Chapter 3

Violet’s pov

I woke up from a nightmare and the first thing I did was to run.

I had a nightmare that Alpha Ethan killed me the moment he saw me. It all happened in a flash. I was standing right before him and he lifted his sword to strike me. And that was the end of my life. But not today. I should've done this a long time ago but it has come down to this — My father wants me gone (dead) and no one gives a damn about me. I was better off in another pack.

The sun began to rise and I quickened my pace. The pack gate was right in front of me. I was almost there. As I stretched my hand towards it, a brute force shoved me backwards. 

It was the pack's gate keeper. He yanked me by my hair, leaving a scream and wiggle in his arm. 

“Let me go! Let me go!” I screamed at him. A slap to my cheek shut me right up and I was taken to father and he did more than a slap. I was whipped for more times than I could count. I wished I was dead. 

“The Alpha's men will come to take you first thing tomorrow morning! You try this nonsense again! And I'll murder you myself!” Father yelled and walked out of the room.

The next thing I heard was the slam of the door and the click of the lock. I had been locked in.

“Help…” My voice came out in a croak. “Help…”

I dragged my body to the door and began to knock. I was too weak to scream or even talk anymore. Before my fingers would reach the door, the darkness took me.

I woke up lying on my back with a strange figure towering over me. 

“Now, be a good girl and spread those legs for me.” The soothing voice said. 

As though hypnotized, I opened my legs.

“Good girl. Now, smile at me.” The voice repeated.

I had almost smiled when I realised what I was doing. I blinked my eyes and my jaws dropped. Standing before me in his briefs was Jayden.

Before I could scream, he cupped his hand over my mouth. 

“You are going to shut your little mouth, bitch!” He screamed at me.

I struggled against him. “No!”

“Shut up!” He yelled again. “You think I'll let you go just like that? That dumbass Alpha cannot have you when I haven't!”

I managed to scratch his face. He shriveled away with a yell and I screamed.

“Help! Somebody help!” I screamed as loud as I could.

“You'll pay for that, you stupid bitch!” Jayden roared as he came for me.

I ran to the door but it was locked. “Get away from me!”

Jayden laughed. “The door's locked. No one will hear you. They'll just think it's me and one of my girlfriends. You're so irrelevant.”

“No.” I shook my head as he came closer. 

“Come here!” He grabbed my hand and pushed me down. 

Before I could attack him, he pinned both my hands above my head. “You're not going anywhere till I get a taste of you. I've always wanted you ever since I set my eyes on you… You won't deny me my right over your body!” 

“Help!” I screamed again.

“Shut up!” He landed a blow on my jaw and I became still.

“Good for you, bitch,” He laughed and let go of me. When he noticed I wasn't moving, he moved his hand into my dress and caught my panties in his hand. “There it is. Let's take this off shall we?”

Tears rolled down the side of my face and I sat at the ceiling. God, is this how I'm going to end up? Raped by my step-brother and killed by my husband-to-be?

With every ounce of strength in my body, I let out a scream. A very loud one. Maybe, someone will come for me.

“Shut up!” Jayden lost his patience. He quickly yanked off my panties and was about to pull down his briefs when the door blasted open.

Gasps filled the room and then, everything became muffled. My vision blurred with tears and I could hardly see anything again.

What I knew was the next thing I felt was this strange warmth that enveloped me. I had never felt so safe in my life before. My brain scrambled to identify the stranger. I even tried to take a look at him but his strong arms chided me. Like a lullaby, his warmth lulled me to sleep. 

I woke up again. This time without pain or aching wounds. Every scratch on my body was gone but how? 

“Was it all a nightmare?” I asked no one.

I touched my face and felt no pain. Even the throbbing in my jaw had stopped. My back didn't feel like it was lashed at all.

A blood-curdling scream tore through the air, followed by a cry.

“Oh no.” I pushed back the bedcovers and bolted.

“Violet!” Vivian called for me but I ignored her. 

I followed the sound of the scream and ran into the courtyard. What I Saw made me crash to the floor on my knees.

Blood formed a poodle on the ground and dripped continuously from the branch of the tree. I lifted my eyes to meet Jayden's. His left eye was purple and swollen and face all mangled up. There were cuts all over his naked upper body and on his knees… 

“Please…” he struggled to speak and I knew why. A rope was tied around his throat but his hands slipped through it so he wouldn't choke. 

“Ah, Violet, please beg him,” Melanie ran to meet me. “Please, help my son.”

“Alpha, please, help.” I saw my father kneeling before a man holding a whip. He was standing with his back to me so I couldn't see his face.

“Violet, say something! He'll kill my son!” Melanie shook me from side to side but I couldn't move nor speak. The man standing before me was someone I had seen before but where?

“Ah!” Jayden screamed as his left hand slipped from the rope.

“Ah!” Melanie grabbed my shoulders. “Say something! Stop him! Stop your husband!”

My heart stopped beating. “H - - husband?”

“That man is Alpha Ethan!” Melanie screamed.

I took a step back, shaking my head. “N - no. That… that cannot…”

“Violet!” 

“Enough!” The man roared and swung his sword. Jayden's body fell to the floor and for a second, I thought he was dead. 

“My son!” Melanie and father ran to Jayden's immobile figure on the ground.

“He's still alive!” Father cried out. “Call the physician!”

The guards ran frantically to call the physician. 

“Alpha … Ethan …” came as a whisper from my lips and our eyes locked. 

His piercing blue eyes were cold and had no emotion in them. 

He flashed me a grin and began to approach me, his bloody hand running through his neatly trimmed and parted blonde hair.

I took a step back and nearly stumbled but he caught me by the waist. “Good morning, wife.”