Cast Aside by her Mate… Now She’s the Alpha’s Only Hope
Part 1
The stones hit my shoulders with sharp thuds.
Trudging along the muddy path toward the northern pack’s manor, I keep my chin tucked tightly to my chest.
Frost-covered dirt crunches loudly beneath my heavy boots.
When a rotten apple splatters against my knee, I swallow the rising humiliation without a single flinch.
I deserve every bit of their anger.
My pack destroyed their home.
My ex-boyfriend, Tyler, used his dark magic to mind-control my family.
Tyler forced our warriors to slaughter these innocent people.
Infusing his dark magic into a deadly toxin, Tyler poisoned their Alpha, Craig.
The treacherous poison ravaged Craig’s body, leaving him completely blind and broken.
Even though Tyler is rotting in his grave now, the crushing guilt still suffocates me every single day.
My knuckles turn white around the handle of my medical bag.
It is the only tool left to fix the ruin my family left behind.
The towering iron gates of Craig’s manor loom overhead.
The guards bare their teeth in a collective snarl.
Stepping off the porch, Brian, the second-in-command, completely blocks the entrance.
He crosses his thick arms over his broad chest.
His narrowed eyes silently challenge me to take another step.
“Alpha Craig will not see you today.”
He delivers the same rejection for the fourteenth day in a row.
I swallow the lump in my throat.
“Please.”
“He needs a healer.”
Brian shakes his head.
I turn around.
My nails dig into my palms.
If they will not let me in during the day, I will find another way.
Midnight blankets the forest in deep shadows.
I shift into my wolf form.
My paws make no sound on the damp earth.
I scale the stone wall at the back of the manor.
I slip through an open window on the second floor.
The scent of pine and rain hits me instantly.
It is the most intoxicating scent I have ever encountered.
My wolf whines.
Mate.
The realization hits me like a physical blow.
Craig is my mate.
I freeze in the center of the dark bedroom.
A massive figure rises from the chair by the window.
Craig steps into the moonlight.
His storm-gray eyes stare straight ahead.
His eyes are completely unseeing.
“Who is there?”
His voice rumbles with raw, terrifying power.
As a suffocating panic seizes my lungs, Tyler’s cruel sneer flashes behind my eyes.
I can almost feel his hands bruising my arms as he hisses that I am worthless.
Scrambling backward on the slick hardwood floor, I fight the sudden urge to vomit.
I launch myself out the window.
I hit the ground running.
Snap.
Metal teeth bite into my front leg.
Pain explodes through my body.
A scream tears from my throat.
I thrash against the steel trap.
Heavy footsteps crunch through the brush.
Craig emerges from the trees.
He walks with slow, deliberate steps.
He cannot see me.
He follows the scent of my blood.
He drops to his knees beside me.
His large hands brush against my fur.
I bare my teeth.
I prepare to fight.
“Quiet.”
His voice is surprisingly gentle.
His fingers find the release lever.
The metal jaws spring open.
I collapse onto the dirt.
Craig scoops me into his arms.
He carries my wolf form against his broad chest.
His body heat seeps into my shivering fur.
My wolf hums with absolute contentment.
I pull on my human skin, begging the shift to come.
My bones refuse to snap back into place.
The suffocating weight of my trauma pins me inside this furry body.
Craig carries me into his bedroom.
He sets me down on a soft rug.
“You are safe here.”
Days blur into nights.
I stay in his room as a wolf.
I guide him through the dark halls.
I nudge his hand when he needs his water glass.
I rest my head on his knee while he sits by the fire.
He talks to me.
He tells me about his pack.
He tells me about the agonizing pain of losing his sight.
He strokes my fur with calloused fingers.
I fall deeper in love with him every single day.
But I cannot stay a wolf forever.
In the dead of night, my human form finally returns.
I kneel beside his bed.
He breathes steadily in his sleep.
I press my glowing hands against his temples.
I channel my healing magic into his damaged optical nerves.
Sweat drips down my forehead.
The magical drain leaves me completely exhausted.
I collapse onto the mattress next to him.
I fall asleep before I can shift back.
Sunlight warms my bare shoulders.
I open my eyes.
Craig is not in the bed.
I sit up.
I pull the thick sheet over my chest.
The bedroom door swings open.
Brenda, the housekeeper, rushes inside.
Her eyes widen at the sight of my human form.
“You… you are the healer from the attacking pack.”
I nod slowly.
“Where is Craig?”
Brenda twists her apron in her trembling hands.
“He regained his sight this morning.”
My heart leaps into my throat.
“He saw me?”
Brenda looks away.
“He saw you.”
“But he had to leave immediately.”
“His fiancee just arrived at the gates.”
I touch my trembling fingers to my lips.
Tyler’s cruel voice still echoes in the dark, whispering that I am broken.
My lungs tightens every time I remember his twisted manipulations.
A cold sweat breaks out across my forehead just thinking about it.
But the fear of his hatred is stronger than my wolf’s possessive growl.
If he realizes the enemy pack’s daughter is in his bed, he might kill me.
Panic completely overrides my mating bond.
I have to get out of this manor before he comes back.
