This had to be some mating ceremony prank, trick, or joke. I tried to hold on to that thought, but the rational part of me knew that it was no joke. The man I loved had been cheating on me with my sister.

 If I had any doubts about that, I only had to see the way he looked at her. Jason and Erina drifted across the room together, accepting congratulations. Erina parted from Jason and went over to a group of her giggling friends while Jason made his way to the back of the room.

 Jason loved me. I knew it. He was just confused. I took a step, then two, and ended up flat-out running to him. I wiped my streaming eyes to get him into view, clutched at his sleeve.

 "Jason, please don't do this," I begged. He slapped my hand away and took a step backward when I tried to take his hand.

 "Kiara-" he warned.

A sob tore its way through my throat.

 "You can't reject me. I love you. I know you love me-"

His lips curled in disgust as he continued to back away.

 "Look, stop making a scene. You are ruining my party. Stop with the sniveling, okay?" He turned his back on me and disappeared into the crowd, taking a large chunk of my broken heart with him.

  I pressed a hand to my chest. The pain I felt there was almost physical. It was like I had a hole punched right through my insides. I hugged myself tightly and groaned in agony.

"She is not going to have a fight, is she?" said someone to my right with a hint of hopefulness.

"Maybe if she does, she will finally be able to shift properly," said another. Raucous laughter greeted this remark.

 "Poor little, Kiara, heartbroken and sad," someone said in a singsong voice.

"Those the poor little baby wants a hanky?" A handkerchief was thrown in my face. I looked up and stared at Erina's clique of friends with hate-filled eyes that were getting mistier by the second.

 Choking on a sob, I bolted out of the room and gunned for the stairs, shoving people out of my way. All I remember about my run home is that I fell a lot. My arms and legs were maps of scrapes and bruises by the time I got home. I locked myself in my room and looked around wildly. I had to leave. There was no way I could remain in the pack. The thought of running into Jason and Erina day after day after day...

"I will go mad," I croaked. I began to cram most of my clothes into a large suitcase. I took the petty cash I had saved up and lugged the heavy suitcase down the hall.

 My father, who was crossing the corridor stopped in his tracks. He glanced at the suitcase, completely ignoring my tear-streaked face.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm leaving," I wailed. "J-Jason-" Oh damn! It hurt so much to say his name. "-rejected me as his mate in front of everyone. He chose Erina instead- and everyone was laughing. They called me names and-" I dissolved into tears.

"Is that all?" His question temporarily stunned me into silence. My life was literally ruined and he was asking if there was more.

 "Dad, I told you-" "I heard what you said! You got rejected by your mate.

 "So what? Life's hard. Get used to it. Get that stuff back into your room now and stop acting like a spoilt brat. If you make another move to leave this house, you'll suffer something much worse. You know I don't make idle threats." He stormed off, muttering something about useless, ungrateful daughters.

 The next few days were a nightmare. Word had spread to everyone in the pack about me getting rejected. Once, I thought I had a hard life. It was nothing compared to what I faced now. I would gladly have spent all my days locked up in my room alone, but Lucinda was not having it. She sent me on stupid, irrelevant errands and I knew it was just so people could point, stare, laugh, and jeer at me.

   Whenever I returned from these errands, she would stare at my reddened eyes hungrily, eagerly waiting for a tear, and then her face would droop in disappointment when I stubbornly refused to cry. But I made up for all the tears I refused to shed, in my room, bawling my eyes out. As if all that wasn't torture enough, I wasn't allowed to eat my meals in peace. I was forced to sit at the dining table with Lucinda and Erina chatting excitedly about Erina's relationship on one side, and my father, hanging on to his wife's every word on the other side.

  Then Lucinda and Erina would pause to ask why I looked so unhappy and why I wasn't excited about my sister's good fortune.

 "Fortunately, Erina will soon move in with Jason," said Lucinda to my father one time with a disdainful glance at me, while I tried to swallow past the pain and clog my throat.

 "The way Kiara looks at Erina sometimes... like she wants to murder her..." Lucinda shivered delicately. My father let out a humorless laugh and patted her hand.

