Chapter 1 One

Chapter 1

Ella's POV

The soles of my worn-out, dirty sneakers sink into the wet soil with each step I take. My heart slams fiercely against my chest, and if I still had my wolf within me, she would be trying to convince me to turn around and go back to Wood Valley Pack. She was always so rational and practical. Always trying to get me to do things the right way. I miss her. It hasn't been the same without her in me.

Though even if she had begged me to go back, I wouldn't have. I always listened to her but not on a matter like this. Not when my life is being put at risk in the hands of the one person who is meant to care for and love me; my fated mate.

He doesn't have an inkling of affection for me. Who could blame him though? How do you care for someone who is the demon's daughter? Someone who stood by and watched her father imprison innocent young girls which he used for rituals?

My head bows down in shame even though apart from the crickets chipping and the frogs croaking, I'm the only other living soul around. That guilt and regret that has been a constant presence within me twists and turns deeper into my chest. I should have stopped my father. I should have stood up to him and tried to protect all those children who lost their lives at his hands. Sneaking them out when I could and trying to care for them when they were imprisoned by him weren't nearly enough. I should have done more for them.

That's why I didn't fight against the punishment that my mate bestowed on me -living in a dungeon's room, working tirelessly at the Pack's bar to atone for myself, not being worthy of being his Luna for the past three years even though I have been bearing his mark, being insulted and disrespected by his pack members. I feel like I deserve them all and more. And I was willing to accept that punishment and whatever else he thought I deserved...until it became too much. Until the bar's owner tried to take advantage of me.

This isn't the first attempt but this is the one that pushed me to the brink. Before, it had been a subtle touch on the butt, a grope, or a forced attempt at a kiss. This time he took it so much further.

The bar closed at ten pm and I stayed behind to tidy up the place. Unknown to me, John had been lurking around and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He got that moment when the last customer stepped out, leaving me in the establishment. He had walked back in, pretending that he had forgotten his keys in his office, and had cornered me. He tried to force himself on me, and I don't have the faintest idea of how I was able to throw him off me, but somehow, my wolfless self managed to do that, and I ran away with his bellowing echoing behind me. He warned me never to step foot into his establishment, and I'm going to heed that warning.

Which is how I somehow found myself deep within the dark forest with nothing in my possession but the clothes I have on my back. I tip my head back and gaze up at the dark sky, wondering how it all went so wrong. My life has never been something that I was proud of. In fact, it was far from it, but I have never felt as hopeless and drained as I feel at this moment. I feel like there's nothing left here for me. If something were to happen to me right now, would anyone even notice my disappearance or would they be happy to finally be rid of me?

The snap of a twig pulls me out of my self-loathing and pity. My spine stiffens as my senses become hyper-alert.

I whip around as a weight crashes into me and sends me straight to the ground. A huff leaves my lips as I slam into the hard ground and get pinned down by the force of that weight.

I blink, disoriented for a few seconds. It takes a while for the face above me to come into focus. A face belonging to Sam; my fated mate and the person that has ignored my existence ever since he found me.

His eyes are glazed over and unfocused and for the first time, they aren't staring at me with hate or anger. In fact, there's a look in them that causes a shiver to slide down my spine.

Sam doesn't jump up to his feet or jerk away from me like I expect him to. Instead, his head lowers to mine, his hot breath fanning my face as he dips down to my neck where I'm bearing his mark. The tip of his nose drags against my skin and my breath seizes. My eyes widen in shock as I feel him breathing harshly on my neck.

"You smell so fucking good," he groans out in a deep, husky voice laced with an underlying hint of something dark and wild.

My heart stops for a good ten seconds, and just when I think that it's over for me, it picks up again, and air flows back into my lungs.

Then I get a whiff of the smell wading off him. I might have lost my wolf and my heightened sense of smell, but I would be able to know what that smell is at any day and anytime. It's Wolfbane. Someone drugged Sam.

It must not have been a high dosage because it would have caused a lot more harm than leaving him disoriented. Whoever did this to him didn't want him dead. They wanted him uninhibited and out of it. And they got just that.

"S-sam," I stutter, pressing my palms against his shoulder to try and get him off me. "You have been drugged," I tell him. I really don't know if I expected my admission to snap him out of whatever trance he has been placed him. It is no surprise when nothing of that nature happens.

