Chapter 4

Sophie stood in her kitchen, drinking a cup of tea, when her mind drifted back to the day a week ago, when her peaceful life had been disrupted by her old Alpha couple and her mate.

All the feelings of fear, anguish and anger she had worked so hard to squash over the last two years, back in less than a hour. The nightmares were also back. Every night for the last week, she had woken screaming and crying, after reliving her worst memories. Leaving her feeling scared and alone. The lack of sleep was obvious from the dark circles round her eyes, and in only a week she had lost some of the precious weight she had managed to gain since leaving the pack.

Her determination to put that day out of her mind was just not happening. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Zack's face as he apologised for his part in her nightmare. And although the rage was still there, she could not help but wonder how different things might have been if her torturer had not given her those hatful drugs. She had even found herself questioning just how much blame could be placed on Zack. After all, her being his mate had been hidden from him as well. But no matter how much she tried to forgive his part in her nightmare of a childhood she just couldn't.

The day she turned eighteen would be forever burned into her brain. That was the day that her torturer almost killed her in his rage.

She had snuck out of the small house she shared with her him, praying to the Goddess the whole time, that she would somehow miraculously scent her mate among the few people milling about at seven o'clock in the morning, and he would swoop in like her knight in shining armour and rescue her from the horror that was her life.

She had long given up wondering and asking why her Alpha and his mate had not taken her away from the hell hole that was her life. She knew they knew what went on in that small run down cabin. But they did nothing to help her. Instead, whenever they saw her on pack lands, which was very rarely considering her torturer hardly ever let her out his sight, they turned the other way and hurried on. Almost as if, if they didn't see her stark form and bruises, they could pretend it wasn't happening on their watch.

She had run down towards the creek, which was used regularly in the summer by the younger pack members for swimming. While she was enjoying those few precious moments of freedom, she saw him. Zack. The alpha heir. He had obviously been swimming, the water dripping down his chiselled chest and abs, as he shook the water out of his eyes.

This was the closest she had ever been to him, and as she looked over his dreamy form, she had to take a moment just to enjoy the view. And ohh what a view it was. For a brief moment she did wonder how, after everything she had been through, could she even look at another man with anything other than disgust and fear. But for some reason, as she looked at Zack, she felt no fear. Only appreciation and curiosity. She quickly pushed those thoughts aside and turned to walk away before he saw her standing watching him.

Just then the wind picked up she caught a scent on the breeze that instantly called to her wolf, making her stand up and strain against her mind. Her wolf, thought very weak from years of abuse, began pacing back and forth in her mind.

Her body came alive for the first time in her life. The arousal was instant, her nipples beading and moisture seeping from her slit, readying her for mating.

Mate! Her wolf howled in her mind. Mate! Mine! Sophie could not believe it. Against all the odds, She had been granted her miracle! Sophie quickly looked around but could see no one. It had to be him! Zack, the alpha heir was her mate. The Goddess had answered her prayer. The horrors that had been her life was over. Her mate would take her away from her torturer and protect her from him.

She started to move toward him, stumbling in her haste. Knowing he would scent her soon, the word mate whispered form her lips.

"Not so fast you little whore, where do you think you are going? Did I give you permission to leave the house." Growled her torturer, as he grabbed her arm painfully dragging her away from her mate. Sophie looked back at Zack but saw he had begun to walk away in the opposite direction, he would never hear her call to him from this distance.

"No! Let me go!" Sophie cried frantically. "He is my mate, let me go to my mate! You can't keep me from him! It's pack law, you can't stop me from going to him" she begged.

Her torturer gapped at her in astonishment. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Zack could not be her mate! She was his! He tightened his grip on her already bruising arm, determination to keep them apart almost seeping from his pores.

"I can do whatever I want, you are my possession and I say he will never be your mate. Do you really think the alpha heir would want a little whore like you for a mate. You are not even a virgin! He will never want you. You should be grateful to have me, I'm the only person who wants you. No one else in the pack even speaks to you, they all know what you do, what you are like. You are my whore and I'm keeping you forever. You will never be allowed to leave, I will kill you first!"

Sophie shrank back more and more as her torturer snarled in her face. No! No! This isn't right she thought desperately, this is my chance to escape, I have to take it. Sophie slowly stood to her full height and drew her shoulders back and for the first time in the years she had been a captive of her torturer, she made her stand.

"I am not a whore!" She told him through gritted teeth. "I have never consented to anything you have done to me. You are a rapist and a monster and I despise you! I have found my mate and there is nothing you can do about it. You have raped and beaten me more times than I can remember, but I will never be a whore. I am a survivor and you will never hurt me again!"

Her torturers face became redder and redder as Sophie found her voice. "You ungrateful little bitch!" He snarled in her face, spittle flying from his mouth in his rage. He started dragging her back towards the shack he called home, and in that moment Sophie knew she had never saw him so angry and started to struggle against his bruising grip. She knew the punishment for trying to stand up to him would be terrible. But even she could not know just how terrible.

Four years later, the memories and scars, both physical and mental, of that fateful day had not faded much. And she wondered sadly, if they ever would.