 "Nonsense, love," he said. "Kiara wouldn't dream of hurting Erina." And he glared at me as though he would have liked to murder me instead.

 I felt my sanity being chipped away bit by bit as several more days passed. And then one day, my father came into my room with Lucinda on his heels, while I sat curled up on myself, staring blankly out of the window.

 I stared at them dully, wondering what new methods of emotional torture they had devised for me now.

"Kiara," he said in a deep, grave voice. "We have come to the conclusion that you have to leave-" I got to my feet without having a memory of moving.

"Yes," I said eagerly. "Yes. I will leave. I have to. I- My gaze fell on my suitcase which I had never really unpacked.

 "Listen," he said sharply and I fell silent. "A few months ago, we took a loan from Alpha Ryder for the expensive course of medical treatment  I had to cure for your shifted problems. A waste of good money but now we are up to our ears in debt-"

"Because of you," Lucinda finished.

I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. Instinctively, I knew something bad was coming.

"What has this got to do with me leaving?" I asked.

 "Everything!" my father snapped, anger breaking through his enforced self-control.

  "Alpha Ryder demands you as his maiden to pay off the debt."

 "No." My mouth widened into an O of horror. Rejected by my mate and now sent off to some man as payment? This couldn't be happening.

"Yes. You will pack your belongings to go live with him."

"I won't," I gasped. "I won't go. You can't make me."

 "Do you have any idea what he will do to us if we don't pay?" Lucinda shrieked.

"Are you going to put all of us in danger just because you are too proud, too stubborn to do as you're told?" She tugged at my father's arm frantically. "I told you! I told you we shouldn't have taken that loan."

 "Calm down, love," he soothed with his angrily flashing eyes fixed on me. "Don't you dare make me regret trying to find a cure for your condition, Kiara. You will get married to Alpha Ryder and that is the end of it. If you refuse, may the goddess help me, I will..." He clenched his fists, making the threat very clear.

"Get packed and ready to leave in thirty minutes," Lucinda had hissed as she left my room a few minutes ago, or was it an hour ago?

  The concept of time meant nothing to me now. All I was conscious of was the never-ending pain that went on and on and on. A door slammed shut somewhere in the house and I figured it was time to go. I picked myself off the floor, pushed to my feet, and shuffled over to my suitcase. I emptied its contents and mechanically began to fold and pack my clothes.

   My door creaked open, but I didn't look to see who was there. I simply concentrated on the motions of packing, while I wished I had something to numb the pain.

 "You are finally leaving." Erina's voice came from the direction of the doorstep. My jaw clenched as I bit back an angry retort. Of course, she would never miss an opportunity to gloat or torment me. This was the last chance she was going to get before I was whisked out of her reach forever.

 "I can't say I am sorry to see you go," she continued. "You are weak, a freak, a burden, so I am sure that I am not the only one who will breathe more easily around here with you gone."

  My teeth ground against each other as I yanked at a blouse so hard that it split along the seams. I flung it away.

 "Ignore her. Ignore her," I chanted under my breath.

 "What was that?" Erina cocked her head to the side. She was so close now that her skin nearly brushed mine. She let out a derisive peal of laughter.

 "You are talking to yourself now? Only crazy people do that, you know. Don't tell me you have added insanity to your... condition. Oh well, even if you are actually crazy, I suppose it won't matter now. Someone else will be responsible for you from now on."

  "Get out of my room!" I ground out. Erina's painted lips curved into a cruel smile.

 "Finally," she crowed. "For a moment there I was concerned that you had gone deaf as well as dumb." She snapped her fingers impatiently at me when I just stood there, glaring at her hatefully.

   "Go on. Pack! The sooner you are done, the sooner you will be out of here."

  I didn't want to, but I heard the car start up and stop somewhere close to the front of the house. If my father came in and saw me... I packed my stuff faster. Erina heaved a sigh.

"That is better. I am sure Jason will come visit more often when he finds out you are gone for good. It is hard for him to be around here when you're always moping about, looking like something the cat dragged in..."

