Chapter Four: I'm Your Mate

 Lenora

I gradually opened my eyes, drowsily observing my environment. I saw that I was in the dungeon, the chill of the stone walls and the faint torchlight starkly reminding me of my situation. I tried to sit up, but a surge of dizziness overwhelmed me, making me lie back down. 

 “Hello?” I signaled the guards who were standing by the door and one of them rushed forward and bowed before me.

 “Greetings, Luna!” He greeted me and I nodded.

 “How long have I been here?” I asked him.

 “You've been here for two days, Ma'am,” He said gruffly. “You've been unconscious the whole time,”

  I felt a wave of anger wash over me upon hearing the news. Two days? How could Axel keep me here for two days? I was the Luna for heaven's sake!!

 “Thanks!” I said to the guard and he bowed and walked back to his duty post. 

 At that moment, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching. I glanced up to find Melissa and her mother approaching me, wearing satisfied smiles. I noticed the other woman behind them! 

 Laura! 

 I gritted my teeth in anger as I remembered what Melissa had said. Heck! If I wasn't confined in this dungeon, I would have torn her face with my hands. 

 Now I won't ever be able to bear my own children. 

 “Well, well, well,”Melissa said, her voice dripped with malice. “Look who we have here! The former Luna, locked up in the dungeon like the criminal she is,”

 I ignored her, but she kept talking, taunting me with her vicious remarks. Laura looked like she had something to say, but she stayed silent, her eyes fixed on the floor. 

 “She is so stupid. Just like her wretched mother,”Matilda hissed. 

 Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I would gladly endure any harsh words directed towards me, but not to my mother. I picked up a nearby rock and hurled it at Melissa, but she ducked out of the way just in time.

 Her mother and Laura burst into laughter. Just when I thought that Laura was feeling remorse for what she did to me. 

 Melissa's grin became broader. “Come on, Lenora, you are so predictable,” she said. 

 “Anyways, soon you will be nothing but a memory to everyone in this Pack, just like your mother.”

 She leaned closer to me. “My plan is to make sure that Axel sends you away from the Pack for good,”

I felt a surge of anger at her words. “Shut up!” I yelled, yet she continued speaking.

 “And just so you know, the baby I'm exhausted expecting, isn't Axel's,” she winked at me. “It belongs to someone else. I don't even know the man's name!” 

 I couldn't believe what I was hearing. How was she able to act in such a deceptive manner?

 Melissa simply chuckled. "I know how Axel is eager for a child, and I knew this was the only way to get what I desire." "And now, he has made me the Pack's Luna.”

  I felt like I'd been punched in the gut. How could this be happening? Didn't he care about my feelings anymore? 

 “Does Axel know that the child you are carrying is not his, huh?” I asked, but she chuckled. 

 “He doesn't have to know,” she said with a smug look on her face. 

 “Then I'll tell him about it–”

 The next minute, the three of them burst into laughter. “Don't worry your poor ass, sister. He won't believe you. 

 “Don't you think he would see you as a jealous woman?” Laura asked. They walked away leaving me all alone in the cold dungeon. 

The guards arrived soon after, escorting me to the open field where Axel stood waiting. The sun beat down on my skin as I approached him, my anger and hurt simmering just below the surface.

 I shot a fierce look at Axel, my eyes burning with anger. He looked at me, his blank visage a sharp difference to the feelings swirling within me. 

"Did you ever care about me?" I asked, my voice laced with venom.

Axel scoffed, his eyes flashing with disdain. "I loved you at first, but the love died when you couldn't give me an heir."

I chuckled lightly, the sound devoid of humor. "You've never loved me, Axel. We both know that you didn't."

Axel's face darkened, his voice dripping with venom. "That's not why you're here, woman!”

 Melissa stood next to him, a self-satisfied grin on her face. "I believe Lenora ought to face consequences for her actions towards me. She almost made me lose my child," she stated as she caressed her belly. 

 “So how do you think we should punish her?” Axel asked as he wrapped his hands around her waist, burying his nose in the crook of her neck.

 "I believe the ideal punishment would be to exile her from the Pack." She said and I scoffed, loud enough for them to hear. 

Axel nodded, his face devoid of expression. "Very well." 

 “Lenora, you are officially expelled from the Pack." 

 “Seriously?” I asked him and he nodded.

 “Yeah. I can't be with a murderer. This is what the Pack have accepted and you know as a leader, I have to please my people. I'll do anything for their safety,” He said and I shook my head.

 The same pack that I had treated like mine. The same pack that I had served diligently. Yet, this is how they repay me. 

However, as I was about to go, a thought suddenly popped into my head. If I was leaving, I should leave peacefully! I stared at him, a strong resolve igniting inside me. “I reject you, Alpha Axel Hunter, as my mate. From today henceforth, you are no longer my mate. I reject your pack too. From today, I am no longer a member of this pack,”

 Axel's expression dropped, but he swiftly calmed himself down. "Quite good," he replied. I could tell that he wasn't expecting my rejection, but I cared less. 

  "I accept your rejection. You are no longer my mate or Luna."

I turned around and strode off, experiencing a wave of liberation engulf me. I was finally free from Axel and the Pack. I couldn't even bring myself to tell Axel about Melissa's words. He should find out on his own. 

 On the way, I stumbled upon a tall, broad-shouldered man. I would have fallen face flat on the floor, but he caught me by the elbow, steadying me. 

"My apologies for that," he remarked, his eyes wrinkling at the edges. "I'm Zade" 

A surge of electricity coursed through me as I gazed up at him. There was something about him that seemed familiar, something that drew me to him. 

 "Lenora," I muttered, my voice hardly more than a whisper. 

 Zade's gaze sharpened, and his demeanor became serious. "I know you. You are Axel's mate,! he stated. "Or at the very least, you were." 

 A wave of discomfort washed over me at his remarks, yet Zade merely grinned. 

 "There's no need to worry," he remarked. "I'm not here to harm you." Actually, I believe we might assist one another. 

I lifted an eyebrow, curious in spite of myself. "What are you trying to say?" I inquired. 

 Zade's grin grew wider. "Let’s simply put it that I share a history with Axel," he stated. "I believe you might be the key to assisting me in bringing him down." 

 A spark of curiosity flared up inside me. Could this individual be the accomplice I required to seek vengeance on Axel and the Pack? 

 However, when I gazed into Ryder's eyes, I noticed something that caused my heart to flutter unexpectedly. A realization struck me as I heard my wolf's words.

 “Mate!” She said, but I didn't want to believe her yet. What if she was playing tricks on me?

"Who are you, really?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. 

  Zade's grin expanded, his eyes sparkling with delight. 

"I'm your mate. Don't you feel the bond?"