Alpha King’s Wolfless Mate by Scarlett Higgins
Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Lying on my back, I stared up at the dungeon ceiling. I was starving, but I was glad that at least they weren’t torturing me anymore. I closed my eyes for a very long blink. When I opened them again, Helen was standing over me. Her hands were on her hips and she had a cruel smirk on her l*ps. “What are you doing here?” I asked, my voice cracking. I couldn’t remember the last time they’d given me water. “Gloating,” Helen said, licking her l*ps. I groaned and pulled myself into a sitting position. My muscles ached and I hardly had the strength to hold myself up. My entire b*dy felt as though it was on fire with the multiple wounds plaguing my limbs, making me feel weak and drained. “What are you talking about?” I scoffed. “You being exiled,” she said, sticking her tongue out at me. “I thought we were friends, Helen, why did you do that?” I asked, though I thought I already knew the answer. “This is what I wanted. You got everything handed to you. Your cushy life with the Rays family, your mate bond to Jeremy. Now, I’ve taken it all from you and I’m going to have the life you should have had,” she said. “What the h*ll did you do?!” I asked slowly. “How…” “Don’t think about it too much, Nora. You’ll be off to the Rogue Zone soon and I’ll be Luna of Moonery,” she continued to gloat. “Tell me what the hell did you do? What have I done to you to be treated like this?!” I asked again, this time more forcibly. I grabbed the cell bars and pulled myself to my feet. “Haven’t you figured it out yet?” she asked, laughing at me and shaking her head. Then she snarled and rolled her eyes. “I’ve been watching you for years. You’ve always been the favorite. I’ve never had the feeling of belonging here,” she ranted. “So?” I gazed at her. Helen snorted. “I’m from a prominent family from another pack. I’ve lived here in order to keep the peace between the two packs. That should earn me status here. Instead, I’m just a face in the crowd. Not anymore, though,” she said, laughing maniacally. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Everyone knew that Helen wasn’t born to Moonery. She’d come to live here so her home pack wouldn’t attack Moonery again. However, even though she had to grow up in our pack as an outsider, no one had ever thought badly of her or ignored her. She just didn’t have any status in the pack. “And that was my fault?” I asked, my legs trembling as I tried to stand on my own. “Well, I wanted Jeremy, and you got in my way,” she said with a cruel look, “Isn’t that simple enough?” I sighed and sank back to a sitting position as my legs gave out. I didn’t believe Helen. This wasn’t just about Jeremy. She wanted me to suffer and I didn’t know why. “Aren’t you going to congratulate me on finally getting what I deserve?” she continued. “Get out,” I narrowed my eyes and hissed. She couldn’t help but let out piercing laughter, as if she was greatly entertained by my miserable state. She was right, she’d taken everything. She’d taken Jeremy and she’d taken my position in the pack. She’d turned everyone against me. I still couldn’t feel my wolf or the mate bond between me and Jeremy. It had all just disappeared, like the rest of my life. * Guards were sent to take me to the Rogue Zone. It was a lawless, wild area between pack territories. There was no jurisdiction, no authority. Rogues ran around causing mayhem and carnage. I’d be completely alone out there. Defenseless, fending for myself. They threw me in the mud river like a piece of trash and then vanished back into pack territory. If I ever set foot in pack territory again, I’d be executed on site. From this moment on, I was on my own. I headed deeper into the Rogue Zone, my b*dy aching and my head dizzy. I could hear howls in the distance. Some rogues probably liked running around in their wolf form. I wondered how long it would take me to lose my mind and go wild. The moment I arrived at a small settlement, I could barely stand. The wounds on my b*dy never healed, and now it was bleeding again. Every inch of this broken b*dy was aching. But the settlement was much better than I thought. The area had been cleared out. With several tents and small makeshift cabins, it was like a little city for the rogues. It was very primitive. The plumbing was built with plastic tubes and piping and fed directly into the stream. There were some solar panels. set up for electricity and it looked like a livable village. It even looked like there were some families there. At least while I was here, I was no longer haunted by Helen. I might even be able to have a fine sleep for the first time in days. “Who the hell are you?” a snarky voice asked behind me. “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m new here,” I said, turning to face an old woman. She was a little shorter than me, her face smeared with dirt. “How dare you waltz in like you own the place. You need to earn a spot. Otherwise, you go back to the wilds like the rest,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. I looked back at the village. It wasn’t much but it looked a lot better than being alone in the woods. “Get the f*ck out of here before your pretty head is torn apart from your b*dy!” she snarled. No strength to argue. I bowed my head and tried to head away from the village quickly. However, the moment I turned around, the wounds. on my legs twitched. My head was spinning and I had to shut my eyes.

