Violet
A strong ache in my stomach ripped me from sleep. I could hear voices and movement outside the tent. For a moment, I remained lying down, still and slightly confused.
I did not know when I had fallen asleep again.
The fur was warm against my skin, the fire had burned down to embers, and faint light filtered through the fabric of the tent.
A sharp pain hit my stomach again.
I was starving.
The hunger hit me one more time, this time my whole body felt it as my stomach cramped so hard I hugged it. I tried to get up, my eyes roaming the tent. I wasn't sure I had it in me to go out and ask…
My eyes landed on the wide wooden bowl beside the makeshift bed. It was covered with a faint cloth but I could smell the meat. Without hesitating, I pulled it towards me and flung the fabric aside, revealing food.
Actual food!
It was roasted meat, still faintly warm, flatbread, and some kind of fruit I had never seen before. I noticed a waterskin beside me. As if suddenly realizing how thirsty I was, my throat dried up.
I took a sip of the water, forced myself not to down it all, and then, I tore into the food, barely chewing it. The meat was tender, and the bread was soft and warm. My eyes watered as my eating slowed down. Tears slid down my cheeks.
I could not remember when last I had eaten such good food.
I sniffed and continued eating. The fruit was a refreshing end to the meal, and by the time I was drinking the water, my stomach was no longer cramping.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and panted, staring into the space in front of me.
Suddenly, reality came crashing down on me, hard.
A Supreme Alpha.
The force gently pulsed throughout my body, spiking slightly at the thought of him. It wasn't as uncomfortable and as chaotic as that time.
Aside from that, there was nothing else.
I pressed my hand to my chest, waiting for the familiar ache of rejection to disrupt me.
Nothing happened.
I frowned, confused. The rejection pain that had tormented me for so long had gone.
Completely.
A severed bond did not go away for a long time from what I've heard. Even if it took, months. And I had only been rejected some days ago.
'What had changed?'
The voices outside suddenly grew louder, and there was more movement. Heavy movement.
Something was happening.
I pushed myself to my feet and rushed to the entrance where I slowly shifted the flap of the tent.
The camp was being dismantled. Large folds of fabric were curled up in a corner, with neatly arranged wooden poles that had previously held them up. A number of wolves moved back and forth, organizing and clearing up the area. Someone started tying up the folded fabrics and heaving them into a large dark sack.
Conversations stopped, heads turned, and within seconds, multiple eyes turned towards me.
I stiffened, suddenly finding myself outside the tent.
To think I had just walked out like that while observing the wolves.
I clutched the borrowed clothes on my body, hyperaware of how odd I must look. A lot of them must have been aware of me being here, but might not have seen me until now.
The intense curiosity in their looks unnerved me, and it made me want to return back inside the tent. But my legs would not move.
"Ah, you're awake."
I turned, alarmed. The voice belonged to a woman slightly taller than I was. Her dark hair was slightly disheveled, and while her face barely revealed any expression, her eyes were sharp as they swept over me.
She was someone of authority.
"How are you feeling?"
"I am better now. Thank you," I carefully responded.
"Good." She nodded, her eyes drifting to the camp activity around us. "You'll need your strength. We're leaving."
My heart jumped, and the words came out of my mouth before I could help it. "Leaving?"
A movement at my side stole my attention and I jumped aside as the tent slowly came undone.
There was no other place for me to retreat to.
Her forehead twitched with an obviously slight irritation that made me go still. "Yes, to the Capital."
The Capital?
He was a Supreme Alpha, of course, he would reside mostly within the Capital. And I was being taken to the Capital of another nation.
A slow dread consumed me as I remembered what he had told me. I couldn't leave. I had no choice but to go with them.
"I am Ila, His second beta, and you are?"
My eyes slightly widened. She appeared far stronger than a normal beta, which made sense considering she served a Supreme Alpha.
"Violet," I answered.
I slightly pressed my lips. Usually when introducing oneself, you ought to mention your pack name. But I belonged to none.
She silently scrutinized me, then her expression slightly softened. "Violet, I am glad to see you're faring better now. Can you ride? Or will you shift for the journey?"
The question hit like a slap. The hairs at the nape of my neck stood on end and I gripped my wrist tight.
"I… I can't shift," I whispered.
Silence.
Ila's surprise was brief. A flicker that swept across her face before it disappeared just as it had appeared. But I had seen it.
The horror, and disgust.
A wolf who couldn't shift was... wrong.
Broken.
And she must have certainly felt that way.
To my shock, she started turning away from me without a word.
She was going to walk away without saying anything just like that?
I opened my mouth to speak when I sensed him.
I did not know how or why, but I knew where he was.
My breath stopped. At the edge of the camp, he emerged from the tree line.
His white hair was tied back, revealing the sharp lines of his face. Even from this distance, those ice-blue eyes were striking. Two wolves approached him, alerting his attention. He had not looked at me. Something in me adamantly felt he could sense me too, but he simply refused to look at me.
And it irritated me.
I should have looked away. I should have done anything except stand there and stare at him like a fool, but I couldn't move.
My grip on my wrist tightened to the point of discomfort.
It could not be…
Was this why I no longer felt the rejection pain?
'I do not understand. This is a different—'
"Is he your mate?"
I flinched and turned to find Ila staring at me, wide-eyed with shock.