Mine To Claim: The Alpha's Silent Mate

Alina's POV

"You're pathetic, Alina."

Marcus's voice boomed loud and cruel in the courtyard, reverberating off the brick walls as though it wasn't enough to break me just once. My knees buckled threateningly beneath me, but I stood firm, clenching my shaking hands into fists to prevent them from betraying my weakness. The whole pack was watching-every face a mask of either humor or disgust.

"Did you really think I'd want someone like you?" he went on, the corners of his mouth curled in a sneer. His eyes, warm and hazel, were cold and distant now when they looked at me.

My voice was gone, caught in my throat. The soft hum of the bond between them was an insidious thread tugging at my chest with longing when his words should have shredded me.

"Marcus..." My voice broke, barely audible above the murmurs of the crowd.

"Don't say my name," he growled, body closing in on mine. "I, Beta Marcus of the Silvercrest Pack, reject you, Alina, as my mate."

My wolf whined at the pain, its forlorn cry echoing inside my head, as I stumbled backward, grasping at the invisible scar ripping through me. The bond whipped apart, and an emptiness yawned open, so deep, so resounding, that part of me had ceased to exist.

"No," I whispered, head shaking wildly. Tears blurred my vision, but I forced myself to look into his eyes. "Please... You can't do this."

Marcus sneered at me; the mockery dripped from every angle of his face. "I just did. And why not? You are just an Omega, weak and worthless. You're a shame to this pack."

A wave of laughter filtered through the audience. At the sound, my heart wrenched painfully. These were people I had grown up with, people I cared about. And now, they delighted in my humiliation.

"Enough!" Alpha Richard's voice cut through the noise, sharp and commanding. The crowd fell silent at that, parting quickly as he stepped forward. The towering frame and icy demeanor of the Alpha sent a shiver down my spine.

"Marcus has spoken," he said, his lips curling into a cruel smile. "You are no longer his mate. And as far as I'm concerned, you are no longer one of us."

My heart plummeted. "Alpha, please," I begged, my voice shaking. "I've done nothing wrong. I've served this pack loyally-

"Loyal?" He laughed, the sound low and humorless. "You call yourself loyal while your family plots against me? You're lucky I'm being merciful, Alina. If it were left to me, you'd rot alongside them."

"Alongside them?" I repeated, some thread of horror seeping into my tone.

The smile now extended to the Alpha's features. "Oh, you haven't heard? Your parents are in custody for treason. They were caught conspiring with rogues to overthrow me."

"No!" I shrieked, my head shaking in violent denial. "That's not true! My parents would never-"

"Take her away," he said, his hand flicking in a dismissive wave.

But I didn't. I whirled and sprinted back to the packhouse, my head reeling. This had to be some horrible lie. My parents, who'd been loyal always, who'd instilled into me the respect due to the Alpha, would never commit treason against their own country.

I flung myself upon our house, my breathing in tattered gasps. The thing which met me glaciated me right where I was.

My mother and father knelt in the dirt, hands locked behind their heads, mouths gagged. Two enforcers stood on their backs, arms clamped against my father's shoulders from behind.

"No!" I yelled running to their side. "What am I doing? Let them go!"

One of the enforcers snarled as his firm hand connected with my chest, sending me backward. I teetered, caught my balance. "What have they done?" I asked, desperation shaking my voice. "Why are you doing this?"

The enforcer sneered. "Orders from the Alpha. Stay out of the way, girl."

I turned to my mother-her wide eyes filled with fear. "Mama..."

My voice cracked. "What's happening? Tell me what's happening!"

She shook her head frantically, her face streaming with tears.

"Get her out of here," one of the enforcers growled.

"No!" I shrieked again this time trying to push my way past them. But they were too strong. They dragged my parents from the house, and I followed after them, my heart pounding against my chest.

"Stop!" I yelled. "Please! You have to tell me what's going on!"

They said nothing. They dragged my parents through the streets, the pack gathering to watch. I could hear their whispers, their snickers.

"She's pathetic."

"Like mother like daughter."

"Probably conspiring with rogues herself."

The words cut into me, yet I didn't falter. I raced after my parents, my breathing seizing at every step.

Finally, when we reached the pack courtyard where just a moment before Marcus had denied me-the Alpha was waiting.

"Alpha Richard!" I shrieked, hurling myself up onto my knees in front of him. "Please! Whatever you think they've done, it's not true. My parents would never betray you. They've served this pack faithfully their entire lives!"

He gazed down at me with a cold, pained amusement. "And yet, here we are."

"They're innocent!" I exclaimed. "You know they're innocent!"

Richard was looming over me, his eyes edging closer and closer to mine. "What I do know," he drawled with languid ease, "is that your family has been found in conspiracy with the rogues for the sole intention of overthrowing my rule. It is proof absolute."

"That's a lie!" I shrieked, my voice rising shrill. "You're lying!"

His hand shot out and caught my chin, forcing me to look up at him. His eyes were cold and pitiless.

"You would do well to watch your tone, Omega," he said in a soft, measured voice. "Or you'll join them in the dungeons."

