FATED TO DIE IN HIS ARMS

NYLA’S POV The thread slipped from my fingers again. "Damn it," I said quietly, pulling the worn hem of my dress closer as I looked closely at the stitches. The candle on the table flickered, casting shadows on the log walls. I moved on the mattress, holding the fabric tight in one hand, the needle shaking in the other. Just one more stitch and maybe this would stay together long enough for the next market. The wind howled outside, shaking the weak shutters, but I didn’t react. I had become used to the sounds, the whispers of this fading land, the creaks of old wood, the growls of hunger in my stomach. I was skilled at pretending everything was fine. Skilled at sewing together scraps. “Don't let even a single one of them escape!” I heard the low and menacing voice first in my head, as if I had imagined it. Even when I heard a shatter as my wooden door burst open, I was still trying to finish up the knitting of my worn dress, not even focusing on the door to know who had barged in like that,until a harsh hand roughly grabbed my hair and yanked me off the man. “What the…” the curse died in my throat when my back hit the wooden wall of my log cabin. The room spinned, making me lose focus for a moment. “Such a useless pack. Not even a single sane member!” The unpleasantly toxic voice condemned. My head snapped up as my blurred vision and foggy mind cleared to glare at the man standing in my small room, taking up the space as if he owned it. I've never seen that face before and I don't remember causing any trouble at all. “What in the world!” The man I had been f*****g gasped as he scurried out of the room. The strange man came at me again, gripping my arm firmly and started toward the door. "Who the f*ck are you?" I hissed, trying to wriggle free from his grasp. His grip only tightened. "You're mine," he growled, not minding the fact that I wasn't decent. I jerked free before we made it to my sagging door and rushed back towards the window where a chest that contained my collection of blades sat under a small table. I was not about to let him take me without a fight. “Don't even try,” he rumbled, wagging a finger at me. Figuring out what I was about to do, he made it to where I stood with two long strides before I could reach one of my blades and hit me across the face with the back of his hand. I tasted blood in my mouth before I spat out as he grabbed my hair and dragged me outside without breaking a sweat. Just as he tossed me outside my house and ordered one of the guards that pushed other Omegas into a van to take me as well, I lifted my head in time to meet his gaze and I felt a jolt of electricity run through her body. It was just a second, but that was enough for me to feel the unwelcomed pull between us. My hands clenched at my sides as my wolf stirred inside me. The possibility twisted my gut. The mate bond. When his eyes widened in realization, I knew that he felt it too before a hand hooked under my arms, lifting me off of the ground and throwing me into the van like a sack of potatoes. I can't believe it. The man who had just humiliated me is my mate! I looked at him and a smile came to my face because it was my first time experiencing the mating bond. "You're my mate," I said. The van door was still wide open, and he hissed. "Shut up, lady! I, Alpha Tyler Ronan, reject you as my mate. "I can't even stand you because you make me sick!" he growled. “What is going on? One moment you are pulling me away, and the next I am bonded to you, and now you are turning me down.” I spoke with a stutter, masking my voice with anger as I felt tears welling up in my eyes, my first mate rejecting me in front of everyone. “I wonder what this is about!” I hissed, sighing as I tried to gather my ripped gown and hold it together to cover myself. “I heard that our Alpha made a deal with him. He is the alpha of the dreaded Shadow Claw Pack, Tyler Ronan,” A female voice said beside me. I shifted in the uncomfortable position I sat so that I could look at her. She continuously tied and loosened a small scarf she held nervously. Everyone seemed to understand what was going on except me. I guess I was so busy trying to fill my pocket that I forgot what was important: safety. I wasn't even able to take anything with me. “What does it have to do with us?” I muttered. “The business deal failed, so he has to take us until our alpha is able to compensate him which we both know would never happen.”