The Rogue Alpha and His Stubborn Mate

03 A Dare To Dream

Nala

I fainted somewhere between the beating because I woke up in the cell. I was a fast healer, but my heart was broken. Why would they do this to me?

I never did anything to anyone. Knowing this was the alphas' doing, there was no point in shouting and demanding justice. There was no one to give me justice.

What sucked about the situation was that I was hungry and weak. I also doubted I would be fed. I dreaded being kept here for long.

The tendency of being forgotten in a cell is possible, especially now that I realise I have no family and protection.

Maybe I shouldn't have run my mouth or pushed back; none of this would have happened, but I couldn't help myself. I always had the need to defend myself, especially when I knew that my guardians did not have my interest at heart and I was just a cash cow, a means to an end for them.

Honestly, I wasn't crazy about Maxwell, but being betrothed to him was tradition. If the beta family had a female of the right age for the future Alpha, then it would go to the beta family. If not, it would come to the Gamma family. If the Gamma family did not have a female of the right age for the Alpha, it would move to the Delta family. If the delta family lacked the requirement, then there would be a need to seek an alliance and marry from another pack. It was a messed up culture, but that was my world.

The next day, I had a visitor, Delta Brian.

I barely spoke to the guy, so I wonder why he would even bother to pay me a visit.

He was a horrible person, so I wasn't expecting anything good to come out of this. I was very hungry and thirsty and hoped I wouldn't need to speak. I really did not need this right now.

Brian didn't come alone, though. He brought his friend and Riley, the wimpy guy of our pack—my future husband according to our bully Alpha. The man did not deserve to rule a pack, I hope bacd luck befalls him soon so we can rest in Willow Bridge Pack.

They walked towards my cell, dragging my reluctant husband-to-be, Riley Klein.

He had been beaten up, so I knew they were not here to be nice.

Brian stood in front of the bars of my cell with a smirk. He wasn't physically appealing. His blond hair was thin, and his eyes were too close together. He missed a unibrow by a few centimetres, and I hated his thin, unflattering lips. I did my future babies a favour by rejecting him. There was no beauty that could remedy the damage his genes would do to a baby.

"So you believe you are better than me, Nala. A stupid orphan b***h who would have been a rogue if not for the mercy of the Alpha. An orphan who lived off the charity of everyone in the pack feels she is better than me?" he said, and I could tell the fact I rejected the union got to him even though he hid it. A guy like him could never have a girl like me, so the arrangement was a beneficial situation for him. A delta with a gamma. Speak of a downgrade for me.

"I never fancied you, Nala. I just felt sorry for you, which was why I took the deal, but now that you are going to be joined with this dude here, I guess I was above your station after all," he said, and even though I was in pain and weak, I smirked at him.

"If you weren't bothered, you wouldn't be here. It seems it sucks to be rejected," I said to him, and he growled at me, holding on to the bars and shaking it. I managed to laugh; I couldn't help myself. He looked hilarious.

"You are a b***h, Nala, and that is why Maxwell rejected your old ass," He said. I was getting tired of being referred to as Old. I mean, I was just twenty-one. I was beginning to suspect there was something wrong with the people in Willow Bridge. Maybe not all, just the people in the Alpha's circle.

Brian's words didn't bother me.

"What are you looking at, b***h? Want to die?" he asked. I could tell my stare made him uncomfortable. Which meant he knew he looked unappealing.

I smirked at him.

"Want to test that on the battlefield, asshole. We both know I will beat your arse. You are lucky there are bars between us, or I would have ripped you into pieces with the way I am feeling right now," I said, and he smiled at me.

"You won't be so mouthy married to this loser," he said and pulled Riley by the hair, pushing the guy's face against the bars to force me to see him.

"This is your future, Nala. Weak and petty. I wouldn't want to be you," he said, letting go of Riley and walking away.

Riley remained; he couldn't even keep eye contact with me. The guy was twenty-three years old, but sometimes I believed I was older than him. He was too timid for his own good. His social skills were nonexistent, likewise his confidence.

There was no need to snap at him. Seeing his face, Brian must have given him a hard time. There was no point, really.

"Go home, Riley. There's nothing to see here," I said, and he nodded silently and walked away.

A few moments later, Riley returned to the cells, and I was about to snap at him when he gave me bread and soup. He had somehow snuck it in. His small frame and timid nature made him seem harmless. How did he know I was hungry?

I collected the food from him. He had packed the soup in small containers so they could pass through the bars. The bars were wide apart, but a small bowl wouldn't have gone through.

"Thank you, Riley. I appreciate your kindness," I said, noticing that there was meat, too.

I looked at him. I could tell he was sweet, but I wanted more for my life. He wasn't enough and would never be. But I wasn't going to crush his feelings. Not after he brought me soup.

"I will reject you so you will be free," he said to me. I knew rejecting me would put him in trouble because it was the Alpha's decree.

"Don't do that, Riley. Don't get in trouble for my sake, Riley. I will find a way. I promise," I told him, and he waited for me to eat the food quickly. The soup was a liquid to wash down the bread and the meat. He told me he made it himself. Honestly, it was delicious, and I appreciated his kindness and effort.

He collected the small containers and left.

Riley fed me for four days, and finally, I was released.

Had it not been for Riley's help, I would have been hospitalised from hunger and dehydration.

My wolf remained silent all through until I finally got home.

Luckily for me, there was no one home.

I showered and cleaned up, then looked at my pale reflection in the mirror.

How much more was I going to take?

I had nothing against Riley but didn't want to marry him. I was just twenty-one, yet they say I am old simply because my Uncle wants his daughter to be the Luna of the Willow Bridge Pack.

While looking at my reflection in the mirror, my wolf's eyes flashed.

"Nala, for how long will we endure this?" she asked me, and I sighed.

"We can no longer linger here. Let's go out there and take our chances. I know we wanted to keep Mom and Dad's legacy, but we have to admit it, Nala. It is all gone. They took it all, and they won't be giving it back. Let us move on and be free," she said. I knew she was right. It was now or never. I didn't want to find out what next the Alpha or my guardians had in store for me. They had surprised me enough to last me a lifetime. I wasn't going to take anymore.

I went to check my Uncle's room, hoping I would find a wade of cash or something, but there was nothing there. I wasn't bothered. I had planned to hack into certain accounts and transfer money out of them. All I needed was my laptop. It was the first thing on my to-do list when I got to my destination, wherever that was.

I had a little money saved, but it wasn't much because I had to care for myself; there was nothing to run away with. A job was definitely on my to-do list; I would perish out there with nothing.

The lack of sufficient cash meant I would live in discomfort for a bit before things stabilised for me, but my comfort was the least of my worries now.

It was time to cut ties with Willow Bridge and all that it held. It meant leaving everything behind.

I made the decision immediately.

There was no point in lingering in the place. I was done with all of them.

I packed my belongings—just the necessities—and headed out of the house.

I wasn't going to ever look back. Although I had never been out there before, I planned to take my chances. I planned to survive. I longed for my happy ending, and I was going after it.