Chapter 3

I don’t know how long I stood there in silence, with every eye in the room trained on me, before, suddenly, a pair of rough hands grabbed my arm. I let out a small shout of surprise as nails dug into my skin.

It was my brother, Jeremy, whose face was distorted in anger as he tried pulling me away from Alpha Sergio. But before Jeremy could get me far, a menacing growl erupted from Alpha Sergio and, in an instant, Sergio wrenched Jeremy away from me.

Now, Sergio stood in-between my brother and I, shielding me from my brother’s fierce, brown gaze. Sergio’s hand lightly grazed my arm, sending an electrifying chill down my back.

Jeremy stared at me for a second, looking slightly betrayed, as if I had a choice in Alpha Sergio choosing me. The look he gave me made my insides twist and I attempted to walk around Sergio to reach Jeremy, but Sergio gave me a dark look, and held me back with a shaking hand.

After a few seconds of strained silence, Jeremy erupted, “Not my sister you son of a bitch.” He suddenly advanced on Sergio, his entire body shaking with might and fury. Before Jeremy could reach Sergio however, dozens of people from the crowd leapt forward to hold his struggling body back.

My brother held a special hatred for the Black River Pack, ever since one of their members blinded his mate in a border quarrel. And now his only sister and longest friend was mated to the pack’s alpha.

I realized that Sergio was shaking too, although nobody from his pack attempted to calm him down. I gently reached out a hand to touch his arm, and instantly I felt him stiffen beneath my touch.

“What is done is done,” my father said calmly as he stood in-between my brother and Alpha Sergio, “Somebody take him out- there will be no fighting tonight,” he motioned to my brother and a group of my pack members escorted him from the room. As Jeremy vanished from my sight I lightly held out my hand in the direction he had gone, as if that could make my dear brother come back.

The room erupted into a frenzy of chatter and people were staring at me with mixed expressions- shock, excitement, and even some horror.

“We need to leave…” Alpha Sergio muttered, although I do not know if he directed it toward me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw other Black River pack members nod and begin to clear the way to the nearest exit.

In an instant, Sergio’s hand was wrapped around my arm in a steel lock as he pulled me along with him as we reached the exit and stepped into the cool night air.

Once we were outside, I looked behind me, “What about my family?” My voice was full of fear as I searched the crowd for a familiar face.

When Sergio said nothing and continued to force me over to a black SUV that just pulled up, I began to struggle against him.

“Stop! My family! …I need to say goodbye!” I yelled, twisting my arm away from him only for my other arm to be snatched by him with ease. Fear began to consume me and a feeling of panic rose in my throat as I continued to fight my mate. When he would not release my arm, I spun around as fast as I could and punched his face.

When my fist made contact with his face I let out a strangled yell as I felt my knuckles crack. I cursed loudly and gripped my hand, while he stood unfazed before me.

His beautiful eyes connected with mine in a way that took my breath away, but there was a certain fierceness in his gaze that stopped my fighting all together and I just clutched my broken hand.

He pulled me closer to him, “Do not ever do that again.” He growled in my ear, a sound that made me shudder as I felt his breath graze my skin.

Sergio almost shoved me inside of the SUV, and, once I was inside the car, I was face-to-face with a girl who looked a little older than me. She had short, cropped black hair with highlights of red spread throughout it. She possessed the same fierce eyes as Sergio, except hers were filled with pity as the door slammed behind me.

Sergio was in the driver’s seat, a rigid expression on his face as he put the keys into the SUV and shifted it into drive. The car was full of strangers that sat in silence, but occasionally I would catch a pair of eyes watching me.

Tears began to fill my eyes and I did my best to wipe them away before anyone noticed, but one rogue tear slipped down my cheek and I looked up to see Sergio’s piercing eyes on me from the rearview mirror. I quickly glanced away and rested my head against the seatbelt as I looked out into the night sky.

Everything had happened so fast that I hardly had time to think, but now that I was alone in the silence, everything caught up to me, and I could feel myself shaking from tears as we drove into darkness.

I had fallen asleep during the long drive back to the Black River Pack territory, and, even when we reached the pack mansion, I did not awaken. The events and emotions from the night exhausted me to the point where I could not be roused by anyone.

Although I was asleep, I was still conscious of the things happening around me, and when the car stopped I felt somebody’s arms lift me from the large car. The feeling of their skin against mine felt foreign and odd, to the point where it was almost uncomfortable.

Suddenly, a rumbling growl erupted from nearby. It was a sound that made my insides tingle uncontrollably with eagerness and longing.

“Sorry boss, I was just getting her out of the car for you,” a carefree voice came from the man who was holding me, “Here you go and I am out. No need to get defensive.”

Stirring warmth overcame my body as I felt a new pair of arms pull my cradled body into their chest, and I knew it was Sergio. My body molded against his, and I could feel every ridge and curve along his chest muscles.

The movement of his stride was almost comforting to me as I slept in his arms, and, before I was ready, he laid me down on a bed and his arms were no longer surrounding me.

Someone placed a blanket over my small body and I could hear Sergio’s dark voice instructing someone, “Raegan, I want guards outside of the door. Get Sophia to come watch her, and only Sophia, got it? I am going to go research… this.”

The way he said ‘this’ made my half-conscious-self cringe inwardly. His tone was incensed and clouded, like he had no clue of what to do with himself.

Raegan, the beta of the Black River Pack, spoke in a quiet voice, like he was just as bewildered as Sergio was, “Yes Alpha…What do you think happened?”

Sergio spoke softly, “She is my mate, there is no question about that, but…” The voices trailed off as they walked out of the room and I could no longer hear anything.

With nothing else to listen to, I quickly succumbed to sleep in this foreign environment.