I stirred, trying to move my body. It felt like I was being carried in someone's arms. Wtf happened?

My throat hurt, and my eyelids were so heavy I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes. I inhaled deeply, and was hit with a delicious smelling combination of mint and pine trees, which I recognized as Alpha Cain. Suddenly, my memory rushed back to me.

I struggled in the thick arms of Alpha Cain, still too injured to really put up much of a fight. He really did a number on me with all of that choking.

I wasn't mad at him for choking me to the point of passing out. If I wasn't his mate, he would have killed me for not submitting. He wasn't pulling his punches just because I was a mate, or just because I was a girl. In a way, I was kind of grateful, because I certainly wasn't going to be pulling any of my punches either.

His arms tightened around me even more, and I couldn't release myself from his grip. I could feel myself starting to pass out again, and I briefly wondered if he drugged me.

"Sleep, mate." For the one and only time, I listened to him.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

When I woke up, I was still in the muscular arms of the Blood Alpha. Whatever he drugged me with must have worn off, because I could open my eyes and move my limbs a little bit better.

I opened my eyes, and was surprised to see that I was back in the Pack House. Alpha Cain had me sitting on his lap, and he still was cradling me like a fucking baby. I began hitting him and struggling to get out of his grip.

"If you keep struggling, I will inject more drugs into you to make you sleep, and I may never let you wake up again," Alpha Cain whispered in my ear, and my eyes widened. Surely, he wouldn't kill his own mate? I would, but would he?

His dark eyes held a scary level of intensity, and I knew he wasn't fucking around.

I heard someone clear their throat, and was shocked to see that all of the Blood Lake and Red Crescent pack leaders were also in the living room of the pack house, standing and sitting all around the room.

"As you may have figured out, you are Alpha Cain's true mate. In accordance with pack laws, you must pack your bags and go to live with him in Blood Lake territory," Alpha Wilson stated, blankly looking at me. What the fuck? He wasn't even going to put up a fight to keep me? I was the best warrior in the whole pack, and just like that, he'd let Alpha Cain take me to his hellhole?

"We are leaving at once. You will be able to go purchase new items in Blood Lake." Alpha Cain said to me, and I glared at him with pure hatred. He was tripping balls if he thought I was going back with him. His pack was extremely backwards and stuck in old traditions that would punish me for my independence. Women did not have many rights in that pack, this much I knew. Alpha Cain was one of the Alphas who disproved of my Gamma position.

"Do you understand me, Ares?" Alpha Cain asked, jerking my head up by my chin that was still covered by the mask to force me to look into his eyes again. I didn't answer, and just continued to glare at him with all of the hatred I was feeling.

He squeezed my chin harder, to the point where I was certain he would break it. "Stop!" Delta Omar cried out.

"What the fuck did you just say to me?" The Blood Alpha asked venomously, shoving me off of his lap and on to the floor. He stalked towards Delta Omar, and grabbed him by the throat.

"She... Can't... Talk..." Omar wheezed out as Alpha Cain continued to choke him. Upon his words, he released Omar.

"What do you mean 'can't talk'?" He questioned, looking at my Alpha. Or I suppose, my former Alpha unless I could help it.

Alpha Wilson looked at me with pity, then back at Alpha Cain. "Her tongue was ripped out by a rogue when she was 14. She physically is unable to talk. We communicate with her via pack mindlink."

Alpha Cain turned around, looking at me with a sinister look on his face. "Well then, looks like I'll have to mark her in order to communicate with her." He began walking towards me, and I immediately jumped off of the floor, and summoned another dagger. Alpha Cain was shirtless, and I wondered if it was because I destroyed his other shirt by throwing knives into it. His skin looked brand new, but that wouldn't surprise me due to his Alpha healing.

Rather than looking afraid that I summoned a dagger, he looked amused, and even chuckled. His laugh wasn't one of humor, but one that put chills down my spine. He truly sounded evil.

"You think a knife could stop me from marking my mate? I'm the Blood Alpha. Nothing could stop me." The sinister glint in his eye told me he would mark me.

I repositioned the knife so instead of pointing it at him, it was against my own neck.

I mindlinked Alpha Wilson, tell him I will slit my throat unless he promises on the Moon Goddess that he won't mark me for another week.

Promises on the Moon Goddess' name were binding oaths. To not follow through would be to curse yourself, and it would be punishable by death.

Alpha Wilson told him what I mindlinked him, and he chuckled again. Why the fuck was he laughing? I meant it.

Alpha Cain lowly threatened, "I will mark you whenever I want. I do not negotiate with anyone. If you kill yourself right now, I will kill all of the people in your pack one by one, starting with the Delta who jumped to your defense."

Omar's eyes opened wide. His first week on the job, and he was already having his life threatened by the Blood Alpha.

I sighed, knowing he meant it. In a last act of defiance, I threw the dagger at him, not really expecting anything to come of it.

The Blood Alpha caught the knife by the hilt, an incredibly hard task no one has ever done when I've thrown a dagger at them.

I truly was in way over my head.