Page 12 of Fated Alpha Protector

When she clears her throat, I’m prompted to turn back. I take notice of her lovely face. Sharp, but with the softness of round eyes and a delicate cupid’s bow on her top lip.

She’s beautiful…

I frown at the beauty in front of me, wondering aloud, “Why didn't you shift when I asked you to?” His brows knit to a frown as he stares into my face.

She turns her face away defeatedly. “I–I don't know how to,” she stammers.

Refusing to believe that, I grunt. I ask her again, but she repeats that she doesn’t know how to.

It makes no sense. I’ve seen her wolf form. She appeared to be a refined wolf. How can she not know?

Her nervous demeanor makes me suspicious. “Fine. I'll have to command the truth from you, then.” I announce my name, my pack, and command her to answer me truthfully.

In response, she rises to her feet. “I tell no word of a lie, Alpha,” she reiterates.

I stare into her eyes, and it’s only earnesty I find there. I find no reason not to believe her. Though I have many questions, I suspect she has them too. Like why she doesn’t know how to shift on command.

“Who are you?” I ask.

“I am Mia Alverez, Omega of the Blackclaw Pack.”

The compassion I might have felt before is extinguished as soon as I hear her reply. She has no reason to lie to me.

But it’s the truth that’s more daunting than a lie.

“Blackclaw?” I narrow my eyes at her, accusation flowing through my disdain. Heat rises inside me as anger gnaws on my being.

A million accusations come crashing all at once. At the top is the suspicion that Cyrus Savage sent the wolf here for his own gain.

Perhaps to seduce me to agree to his ridiculous marriage contract.

Shaking my head, refusing to witness any more of the fear in the woman’s eyes, I pull open the cell door.

“Get out.”

She hesitates to move, eyes flitting from my face to the door, then back. “Wh-what?”

“You heard me. I said leave!” I roar angrily. “If Cyrus thinks he’s gonna fool me into the alliance, he has another thing coming. Get the fuck out!”

She still refuses to move, prompting me to look back at her face. Tears roll down her cheeks, her bottom lip trembling uncontrollably. “I know nothing about an alliance,” she whispers timidly.

“Wh-what?” Huffing a frustrated breath, I turn my attention fully to her. I realize this woman isn’t leaving. “Do you not want to leave?”

The woman, Mia, shakes her head as she sniffs. “N-no,” she stampers. “I can't.”

Perplexed beyond my comprehension, all I can do is gape at her with an open mouth. Completely dumbfounded.

If this she-wolf was sent here by Cyrus Savage, perhaps she has firm instructions not to leave.

“Mia Alverez…” I say her name in a low tone for the first time. The pronunciation of it has that same distinct feeling like her presence – foreign and familiar all at once. “Why can’t you leave?”

She lifts her tear-stricken eyes at me, full of more unshed tears. Her reply shoots me right in the chest, in the center of my heart.

“I’ve been kicked out of my pack. I was chased out like a dog.”

Chapter 5

MIA

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