The Alpha and Her Rebel Mate

Chapter 1

The smell of burned wood still floated in the council room, a rest of the torches on for the meeting. The atmosphere was heavy, loaded with tension that even stone walls seemed to absorb. My father, Alpha de la Meute de l'Est, stood straight at his siege at the end of the table, his look of steel riveted on me.

- Are you ready, Zara?

My throat will be clenched.

I had no choice.

The eyes of the ancients, warriors and future alpha gathered in the play arose on me, weighing their silent judgment. The alliances between packs were never done on a whim. They were forged in the blood, in the pacts, in the unions. Today, it seemed that I was the perfect currency to ensure peace.

- I don't want that, I whispered, my voice almost imperceptible.

My mother, sitting to the right of my father, put an icy hand on my wrist.

- It's not a matter of wanting, she breathed. This is your destiny.

I hugged my fists under the table. My destiny? To be offered to an alpha that I did not know for the good of the pack? I had grown up in the shadow of this truth, in the idea that, sooner or later, my future would no longer belong to me.

My father got up, a sign that the decision was made.

- The Alpha Kieran is a feared leader, a respected warrior. He accepted the Union. You will be his.

A thrill traveled to my spine.

Kieran.

I knew this name. Everyone knew him.

It was said that he reigned by fear, that no enemy dared to challenge him without risking immediate death. Its territory was the largest, its most undisputed power.

And now he was supposed to be my companion.

A silence stretched in the room. Each second gave me the impression that the air was becoming rare about me.

- When should I leave? I asked in a sharp tone.

My father gauged me for a long time before answering.

- Tomorrow.

My heart missed a beat.

Everything was already decided.

I got up suddenly, pushing my chair so hard that it scrapeed the ground in a shrill noise.

- So I'm going to prepare myself.

I turned around and released without one more word, my short breath, my quick steps, fleeing this future which slipped me between my fingers.

I rushed into the corridors of the castle, my feet hitting the ground with increased vigor with each step. The door of my father's office, Alpha Du Darkvallon stood before me, massive, imposing, like a rampart between me and the future he had traced me. The warmth of anger bubbed in my veins, a heat that I had never felt with such intensity. I hit the wood with a dry blow, not giving the response time before bursting into the room.

He was there, sitting behind his large oak office, his dark eyes fixed on a parchment that he seemed to study. He did not even raise his head when I pushed the door, nor when I made my first steps determined towards him.

- Zara, what are you doing here? He asked in a calm, almost tired voice.

I approached him, with tight fists. My breathing was whistling, irregular. I couldn't wait.

- I'm not going to marry this alpha, father.

His gaze got up then, her black eyes piercing me with a hard, cold brilliance. The expression that usually was on his face hardens more, his jaw was hugged.

- Don't be childish, he replied with freezing patience. You were educated for this. You know what this union means.

I couldn't remember the bitter smile that took shape on my lips.

- You educated me to be a commodity, a piece in your power game. You have raised me to be ... a pawn in your alliances, but that's not what I am.

The words broke out in the air, sharp like glass bursts.

He got up slowly, the stature of an imposing alpha who had never experienced defeat, and looked at me.

- This is the order of things, Zara. It is not a question of wanting or refusing. It's a matter of survival. You don't have the luxury of choosing.

I looked at him.

- You are wrong. You don't understand. It's not just a matter of survival. It's my life. This is my body. This is my freedom. You are condemning me to be the woman of an alpha whom I have never met, to fold in his orders, to follow a destiny that you chose for me without ever consulting me.

I have a great inspiration, as if my words were not enough to express the weight of my rebellion.

- I refuse to become a simple object, a prey for your alliance games. You have raised me to be strong, to become a potential alpha. So why impose this on me?

He stared at me with a penetrating look. His dark, almost disturbing eyes did not have an ounce of emotion.

- Because you have no choice, Zara. There are things you can't understand. Alliances are necessary. The Alpha Kieran has what we seek. Its power, its loyalty, it can strengthen our position. And you ... you are the key.

His last words fell like heavy goods vehicles. I felt it through each fiber of my body: it used me as a currency of exchange. But it was worse. He saw me as a solution. A piece of which he had no qualms about getting rid of.

I advanced a step.

- You never wanted to know what I feel, what I want. You only see what you want me to be. But I'm more than that, father.

He did not answer. He just looked at me, his hard and unwavering look. However, something imperceptible seemed to break in him.

I still approached, defying it.

- I have the right to choose. I am a pack. And a pack is not just a piece in a power game. I'm more than that.

My heart was beating violently against my chest, but I couldn't go back. I couldn't go back.

- You are just a young wolf who does not understand the scope of what you say.

I felt me trembling, but I did not listen to the voice of fear that whispered in me.

- No. I am not a young wolf. I am an alpha. And I will never be reduced to a simple goods.

Silence was stretched between us, heavy, deep, like a calm sea just before the storm. Then, finally, my father spoke, his voice lower, almost soft, but the tone was indecipherable.

- You have no choice, Zara.

I shook my head. Disgust was palpable on my lips. I felt like I was locked in a golden cage.

