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I wince as I reach for the buckle of my seatbelt. With great effort, I click it undone and remove the safety device from my body. I shake Richard, trying to get him up. Two shadows appear on either side of us, followed by more.

The driver's door, my door, is wrenched open. Large hands reach in and grab my shoulders. I flinch as I'm lifted out and set onto my feet. I look across the top of my car. I don't need to be told that the man currently holding Richard by his neck, is Caesar Drakos.

He is undoubtedly the alpha. He looks like a warrior. A scarred, muscular warrior.

The man next to me pulls my arms painfully behind my back and clips plastic cable ties tightly around my wrists.

'You are a fool to think you would get away with your debt.'

The gruff, husky voice of Caesar Drakos draws my attention back to the other side of the car. Richard has turned a worrying shade of red and is desperately clawing at Drakos' hand wrapped firmly around his throat.

Drakos himself doesn't look like he is even breaking a sweat. He seems less than bothered to be holding a fully-grown man by his neck. His eyes scan over Richard and he sneers.

'You are weak and pathetic. And now, a coward.'

He gasps for air. His mouth opens and closes like a fish. Helpless, I stumble forwards, my hands bound behind my back. I lunge around the front of the car towards them.

'You're killing him!' I shout at Drakos.

'That's the point,' Drakos replies without looking at me.

With a simple squeeze of his fingers, Richard's neck snaps. The crunching noise makes my stomach turn. Drakos drops Richard's limp body to the ground, grimacing as though he had touched trash.

I fall to my knees beside his body. His eyes are still open and his lips are blue.

'You fucking murderer!'

My heartfelt cry sends everyone silent. The warriors Drakos has brought with him go quiet, staring at me in shock. I don't imagine many people swear at their leader.

Drakos' eyes slowly move from Richard to me. They settle on my body first as I kneel at his feet, and then slide up to my face. His eyes, the colour of wet bark, stare intensely at me. Our locked gazes send warm, fuzzy feelings through my body.

Unwelcome feelings.

I suppress them and slowly get to my feet. Drakos eyes widen in surprise as the realisation of who we are to each other dawns on him.

Just like that, I matter. Just like that, he is worried about me. His expression softens and turns to one of concern. The bastard takes a step towards me and I leap to my feet. He leans back, clearly taken by surprise by my sudden movement.

I use his surprise to my advantage and I take off. I sprint away from the group and into the trees. I have only seconds before they react and run after me.

Above the laboured pants of my breathing, I can hear multiple footfalls behind me. It's embarrassing, the short distance I manage to get before they catch up to me.

I felt like I was running quite fast, probably the fastest I ever have in my life, but the thick arms of Caesar Drakos are around my body before I know it.

He lifts me into the air, making me kick my legs. He holds me tightly against his broad body as I grunt and try to free myself.

'Stop squirming, agapoúla mou,' he says softly.

I tense up at the words. His lips are right next to my ear, brushing against it.

'What the hell did you just call me?' I ask him and try to wriggle free some more.

He chuckles and sets me down on my feet. I spin around to face him and take a step back. He holds out his hands in a gesture to show that he means no harm. It's ironic considering those hands just murdered my alpha.

'I called you my little love,' he explains.

My eyebrows draw together in confusion. 'The fuck?'

He frowns back, clearly not happy with my reaction.

Did he think I would swoon?

Call him my big love???

'I want to go,' I tell him, trying to sound confident and in control. 'Do not follow me.'

His mouth sets into a grim line and he shakes his head. He crosses his big arms over his chest.

'Not going to happen, I'm afraid.'

I put my hands on my hips, mirroring his defensiveness. 'And why is that?'

He smiles as he replies. A small smile, but a smile nonetheless. 'You're my mate.'

'You just killed my alpha,' I respond bitterly.

The smile drops from his face. 'His death was punishment for his crime.'

'His crime? He had a problem! He needed help, not slaughtering!'

