ELARA'S POV

I couldn't tell if I was dreaming again, I couldn't trust my dreams and my reality anymore, I couldn't tell the difference.

My body felt cold, I shivered all through. My back felt so cold.

I slowly opened my eyes, it was pitch black, my heart started beating again, slowly, my eyes started getting used to the darkness.

I think I was in the dungeon, the lights at the end flickered on and off, there was a very dim light in cell, I couldn't see more than a few feet ahead of me, but if I listened carefully, I could hear the breathing of someone else close, maybe the next cell.

I had been in the dungeon only once before, to do a bit of cleaning, and that's why I could recognize where I was.

"But why would the Alpha throw me in here?"

And as if by natural selection, all the memories came rushing back.

The dream, the pain, the rejection.

It hit me like a bolt of lightning, suddenly I felt goosebumps all over my body.

And then fear... I started getting scared.

"What if he decides to kill me?"  

"Did I do anything to deserve that?"

I resolved to plead for mercy and beg to be banished the minute I set my eyes on the Alpha.

I have no interest in being his mate, regardless of what the mate bond says.

Another pain, just like earlier, but not as intense. It was as if the mate bond was fighting my words, but I could be stubborn, I fought too through.

And I said the words aloud this time.

"I have no interest in being his mate, I just want to be let to live, even if I have to go far away"

I started panicking and thinking of all the likely scenarios. I remember everyone's eyes as I was dragged away before the pain made me lose consciousness. I remember the look of disdain and disgust and I would do anything to be away from here, to be away from the pack house, to be away from the Alpha.

Another jolt of pain.

"AHHHH!!! I screamed in agony"

It was much more painful this time.

I heard footsteps hurrying towards me. It must have been the guards because I yelled.

A single guard appeared in front of me, snarling at me, his eyes glowing, his wolf aching to come out.

"what happened?" He sneered at me.

"I...I...I need to see the alpha" I stuttered, his presence was so overwhelming.

He gave me a low growl again.

"What for?" He sneered again "he ordered us to lock you up and watch you closely, what makes you think you have the right to demand to see him" his words turning into a growl at the end.

I was so scared now, because I had never had a close encounter with any of the guards in the pack, they were always vicious and looked scary, and I always tried to keep my distance from them.

I scooted further into the cell.

"Please....I... I just need to see him", I could barely get the words out.

"You think the alpha would heed to the demands of a mutt? Do not cause any more scenes and do not request to see the alpha again, you will be called upon when it is necessary" and with that he walked away, his footsteps fading.

I was left there, scared and confused. I needed to see the alpha and plead for my life, I didn't want to die just because of a mate bond, besides, I had already been rejected, what's the worse that could happen.

"A lot worse...."

I heard it, like a faint whisper.

"What? Who said that?" I panicked while frantically looking around, I strained my ears and eyes and I couldn't see anyone. 

I strained my ears again but the voice never came again. I must have been hearing things because of the darkness. There were other people here, I don't know how, but I could feel it. And at the same time, it was eerily quiet too.

I couldn't remember when I slept off, I was exhausted and although the pain had dulled to a low hum, it was still there and I could feel it.

Crack!!

I was woken up to the sound of my cell door opening, with three guards standing outside, including the guard from earlier.

"Bring her out, the alpha wants her now" one of them ordered.

I instinctively started shifting back out of fear, but I was no match against these men, so I succumbed while they grabbed me, tied my arms and dragged me out of the cell.

A part of me yearned to see him, but I quickly stopped thinking about it.

I was taken from the dungeon, up a flight of stairs leading to the main hallway, the lights were too bright and I quickly shut my eyes, my arms began to ache because of the way I was being carried.

As quickly as it started, it ended. They dropped me roughly on the ground, my knees aching from the impact. 

I opened my eyes, and I was in the main hall, surrounded by all the pack members, staring at me with demeaning looks on their faces, under the harsh glare of the lights from the chandelier.

I looked up and saw the Alpha, staring down at me, his look demeaning, his jaw clenched, my heart skipped a beat, the bond pulsed and a fresh wave of pain.

The pain made me shudder and close my eyes momentarily, I was confused and didn't know why the pain kept coming.

"Was the mate bond supposed to hurt?" I said to myself. I had never heard stories of pain from the bond, this was a new thing to me, it was painful.

I opened my eyes again and saw the Alpha walking towards me. 

I lowered my head and heard the footsteps getting closer.

Shiny shoes appeared in my vision, only this time, they were black.

