My mate was Prince Dante?
Dante’s gray eyes locked onto mine.
“I have come to claim my mate, Ivie Morgan.”
CHAPTER 2
IVIE
“G
et the rose petals.”
The air was cloying and I could barely breathe. The water around me seemed to tug at me, dragging at me from beneath.
I was tired. So damn tired.
“That will not be necessary,” I said, standing up from my pool-sized heated bathtub.
“But Princess—” Sofia sounded appalled, but I was already halfway back to my room, my maids covering me up with my robes and heated towels as I moved.
I stopped in front of the mirror and almost didn't recognize myself.
My dark brown hair was the healthiest it had ever been, reaching just beneath my backside, my skin was paler but soft and pampered. But my dead tired eyes told a different story.
“You might as well save your strength. My mate will not look at me no matter what I look like.” I said softly.
I was so sick and tired of this.
My bedroom went completely silent. Then my maids, all twelve of them, bowed, quiet censure in their voices.
“Princess.”
Right.
I was Lycan Princess Ivie Morgan, “happily” mated to Lycan Prince Dante Orion, and easily the most envied female among the Lycans.
I was living the dream.
“Your life is going to change now, Ivie,” Mia said excitedly as she saw me off after my hastily carried out mating ceremony to Dante.
If only we’d known how much.
I was shell-shocked. One moment I was almost forced to be a breeder and the next I was mated to a Lycan Prince?
Lycans were similar to wolves in the fact they only had one mate. If Dante came back for me then it meant he’d canceled his engagement to be with me.
Diana’s excitement within me was palpable but I was a bit more cautious. After his hurtful words earlier in the hotel room, where did that leave us?
The drive away from the Shadow Pack was silent until I cleared my throat.
“Thank you,” I said, and Dante looked away from the window long enough to toss my phone at me.
Something clicked. The messages Mia had left to warn me. Was that how he’d known about my situation?
“You are now my responsibility,” Dante said coldly, his expression forbidding. His words laced with undisguised loathing.
I was confused. Why was he acting this way? Why did he save me only to behave so coldly?
I was so disturbed that I barely noticed the magnificence of the palace laid out around me. I was especially when Dante dropped me off at “my room”.
For a moment, I stared at the door before hurrying after Dante who was already walking away.
“We are staying in separate rooms?” I asked but Dante simply ignored me, his fists clenched at his sides and his strides lengthening.
I ran, moving in front of him and blocked his route forward.
“Dante,” I said, reaching out to take his hand. “Look, I know this is all a little fast but I’m really trying to understand you and—”
One minute my hand was on Dante’s, the next he slammed me hard against the wall, his hand tight around my neck effectively strangling me.
I choked, struggling against his grip.
“Don’t you ever dare touch me without my permission,” Dante growled, his eyes black with rage. “Through your scheming, you have wrecked my relationship with Miranda. The title of being my mate is all you will ever get.”
- Writer