'He knew the consequences of his actions but he didn't take responsibility for them. I am sorry that you are upset, but there the punishment had to be executed.'

I stare at him, trying to work out what I did to deserve being paired with this killer.

With my kind, there are two types of shifters; those comfortable with killing and those who aren't. Many packs have stricter, capital punishments for crimes. My pack does not, I have not been raised on a territory that kills trespassers.

To Drakos, this might be an average, if not daily, occurrence. To me, this is only the second time I have witnessed someone die in my life. The first was when I was fifteen and another pack put a hunter to death. They invited neighbouring packs to witness the execution. My friends dragged me along and it was the worst thing I've ever seen. Until today.

'You need to return with me to my pack, your pack doesn't exist anymore,' he states firmly.

He holds out his hand to me, silently asking me to approach him. I glare at it suspiciously. I know what those hands can do.

'I don't want to.'

Great, Camisa.

You sound like a child refusing to put their shoes on.

His eyes soften, surprisingly. I thought he would get mad.

'You have to, love. We need to get back and I am not leaving without you coming with me.'

Three of his men are stood behind him, watching the encounter between us but pretending not to by looking everywhere but us.

I'm fighting a losing battle. I can't take all four of them.

Hell, I can't even take one of them, let's be honest.

I don't say anything, I just stomp past him towards the cars. Richard's body has been removed from the road, but the car is still crushed against the tree.

Drakos catches up to me and releases the ties on my hands. He opens one of the passenger doors for me. I bit my tongue to stop myself from thanking him, damn manners. I buckle up and kick off my shoes. I curl my knees up to my chest and hug them.

As we drive off, I look out of the window and wonder what the hell this means for me now.

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I must fall asleep, because I'm jolted away by the car stopping. I unclip my seatbelt and get out of the car with the others. Drakos' pack looks much like the others I have visited, except larger and more daunting.

The houses are more luxurious with flashy cars and big driveways. I stare at them as I shut the door behind me.

'Welcome to my pack, agapoúla mou,' Drakos says, pride in his tone. 'Let me show you to my home, our home.'

I don't comment as he leads me over to a large house at the end of the street. His men disappear, returning to their own houses. I'm left alone with him and that makes me nervous.

My body reacts in the total opposite way to my mind. When he opens the door for me, my arm brushes against his chest as I pass him. That sends my heart into overdrive and my nipples hardening in my bra.

I bite down hard on my bottom lip, annoyed by my body's completely inappropriate reaction to his close proximity.

He gives me a tour, during which I remain silent. His house is lovely, I'll give him that, but it's not home.

In all honesty, I don't have a home.

He asks me my name and I reluctantly tell him, simply because I don't want him calling me his little love. It's weird. And it does weird things to my heart.

'I will have your things brought over in an hour or so. Are you hungry? Can I get you anything?' He offers.

I shake my head, still refusing to speak. It hurts my heart when he gives me a crestfallen look, clearly upset by my silence.

'My sister is going to come round, I hope that's okay. I want you to meet her.' He scratches the back of his neck awkwardly. 'I think you'll find her more...personable than me.'

As he finishes talking, there is a knock at the door. He opens it and a bubbly girl enters. Her eyes land on me and she strides over, holding out her hand.

'I'm Ismena, it's nice to meet you,' she says warmly. 'I'm the better looking one of the Drakos kids.'

Drakos rolls his eyes next to her.

'Nice to meet you,' I reply quietly and shake her hand.

She loops her arm in mine. 'Come on, let's go for a walk so this one can't eavesdrop on our conversation.'

She leads me towards the door.

'Don't leave the territory!' Drakos shouts after us.

'He's no fun.' She snorts and looks over her shoulder. 'Don't worry, I'll only tell her a couple of embarrassing stories, definitely not the orange juice one.'

'The orange juice one?' I ask confusedly as we walk down the drive.

She grins. 'You're going to piss yourself when you hear it.'

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