CHAPTER FIVE

ZARA POV

I heard the guard clearly but I could not move my limbs off the spot I was lying. The stale bread was still where it had been kept the previous day and so was the pottage, no one had given me water and I could not speak because I had lost my voice to the immense taste.

The guard walked to where I laid and lifted me roughly by the arm.

"You are to be executed today, lady." He said as he pulled me up. Another guard had appeared by the door as he pushed me on. I followed on shaky limbs. When we emerged from the dungeon, the Alpha gave another verdict.

"I have looked upon you with pity and I shall let you live, but you must never show your face in the Hedge wolves pack again." He looked around and continued. "Now leave and never look back."

I bowed my head and then left as fast as my weak legs could carry me.

When I came across a brook in the woods, I was grateful to the moon goddess and I made myself camp around the brook for a day, quenching my taste and eating the wild nuts I could find while my resolve to make Ryder pay for everything he had done to me both in my first and second life grew.

The moon was up in the sky, bright enough to help me travel through the bushes without any qualms, but as a Werewolf, my sight at night was even more lucid than day. I kept to the faint trails of what could have been a path. I continued all night until I was too exhausted to walk another step.

I had no idea where I was, but when I opened my eyes, two werewolves were staring down at me. In reflex, my wolf snapped to life and I felt my body start to shift. I snuffed out the desire and calmed my nerves.

"She looks like a runaway." One said to the other.

"Or perhaps, an outcast." The other replied.

I sat up and tried to force a smile, "Good sires, I am from__"

"She is a wanderer. Look at her hair." One of the men said again, cutting me off. I rolled my eyes. Had they not heard me.

"Come," The one with the dark, long hair said as he reached for my hand and pulled me up. "You have wandered into our pack." He said,

I knew at once that I was being arrested for trespassing. I had heard of the Dark moon pack and the ruthless and largely feared Alpha of the pack, but I'd never imagined I could ever be taken hostage for trespassing on their lands.

When they hustled me to the pack house, I was exhausted. The Beta of the pack, spoke to me in place of the Alpha.

"Who are you? From which pack have you come?" He asked, as I stood with my head bowed before him. He was a tall ferocious looking man and he wore a sheath that housed a mighty sword, which I was sure I'd like to flaunt my swordsmanship with.

His hand rested on the hilt of the sword, waiting perhaps for the right time to draw it. He did not seem to be a very patient man.

"I ask you, from which pack have you come? Lift your face up and answer me!" My head snapped up at the command and I locked gazes with him only long enough to say, "I'm sorry, I have been cast out from my pack."

I hoped he believed me and took pity, but he looked around to the men who had brought me and laughed.

"Did you hear that?!" He asked rhetorically. The men did not respond.

"Are you a spy that has been sent here to the Dark galaxy pack? Answer me!"

"I am not a spy, my lord..I have truly been cast out of my __"

"Then you must be evil. Why do you think that we will shield you in the dark galaxy Pack? We do not house evil!"

"My lord, I had been sent away on the basis of false accusation, I was ...." I tried to defend myself.

"Enough!" He yelled, cutting me off. " Take her and throw her in the cell until the Alpha comes and decides her fate." He said to the men. They grabbed me again, eagerly executing the command.

I was hungry and weak and only thought the universe was against me. How could I, wanting to get away from a pack that was against my peaceful existence, land in another trouble?

The men threw me in the cell and slammed the burglary shut.

'It is going to be alright.' I heard my wolf assure. It was refreshing to have my wolf speak to me. She was the only friend that I knew I had.

I sighed. I had no idea how long I would be there before the Alpha came or what he would decide to do with me.

"Tonight is the celebration of the moon goddess in the Dark galaxy pack. You will not be executed by the Alpha when he eventually comes.' My wolf informed me.

The cell was dark and cold and the night insects kept it alive with their cries. I looked up into the dark roof and without meaning to, started to cry.

I heard steps advancing down the cell passage. I stopped and paid attention. The steps got more lucid as it advanced and I knew it was coming towards my cell.

"The Alpha demands to see you, lady." The guard said when he reached the heavy burglary. I scrambled to my feet as he pushed the burglary open and beckoned for me to follow him, my heart thumped wildly as I walked down the hall with the guards.

Drawing closer to the hall, I smelt it. Inhaling deeply, the scent hit me like a wave - woodsy, spicy, and intoxicating, like a forest in fall, laced with the warmth of cinnamon and the crispness of pine. I felt like I was being pulled into a hidden world, like the scent was a portal to a place of mystery and wonder. The sweet, earthy aroma seemed to linger in the air, clinging to me like a warm embrace.

My legs moved faster, wanting to know the source of the sweet smell. As we stepped into the big hall, I was overcome by a sweet, heady scent that enveloped my senses. It was as if all of my nerve endings came alive at once, electrified by the mysterious aroma. The air seemed to shimmer and vibrate, as if the scent itself had a life of its own, beckoning me closer.

My eyes scanned the room and there he was! Sat on the royal throne, He was tall and enormous with dark hair that draped down one eye and chest as broad as the walls of a castle, his boots gleamed under the illumination of the chandeliers and his hand rested on the hilt of his sword.

As I neared the Alpha, I noticed a furrowed brow and a hint of irritation in his gaze. I knew he felt it too. The energy between us was tense, like the air before a storm. I raised my chin high and walked with a spring in my step, I'd be damned if I let another man who thinks himself an Alpha walk over me.