Sam presses his nose harder into my neck, fully sniffing me. "Fuck," he breathes out in a low voice, and I suddenly feel something poking my hip. I shift uncomfortably, attempting to move away from it, when Sam lets out a sharp breath from above me, which is followed by a deep groan. His tongue slips out and licks down on the mark he gave me.

I'm biting down on my bottom lip at this point to hold back sounds that, unfortunately, don't feel like screams.

"Sam, you need to snap out of this," I beg. Another attempt to get him to get back to his senses.

Sam's hand slides down my body and... he cups my breast. I stiffen, my body freezing at that moment as my brain shuts down. He gropes my breast, and his thumb swipes across my nipples through my bra. And...I moan. I throw my head back and let out a loud aching moan. My eyes slide shut in shame.

Sam lets out a dark chuckle. "You're exquisite," he mumbles. He leaves my breast and slides up my neck to grip my chin which he tilts up. His head lowers, and he draws his wet tongue up my cheek, brushing the side of my lips. "And you taste so fucking sweet."

I shudder, trying to draw away from him, but his grip on my chin just tightens to an almost painful level, leaving me pinned to the ground and under his weight.

His other hands slip between our bodies, and in the next second, my gown is being shoved up to my waist and out of the way.

I gasp, my mouth falling open in bewilderment. The sound of my panties ripping is what is heard next, leaving me completely naked from the waist down.

Why do I always find myself in these situations? What is it with men thinking that they can have their way with me whenever they-

Those thoughts fly out of my head as something hard presses against my sex, parting my pussy lips and sliding in with one smooth thrust. My eyes widen as I feel Sam's cock within me and the sharp pain of my virginity being ripped away from me has my teeth sinking into my bottom lip as a slight sob leaves my mouth. I feel every ridge and vein on his cock as it slides in.

"You didn't use a condom." My voice is weak, a far cry from the protest that I meant my words as.

Sam ignores my words, sliding out till only the tip is left in before thrusting in again. Hard.

I whine from the slight throb of pain left behind.

Sam presses his lips to mine, not kissing me but not allowing an inch of space to be left between us. "You. Are. All. Mine."

Each heated word is accentuated with a hard thrust from his hips, pressing my back into the pebbles and tiny rocks beneath me.

I tighten my trembling legs around his waist and dig my nails into his shirt. That's when I realize that Sam is still fully clothed. Not a stitch of clothing is off his body.

Sam's head lifts, and his nearly black eyes hold mine as his thrusts get faster. My eyes drop close of their own will and I arch my back off the ground as my toes curl behind Sam's back.

"Open those pretty eyes," Sam whispers against my lips. "I want you to see who exactly is making you feel this fucking good." He bypasses my lips and pulls lightly on my earlobe, and I try to push back the tiny tinge of disappointment. Why isn't he kissing me?

My eyes fall open again with a silent gasp from my lips as Sam's cock keeps sliding in and out of me until my eyes roll into my head.

I can't think. All my nerves are frayed tight as an orgasm builds within me. Sam shoves and drags the top of my dress down, and peppers kisses and bites on any expanse of flesh that he can get his lips on.

"Sam, I-I," I choke out with a loud moan.

"What's that?" Sam asks with just a hint of amusement in his tone. His hand slips between our bodies and his thumbs rub my clit as he grinds his pelvis against my sex.

I scream out his name and I hear the sound of fabric ripping as I pull hard on his shirt.

"Fuck," Sam groans in my ear as his hips move faster. His cock jerks and I feel his release seep within me, branding me as his.

With a groan, Sam slides off me and falls to the ground beside me.

I'm panting heavily beside him, my mind racing as I realize what just happened between us. I'm going to be killed if Sam comes to his senses and finds out that the person he just had a heated encounter with is none other than his mate.

"Alpha!"

I jerk up to a sitting position, my head whipping to the direction in which that voice just came from.

"Alpha," another completely different voice calls out. Along with that voice come several heavy footsteps. All of them heading in our direction.

I jump up to my feet and force my legs into my ripped jeans. My gaze falls down to Sam, who still has his now soft cock out in the open. I reach down and shove it into his pants before zipping him up. He or the guards should have no idea of what just took place here.

I slip away from the scene, hightailing it back to the pack that I just ran away from. Th

ere's no way that I can be able to escape tonight. Those guards showing up put an end to that plan.