"Elara Cornell" the alpha said loudly, enough for everyone to hear "you are here because the bond demands it, and because I will see just how far you can push yourself before it breaks you"

ELARA'S POV

My heart skipped a beat... no... several beats. I thought my heart had stopped for a few minutes, but it was only for a moment.

"Why is he doing this? I am of no use to him" I thought to myself.

I guess my only option was to beg for my safety, for my life.

"P...pl..please... Alpha.. Alpha Kane, I am of no use to you, I will gladly be banished from the pack and I will never set foot in here again, please let me go" i said to him, as I felt the anger rolling off off him in waves and I felt the weight of his alpha authority on me, pressing down on me, suffocating me.

I hear footsteps walking away from me, and I am relieved, thinking the Alpha has listened to my pleas and decided to banish me instead of torturing me, but then the footsteps suddenly stop and with a thundering voice he says.

"You have no right to make a request, no right to beg for anything" 

"Please, I just want to be out of your life and let you be, I promise you will never see me or smell me around your pack again" 

Smack!!

The force of the slap pushed me back. I didn't even know when he walked back and gave me a slap that had me seeing double, he must have used his alpha speed.

I lay on the ground, my mouth bleeding and my head banging from the force of the slap. 

This was what it felt like to be slapped by an Alpha.

"Take her away" he says, and I am led back to the dungeon by the guards.

Back at the dungeon, my head reels from the pain but my mind keeps wandering to what the alpha has in store for me, I know it can't be good.

"Why does he want to harm me?" I think to myself. My chest tightens with every heart beat.

"I accept the rejection, what else does he want from me?" the thoughts keep on pouring in.

Goosebumps...

Goosebumps crawled all over my skin as I felt a chill in the air, the air suddenly seemed very cold and I shivered a bit.

"But there are no open windows, " I thought to myself.

"It must be fear, I have felt this so many times", but this time, it felt different, like a presence, watching me in the darkness.

I decided to attribute it to fear, fear for whatever the alpha had planned for me.

My mind drifted to how I came here and how I started living alone...

It was about 5 years ago. I had been living with the chef that worked in the pack house, she was such a mean woman. 

When I was found at the pack border, at least that's what I was told.

I was told I had been found at the pack border and given to a chef to be taken care of until I was old enough to be on my own. She was no mother to me, she treated me as badly as she could, eagerly waiting for when I would be out of her house.

She lived alone too, and most times I would come home after a long day of work at the palace, to no food and an empty kitchen, despite the fact she was a chef and there was always enough leftover. 

She preferred to trash the leftovers or hoard them rather than feed me. I started feeding myself after that, I was ten at the time, and when I turned 13, she requested I be moved to a different place to stay alone, because she couldn't cater for me anymore.

I didn't cry, I didn't beg, I simply packed what little belongings I had left and moved to the house designated to me, the shack close to the border. I've been on my own ever since.

My thoughts drifted back to the Alpha. He was twenty four, he had been looking for his mate since he turned eighteen and he had taken command of the pack since he turned twenty.

He was ruthless, and he enforced hierarchy in the pack, the more powerful wolves always preyed on the lesser wolves, that was the way in this pack.

I was always the target, though I had always managed to be out of the Alpha's radar. But now, I was on his radar, not only on his, the whole pack had eyes on me, waiting to devour me.

The Alpha had been harsh to me many times before, but I had never directly been in his sight, had never been the receiver of his ruthlessness. This was new to me, and not in a good way.

I took in a deep breath, the air smelt like old blood, piss and dampstone. The dungeon was a dangerous place.

I was trapped in this tiny cell. I was surrounded, and vulnerable.

I had seen many people come here and never got out, and now, I wondered if I would be part of those people.

I needed to be out of here. I needed to be out of this dungeon, out of this pack house, out of this pack.

I needed to escape.

But was that even possible?

Everywhere was sealed tight. Locks on every door, guards stationed in every hallway.

I'd be found before I even stepped a foot out of the dungeon, I couldn't even make it out of my cell.

"Please, I just want to be free...free of this place...free of him"

I didn't know when tears started rolling down my cheek. I wept at my fate.

I don't know how long I cried for, but I stopped crying eventually for fear that the guards would hear me and scold me, or worse, report me to the Alpha. The last thing I wanted was to be face to face with him again. 

I drifted off into a deep sleep, far from peaceful. I could feel as though I was aware I was asleep, it was a weird feeling.

THIRD PERSON POV

Back in his chambers, the alpha paced around the width of his room, occasionally growling loud enough for his guards stationed at his door to hear him.

