Chap 3

There was a suspense-filled moment when he looked so mad that I thought he would slap me. His grip around my throat tightened painfully for a second. His hand inched to my face in an attempt to take off my mask. I clawed at his hands. 

"Let go." I managed to choke out.

His grip loosened immediately. I sat up and took huge gulps of air.

"Get up," he ordered.

A feral growl escaped from my lips.

"You think you're tough, don't you?" he said, conversationally. "I suppose you know who I am. Is there any other pack you could run to that would be entirely free from my influence?" He squatted in front of me. "Face it, you can't escape." His tone hardened. "Now, get up, we are going back to back."

"I am not going anywhere with you."

He gave me a cold bitter smile. His fingers twisted themselves in my shirt as he forcibly pulled me up. I struggled in his grip. He held me tightly by the arm.

"You have two choices. It is either you follow me quietly or I make you. Actually, now  I am really thinking about it, you do not have a choice at all." He threw back his head and laughed.

Tears of anger and shame- at being caught and manhandled- stung my eyes. I blinked them back. Tightening his hold on my arm, he practically dragged me back. I was sweating and panting by the time we got there. 

The gathering at the conference room had dispersed but there were a few people who were still loitering about, apparently hoping to hear some news. Dante released his grip on me suddenly. Not expecting that move, I fell to the floor. There were shocked gasps and whispers from the spectators. Those already on their way out stopped and came as close as they dared. My cheeks burned in embarrassment. Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that I would be brought this low in the sight of the pack I had sworn to protect.

Alpha Scott was at the far end of the room when we came in. He walked towards us, an angry look on his face. With him were guards and Darius, my brother. I groaned in frustration. My day could not get any worse. My brother had never been in support of the path of life I had chosen for myself. He felt that I should groom myself to find a suitable mate and eventually have children. Initially, he had tried to talk me out of training to be a warrior of my pack. His complaints had subsided but had not entirely been erased. I was pretty sure that he would support Dante's claim on me and I was not wrong. 

As my Alpha and the guards came closer, I backed away and bumped into something. I had not gotten to the door yet. Surprised, I turned to see that one of Dante's guards was right behind me. Others, moving stealthily, had flanked me on all sides, ruining all hopes I had of attempting to escape. 

"Here she is, your little spitfire," said Dante to Alpha Scott, gesturing to me. "Is this how you let members of your pack get out of hand?" Removing a handkerchief from his breast pocket, he dabbed at the thin trail of blood on his nose- the only sign that remained of the punch I had given him. I glared at him. The power packed behind that punch ought to have destabilized a normal man by now. Dante turned the bloody side of the handkerchief towards them, holding it as evidence. 

"Allison, you will be escorted by the guards to your room. You will go in there, pack your bags and go to live with Alpha Dante as your mate," ordered Alpha Scott.

Stubbornly, I crossed my arms across my chest, my chin thrust out.

"He is not my mate. I am sorry Alpha, but I can't-"

"You can't do what?" Dante demanded in a dangerously quiet voice. 

Darius stepped forward, holding up a placating hand. 

"Please, pardon my sister, Alpha. She is a little bit. . .wild and has unrealistic ideals.  Of course, she will go with you."

Anger coursed through me. If my brother and my pack thought they could sell me off to Dante without me putting up a fight, they had another thing coming.

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here, Darius. I am not going anywhere with him."

Livid, Darius drew his hand back and slapped me across the face, causing my head to tilt to one side. 

Dante growled and took a threatening step toward Darius. 

"Keep your hands to yourself. No one hurts her except me."

Darius gulped and retreated.

Dante glared at everyone in the room ferociously. "Listen to me, all of you." he thundered, his eyes dilating in fury, looking all around the room. The other people hanging around left the room hastily. "I swear on my crown that I will kill every last one of you-" He pointed to everyone in turn. "- if Allison does not leave with me today. So what's it going to be?"

Dante's guards moved threateningly, gradually surrounding Alpha Scott and his guards. On an unseen signal, more of Dante's guards poured in from the half-open door. As one, my pack's guards placed their hands on their belts where their silver daggers were hidden.

My heart thudded in my chest. I had to de-escalate the situation. It was a well-known fact that King Dante commanded thousands of warriors.

"I'll go with you-" I said.  All heads swiveled towards me. "- but on one condition."

"I am listening," Dante said simply. 

"You must promise not to mark me by force. I swear if you do I will kill myself."

Without hesitation, Dante nodded. "I give you my word. Now let's get going."

"Please, let me say goodbye first."

"Don't take too long," he said ungraciously. "I will be waiting in the car."

Turning he left the room, taking half of his guards with him. He gave instructions to the others to stay behind apparently to keep an eye on me. I stood staring after him. I could not believe that in less than 24 hours, my life had come crashing down. This was the day I turned eighteen but instead of it being a cause for celebration, I had been mated to the one man I detested and had nearly caused a pack war.

As soon as Dante left, the other guards and Betas of my pack came in ones and twos murmuring words of sympathy. I bid them hasty goodbyes, not wanting them to sense the amount of hurt and pain I felt.

I headed to my room, packing up my belongings in a suitcase. Handing the case over to a guard, I got in the vehicle with Dante and we were off. The drive to his pack took a long time, through roads that I wasn't familiar with. Dusk came and found us still on the road. My joints felt stiff with the effort of trying to sit as far away from Dante as possible.

Once, the car stopped, and a guard went out to buy something for dinner. Dante got out also and I was alone. Taking advantage of the moment, I quietly opened the door and took to my heels, running straight into the arms of one of Dante's guards. 

Dante gave me a mocking smile and the guard escorted me back to the car. I got in, adjusting my mask which was twisted awry during the scuffle with the guard. Dante proceeded to ignore me for the rest of the journey. We set off again and I forced myself not to worry. Other opportunities would present themselves. Thinking of a likely escape plan once we arrived at Dante's pack, I fell asleep against the door.