I'm pressed against the wall, Alpha Damien's breath hot on my neck, his canines grazing the spot where a mating mark would seal my fate forever.

"You know what happens if I bite you here?" he whispers, voice like smoke and sin. "You'd be mine... completely."

My heart pounds wildly. I should hate this man—this ruthless Alpha who's kept me prisoner since finding me in the forest. The same Alpha whose pack once rejected my mother and me, forcing us into the cruel hands of my stepfather Zach.

But my traitorous body won't move. Won't fight. Not when his scent wraps around me like a dark spell I can't break.

Then suddenly, he pulls away. The warmth vanishes, and his eyes flash with rage—not at me, but himself.

"But I would never waste my mark on a Rogue," he says coldly, each word cutting deeper than claws.

I flinch. Not outwardly, but inside, where it burns the most. I'm nothing but an Omega orphan—the lowest rank—while he commands the most feared pack in the territory.

Yet the Moon Goddess paired us as mates. A cruel joke that neither of us finds amusing.

What Damien doesn't know is that I overheard my stepfather selling me to Beta Simeon just days ago. That I fled with blood on my hands. That even now, Zach could be hunting me, seeking revenge for my escape.

I stare at Alpha Damien's retreating back, trembling with anger and confusion. "You can reject me or claim me," I call after him, my voice stronger than I feel. "But you can't keep me trapped forever."

He stops mid-stride, and when he turns, his eyes glow red with something I've never seen before.

"Watch me."

...

Freya’s POV

I leaned against the wooden door, barely able to breathe as I listened to my stepfather Zach, an Omega wolf of the Moon Pack.

He was in a discussion with the Pack’s Beta, Simeon.

“She’s young, beautiful. You won’t find a better deal, Beta Simeon,” Zach said, his tone dripping with greed. “You give me what I asked for, and the girl is yours.”

What? My heart stopped at once. I didn’t want to believe what I had just heard, but I was sure he wanted to give me out to that old man, a man three times older than me.

“Hmm… a rare breed indeed.” Beta Simeon chuckled. “I have watched her these past few days and I know she would make a fine mate.”

“Remember… I want the girl as soon as possible.” Beta Simeon added with a stern voice.

With the blood stain on my hands that night, I ran as fast as I could into the forest. My heart pounded at fast pace, my feets aching as they struck the base of the forest.

I couldn’t hear the sound of anyone else in the woods, it was just the sound of my footsteps, and the heavy breath that escaped from my mouth and nostril.

I wanted to stop, take a rest. But then, I couldn't.

I knew my stepfather, Zach, would be chasing after me. I hadn’t gone too far from the pack.

I had to keep running, ignoring the pain that lingered in my feets, they were nothing compared to the words I had heard earlier, the conversation I had overheard between Zach and Beta Simeon.

Finally, I stopped at an open space close to the pack boundaries. I was tired and my whole body ached, I needed to catch my breath before I proceeded.

I couldn’t go into the Shadow Pack, and I didn’t want to go rogue again. I had to find a place. I had to think of a direction.

I wrapped my hand around myself, keeping my skin warm from the harsh cold weather. Then I heard voices from behind the trees, I was too weak to perceive the smell of whoever was in the woods with me.

The moment I stood up to run away, I stumbled on some men in front of me. My breath seized, and my heart raced in panic.

I knew I was in danger.

One of the men stepped forward first, his face twisted with a deep scar running down his cheek. He shook his head, his lips curling into a cruel smirk.

“Well, well,” he smiled. “What do we have here?”

More emerged, their movements slow, deliberate and trapping me.

“I don’t want trouble, let me pass,” I said, forcing my voice to stay calm like I wasn’t scared.

The rogues didn’t say a word, instead they looked at each other and started to laugh.

The leader tried to hold my hands, I hesitated and took a step back, but another hand grabbed my wrist. I yanked free, my heart pounding against my chest.

“She’s a feisty one,” another rogue sneered.

I hissed and drove my elbow into his ribs. He growled but didn’t let go.

Panic surged through me.

But then, a deep terrifying growl echoed from behind the woods. The sound caused everyone to freeze, including the sounds that came from the night birds in the wood.

It was my chance to escape, but where do I run to?

Finally, I saw a large-bodied figure that emerged from the tall trees, his eyes red and burned with fire. His aura had dominated everyone present in that open space.

Slowly he walked into the silver light from the moon and his face was clear.

Alpha Damien.

The Alpha of the Shadow Pack.

I had heard whispers of him. A ruthless leader. A monster in wolf’s skin. A man who killed without hesitation.

Freya’s POV

With the rumors I had heard about him, and how his late father, the former Alpha of the Shadow pack terrorized all neighboring packs, I knew I was going to die.

There was no way I could escape from the most dangerous Alpha that I had ever heard of.

Alpha Damien moved like death itself, silent, fast, merciless. A monster that everyone feared.

Blood splattered onto the ground as he tore the throat of another rogue.

The last one turned to run but Damien caught him in two steps. A snap echoed through the forest, and the Rogue crumpled lifelessly to the ground.

And then, it was just him and me. I had forgotten I was supposed to run away before he got to where I was but I was still standing. Something had held me back and I couldn’t even figure it out.

