Chapter 8 Kill her right now
“What happens after you mark me?” My voice sounded small, but steady enough.
His jaw ticked. “You’ll give birth.” Cold dread slid down my spine when I heard his words but he wasn’t finished.
“And after that,” he said slowly, callously, “I’ll kill you. This pack will never look at you as Luna. I cannot rule with an omega mate.”
For a moment, the world around me went silent. No sound. No breath. Nothing.
Then my anger rose like fire.
“That’s your grand plan?” I snapped. “Use me like a breeding machine then toss me out like trash? Wow. The moon goddess really wasted her time giving you a brain.”
His eyes flared in instant fury. And I knew why.
Nobody talks back to him like that. He was well known for his ruthless all around but I was not ready to be intimidated.
I crossed my arms. “You know what? Just kill me now if that’s what you want. Save me the headache of listening to your ego for nine months.”
His entire body went rigid, muscles coiled like a beast ready to strike. “You need to learn respect.”
“No,” I shot back. “You need to learn basic humanity.” I seethed.
His nostrils flared as soon as he heard my words. For a second, I thought he might shift right there, shred the desk, the walls, everything including me.
Instead, he took a single slow step toward me then his voice dropped to something dangerously calm.
"I’m really done with your disrespect, Iet me first teach you a lesson", He snapped his fingers then the door flew open at once. Two guards stormed inside, their expressions flat and obedient.
“Drag her to the dungeon.” He ordered.
My stomach clenched, but I refused to show fear. Not when he wanted it. “Enjoy your empty throne, Alpha,” I spat. “Last I checked, fear doesn’t make a Luna.”
His eyes turned pitch-black asche watched the guards grab my arms.
“Teach her,” Kael growled, “what happens when an omega forgets her place.” He spoke.
"Yes Alpha", They replied.
They yanked me toward the door, but I kept my glare on him until the very last second. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me afraid.
Not now. Not ever.
The guards dragged me down the staircase that wound beneath the pack house, deeper and deeper until the air grew colder, damper, heavier. Stone walls pressed in on both sides, and every step echoed like a warning.
My wolf paced inside me, restless, alert. "We shouldn’t be here, its alll because of you", she growled.
"Too late," I answered back.
The guards said nothing as they hauled me past empty cells with rusted bars and chains on the wall. Some cells were so dark I could barely see anything inside them. Others had claw marks etched into the stone, reminders of wolves who had fought and lost.
Finally, we stopped in front of the furthest cell.
“This one,” the guard on my left muttered.
He pushed the door open, metal screeching loudly enough to make me flinch. I smelled the dust, the dampness, the complete absence of warmth.
They shoved me inside.
I caught myself before I hit the ground, barely. The door slammed shut behind me, the clang of metal echoing through the dungeon like a final sentence.
I straightened slowly, brushing dirt from my palms. “Really? All this for talking back?” I called through the bars.
One guard hesitated, unsure if he should respond. The other glared at me.
“You disrespected the Alpha. And attacked his Luna,” he muttered. I rolled my eyes. “She provoked me.”
“Doesn’t matter. He gave an order.” The guard stepped closer, gripping the bars. “And the Alpha never goes back on his word.”
I smirked. “Maybe he should try it sometime. Might make him more tolerable.”
The guard’s eye twitched but he didn’t respond. They turned and walked away, boots echoing down the corridor until I was swallowed in silence.
I exhaled, pressing my back against the icy stone wall. It was dark. The kind of dark that didn’t let your eyes adjust. I sank to the floor and crossed my legs, forcing my body to relax even though my heart still thundered.
My wolf whimpered inside me, upset but I ignored her.
Fate is so cruel to us.
I just fled from my first fated mate who totally hated me and now, I fell into the hands of someone who'd do nothing more than to part my head from my body.
I should've stayed there. I was used to being tortured.
The sound of my ragged breathing echoed in my ears before hearing a loud slam. There were several footsteps surrounding.
"Here she is"
I lifted my head from where I sat against the wall, pulse thudding in my ears. The shadows outside my cell shifted as figures approached, multiple, slow-moving, heavy with authority.
Elders.
I could smell their age, their rank, their power. Not the physical kind like Kael’s, this was different. Older. The kind that came from decades of ruling long before he ever rose to Alpha.
Torches flickered as the elders stepped into view. Their faces were carved with hard lines and sharp judgment. Their eyes raked over me with a coldness that stung worse than claws.
They stopped right in front of the bars.
One elder, tall, white-haired, eyes like chipped ice leaned closer as if I were something to be inspected.
“This is her?” he asked, voice thick with disbelief. “As ordered,” one guard answered stiffly.
Another elder scoffed. Loudly. “The goddess must be mocking us.”
A ripple of agreement hummed through the group.
“She’s an omega. A stray. Barely pack.”
“How could she be fated to an Alpha?”
“She’s already caused trouble, striking the future Luna?”
“An omen. A terrible omen.”
“Not fit to be Luna. Not fit to breathe our air.”
Their words were hurting me but I didn’t flinch. I kept my chin lifted, even when my chest tightened painfully.
An older woman stepped forward last, her silver braid swinging behind her. She glared at me with outright disgust.
“This is what fate sent us?” she said coldly. “A wild thing who sleeps on floors and fights leadership? The boy’s mate bond must be corrupted.”
Another elder muttered, loud enough for me to hear, “Alpha Kael must reject her. Immediately. The pack will never accept this creature.”
Creature.
I felt my wolf push forward, teeth bared in my mind but she could do nothing.
“A girl like her would weaken the whole bloodline, if she survives long enough to produce one.”
"We need to tell ....", Their words were suddenly interrupted by the sound of heavy boots.
The elders and guards stiffened, their postures snapping taut as the scent of dominance rolled into the room undeniable and suffocating.
He was here.
My breath hitched, when he opened the cell and entered inside.
The boots stopped just before me. For a heartbeat, the world held its silence and a shuddering breath left my throat as his gaze burned through me for a long, quiet minute.
It was almost as if my worst nightmare had grasped me. I could see my fate in his eyes, it was clear-death and nothing more.
My body didn't move, not even a single muscle. I stayed frozen under his scrutiny as he examined me. After some time , I lowered my gaze and I stared at the ground. Maybe if I didn’t look at him, maybe if I kept my head bowed, I could disappear into the dungeon.
It was useless because his hand suddenly gripped my chin, forcing my face upward again. My eyes collided with his and I felt them blur with more tears.
He tilted my face left, then right, as if inspecting something foul someone had accidentally dragged into his territory.
Finally, he released me with a sharp flick of his hand, and my head dropped forward,
“Despite the fact that she is an omega, she has no discipline. No respect. Not even the barest trace of manners.” He spoke.
A few elders nodded.
“And this.... this mess is what I am expected to present before the pack?” He went on. "You really need to reject her right now", One of the elders spoke but he didn’t reply back. Instead he just turned on his heels ready to leave. The elders also turned around but it didn’t calm me down, my lips instead lined straight, my heart beating hard and fast.
" Rejecting her isn’t enough , I want her to be killed right now" I heard him and I froze immediately.
No. My goodness.
"Bring the head to me after you're done." He continued, no emotion in his voice as if life didn't matter.
I lunged forward, but the guards closed the cell immediately. "Please. Don't kill me. I'll leave, I'll go away and I'll not say anything to anyone. I won’t say that I am your mate." I cried out as my throat began to close.
No body said anymore word after. The elders, most of them, including the Alpha just turned and left.
He didn’t care.