Once a Rogue, Now an Alpha

Caught

JUNE

What was it with powerful people that they always had to turn out to be cruel to those without power?

This man I was forced to marry, my mate, almost had my hands ripped out of my body because I dared to ask him why he hated me.

But why does he?

Maybe this was karma. Maybe this was the moon goddess making me pay for what I had done to Lennox even though he was a murderer.

Should I have stayed by his side, even though all the evidence showed that he was in fact the reason why his father, the Alpha King, died?

“s**t, you’re bleeding out…” the man, who was Alpha Axel’s Beta spoke the moment he placed me down on the couch in the living room.

My hand throbbed, I could feel every single blood that left my body as it oozed out. But I was also numb at the same time. “I need help in here…” he called out like a doctor would in a hospital.

When no one came, he ran off only to reappear holding a first aid box. I watched him work on the cuff first. His claws protruded, and he sliced so easily through the iron as if it was nothing.

Wow.

Was all that I could think of in that second before other thoughts followed. I wondered what kind of man he was and if he was anything like his Alpha. He seems different. If he was just as wicked, he wouldn’t be helping me.

“Goddess, what the hell happened to her?” A voice came from behind me, startling me, but I didn’t turn. I might not have known the woman for even a day, but I knew it was Maria.

She was by the Beta’s side in a second, bringing out what was needed to stop the bleeding and I just sat there through the pain.

Everywhere hurts.

It did.

And to know that my mate was responsible for this made the situation even worse for me and simply unbearable.

“Axel did this to her?” Maria asked the man beside her, and he nodded, dabbing a piece of cotton to wipe off the blood.

“He went crazy and would have done worse if I hadn’t gotten to them…” Jaxon, the beta answered, not stopping what he was doing.

“How are you best friends with that monster?” I couldn't help but ask, my voice barely above a whisper. Beta Jaxon heard me though, and so did Maria. I had finally summoned the strength to ask this question, but afraid this very one might also cause me to get into trouble.

Both of them shared a look, taking a pause as if stunned by my question, before getting back to working on my wrist.

Maria moved forward, taking his place to let him answer me. She wrapped a bandage around my wrists after disinfecting the cut. I did feel like my hands were about to fall off or that they weren’t mine any longer.

He didn’t answer for a few minutes. But when he did, I had the deep sense to slap him across the cheek. “It might look like that’s what he is, but he’s nothing close to that. I can assure you of that...” Or it’s a side of him you’ve never seen. “You just don’t know him, yet.”

Yet? I know all that I should.

Did Alpha Axel intend to hurt people who didn't know him upon first meeting? I don’t get it.

A small smile found its way to my lips and I stretched my bandaged hands forward to show him what his beloved Alpha had done to me. “I think I know enough.” I know all I need to know and what I need to do.

I knew enough to want to run as far away as possible from him and never return, mate or not. I knew that although my parents abused me, their beatings were going to be nothing compared to what I was going to have to go through here.

Jaxon pursed his lips with his eyes conflicting as though he had more to say but was contemplating which he was going to voice out first.

His mouth opened ready to speak but he froze. His eyes dilated and glowed a shade of blue, he was mind linking someone. When he snapped out of it, his eyes lowered back to me holding some sort of guilt in them. “I wish I could answer more questions you have, but I’m afraid Alpha Axel needs me.” And with that, he brisked off leaving me with Maria, who had not said a single word to me except the questions she had for the Beta.

She stood to her feet having been on the floor, and she carried the first aid box and walked off as well. Well then. She hates me just as much.

I sat there alone, but realized that I wasn’t locked in my room like I had been earlier. Look where you are, June. My mind told me and I took the chance to look around, but not at the decorations or anything of that sort. What I was searching for was an exit.

I have to get out of here.

I abruptly shot to my feet at the thought. This was my chance and, although I didn’t have the strength to fight off anyone given my predicament, - I took the chance to glance at my bandaged hands for a second – my legs were more than fine enough to run.

