Hunted By The Alpha

Miranda's POV

The slap had cracked onto my cheek so hard the room had spun. I stumbled, half-falling out of the reach of the tray, silver clinking over the shining wood of the Crimson Pack dinner table.

"You dare serve me late?" Alpha Sean's bellowing voice thundered down the hallway, cold and unforgiving. "You are nothing. Less than nothing."

The room was quiet. The pack glared at their plates, unseen and unheard. No one got up, no one said anything, not even my mother.

I pushed the scalding tears at the back of my eyes and knelt to gather the plates that had been knocked over, the scalding cheek where my father's hand had burned me. The shame constricted my throat more than the stink of charred meat nestled in that small space.

"Get out of my sight." Sean howled, so mad that he yanked his chair back, making it screech on the ground.

I pressed the tray into my chest and backed up, the heavy oak doors crashing closed behind me. The laughter that followed ripped what little dignity was left.".

I ran. Behind the chill of stone and glacial stares stunned. I didn't slow until frozen wind tearing through boarded-up windows nipped at my flesh. I shivered, placing frosty hands on my warm face. This was revenge beyond. Another presence lingered tonight.

I got a call an hour later.

Two enforcers stood on my door, their faces blank. "Alpha Sean calls you."

My gut churned, but I forced myself to keep going. I followed them down the corridors, shadows deeper and thicker than they ever had been. The enforcers did not make a sound as they led me into the great hall.

Sean was standing in front of the fire, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes burning with some kind of malevolence. A blood-red waxed scroll roll rested in his grip.

"You're a blot on this pack," he snarled, his voice low but lethal. "A shame I can no longer bear to hide."

My breath caught. "Father-"

"Silence!" His snarl rattled the windows.

I flinched but held back the urge to apologize. It never did any good anyway.

Sean unrolled the scroll, his smile cruel. "Tonight, you're leaving the Crimson Pack. You'll go to Raiden's territory. You'll serve them as they wish."

The words didn't take hold at first. They couldn't. "You're giving me away?"

"Giving?" He laughed, cold and hard. "Selling. To King Colton. It's blood-sealed. There's no breaking it."

I backed away. "No. Please-"

"You think you have a choice, girl?" Sean sneered. "You are nothing but a liability. Raiden's wolves need entertainment. You'll do."

Panic gripped me. I dropped to my knees. "I'll work harder. I'll-"

"You'll do what you're told, " he told the enforcers. Take her."

They grabbed me, metal cuffs biting into my arms. I fought, kicked, and screamed, but it made no difference. The last thing I remembered while being pulled out into the chill of the night was Sean walking away from the fire, dismissing me like yesterday's trash.

The cold permeated my thin dress as the enforcers shoved me into the back of a black SUV at the curb. There were no windows, no doors.

I smacked my forehead against the cold metal and bit hard down on my lip until I had blood in my mouth. I was scared with a weight that settled in my stomach. I knew what Raiden's Pack was. Everybody did. Those wolves who were stupid enough to venture over onto their territory just vanished without a trail being left behind. Their Alpha, King Colton, was a human devil pretending to be a wolf.

I was being treated and handed over to him like a broken toy.

The SUV bumped along dirt trails for hours before it screeched to a stop. One of the thugs pulled me out and pushed me into a line of bodies standing in front of the trees.

The torchlight flared to life, painting gold on leather and steel. Raiders of Raiden's Pack had looked at me as predators regarding their cornered prey.

One moved a step closer. Bigger than the rest. He was broader and looked more deadly.

Oh no. He couldn't be...King Colton.

Black armor from head to heel, face sculpted, eyes liquid gold that cut through me like a knife. When our eyes clashed, the world changed on its axis. Something old and wild stirs beneath my skin.

Colton's voice thundered across the clearing, deep and resolute. "You are Miranda Marshall?"

I struggled to push the words out past my lips. "Y...yes."

He unwound the scroll, shattering the blood-red seal, and read the words aloud. "By Crimson Pack's Alpha's power, you are now legally property of Raiden's Pack. From this day on."

Gasping swept through the crowd. Some were laughing. Some smiled. My fists thudded against my sides, nails ripping into my palms.

"You can't do that," I said, shaking.

"As a matter of fact, I can," he said, grinning, his eyes fixed on mine.

Colton's lips curled, but not even to the outside edges of his eyes. "I already did."

He stepped closer. I felt the warmth of his skin and the pure strength waiting in every bend of him.

"You're mine now," he snarled, voice a cold threat.

He touched me, fingers wrapping around my wrist. His touch was fire against my ice skin. I felt agony and something else that made my heart beat wildly.

A streak of light flared at the base of my throat.

I breathed, looking down.

A rune, gentle but growing in strength, smashed into my skin.

Colton's eyebrows furrowed. The wolves on all sides of us agitatedly shifted.

"You didn't tell me she was branded," Colton told me, tone falling into threat.

The enforcers exchanged nervous glances.

"She's...she's defective," one of them stuttered.

Colton's laughter was low and menacing. "Defective? No. She's special."

The rune burned brighter. I could sense it now, a thrum through my bones, an older type of magic than anything I'd ever known.

Colton's face was against mine, his mouth against my ear.

"Guess you're worth more than they say you are," he spoke proudly. "I might have some use for you after all."

I trembled, but it wasn't from the cold.

He sat up and clapped his hands. Two guards closed a hard grip around me.

"Take her to the compound. Lock her down," he ordered.

I fought, but Colton stood there, a cruel glint in his eye.

"And Miranda," he yelled as they dragged me off, "don't even think about running away."

He smiled coldly and spoke slowly.

"I always catch what's mine."