CHAPTER FOUR

Hardin’s POV

Sometimes I feel like cursing the moon goddess for doing such obnoxious things. How could she pair me up with such a cruel murderer for a mate?

I hate Reign, I hate her for murdering the woman I love, my chosen Luna. I was this close to ending her miserable life but my Beta and best friend, Miguel stopped me. One thing for sure is that I will never forgive her for this crime she committed and for as long as she lives in this pack, I will make sure she lives a miserable life. She’s going to pay for taking Wilma away from me.

My office door creaks open and Miguel walks in with an eternal frown masked on his face. I wonder what he has come to quarrel with me about this time around.

“What now Miguel?” I ask with a frown.

“Did you see what your men did to her? They broke her arm” He scolds.

“Well that’s more than what she did to Wilma! I should have killed her myself”

“You didn’t even let the poor girl explain herself” He scolds yet again.

“Explain what exactly? Didn’t you see the marks on Wilma’s body? The unique bites? Only a werewolf as strong as Reign could’ve done that to her and oh… she admitted it!”

“Hardin, something tells me you’re mistaken”

“Miguel that’s enough, you already made me release her against my will, if you annoy me any further I will send my men to go get her again and this time around, you won’t be able to stop me from ending her miserable life”

“Hardin, that’s your mate you’re talking…”

“Do not ever call her my mate again, ever!” I cut him off.

“No matter how many times you deny it, you and I know that she’s still your mate. Hardin I know what a mate bond is, it’s not something you can easily dissolve. Deep down in your heart Hardin I know you don’t want this. You love…”

“I do not love Reign! I rejected her and I want nothing to do with her!”

“You want everything to do with her, Hardin, that is your mate you are talking…”

“Enough!” I roar and he goes mute. “I don’t want to hear anything about Reign!”

“I will tell you more!” He dares as he walks closer to me.

Sometimes I really dread how it’s impossible for me to treat him like others. Apart from being my right hand man, my Beta, he is also my best friend and there's no way I can punish him.

“That girl you despise so much is our future Luna, she was chosen for you, for us, by the moon goddess. Hardin you seem to have forgotten how the moon goddess punishes any Alpha that forsakes his Luna for intangible reasons. Do you want to fall into that trap? Do you want this great Empire to be ruined because of something so trivial?” He asks and I go mute.

What he said makes some sense.

“Hardin, we have known each other all our lives, I am your Beta and you know I will never mislead you. I understand that you loved Wilma very much but, it’s unfair to pass judgment on Reign without investigating what really happened. Forget the fact that she's your mate, treat her like any normal citizen of yours. Now tell me, will you pass judgment on anyone without carrying out investigations?” He asks and I silently shake my head.

“No”

“You have never done that before, so why is it different with Reign?”

“The marks…”

“Yes, I saw the marks too but that girl has her own side of the story. You didn’t even bother to listen to it.”

“Because I knew she was lying. She said she thought it was a rogue and all that…”

“You do know that she has been locked up all her life right? And yesterday was the first day she came in contact with the world. A lot of things were strange to her”

“Miguel, why are you even doing this?”

“Because she is my Luna. You might not know this, but as a Beta it’s not only my duty to defend you but to defend my Luna too and that is exactly what I am doing and I will not stop until I find concrete evidence to prove that she is not guilty!” He insists firmly.

“You keep defending and calling her your Luna. I rejected her and she killed the Luna I chose for you all”

“Hardin, we can sit here and argue all day, one thing for sure is that we will never agree to each other’s terms, but I’m telling you this, my Alpha, My brother, my best friend. If in the end all this backfires against you, you will be sorry. I still insist you treat this matter justly. Reign, will always be your true mate and our true Luna, whether you like it or not” With that, he exits my office leaving me totally dumbfounded.

What exactly is going on?

Reign’S POV

Anger, hunger, tiredness, pain is all I feel right now. I’m limping on three hooves right now, unable to even step the broken forearm down. Lyla ran from my former pack to wherever it is we are right now and she overworked the already damaged arm. Right now I feel like we are both going to die in the next few seconds.

My head is spinning like a roller coaster and I’m still trying to understand how it’s possible that things turned upside-down for me in such a short span of time.

My mate rejected me the moment we met and the very next day I was accused of killing my sister. Till now I’ve still not understood why she attacked me in the forest that night before I took her life thinking it was a rogue. I just don’t get it.

My very own mate had me tortured mercilessly before his eyes and for absolutely no reason he killed the most important person in my life before my eyes. This is not the world Sean told me about.

He once told me he believed that I would be able to prevail in any condition I find myself in because I’m strong and brave but right now I don’t think I can be that strong and brave wolf he has always talked about. All I want is for death to take me right away because I’m tired of this cruel world.

I suddenly collapse to the ground caring less about the mud that’s staining my snow white fur. I can’t shape shift to my human form because I’ll be naked and I don’t have any clothes to wear. Right now I presume I’m in another pack land and that means I’m officially a rogue and if any werewolf from this pack finds me, he or she will kill me immediately and I would so much love that. I hope that happens quickly.

As my eyes drool sleepily, I hear powerful footsteps approaching but I don’t even raise my head up to check, all I pray for is that they end my miserable life.

“Alpha, it’s a rogue. We have to kill it!” I hear someone persists but I don’t bulge.

“No!” An authoritative voice comes roaring and I don’t need to be told that that’s the Alpha. Their voices are always a different kind of deep scary. “ That’s a Shewolf and she looks terribly hurt, she needs to be helped, not killed. Carry her up” He orders and one the men come to lift me up and the moment he touches my broken forelimb, I howl in pain and the Alpha rushes to me.

“She has a broken limb, I’ll take care of this” He carefully carries me up and starts walking away.

Suddenly, everything goes black.

I hope when I get up, I’ll find myself in the land of the dead.