Page 1 of Torn By The Alpha

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Olivia

“What did the witch, Helga, say?” Sandra asked Olivia, as she helped Olivia dress in the traditional mating ceremony garb for the Iron Mane wolf shifter pack.

“She just gave a creepy smile and said that the prophecy would be revealed on the important day,” Olivia said. “Personally, I think that the prophecies are a bunch of bull crap and are usually self-fulfilling. People are given a prophecy so they do things to make it come true.”

“I agree. One tiny change in someone’s actions or the slightest shift in the wind can change the world. That’s why people say that you can’t go back and change the past. Everyone saw what happened in Back to the Future,” Sandra said, referring to the 1980s movie. “But, you know as well as I do that the future mates of the alphas have to get a prophecy prior to the mating ceremony. It’s been a tradition for centuries.”

“I know, but it sucks,” Olivia said. “I hate games.”

She sighed heavily and looked at herself in the mirror. “I just want this day to be over. I don’t even want to go through the mating ceremony with Declan, but since it has been arranged since forever, I don’t have a choice.”

“You’ll be fine. Declan is good looking, charming, and he’s the alpha,” Sandra said.

“He also has a mean streak a mile wide,” Olivia said. “He can be extremely cruel.”

“Declan adores you and will treat you like the queen you’re about to become,” Sandra protested. “You just have the pre-ceremony jitters.”

Her father tapped on the door and said, “It’s time.”

Olivia and Sandra stepped out and stood at the end of the long aisle. At the end was Declan Creager, the alpha of the clan and her fiancé. He was handsome in every sense of the word, but Olivia just wasn’t overly excited about going through the mating ceremony. She had never loved Declan and just considered their mating her duty to the clan.

All eyes were on her as she walked to the front where one of the elders of their pack stood. Helga stood beside the elder.

“The prophecy, please,” Elder Imen said.

“Olivia, a figure of mystic allure, shall ignite flames of conflict, fierce and pure. Beware, oh wolves, that path she shall weave, for in her wake, a war shall upheave. The Iron Mane Pack, proud and untamed, shall clash with another, honor inflamed. A catalyst she’ll be, in the shifting tide, as pack meets pack, the worlds will collide.”

As Helga finished speaking, everyone in the room gasped loudly. Olivia paled.

Declan’s head turned sharply toward Oliva, and he snarled, “There will be no mating ceremony. For Olivia, there is only death. Take her.”

Olivia tried to run, but it seemed like there were a hundred hands on her, pulling her to the cell where she would wait for Declan to carry out his sentence. Her parents looked on in disbelief, tears running down her mother’s face, as Olivia was half carried and half drug back down the aisle.

The large cave where all the pack’s ceremonies took place hosted four small cells in the back. Olivia was shoved inside, and the clang of the iron bars echoed behind her as they were slammed shut.

She sat on the wooden bench in the corner, staring out in space, in complete shock. None of this made sense. How could she start a war between her shifter pack and another? She didn’t even know anyone from other shifter packs.

I didn’t want to go through with the mating ceremony, but this is not how I wanted to get out of it.

Declan came back about an hour later.

“What are your plans?” he asked.

“I have no idea what that witch is talking about,” Olivia protested. “I only know people from our pack. I couldn’t possibly start a war. I wouldn’t have a reason to.”

“The witch never lies,” Declan snarled.

“I swear on everything that I hold holy, I have no idea what she is talking about. The woman is wrong or she has lost her abilities,” Olivia said.

“You’ll tell me,” Declan promised, menacingly. “One way or the other, you’ll tell me what the witch is talking about,” and then he stormed off.

Olivia buried her face in her hands. She wondered if Declan was planning on resorting to some type of medieval torture methods. It wouldn’t surprise her if he did.

Hours went by and Olivia started to shake. The air was damp and cold. She only had the thin tunic that she had worn for the ceremony. There were no blankets or anything else in the cell. Rubbing her arms she paced around the cell, figuring that Declan wouldn’t have to torture her. She was going to end up dying from pneumonia.

Light footsteps caught her attention as they approached her cell. It was Sandra.

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