Chapter 4: Saved by the Alpha

Winona offered help to get me out of prison but I refused it. I didn’t want anyone to suffer because of me, so if I were to escape, I would do it alone. But I knew that escaping this deserted place was almost impossible unless I was taken out. Perhaps getting married off to the fourth district’s alpha wasn’t that bad.

I had found my mate, yes, but being with him right now was not possible. That man was living in the first district. He could have recognized my scent that night but he didn’t know anything about me. Not my face, not my name. He knew nothing so how could I expect him to come running to save me? Besides, what if he was just an ordinary person? He could do nothing against Uncle Nick’s scheme so I’d rather have him out of this mess.

"Alpha Nicholas’ people will come here for you tomorrow morning, so you should be ready." The woman sending me meals was kind enough to give me a heads up. "Finish your food and rest."

I didn’t say anything like usual and just started eating dinner when she left. The shackles were tight and uncomfortable but having had them for almost a month around my wrists, I had gotten used to how inconvenient they were for me.

After finishing the meal, I laid on the carpet to sleep. A week later after my arrival here, the woman gave me the carpet so I wouldn’t have to sleep on the cold floor. I thanked her for her kindness, but that didn’t mean I would want her to be my friend. Anyone who worked for that bastard Nicholas was considered to be my enemy.

My eyelids grew heavy, the weariness of this existence pulling me into slumber. Just as my consciousness started to slip away, a cacophony of sound erupted from outside the cell. It was jarring, a stark contrast to the usual silence.

My heart pounded as the noises intensified—shattering, crashing, the screams of chaos. Panic gripped me; the unknown was a terror greater than any certainty.

With a surge of adrenaline, I sat up, peering into the darkness. The absence of light was oppressive, my senses grasped for any hint of what was happening beyond my confines. Each sound sliced through the air, slicing at my nerves. A scream echoed, followed by the distinct thud of something collapsing. Fear clenched at my chest in a vice-like grip that left me breathless.

What was this madness? Could it be that this prison was under attack? The thought itself was ludicrous—who would dare assail this forsaken place? My mind raced with wild speculations, all the while my ears strained to gather any morsel of information from the outside world.

I waited for a few more moments.

And then, as if in answer to my mounting trepidation, a violent collision rocked the steel bar door of my cell. The impact reverberated through the air and my body jolted at the force of the blow, my heart racing even faster.

The barrage continued, the relentless pounding assaulting the door until, inevitably, it gave way. The door, once an unyielding barrier between me and the world beyond, now lay in ruins before me. My breath caught, and for a fleeting moment, time seemed to halt in its tracks.

But there, framed in the breach, stood a figure. A man, tall and enigmatic, with piercing blue eyes that locked onto mine with an intensity that rendered me breathless. My heart stuttered, my pulse echoing in my ears as the world narrowed to this singular, arresting moment.

I knew him—or, at least, I'd met him once. That face, chiseled and brooding, had left an indelible mark on my memory. How could I forget the raw power emanating from him, an aura of authority and danger? His presence alone commanded attention, demanding that the world acknowledge his existence.

As our eyes held, time seemed to stretch, allowing me to drink in every detail of his presence. His scent, familiar yet overwhelmingly intoxicating, flooded my senses. It was a scent that resonated deep within me, stirring something primal and profound. In that instant, I understood the truth of werewolf bond – that our souls recognized our mates, that the bonds between us transcended mere words and logic.

The recognition hit me like a tidal wave, sweeping away the barriers I had erected around my heart. Mates, I realized, were more than just a concept; they were a cosmic truth, an inexplicable connection woven into the very fabric of our beings.

His gaze bore into mine, a magnetic force drawing me closer, my heart and soul yearning for a connection I never thought possible.

It was as if I had known him for a lifetime, as if he had always been a missing piece of my existence. In his eyes, I glimpsed a depth of understanding that transcended words, a shared knowing that needed no explanation. The chaos that had engulfed my world seemed distant now, eclipsed by the gravitational pull of his presence.

"You… why are you here?" I managed to ask, my voice weak and barely audible.

His gaze dropped to the shackles around my wrists and his jaw clenched. His ocean blue eyes blazed as if the sight of my situation made him so mad. The danger lurking beneath the depths of his orbs made me know he was beyond livid.

With two long strides, he managed to close the gap between us. He got down in front of me and held the shackles on my wrists. The initial sting of pain as the shackles pressed against my skin made me wince, but the pain soon vanished when the shackles broke into pieces under the brutal grip of the man. For him to crush wraith steel just like that proved how strong he was, and I was starting to wonder if he was just someone ordinary like I thought at first.

"I'm getting you out of here," he declared, his voice a cold whisper that cut through the heavy air.

"You came for me?" I asked. I had so many questions for him. The woman sending me food had mentioned to me that this place was heavily guarded, so he couldn’t have barged into this prison alone.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" he asked instead of answering my question.

Before the silence could linger, a voice broke the stillness, its arrival accompanied by a revelation that sent shockwaves through me. "The place has been cleared, Alpha."

Alpha. The other man addressed him as Alpha!

My lips parted. So it was why he immediately knew why I was an outsider during the mating ball! Because I should have recognized him!

"Nice to meet you, Claire Delacroix," my mate said with a small smirk. And before I could react, he had carried me in his arms.

"How dare that stupid Nicholas try to marry my mate off to another man. I’m sorry but I won’t let your uncle off the hook, sweetheart," he whispered in a gentle voice, but the way his eyes narrowed darkly proved that he was no gentleman. He was danger himself.