The moment I hit the ground, sharp pain coursed through my whole b*dy, but it didn’t last as long as I expected. Maybe it was because hunger had weakened my senses. Was I dying? I heard the jeers behind me, no one came to help – perhaps I should be thankful they didn’t sneak attack me. I didn’t know how long I fainted, but when I regained my consciousness, the first thing I saw was the holly leaf bracelet that Jeremy had given me. Right… I couldn’t give up yet. I had to survive so that I could free him from Helen’s lies and brainwashing. My mind raced. Jeremy had been deceived by Helen. He fell right into her trap, just like Alpha Al. She’d planned everything so well. I pinched myself hard. The pain forced me to keep my mind clear. Finally, I was able to push myself up, then I got up to explore more. I knew I’d better not touch anything within the settlement after the warning I was given, so I followed the stream into the woods. Once I was safe and alone outside of the settlement, I dropped to my knees beside the stream. I scooped the cool, flowing water into my hand and lifted it to my mouth, sipping the water. It was so thirst- quenching and satisfying. I let out a soft moan as my parched throat was soothed by the water. My legs and arms were still weak and I collapsed onto my stomach, my hand dangling in the water, keeping me cool. My eyes drooped and I could have fallen asleep right there, but I knew I couldn’t yet. If I let myself pass out right now, I had no confidence whether I would ever be able to wake up again. I needed to get some food. Not too far away, I spotted a garbage bin, and my stomach growled at the sight. My heart thundered in my chest at the thought of food now that my thirst had been quenched. I dragged myself through the grass and dirt until I reached the base of the bin, ignoring the searing pain across my b*dy. All I can think about right now is replaceing something edible to help me survive my first night. – I managed to hoist myself up enough to reach into the garbage bin and rustle around for something – anything – because at this point, I’m willing to eat just about anything. My fingers grazed across the skin of an apple, so I wasted no time. snat ching it from the top of the trash pile and dropping to my knees. The juicy and sweet goodness of the apple as it slided down my throat was enough to distract me from the approaching footsteps. My mind and b*dy was so focused on surviving that I hadn’t noticed I needed to use my other instincts to help me survive the impending doom. “Well, well, well,” I heard a scratchy voice behind me. “We’ve got ourselves some fresh meat!” My eyes snapped up just in time to see a group of wolves ascend down on me with boots colliding with the side of my thigh, sending a sharp pain across my entire b*dy. The apple fell from my fingers as a loud cry escaped my l*ps. Instinctively, my hands went to my face to protect. me from their attack. “We’re eating like kings tonight!” someone shouted. “Stop, stop, leave me alone!” I shouted. I couldn’t shift to defend myself. “We’re not going anywhere. We haven’t had good meat in a long, long time,” the first one said. Something broke inside of me and rage boiled in my veins. I’d been through too much! I jumped up and pushed the closest rogue to me, shoving them to the ground. I kicked another right between the legs. He wailed and clutched his groin, dropping to his knees. “Get away from me!” I shouted, taking up a defensive position. The others backed off for a moment like they were questioning whether to keep attacking me. “There’s only one of her, you can take her!” the first one from earlier shouted, pointing at me. The others growled at me. Their teeth elongated and their eyes flashed as they prepared to shift. I backed away. I knew I couldn’t fight them all. I didn’t have my wolf to shift into either. They pounced, shifting in midair. Three wolves landed on me and one bit me on the wrist. I screamed and struggled, clawing at the ground to try and get away. However. Suddenly, one of the wolves whimpered and was torn off of me. The others let me go and started attacking someone else. I rolled over and scrambled backward. Another wolf had shown up. He was a massive shadow, fighting off the others. He was so strong and ferocious in battle as his strong claws attacked the wolves, slashing at their faces and sides. With whimpers and groans, the others fled into the woods and my protector shifted back into a human. I was exhausted and my b*dy was bruised and bloody again. I could hardly hold my head up as he turned to me and approached. Panting, I tried to move away from him but my eyes still raked over his form. Muscular and glistening with sweat with the moon glowing behind him, he looked like a God. With every movement, his muscles. rippled and bulged. His dark eyes gleamed and his hair swayed around his chiseled face. He kept approaching as I scrambled away. My arm bent backward and gave out. I fell on my back. The man swooped in and scooped me into his arms. His b*dy was radiating heat that soaked into my skin, and his muscles clamped around me. It was a deep, smooth voice. “Are you Nora?” He asked.