I couldn’t breathe. My body shook as his glowing red eyes locked onto mine.

I had grown up to know Rogues were monsters. But then, the man that stood before me? He was something worse.

He growled again as he walked closer to me, his hands stained with blood.

Just a few steps away from me, his glowing red eyes started to fade away.

I was scared, deliberating if I should run away. My strength was nothing compared to that of an Alpha, he would catch me if I flinch.

The moment he held my wrist, I closed my eyes, waiting to be struck by his claws. But, a deep growl rumbled from his chest, and this time wasn’t out of rage. It was calm and seemed like he was trying to fight something within himself.

My wolf stirred inside of me, she was restless and confused.

“You are mine,” he gasped.

His words sent a cold shiver down my spine. No way! I only just escaped from one nightmare and now I am going into another.

He was going to take me back to the Shadow Pack, the same home where my mother and I were rejected.

I couldn’t breathe, everything was happening so fast.

Then my mind drifted back to his words. Mine? What did he mean?

The word echoed in my mind, twisting like a knife. He wasn’t just taking me as captive, he just indicated that I was his mate.

That was impossible, I didn’t want to return to the Shadow Pack, not even the thought to be his mate was in my mind.

I was too weak to feel the mate bond, if truly he was right about what he said. And contrary, I was also sure he wouldn’t accept the mate bond. He won’t accept such a weak wolf as his mate.

I took a step back to run, but my body was too weak. My wolf screamed at me to try and escape, but my legs wouldn’t move.

Why was he taking so much time? I thought by now I would already be dead.

Damien didn’t speak again, he didn’t make a step closer either. But I could feel his presence wrapping around me, heavy and inescapable.

He finally came closer, held my wrist and pulled me closer, till I was just an inch away from him. His other hand curled around my waist, his eyes locked in mine.

How was this going to end? I couldn’t tell which I wanted now, but I knew my destiny was at his hands at that moment and I had to wait for his decision.

Finally, my wolf managed to stir inside of me, “He is your mate.”

I shook my head, hesitant, also trying to break free. But the Alpha’s grip was hard.

Freya’s POV

I was scared, I knew the happiness that wolves entertain when they finally get to meet their mates. I had never experienced such happiness before. Even when I turned eighteen, I couldn’t feel a mate bond.

The moon goddess had refused to bless me with a mate and I had to serve Zach all my life but yet he despised my mother and I.

Now I was going to be forced by the moon goddess to be the mate of the most ruthless Alpha because I hadn’t seen rejection in his eyes yet.

Everything reminded me of the past, how my mother and I became trapped in Zach’s house.

******************

Years ago after we were chased away from the Shadow Pack. Zach was the first person we met at the Moon Pack and without hesitation, he accepted us into his house.

That was after he forced my mother to be his mate, and since then, he had constantly abused me and my mother.

The first time he hit me, I was too shocked to cry. It was only a simple mistake, a drop of my porridge on his shirt and immediately, his hands fell on my face.

“You clumsy brat!” He sneered. “You are lucky I accepted you.”

“I will make you suffer, you don't deserve even a meal from this house." He added.

That evening, he threw my plate of porridge to the ground, his eyes filled with anger and frustration.

He would watch me scrub the floors until my fingers bled, and then he would smile, knowing he had broken me a little more.

"You're weak, just like your mother," he'd say, forcing me to endure grueling tasks while the rest of the pack members who knew what he did sneered in amusement.

I had grown up believing I was worthless. That no matter how hard I worked, it would never be enough.

I had to keep moving, I had to survive for my mother's sake.

The bruises became normal. I learned to move quietly, to stay out of his way. But his eyes… those never stopped watching.

Sometimes he even spies on me while I bathe, wanting to have me and my mother at the same time. He also stole my clothes and sold them for little money.

My stepfather, Zach, had refused to let us go. He fought with my mother the night I escaped, their struggle was fierce and desperate.

“Mother…” I called out, my voice trembling as fear surged through my veins.

“Run, Freya!” she screamed, pushing me towards the door.

I couldn’t move. My body refused. My mother stood between me and Zach, the monster who had made our lives unbearable. His eyes were covered with anger.

She was the only person I had left, after my father died. We were supposed to protect each other and that’s how it has always been. But now, she wanted me to leave her behind.

“No,” I muttered, my voice barely above a whisper. “I won’t leave you.”

“GO!” she shouted again, her voice cracking this time.

I could see she didn’t have much strength to hold onto him again, and I knew if Zach managed to break free from her grip, I would be as good as dead.

I hesitated, tears blurred my sight. But when Zach struggled to take a step forward to me, I had no choice but to leave. With the tears that finally broke down from my eyes, I turned and ran out of the room.

A few steps from the main house, I heard my mother scream out loud. I almost turned back but then I realized it wasn’t safe and all of her struggle would go to waste.

Now I was in the middle of nowhere, stuck with Alpha Damien, the leader of the pack we were chased from.

Alpha Damien's voice startled me from the memory that lingered in my head. Maybe from exhaustion, maybe from something else.

“I can’t have you as my mate. Instead you would be my slave and serve under my watch.”