5. Trouble

Liam POV:

"For you?" I was clearly more confused than her now. Prospero was startled and confused as well.

"Look, there's no time to explain it like I was supposed to. I woke up and took my wolf Hope to go for a run. I promised her.

But I'm forbidden by my dad to even stay out of the pack house. I'm like a prisoner. You were right, almost nobody knows me or about me and I don't know why. I'm not allowed to ask my dad about it.

But I had promised my wolf, so I made my way out of the wolf's borders, which my dad had strictly forbidden me to do or I'd be severely punished, you both have to go know, please." She demanded desperately again, while tears were falling down her face and I'm the one who's got desperate now.

"What? No, I can't let anything bad happen to you. Come with me, I'll protect you." Alec was nodding in reassurance in my mind as I took her hand in mine firmly, and I was about to teleport away, but she put her hand away from me, making my heart clench.

"I'm sorry I can't, there's no way out. I can't leave my dad or else the little good he has in his soul will fade away and everything will crumble down. Don't worry, I can take it. I can't let anything bad happen to you here in my own realm because of me. Please, it'd kill me, just...", she took a deep breath and continued; "You have to go now. If you ever consider us together, please, GO" She cried as she shouted the last part and I nodded, turning my back and walking away.

I didn't want her to feel more distressed. I couldn't leave her without making sure she was OK either, so I disappeared into the forest. But I rushed back in a minute. I was far enough but I could use my eyes' focus on her and remain hidden behind a tree. My scent would still be lingering in the air around her so she wouldn't notice I was still around but not too near from where she was.

My heart was racing and I was afraid of losing her. I didn't know what would happen.

"So that is what it was all about, she was her dad's prisoner, that Alpha is a monster, I'm not going to give up on her." Realization hit me like a dagger stab on my mind.

"I can't let anything bad happen to you here in my own realm because of me, it'd kill me." Her desperate voice kept repeating over and over again in my head. We had just met and she was sacrificing herself for mine and Prospero's safety. I felt guilty taking myself over.

"Prospero, teleport to our mansion and get me an invisible rune." I mind-linked Prospero.

"On my way. Don't worry, we'll save her." He replied.

After a few seconds, Prospero teleported back to where he was. I ordered him to teleport back to safety and he did as I commanded only after I made sure that if anything happens, I'd mind-link him right away.

I used the invisible rune but when I turned to see her, she wasn't there.

"Fuck, how did they just disappear? I have to find her and get her out of here." My voice came out as a whisper.

"If they hurt our mate, I'll kill them and burn the whole Realm." Alec roared in my mind, trying to force himself to shift.

"I agree with you, but right now we have to act smart by finding her, making her safe and then come back here to investigate who robbed our mansion. There are many packs around the werewolf's realm. This is only the nearest one from the borders. We can easily burn the whole realm without any effort, but also our chances to get to the bottom of this will also be gone and we'll never find out what happened."

Alec groaned in pain just thinking about

Alice is getting hurt. I forced my hand into a fist, trying to control myself.

When I find her, I'll tell her everything and she has to accept it. She doesn't even have a choice, because I'm not going to live without her and I won't give up on her anymore. I'm the King of Dragons and she's my mate and our future Queen.

Alec relaxed at this thought.

Little did we know that our story, the challenges and the hard path were just about to begin.

Alive POV:

I calmed down after he left.

I could take whatever punishment ahead is waiting for me. I just couldn't take seeing anyone getting hurt because of me, especially my recently found mate.

I tried to run away, going into the direction of the secret hole in the border, but the warriors approached and quickly handcuffed me and put a bracelet on my wrist to prevent me from shifting, because I couldn't anymore. Where did they get that?

And how come they got there that fast? I was lost.

"That's unbelievable. I'm sure I'm fast enough to get out of this kind of situation". Hope reassured me in my mind.

And I knew she was right, but there was not much I could do at that moment.

"Wait, please. I'm sorry, I won't leave again." I tried to say something.

They just laughed and slapped my face as I fell on my butt.

I had to do something and the first thing that came to my mind was contact my father and ask for forgiveness.

I never did it before, I never cared to bother him at all.

So, for the first time ever, I mind-linked my dad.

"Please Dad, don't do that, forgive me. I won't go out again."

I just heard him yelling back in my mind; "ALICE, WHERE…"

But the connection seemed to be abruptly off.

The guards used a teleport rune. I was so sure I saw a gemstone with a symbol written on it, that was definitely a rune and I found myself in the dungeon.

I tried to contact my dad again. The mind-link connection was off. The dungeon looked like a huge prison and spacious lockups, but we were in front of the smaller cell around there. It was the one that looked older with stones all over it and iron tables and chairs. It all seemed rusty. Did someone cast a spell on the dungeon to cut mind-link connections? What's happening?

Did dad make agreements with the Wizard Realm?

Of course, he was going to ask me where I was going and I was prepared for my punishment and to face anything that came after, but that doesn't mean that I wasn't going to fight for my life either.

A malicious laugh got me back from my thoughts, two of the warriors threw me out into this cell. I could see there were chains hanging from the ceiling and some stuff wrapped in a velvet fabric on top of a rusty iron table.

I frowned.

A guard circled me like wolves do with their prey and my senses were high and I was alert by instinct.

"She's cute, we could have some fun before we get some answers from her." One of the wolves said, the rest of them nodded dramatically.

"Please, don't. The Alpha won't allow it." I tried to reason but they laughed even louder, as if I was telling some joke.

"So naive, let us take this innocence out of you so you can be our whore." The other wolf said and took the handcuffs off my wrists. I started to jump, trying to fight for my freedom, but they were much taller and stronger and forced my hands to the chains from the ceiling with my back towards them and my arms were up preventing me from putting them down. I panicked.

I couldn't shift, I couldn't mind-link anyone. I feared for my dignity more than my life.

"No please, kill me, hurt me, torture me, but don't do this". I pleaded to them as tears were falling nonstop from my eyes.

"Relax pup, you're going to enjoy it", one of them said, unbuckling his belt and came in front of me, looked at my face and ripped my tank top off with my bra reveling my breast.

I felt so disgusted and ashamed. I thought about Liam. I had just found my mate; I was saving myself for him and only he could ever touch me.

Then I thought about my wolf.

"This can't be happening. Hope, please, forgive me". I said to my wolf, who was quiet. The bracelet spell made me also lose her in my mind. I couldn't reach her.

I cried even louder, he came closer and squeezed my breast painfully as his other hand was trying to take my pants off. My self-protective instinct was to kick his balls off.

"Fuck, ENOUGH." He screamed in pain, through gritted teeth, and his rage made him go behind me with the other wolves.

I tried to turn my neck to look at what they were doing. I could see that he opened the velvet fabric and took a whip with silver-barded tips.

My neck was hurting and I had to turn my head back.

"Urgh…pity we won't enjoy her like we wanted to," the others said in a boring tone.

I turned my face carefully to see what they were doing again, but then I closed my eyes because I felt an unbearable pain. I screamed as I felt my back burning and stinging and then, again and again, three times I've been whipped with the silver-barded tips, that was enough to make me feel like my body was tearing it all apart from my back. I was almost losing consciousness but deep inside I was somehow relieved, nothing is worse than having your dignity taken away from you by force.

When I felt like it all seemed lost and my life was slowly being taken away from me, I heard a loud, raw and very feral growl.

"Shadow…" I whispered before I closed my eyes and fell into a deep slumber.

Was I dead?