"Fuck!" he yelled out loud.

"I remember when that bastard was picked off from the pack borders, if i knew a day like this would come, I would have had her killed a long time ago, and maybe I would have been giving another mate" the alpha said with a growl while pacing.

He took off his button, ripped off his shirt and flung it to the ground.

The alpha was angry, in fact, the alpha was pissed at the situation. His thoughts of having a mate worthy of having his heir seemed like a mere dream to him now.

"Something has to be done about this" he said loudly, all the while still pacing and letting out occasional grunts of displeasure.

He wracked his brain for a possible solution. And then it clicked, he realized the bond should have been broken the minute he rejected her, but it hadn't broken, and he couldn't kill her just yet because it would greatly weaken him and pose a threat to his authority.

Until the bond was carefully severed, killing her would harm him and his pack.

He didn't want that. That would be an avenue for other alphas to lay eyes on his pack. He could never allow that.

"I will never allow it, never! Not while I am alpha of the Dark Light Pack" he growled.

All his words were coming out in growls and grunts now, his wolf scratching at the surface, threatening to come out and let loose his anger.

"This is unheard of and it must be something from her end, probably the fact that she is wolfless, it must be a mistake and it might affect the bond, maybe the bond between a wolf and person without a wolf was different, not to talk of the bond between an alpha and a wolfless mutt" he thought to himself

"Something has to be done about this" he repeated, calmly this time.

The Alpha saw Elara  as unworthy and as a threat to his pack, he could neither kill her and he couldn't let her go either, other packs would use it against him.

He was sure the news of him having a wolfless mate had spread far and wide now.

The mate bond meant nothing to the Alpha, his mate was wolfless and weak , and he would rather watch her die than accept her for a mate.

The wheels of his brain were turning in a devilish way.

"I will make her suffer for this," he said to himself.

His first plan was already in motion.

A knock sounded on his door.

"Who is that?" the alpha growled

He heard the sound of feet shuffling and then a voice said "Your Highness, Lady Yvette is here, she says you requested her presence"  the guard said.

"Let her in" the alpha said

"Okay your highness" the guard said and then the doors to his chambers opened and in walked Lady Yvette.

Lady Yvette strode seductively towards the alpha, swaying her hips slightly with every step, her brown curls rested on her neck and flowed down to her waist.

"Your highness " she said in a sultry tone "you sent for me?"

"Yes, I did" the Alpha said as he walked towards her and watched her beautiful frame smiling at him.

The mate bond was still intact so she would feel every pain from what he would do that night, the greatest pain a mate could feel was when their mate was intimate with another person with the bond still intact.

He smirked because he knew Elara would face unimaginable pain.

He walked over to Yvette, he grabbed her by her waist and pulled her to him.

"Oh Alpha" she gasped, almost out of breath.

Yvette was his favorite, he had many women to warm his bed and pleasure him, but he had been with Yvette the longest and she knew the right things to do and say.

She moved her hands up the Alpha's bare chest, his muscles flexed and unflexed in reaction to her touch.

His hand slid up to her neck and he pushed her onto the bed, she fell, her robe rising up, revealing the smoothness of her thighs.

"Take it off," he said.

Without a second thought, Yvette took of her robe and was laid bare before the Alpha.

He stood, towering above her, his smirk still in place and his cock rising to attention too.

Yvette moved closer to him, to try to get a feel of his cock, he pushed her back.

Then there was the sound of a belt unbuckling, clothes falling to the floor.

The Alpha climbed on the bed, looked at Yvette one more time, swiftly, turned her over so her ass was in full view and plunged into her without any warning.

"Oh Alpha" Yvette moaned his name loudly. 

That only made him go deeper, he started slow at first, filling every inch of her, every inch of his mistress.

He held onto her neck from behind, pulled out a little and plunged into her, deeper this time, she was a writhing  mess on the bed.

Yvette couldn't wait to feel the Alpha totally engulf her, deep down, she wished she could be his mate, and she knew that the alpha requesting for her after meeting his mate was a good sign and she relished in it.

Another deep thrust plunged her out of her thinking.

As the alpha's thrusts started to get faster, she started to moan more.

"Oh...my lord... oh... Alpha... please".

She had no control over her words, she wanted everything.

The Alpha plunged relentlessly and steadily increased his pace till he was going at an alarming speed.

"Elara wouldn't even be able to take my cock like this, she's wolfless" he hissed to himself.

The anger made him increase his pace one more time and Yvette continued moaning his name.

His thoughts were on how to make Elara suffer.