Chapter Four

Celine

Shamefully, I ran away from the Alpha’s room like the coward that I was. I couldn’t recover from the look of disgust he gave me when I admitted to being a thief. His piercing gaze burned into my soul, making me feel smaller than ever under his stare. Why did I have to admit to being a slave? Would he have believed me if I had told him the truth about Sheila? My parents didn’t care for me, but why was I still helping them protect Sheila?

I wiped away an angry tear that slid from my eye. I never thought my mate, not even the king, could be within these walls. But now, all hopes of finding a mate who would love me and cherish me had been dashed. My mate would rather die than accept me, a thief, as his queen.

Approaching my sorry excuse for a room, I passed in front of the maids’ quarters—a huge room that all the maids lived in. They refused to let me live with them, casting me to a storage room infested with rats and insulting me every night I had to pass their room to get to mine.

I wiped my tears and tried to remain passive, like I always did, quickening my steps. But the worst one of them all, the head maid, sighted me before I could escape.

“Hey, look! It’s that petty thief. Did you really think today was your last day and you could return to Mommy and Daddy?”

Her minions cackled, chattering amongst themselves about how pathetic I was. I blinked back tears and sped past their room.

“Wait, don’t go! I would love to hear how getting fucked by the king was! Although I’m sure he kicked you out when he smelled the scent of all the males in the palace on you!”

That wasn’t even true. I had been saving myself for my mate. But the tears were streaming now, and I quickened my steps, running into my room and slamming the door shut behind me. Immediately, I heard a loud kick on my door and the sound of it being locked from the outside. They always did that, though they let me out in the morning.

I grabbed my pillow off my bed and let out a loud scream into it, my chest hurting from how much pain I was releasing.

I didn’t deserve this, I thought as I cried into my pillow. All I ever wanted was to make my parents proud of me.

My gaze landed on my packed belongings in a bag, and my wolf whispered to me.

“Run away, Celine. You know nothing stops you from leaving, so why don’t you escape this hellhole while you can?”

I thought about what she said and sighed. She was right. Now that everything had been taken away from me, and my mate and parents had made it clear they wanted nothing to do with me, I could leave.

The locked door didn’t stop me. My wolf was different from others. When I shifted into my wolf, I became a ghost. My wolf could never be touched and could pass through walls at will. But where would I go if I left here? This place was awful, but at least I had a roof and scraps to eat. If I left, I had no one.

I debated with myself about the best decision to make, but after some time, I wasn’t able to make up my mind and began to doze off into a dreamless sleep, ignoring the hunger biting at my stomach.

The sound of the lock turning broke the stillness, and I jumped up from my sleep, my heart racing with fear. They never opened the door this early.

The door creaked open, and a figure stepped inside. A man.

Oh no, they brought one of the guards to take advantage of me.

My breath hitched as I pressed myself against the wall, clutching the thin sheet from my bed as though it could shield me. The faint light from the hallway illuminated his face—a young guard I recognized faintly. He wasn’t one of the usual cruel ones, but his presence still sent my heart racing with panic. No one could be trusted in this palace.

“Please—” I started to beg, but he stopped me.

“Celine,” he whispered, glancing nervously over his shoulder before shutting the door behind him. “Don’t scream. I’m not here to hurt you.”

I narrowed my eyes. He knew my name. “Then why are you here? And why now?”

He hesitated, his hand brushing through his hair. “Because I owe you. Months ago, you helped me find my sister when she got lost in the palace grounds. I never forgot that. And now... I see how they treat you. It’s not right.”

I blinked, caught off guard by his words. No one had ever spoken to me with kindness in this place. No one cared how they treated anyone here. I could remember him now and his precious little sister I helped. I didn’t know it meant anything to him.

“I can’t stand by anymore,” he continued. “I’m here to help you escape.”

The word “escape” hung in the air, tempting and terrifying at once. My wolf stirred within me, urging me to take the chance. Still, my doubt trumped over the urge. “Even if I could leave, where would I go? I have nothing, no one.”

“You’ll figure it out,” he said firmly. “Anywhere is better than here, isn’t it?”

His determination made me falter. For once, it was refreshing to have someone care for me, but I couldn’t help but think about what would happen if he were caught. Helping an offender escape was an offense.

“And what about you? If they catch you helping me, they’ll punish you.”

He offered a small, brave smile. “Let me worry about that. Come on, we don’t have much time.”

I hesitated, my fingers curling around the strap of my bag. Could I really do this? Could I leave everything I’d ever known behind? Leaving meant giving up my parents and my mate.

But neither had any use for me. If I left, they would barely realize I was gone. They didn’t care.

Accepting that fact, I took a deep breath and looked at the young guard. “All right,” I whispered, slinging the bag over my shoulder. “But how do we get past the guards?”

He smirked. “Leave that to me.”

We weaved through the palace without a hitch, the only sound as we made our way out being the loud beating of my heart as I wrapped my head around the fact that I was truly escaping.

The young guard, Neil, gripped my hand hard as he slipped me through a small opening in the walls of the palace, leading me to the back gates, where I could escape out of the pack border.

Neil turned to me as he gestured to the woods, a soft look in his eyes. “You are free now.”

This was it. All I had to do was run in that direction and never look back.

I just had to let go of Neil’s hand and run.

“Thank you—” I had begun to say, but a loud growl cut me mid-sentence, and all the blood in my veins turned to ice. I saw Neil’s face turn pale as he stared at what—or rather, who—was behind me.

“Your—your highness, I—”

The blood drained from my face as I turned slowly and came to face the king—my mate.

And he was livid.

“How dare you sneak a prisoner out of the pack?”