The rest of the words were drowned by a roaring in my ears. At the mention of Jason's name, I saw red. Rage tasted like metal on my tongue. My voice shook with anger when I said,

 "Keep Jason out of your mouth."

 "Or what?" She smirked and tipped me a conspirational wink.

 "Honestly, it is hard to literally out of my mouth, especially when he is kissing me like I am"

  With a choked roar of rage, I lunged at her. Laughing, she took a step back and wagged a finger at me.

"Easy there, princess," she said.

"That better be the sound of packing I hear in there, Kiara," Lucinda called from somewhere in the house. "Or would you like to leave home without any clothes?"

 I took several deep breaths, forcing the anger back down. Going to Alpha Ryder's pack with only the clothes I had on my back would be terrible.

"Were you about to hit me?" Erina questioned. "Because of Jason? Get over him, already. He never wanted you. Never will."

"That is a damned lie!" I yelled back at her.

  She raised one finely arched brow.

 "Is it now? I hate to break it to you, but Jason fancied me even when you two were dating. It is  not my fault that you were too blind to see the signs."

"You're a backstabbing little-"

"Language, Kiara. Language."

  "You betrayed me, took what is mine. But I promise you, Erina, karma will catch up with you," I said to her.

 "Karma is a concept for fools like you to believe in to make you feel better, dear stepsister. Life is not fair or didn't you get the memo?"

 "Why aren't you done yet?" my father asked, glowering at me from the doorway.

 Erina twiddled her fingers at me and sashayed out of the room. Under his watchful eyes, I threw the rest of my things into two suitcases and carried them out.

"We want to talk to you," he grumbled and jerked his head towards the living room.

"Finally." Lucinda sighed theatrically when she saw that I was ready to go. My father took his place at her side.

"We only think it is fair to let you know what you are up against," he said. "Once you get to Alpha Ryder's pack, you have to be on your best behavior. He is a hard man. You have to do what you are told without hesitation, understand?" I nodded numbly.

He started to turn away, but Lucinda, with her eyes fixed on me, pulled him back.

"I don't think she understands yet," she said. "Alpha Ryder is a ruthless man. He expects respect and immediate obedience at all times. There are rumors, terrible rumors..." She paused dramatically.

 "Of what he does to people who make him angry. I am tempted to believe that all those rumors are true."

I couldn't suppress a shudder. I too had heard dark rumors concerning Alpha Ryder.

  "I think she has got it now," Lucinsa said happily. "Let's go."

   In no time at all, I was in the backseat of the car. The next moment, I was having a last glimpse of the house I had grown up in. The image was tainted with the sight of Erina waving cheerfully at me from an upstairs window. I curled in on myself as I watched the road unfold before us.

  When we got to the borders of my pack, my father accelerated, making the car go even faster. We were on the road for hours, and then I began to perceive strange, unfamiliar scents that told me we were nearing another pack. Finally, he came to a stop at a spot with a thick expanse of forest on either side of the road.

"We are here," he said to Lucinda.

As though his words had called them forth, three heavily built men detached themselves from the muted browns and greens of the forest. Lucinda and my father were already out of the car before they got to us.

 "She is in there," said my father with a nod in my direction. As one, the men turned their flat, back eyes to me. It was then that I lost my nerve. I stumbled out of the car, fell painfully on one knee, got to my feet, and made a beeline for the forest. My one thought? To get away.

"Get her," I heard Lucinda shriek. I didn't even hear them come up behind me. The next thing I knew, my hands were pinned behind my back. I looked into the merciless eyes of one of my captors. As I opened my mouth to scream, something hit me in the back of the head, knocking me out. 

Kiara

Something wasn't right. I knew it long before I opened my eyes. Something bad, something I didn't want to remember, had happened and it was waiting for me on the other side of wakefulness. And though my subconscious tried to protect me from the pain that waited for me on the other side, my body was already resuming its normal functions without any prompting from me.

My eyes sprang open. I immediately squinted at the bright lights overhead. I sat up quickly, too quickly. The room spun for a moment, then steadied. I groaned as my fingers touched a raised bump at the back of my head. The bump immediately brought everything into clear, sharp focus.