I marched to the nearest door, what I thought was the exit, and reached for the handle. Of course, pulling it open was hell.

I felt pain shoot from my hands to the crown of my head. But that didn’t deter my determination to leave. I had no idea if Maria was going to return to the living room, but I wasn’t going to be dumb enough to wait until she got back.

When the door opened, a wave of relief coursed through me. My heart raced at an unnatural speed, the need for freedom overwhelming me.

But I was outside the house and, as though my luck was on a shinning stone, there was not a single guard outside. Thank you moon goddess. I prayed internally before bolting away from the house for the woods.

I ran as fast as I could, hoping that I would soon see the park’s border. But that was unlikely given that Alpha Axel was not only the most feared Alpha in the country, but also the richest. His pack was the largest in land and resources. There was no way I was going to make it to the border in a short time, not with the little strength I had. But I didn't stop. I couldn't afford to.

What had me going was the training my father forced me to have growing up. And he had done that not because he wanted me to be strong enough to defend myself and stay protected, it was because he didn’t want people talking about the King’s Beta with a weak daughter.

I ran for what seemed like forever, the woods not seeming to end at all. Will I ever make it out? I asked myself, already feeling exhausted.

When I couldn’t go any further, I hid behind a tree to take some rest. Just for a minute. I had thought to myself, but that minute turned into two and more. Exhaustion was at its peak inside of me and fear of the unknown in these woods gripped my chest tightly.

I hadn’t realized that I had drifted into a slumber until I heard someone speak. “I want her locked up. I don’t care…”

“No man. Look at her, she’s injured, and she looks sickly. That is not how you want her parents to find her when they arrive.”

Fear mixed with shock had me frozen in my seated position on the dirty ground. I didn’t dare move or even flicker my eyes open. He’s going to kill me. I thought.

If he didn’t, I was sure any form of freedom I was ever going to have had just been eliminated from existence.

I pretended not to be unconscious for a little longer until I felt someone kick me. I groaned in pain and my eyes snapped open. “I told you she wasn’t asleep or dead….” Alpha Axel hissed through gritted teeth. He crouched on the ground at my level and gripped my chin painfully in his rough hand. “You should have f*****g run further when you had the chance. You should not have let me find you, June.” His eyes blazed red in anger and I could swear that I saw puffs of smoke coming out from his nostrils. He’s going to kill me. I shouldn’t have rested. He’s right, I shouldn’t have stopped.

Tears burned the back of my eyes, gathering before they fell. “… If you think what happened earlier was me showing you the extent of my hate, you haven’t seen anything yet.” Then he was back on his feet.

He towered over me, looking down like I was some peasant begging for her life. But in his eyes, I truly was a peasant, a nothing. I just hadn’t started begging for my life just yet.

“The only reason I haven’t ordered you locked in a dungeon is because your parents are coming over for dinner…” Alpha Axel added, and I felt all the blood in my face drain out. My parents? They’re coming? No, no, they can’t.

My eyes widened with shock. I didn’t know how to react. Why were my parents coming over? When was this arrangement made?

I stared once again at my bandaged hands and gulped. If Alpha Axel doesn’t kill me, my father will.

“Or he’s going to enjoy our pain…” my wolf spoke to me for the first time today. I could sense the bitterness in her words. And she was right, my father was going to blame me for not finding a way to marry Weston instead, and I bet he was going to gloat over the fact that I got what I deserved for being a disappointment.

“… And once they leave, you and I are going to talk about your audacity to mind link them into coming over…” What? I never did such a thing. But Alpha Axel spoke with such anger I had never seen before.

“But…I never…” I was going to tell him that I hated my parents and wanted nothing to do with them, but the words caught up in my throat when Beta Jaxon pulled me up to stand. A wave of dizziness hit me, spinning everything around me for a moment. I was feeling all types of pain, some which I couldn’t understand as I stared at him.

How do I make him understand that I never reported him to my parents and to have him believe me?