CHAPTER SEVEN

EMMA'S POV

The wind rushing in from the car's window flashes by my hair, sending strands into different directions. I didn't care, guess I was too drowned in my own pool of thoughts to do so. Tilting my head to a side, I watched keenly as Alpha Kai got into the car, his vaguely alarming presence gripping me back into reality.

"If you're going to be my Luna, you're gonna need more than that." His words echoed in my mind, making my heart skip a beat. I had just stood up for myself for the first time in years, and all he could say was that I needed more. Frustration and anger bubbled up inside me as I tucked my hair behind my ears. Why couldn't he see how hard that was for me?

I watched the engine roar, a harsh reminder of the new world I was stepping into. I turned back one last time, taking in the hellhole I’d spent my whole life in. And now, finally, I was free.

For several years, I've longed the sense of freedom within the four wall of the pack but I never got any. Fleeing was never an option; the pack’s walls were tight and strong, my father’s army stood guard, their watch lasting all day long. Trying to escape meant facing consequences harsh and grim, with answers to my questions lost in shadows. The last attempt I heard of ended with a chilling fate: the man’s head was severed, fed to pigeons at the gate.

All my life I'd admire things from afar, wishing that someday, I would get all the love I was supposed to receive as a kid from my father. But those wishes never came true, my father had abandoned me all my life, the four walls of my room being my only confidant.

And now, I could finally say I was free— free from the shitty criticism I faced from my father, the insults, my stepsister's constant bullying, the feeling of never being good enough. Now, I could say I have finally had a taste of it.

FREEDOM.

But shockingly it tasted bitter. I had tried all I could to get out of this hellhole, but was I headed into another?

"Fix your sir belts," He announced, the dark timbre in his tone flashing me back into reality. Hurriedly, I ran my fingers over to the sit belt as I pulled it trying to fix it but it didn't budge. Noticing my strivings from beside, he laughed his hand at the sit belt pulling them past my body. I felt a wave tumbling in my stomach as his body pulled close to mine as he fixed the sit belt.

"Done," He chimed casually as he turned back at the steering wheel. It was at this point that I noticed, Luke, his supposed beta was not in the car. I tilted my view to see if he was sitting at the back sit but he wasn't.

"If you're checking for Luke, I dismissed him immediately I left to get you in the pack house," My nerves clicked as he says, just as if he was reading my mind or something. Was he? I tried to ask my wolf for answers but connecting to her seemed way harder than the other times.

I tried again, this time calling her name inwardly but I got no reply, then again. After five fruitless attempts, I could as well say she had bailed on me, like everyone did.

Sighing softly, my head turning slightly at the window, the fleeting view of the pack house reminded me of my newly gained freedom.

But at what cost? Life as Alpha Kai's mate and Luna was definitely not going to be an easy job, I mean I'll have to transform into this tough powerful version of my self even I couldn't envision.

Staring back at my reflection in the window, I could see Emma the weakling, the little wolf everyone doted on. But now I guess I have a chance to leave all that behind and start a new life, in a new pack, new dress, new shoes, new role.

A slight smile flashes across my lips, I definitely knew life as a Luna was not going to be easy, but what were the odds. I had no choice, I was already his, Alpha Kai's.

And he was... mine?

At several occasions, in the girls locker room at highschool, I'd overhear different girl bickering over Alpha Kai and how much of a sought after bachelor he was. Like he'd said to his beta earlier, he didn't need a mate, all he wanted was a Luna, a strong, powerful woman I didn't see in myself.

"You have a chose, Emma," I heard aurora's voice from within. "You can either go back to being weak wolfless Emmaline or rather become a stronger version of yourself?"

"But..." I sent.

"There are no buts Emma, this is a wake up call to embrace the chance the moon goddess has given us." Aurora's voice clicked into my head. I felt an entire new burst of energy, courage, spiraling in my veins.

"Yes," I sent back in confirmation. The gown I was wearing now clung to me like a second skin but this time, I was owning it.

I had to embrace this new chance even though it was going to conclude of a loveless bond with an egocentric alpha. But that didn't matter.

"We're here," I heard Aurora's voice chim from somewhere in my mind, my body clicking into reality once more. The car sped past a welcome to the crimson pack sign. And as we arrived at the grand gates of the pack, Alpha Kai signaling to the guards as the huge bronze gates pulled open making a soft creak.

The car zooms forward, its engine's once steady roar softening as we leave the bustling streets behind. As we approach, the towering silhouette of an enormous building comes into view, its sophisticated architecture hinting at the secrets within. My heart races as we draw nearer, every instinct telling me that this is the pack house. In that moment, I realize: my life is about to change forever. But what awaits me behind those grand doors?