- You disappoint me, father.

I rushed to the door, without turning around. I felt his eyes on me, but I refused to give in to pressure. Once in the corridor, I dropped against the wall, my breathing being faster, lower. Anger, frustration and fear mingled in a chaotic whirlwind.

I was trapped. But I couldn't accept it. Not without fighting.

I was not an object. And I was not going to become.

I closed my eyes for a moment, taking great inspiration, then I straightened up, resolved. An inner voice murmured me, almost like a promise: I would find a way to flee this destiny. It doesn't matter what it was.

The official words resonated in my head like a bell that announced the end. I knew it was the time, but I was not ready. Each second that passed gave me more in an increasing panic, a terror which paralyzed me and which, at that moment, took possession of my whole body.

The circle was drawn around us, and in the center, Kieran stood there, his impenetrable gaze fixed on me. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't breathe anymore. My lungs seemed to be emptying of the air, compressing until each inspiration becomes torture.

The moment that our eyes met was as if an electric discharge crossed each fiber of my being. The evidence struck like a wave, blinding, inevitable. It was him. It was ** **.

My heart got carried away. Live pain, almost unbearable, propagated in my chest, a pain that never seemed to want to stop. And at the same time, a heat wave overwhelmed me, a pleasant heat. Destabilizing.

I took a step back, my eyes wide, my frozen body. The link. He was there, as real as the air I was breathing. A raw connection, an irrepressible drive. I couldn't ignore it anymore, I couldn't make it like all that was not true. The link between us was ** real **. But he was afraid, he terrified me.

I had to flee.

I turned my heels, ready to escape, but something stopped me. One hand landed on my arm, soft but firm, like a warning. I didn't want to turn around, I didn't want to face this look, this takeover that froze me. However, I did it.

His eyes.

They shone with an indecipherable glow. His dark pupils engulfed me, depriving me of all control. His gaze was cold, but ... there was something in him. A depth, perhaps suffering, but above all, a ** force **. A force that sent me back to my own weakness.

- Zara, he whispered, her low voice, a little hoarse.

I freed myself from his grip with a sudden gesture, pushing his hand with a dry blow. My body was tense, my skin on fire, each vibrant muscle of this new, too strong, too intense feeling.

- No, I said in a broken voice. It is not possible. It's not ** **.

I knew what it meant. A sister's soul link. A destiny sealed by fate. But this link, I didn't want to. Not with him. Not with ** him **.

Kieran, the dreaded alpha, the tyrant of this territory, the one that all feared. The same man who was going to become my companion, the one I had to follow, obey, respect. I rejected him. It was all too much.

My breathing was faster, more irregular. I was lost, prey to a devastating interior struggle. On the one hand, the link that irresistibly attracted me, on the other, the rebellion, my fear, my will to ** do not ** yield.

- Zara, listen to me, he started, but I didn't want to hear her. I didn't want him to speak to me, that his words penetrate my already saturated mind.

I took a step back, then another. I had no more direction, no more control. The floor under my feet seemed to shirk. It was as if the whole universe was reduced to him, this feeling impossible to ignore, to this link that called me, who ** attracted me **. But I fought. I wanted ** to flee it **.

- Leave me alone ! I yelled.

He walked, and this time I felt like the whole world tightened around us. All around us seemed to become vague, as if only him and I existed. It was frightening. It was as if the earth was shining under my feet. He stretched his hand, but I pushed it strongly, my whole body trembling under pressure from this connection.

- **No** ! You ... you don't understand! I ... I am ** Free **. I can't ... I don't want to be a pawn in your games.

My words were strangling in my throat, and I felt tears threatening to arise. I never felt like I was so vulnerable. I was a trapped animal, a cage beast, and the man in front of me was the one who held the key.

- Zara, you don't have to flee, he said in a voice full of gravity. This link ... There is, and there is nothing we can do to erase it. But what you feel, this fear, this rejection ... I feel it too.

I stared at him, his voice watched more and more.

- We are both linked, at a level that neither you nor me can still understand. But I promise you, there is nothing to fear. We can ... learn to manage it. Together.

He still approached, this time more slowly, his imposing, but sweet presence, almost like a tense hand. His scent, a mixture of wild herbs and burned wood, invades me, and I felt the heat of his body approaching more. I wanted to repel it, but each fiber of my being seemed to react to its proximity, an irrepressible need to abandon me at this link.

I bit my lip.

- No, I whispered. You don't understand. I can't...

I had no more words. I was lost in this tangle of contradictory feelings. Fear and temptation. Rebellion and desire. Rejection and... ** proximity **. It was too much. Too much to manage, too many new sensations.

But he was there. He did not retreat. And I couldn't move anymore. My heart, this fragile thing that was beating in my chest, was broken every moment.

- You don't have to be afraid, Zara, he finally whispered. I am not your enemy. We have more in common than you think. And together, we can face all of this.

I closed my eyes for a moment, shaking my head. I didn't want to believe it, I didn't want to ... but something in me wanted it. This link. This ** Connection **. It was too strong for me to escape it.