I remembered trying to run away from the huge men. I remembered Lucinda screaming for me to be caught while my father looked on. I remembered being grabbed and knocked out cold. I whimpered in fright. That meant I was in Alpha Ryder's pack now.

I took in my surroundings. I was in a small room, sitting on a single sofa. The only window here had bars. Was I some sort of prisoner then? Was Alpha Ryder already angry with me for trying to run away? Lucinda's words echoed in my head.

  "Alpha Ryder is a ruthless man... There are rumors, terrible rumors of what he does to people who make him angry."

  I put my hands in front of my face and saw that they had begun to shake. But there was no one in the room with me. Perhaps I could still escape. My gaze darted to the door and just before I could make a move towards it, it opened.

 The biggest man I had ever met walked in. Apart from his build, his face was breathtaking. Nearly overlong lashes framed his vivid green eyes, while a tousled thatch of glossy, black hair framed his handsome face. We stared at each other for a long moment.

  "Finally. You're awake," he said in a deep rumbling voice only a man of that build would have.

  Seeing him sucked my breath away. I was transported back to the night of the mating ceremony. I felt an inexplicable pull towards him as though my life had been leading to all this moment. My wolf stirred within me, claiming him as her mate. I gasped at the realization that this man, whoever he was, was my second chance mate.

   "I was beginning to think that my people hit you a little too hard," he continued. "You may have guessed who I am, or maybe not," he amended as he took in my still-wondering expression. "I am Alpha Ryder." I gasped again. I didn't think I was capable of normal speech just yet. Ryder? This was Alpha Ryder? I had heard of him. Everyone in my pack had heard of him. Everyone said he was a savage, cruel man. How could a man everyone thought of as a beast be so devastatingly handsome? And why was he acting as though he couldn't sense our mate bond? I was curling my hands into fists to keep from launching myself into his arms.

 So far I was succeeding, but my wolf was by far harder to control.

   "Alpha," I said breathlessly. Then I paused as I tried to marshal my thoughts into words. He merely raised a brow, watching me struggle. Apart from the fact that he was completely disregarding our mate bond, he was also more than a little intimidating.

   "Alpha, don't you... feel it? The- the bond? The mate bond?"

 He was quiet for a long moment and I thought he wouldn't answer.

  "I suppose I need to make some things very clear," he said. "Firstly, you are not here to relax, to be at ease." He looked meaningfully at the sofa I was still sitting on. "Secondly, you will be working in my pack as a slave to pay back the money your father owes me. Yes, a slave," he acted, reacting to my startled look.

   He kept looking me over, like I was a particularly good species of cow he wanted to trade. "As for the bond you mentioned, it is quite laughable that you would think for a moment that I would claim you as my mate. Kiara, you aren't even worthy to be a member of my pack in the first place. Did you get that?"

   I simply stared at him, as my brain desperately tried to play catch-up with my ears.  

   "I said, did you get that?" he repeated a note of menace in his voice. He took half a step towards me. His eyes flashed and burned. It was at that moment that I knew why people referred to him as a dangerous man. Fear pooled in my stomach. I nodded twice jerkily.

   "Yes, Alpha," I squeaked.

 A muscle in his jaw jumped as he stared down at me.

  "You will find that I expect prompt answers whenever I ask you a question. And like I said, completely erase the notion of a union between us because that will never happen."

 He was almost at the door before he turned once more. "I hope for your sake that you are physically strong enough to work. I have no patience for weaklings." The door clicked shut behind him and the tears I had been desperately holding back spilled over.

   I buried my face in my hands as I wept uncontrollably. What was wrong with me? I had been rejected by my first mate and turned into a slave by the other. What had I done in my past life for the moon goddess to punish me so cruelly? I nearly fell off the bed when I heard the door open again, thinking Alpha Ryder had returned. I quickly wiped my teary eyes and looked up.

  Another devastatingly handsome man had walked in. He was staring right at me. For the third time, I felt that this stranger was a missing part of me, the part that kept me whole.

 'Mate,' my wolf screamed.