Stolen Luna By The Rival Alpha

Seraphina  The iron bit into my wrists. Every step I took sent a jolt of pain up my arms as the heavy chains dragged through the dirt, pulling my shoulders out of their sockets. Around me, the world was screaming. My pack was falling apart, but I didn't close my eyes. I didn't cry. I watched the shadows of men being cut down and heard the pleas of women in the dark. I'm Seraphina Grace. To the rest of the pack, I was the Alpha's favorite girl. To Xandriel, I was a warm body and a set of hands to do the work his non-existent Luna should have been doing. I wasn't a Luna. I was a slave in a pretty dress. If this bloodbath was the price for my freedom from him, I'd pay it. Xandriel was a monster. He was cruel, beastly, and treated women like property. He had built a throne out of enemies, and today, those enemies finally came to collect. The chains jangled, a cold and rhythmic reminder of my debt. I planted my feet, trying to keep my dignity even as the smell of smoke and copper filled my lungs. "Xandriel is gone. But we have his Luna." The voice was deep, unfamiliar. A rough hand grabbed the center of my chains and jerked me forward. I stumbled, my knees hitting the jagged rocks with a sickening thud. "The coward ran," I thought. A bitter taste coated my tongue. The man holding my leash stepped in front of me, forcing my head up. He looked young, but his eyes were hard and scarred by war. A Beta. "He'll come back for her," the Beta said, looking over his shoulder at the man behind me. "He won't let his prize stay in our hands. That's going to make our Alpha very happy." I looked him dead in the eye. My heart was thundering against my ribs, but I let my voice stay steady. "He isn't coming back." The Beta narrowed his eyes. Most women in this world knew better than to speak without permission, but Xandriel had already broken everything in me that could feel fear. "I'm not a Luna," I spat. "I'm not his mate. You think a woman can make a man like Xandriel soft? He doesn't care if I live or die. He's already halfway to the border." The Beta shifted, his confidence wavering for a split second. "That changes things, doesn't it, Hayes?" Hayes, the man standing behind me, didn't hesitate. He reached down and fisted his hand in my hair, yanking my head back until I was looking at the dark canopy of trees. "She's lying," Hayes growled, his breath hot against my ear. "Every scout said the same thing. She's the only thing that bastard values. She's the key." He didn't wait for a reply. He hauled me up by my hair and shoved me forward. I tripped over the hem of my torn dress, my bare feet slipping in the cold mud. I looked at the wreckage of my home as we walked. It was a ruin. Xandriel had weakened us with his greed, and now the innocent were paying for it. The metal cuffs were so tight they stopped my circulation. My palms burned like they were on fire. My legs felt like lead, shaking with every step through the thick brush. These men were fast, forgetting I was a girl of flesh and bone, not a wolf like them. As we reached the edge of their camp, I realized I knew these woods better than they did. I memorized every turn, every dip in the land. If I could just get these chains off, I'd disappear into the trees and never look back. Hayes pushed me toward a large, heavy tent. It smelled of pine, expensive leather, and something else. Something dark and electric. "Get down," Hayes hissed. He kicked the back of my knees. I hit the rug-covered floor hard. I kept my head low, my neck exposed. It was a move of pure survival. In the world of Alphas, showing your throat was the only way to stay alive long enough to find a way out. "Alpha," Hayes announced, his voice dropping an octave in respect. "We have the Luna." The silence in the tent was heavy. It pressed down on me more than the chains ever could. I stared at the floor, watching my own blood drip from my wrists onto the fabric of the rug. I was a mess. Covered in dirt, bruised, and bleeding. I figured this Alpha would probably just kill me to save himself the trouble of a hostage. The silence stretched. It felt like minutes. Suddenly, the tension on the chains vanished. Hayes had let go. The metal hit the floor with a dull thud, sending a small puff of dust into the air. I held my breath. Why wasn't he speaking? Why wasn't he gloating or asking where Xandriel went? I didn't dare look up, but I could see his shadow. It stretched across the floor, massive and imposing. He was still. Perfectly still. Watching me. "Leave us, Hayes." The Alpha's voice wasn't the roar I expected. It was low and smooth, like velvet sliding over stones. It sent a shiver straight down my spine that had nothing to do with the cold. I kept my head down, my heart hammering against my ribs. "Alpha Xandriel. You were his Luna." It wasn't a question. He sounded sure, but there was a strange edge to his tone. "I'm not, sir," I whispered. I tried to wiggle my fingers. They felt like leaden