Sienna

My mate was in this room.

Tears stung my closed eyes as I turned my head in search of wherever the scent was coming from. Of all the misfortunes the goddess had thrown at me, this definitely had to be cruelest. The entire situation was already a shitshow because of my trespassing, and still the mate bond had the guts to snap into place with someone who could never be mine.

A Lycan.

I forced my wolf to settle down because there was hardly anything to be joyful for. One of the warrior’s grip tightened around my arms just as heavy footsteps echoed across the room. The scent of damp earth and musk washed over me. A scent so overpowering it had my pulse immediately racing.

Strong hands removed the blindfold from my face at the command of who I could easily guess was in charge around here. I raised my head up.

And my world tilted.

The man standing before me wasn’t just any Lycan. He was THE Lycan. Logan Draven. King of the Iron Fang Pack. The most feared ruler in the entire province. All the stories I’d heard of him rushed to the forefront of my mind. He was ruthless, a killer without hesitation.

Lycans despised Omegas, viewing us as weak and disposable and taking us out the moment we overstepped. If it were any other Lycan King, it might not have mattered. But this?

This was worse than a death sentence.

And my mate was the one destined to carry it out.

I drew in a steadying breath, unable to look away from the striking, chiseled features that should have belonged to a god rather than a monster. He had dark hair and silver-specked brown eyes, with a scar running across his left cheek. My wolf pushed forward, drawn to him despite the sheer wrongness of it all.

His eyes burned into mine, their intensity unreadable. What was nobody saying anything? The room was so silent I could hear my own heart crashing against my ribcage.

“Explain yourself.”

The growled words snapped me out of my daze. I stiffened, my cheeks flushing as his gaze darkened. His attention on me was almost too much.

“I…” My throat closed up. I what? I stumbled into your pack because I was running away from mine, since they were about to discover I was an abomination? I hadn’t known I was crossing into Lycan territory and it would never happen again? There was no explanation that could save me.

No excuse would matter.

Logan’s jaw ticked, irritation radiating off him in waves. “I asked you a question,” he threatened. I flinched at the venom in his tone. Had I secretly thought he would go easy on me because we were mates? All delusion that things could go in my favour immediately disappeared.

“I didn’t mean to trespass,” I managed, forcing the words through clenched teeth.

His eyes flickered with something unreadable before they narrowed. “Didn’t mean to?” He let out a humorless laugh that had shame rolling over me. Gods, he was every bit the asshole, just as I had heard. “Do you expect me to believe you just wandered into Lycan territory by accident?”

I clenched my fists. “It’s the truth.”

His gaze swept over me, analyzing. Where there had been annoyance and disgust in his eyes, there was suddenly something else. Anger. Not just at my trespassing, I realized, but also directly at me. The more I held his eyes, the more I saw the reason for his anger. He was pissed at what I was to him. Pissed I was his fated mate.

His anger shouldn’t have surprised me, but still a hot sensation pierced my chest.

I swallowed hard, whispering. “If you’re going to kill me, you better just get it over with.”

The room tensed. The warriors around me stilled. I was no more than a slave, and I practically had no right to speak when I wasn’t spoken to, much less talk back at the Alpha. Too bad I didn’t care. I was minutes away from meeting my end anyway, so I could very well do whatever I pleased.

I braced myself for the final blow, expecting the order to come. He would ask the warriors to take me away, probably burn me alive. I waited a few more seconds.

His order never came.

His lips curled into something cruel, something almost amused. “Kill you?” He took a few steps back, watching me like I was something pathetic. “No, you ought to suffer a fate worse than a normal execution.” Because I was his mate? My chest threatened to cave in, but I ignored it. What had I expected?

That he’d look at me, feel the pull of our mate bond, and want me beside him?

The moon goddess could create a match. She couldn’t force the people involved to accept it.

I should have been grateful he wasn’t ending my life right there. He was giving me some time to live. I wished I could say it was also some time to escape, but I knew better than to push it. Even with my abilities, there was no way I could outsmart these Lycans in their own pack. I pretended his next words didn’t cut deep. “Give her one of the Omega shacks in the lower village,” he ordered, his voice cold. “She stays there for now.”

The room fell into stunned silence. It was a surprise for him not to have immediately passed an order for my execution, I knew. I could only stare at him, my pulse pounding in my ears as his words sank in. The lower village, where Omegas lived a few meters away from the rest of the pack.

He was going to act like he hadn’t realized I was his mate. Like our bond didn’t exist. It was the subtlest of rejections.

And still the one that hurt the most.

“Bastard.” I muttered underneath my breath.