No Escape
The cool night air hit Lily’s face as Lucas and Liam dragged her back to the city square. She was already boiling, her mind filled with anger and frustration.
The town square was full, all eyes turning as the twins brought her into the center.
A loud gasp rose from the crowd, and whispers went through the pack as people recognized her.
“Isn’t that Lily? What’s happening?” someone murmured.
“She tried to run, didn’t she?” another voice said, obviously with hate.
“Traitor,” someone added, and soon enough, the crowd’s murmur turned into a loud series of sneers and insults.
Lily clenched her jaw, refusing to let their words wound her.
They had called her every name possible over the years; what was one more insult?
She kept her gaze ahead, narrowing her eyes as she spotted Alpha Dean, Lucas and Liam’s father, standing at the front of the gathering.
He held his head high, a look of both anger and disappointment plastered into his face as he looked at her.
“She tried to cross the boundary,” Lucas reported to his father, gripping Lily’s arm even tighter as if he could prevent her from even thinking about escaping again.
“Typical,” Alpha Dean scoffed, shaking his head. “You are part of this pack, yet you attempt to abandon your duty, to disrespect the very bond the Moon Goddess has granted you.”
The crowd gasped, shock and hate flooding their faces.
“Traitor!”
“Ungrateful!”
“A disgrace to the pack!”
But Lily didn’t care. She lifted her chin and, with fire blazing in her eyes, yelled,
“I don’t care what any of you think of me! And I definitely don’t care what the Moon Goddess decided. I will never accept being mated to them. Never!”
The crowd fell silent, stunned by her words.
Lucas and Liam stared at her, taken aback, while Alpha Dean’s eyes narrowed, his expression darkening. He took a step forward, his gaze fixed and intimidating.
“Silence, Lily,” he commanded, his voice a low growl that sent shivers through the crowd.
But Lily wasn’t afraid. Not anymore.
Her heart beat loudly with anger, but her voice remained steady.
“No. I’m done with being silent, with all of you thinking you can decide my life for me. I am not your property, and I won’t be the mate of anyone who has treated me like I’m nothing!”
Alpha Dean’s eyes flashed with rage.
In an instant, he raised his hand and slapped her across the face. The slap rang out in the square, sharp and harsh, leaving a stinging pain on her cheek.
Lily stumbled, her hand flying to her face, eyes wide with shock. The crowd gasped, an uncomfortable silence falling over them as they looked between Lily and their Alpha.
Alpha Dean glared down at her.
“You will respect your place, Lily,” he said coldly. “And you will obey.”
Lily’s vision blurred with tears, not from the pain but from the overwhelming anger and humiliation.
She clenched her fists, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.
“Take her to her new room in the mansion,” Alpha Dean ordered the guards. “She needs time to reconsider her position.”
The guards seized her arms and pulled her away from the square, past the whispers and the accusing glares of the pack members.
Once they reached the mansion, the guards led her to a room on the top floor.
They pushed her inside, and she heard the lock click behind her. She looked around, realizing she was alone in a large, well-furnished room.
She rushed to the door and twisted the handle, but it didn’t budge.
“Locked,” she muttered under her breath.
They expected her to just stay put, like some prisoner awaiting judgment.
Her mind raced as she thought about what they’d just done to her, as if she was nothing more than a pawn in their twisted game. But she wasn’t going to stay locked up like this. Not when she had the smallest chance of getting out.
She put her hand inside her hair, pulling out a small hairpin she’d hid there earlier.
It took only a few seconds to work it into the lock, her hands quick and practiced. With a quiet click, the door swung open.
Lily stepped into the dimly lit hallway, her heart pounding as she moved silently along the corridor.
The mansion was mostly quiet, though she could hear distant voices somewhere downstairs.
She pressed herself against the wall, inching forward, keeping her ears open for any sound.
As she rounded the corner, she heard voices coming from a room nearby.
She froze, recognizing the deep tones—Lucas and Liam, their voices low but filled with frustration. She moved closer, listening intently.
“This is ridiculous,” Liam was saying, his tone seething with anger. “Why should we be forced to accept someone like her?”
“We don’t have a choice,” Lucas replied, though his voice held an edge of resentment. “Father insists. The Moon Goddess made her our mate, and he says we can’t go against it.”
Liam scoffed.
“I don’t care what Father says. I don’t want anything to do with her. She’s a disgrace to the pack.”
Lucas was silent for a moment, and Lily could almost feel his reluctance.
“Father won’t let us out of this,” he muttered finally. “He’ll make us bind to her no matter what.”
Hearing their words was like a slap to Lily’s face.
She had no idea they were as repulsed by the bond as she was, but it didn’t make her feel any better. In fact, it made her resolve even stronger. She would never be bound to anyone who saw her as a burden, who saw her as something to be tolerated out of duty.
Lily turned to slip back down the hallway, her anger and determination fueling her as she considered her next move.
But just as she turned, she froze, her heart seizing in her chest.
A tall figure stood at the other end of the hallway, watching her with cold, piercing eyes.
It was Graham, the Alpha twins’ Beta, a man known for his loyalty to the Alpha family and his merciless ways of enforcing pack rules.
His stare was as intense as it was unforgiving, and there was an air of authority about him that made her uneasy.
“What the hell are you doing here, Lily?” he asked, his voice low and dangerous.
Her throat tightened, but she held her ground, meeting his gaze with defiance.
She knew she couldn’t afford to look weak in front of him, even if her heart was pounding in her chest.