weights, probably swollen and purple by now. I was terrified. If Xandriel was a beast, what was a man who could tear Xandriel's kingdom down in a single night? "I am just a servant. I did the work, but I am nothing to him." "When you talk to me, Seraphina, look at me." His voice was quiet, but it carried a command that made my muscles move before my brain could protest. I lifted my chin. My breath hitched. He was beautiful. It was a cruel, striking kind of beauty that made my knees shake. He didn't look like a butcher. He looked like a king. He stood up from his chair and sank to his knees in front of me, closing the distance until I could smell the forest and rain on his skin. He reached out. I should have flinched, but when his calloused thumb brushed my cheek, I found myself leaning into his palm. It felt like coming home. A spark of heat ignited where we touched, spreading through my blood like wildfire. Then reality crashed back in. This man was the enemy. He was the one who had just painted my home red. "My mate," Alexander whispered. I recoiled as if he'd burned me. Mate? No. I wouldn't be tied to another Alpha. I wouldn't let fate trap me with another man who used his fists to get his way. I scrambled backward, my legs tangling in my dress. I started to fall, my hands still bound and useless to catch me, but he moved like a blur. His arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me hard against his chest before I hit the dirt. "I finally found you," he breathed into my hair. "Are you insane?" I gasped, struggling against his solid grip. "I am not your mate. I belong to Xandriel. He owns me." I hated the words as they left my mouth. I was desperate. I was lying just to make him stay away. I couldn't do this again. I couldn't be a trophy for another monster. "You never belonged to that coward," Alexander roared. The ground seemed to shake. The silkiness was gone, replaced by the predator I had been waiting for. He didn't hit me. Instead, he slammed his fists into the rugs on either side of my hips, pinning me between his massive arms. He let out a low, vibrating growl that rattled my teeth. "I am Alpha Alexander Gomez. And you are mine. Only mine." I stared at him, my chest heaving. Alphas were all the same. Possessive. Crazy. He was claiming me like a piece of land he'd just conquered. "Please," I choked out, looking down at the metal biting into my skin. "The chains. They hurt." His expression shifted instantly. The rage vanished, replaced by a dark, focused intensity. He pulled a small key from his pocket and worked the locks. The heavy iron fell away, and for the first time in years, my wrists were light. I didn't thank him. I saw an opening. I tried to scramble up, faking a jab with my left hand while swinging my right fist at his jaw with everything I had. He didn't even flinch. He caught my fist in his palm like it was nothing. His eyes burned with a sudden, golden fire. Before I could blink, he twisted my arm behind my back and hauled me up, slamming my front against his hard chest. "If you try that again, you'll be in big trouble, sweety," he murmured. He stayed close, his eyes searching mine. I looked away, my face flushing with heat and shame. "S-sorry." "You're afraid of me," he whispered. I swallowed hard, feeling the pulse in my neck jumping against his skin. "Xandriel can give you whatever you want. Money? Land? I can make it happen if you let me go. He trusts me. You can trust me to deliver the payment." "You are the only thing I want, Seraphina." I fought him, trying to squirm out of his hold, but he was like a mountain. "There's no way you raided a whole camp just for one girl," I snapped. "But I did," he said. His voice was cold now, sending a different kind of chill through me. He let me go abruptly. I stumbled back, rubbing my sore wrists and clearing my throat. Alexander didn't move. He just watched me with an ache in his eyes that made my stomach flip. Part of me-the part I hated-wanted to step back into his arms. I wanted to feel that heat again. 'I've been looking for my mate for a long time,' his voice echoed in my head, the mind-link sharp and clear. 'And she was being kept by the cruelest Alpha in the North.' "And you're not cruel?" I challenged him aloud. Alexander let out a slow, dark smile. "I can be." I looked at the floor, my mind racing. I had to protect what was left of my people. "I'll go with you," I said, my voice trembling. "I'll go, as long as you don't hurt my people. Let them be free. Don't take a single slave from the survivors. And..." I hesitated, looking at his large, scarred hands. "Please don't touch me again. Ever." Alexander flinched. The hurt flashed across his face for a split second before he masked it with a stony glare. He didn't want me to see that I'd wounded him. "Don't leave this tent," he growled, turning his back on me. "If you try to run, I'll find you. And I'll make sure you regret it." He vanished into the night, leaving me alone in the silence of the tent.