I yanked myself away from him, my chest heaving with ragged sobs. "Please...," I begged my voice breaking. "Please don't do this. They're all I have."

He snarled over his back at me. "Take them to the dungeons."

"No!" I shrieked scrambling onto my feet. Tried giving chase but a cold Marcus stepped into my path.

"Don't make this harder than it needs to be," he said, the temperature in his voice.

I glared at him, my sight blurring through my tears. "How can you do this? After everything my family has done for you-after everything I've done for you-you stand here and do nothing?"

Marcus's face didn't falter. "You're not my responsibility anymore, Alina. You're nothing to me."

The words shattered what was left of my heart.

I turned in time to see my parents being dragged away, their muffled cries ripping into me like cold blades. My mother turned back to me; her eyes implored mine, with her tears glinting in the sun.

And then they were gone.

Cold, hollow rage began to well inside me, drowning out the pain.

"You'll regret this," I said, my voice low, my body shaking with rage.

The Alpha turned back to me, the hint of an amused smile playing on his lips. "Is that so?"

"I'll come back," I said, my voice growing braver. "I'll come back and I'll destroy everything you've ever built. I'll make you pay for what you've done to my family."

And then silence fell over the courtyard. For one very still moment, the Alpha's smirk faltered.

Then he laughed. "You?" he spat, the word dribbling with malice from his lips. "You are nothing, Alina. You will die out there, all alone, and nobody will ever remember."

I heard the crowd laughing along with him-cruel voices that seemed to close in around me on all sides.

And I didn't care. I looked back at the Alpha, my eyes ablaze with unshed tears.

"I'll make you pay for this," I whispered, more for my ears than for his.

(Alina's POV)

The courtyard was empty, yet the jeering laughter of the crowd still echoed in my ears long after they were gone. I stood paralyzed staring after where my parents had been dragged away. My hands shook, an open hollow sensation filling my chest where my heart once lay.

Gone.

Every step they had taken away from me felt like a knife carving into my soul. My parents-my only family-wrongfully imprisoned, humiliated in front of the pack they'd served faithfully for years.

The Alpha's cruel words replayed in my mind like a taunt: You'll die out there, alone and forgotten.

My fists clenched as I swallowed hard around the lump in my throat. I wouldn't cry. Not here, not now.

They didn't deserve to witness my tears. But as I turned to leave, the reality of what lay ahead-the real part-hit with the force of a physical punch.

I had nowhere to go.

Not a house anymore, not even a home, just some mangled piece of what once stood here. The door was open, the living room ransacked, drawers out, chairs overturned. The small collection of trinkets my mother treasured lay shattered upon the floor.

I knelt beside a vase, in pieces, my fingers running over the jagged edges. My mother's favorite, she'd always kept fresh flowers in it, said they brightened the room. Now it was as shattered as everything else.

"Alina."

The cold voice snapped me back to myself. Twisting around, I found two enforcers standing in the doorway, their faces hard and unreadable.

"What do you want?" My voice came out hoarse, little more than a whisper.

"By order of the Alpha," one of them said, stepping forward, "you are to leave the pack immediately. You are no longer welcome here."

I stared at him, the weight of his words sinking in. "You're banishing me?"

"You're lucky that's all he's doing," the second growled, "after that little stunt you pulled. You should be grateful you're not joining your parents in the dungeons."

A defiant spark flew through my chest, which was then smothered out by a wave of despair. They were taking my family, my home, my life.

I forced myself to my feet, my legs shaking beneath me. "Fine," I said, my voice shaking, yet firm. "I'll leave. But it isn't over."

They said nothing. They only stepped aside, motioning for me to be on my way.

I took nothing with me. What was there to take? Everything that had ever mattered was long lost.

The wilderness was dead silent. In my scramble through the undergrowth, a sensation of towering trees closing in upon me, stalks and branches grasping at me, met a head full of thoughts, one prevailing. I had no strategy, no direction. All I knew was that I needed to keep moving.

But as the sun started to set, the forest changed. The shadows lengthened and darkened, the silence that had almost been tranquility now punctuated by the soft whisper of leaves, and the far-off howl of wolves.

My heart quickened its pace. I was not safe here. I was not safe anywhere.

A low growl behind me froze me in place.

I turned slowly. Behind them, out of shadows, trotted three wolves. Their eyes shone bright with a predator's glow. They weren't pack wolves; their tattered looks and snarls told me they were rogues.

I tried swallowing the fear scratching my throat, refused to cower. "Back off!" I shouted, my voice shaking.

The largest of the wolves snarled, showing teeth as he took another step closer. My wolf stirred weakly inside of me, but the rejection and my exhaustion had left her too weak to help. I was on my own.

I picked up a fallen branch off the ground, clutching it in front of me as if it were a weapon. "I warn you!"

They didn't listen.

The first wolf sprang, and I swung the branch as hard as I could. It connected with its side, and the wolf let out a pained yelp before tumbling backward. But in one fraction of a second, the others closed in; their teeth snapped less than an inch from my skin.

I fought hard, swinging and dodging as best I could, but these were different. Its claws raked across my arm, and I cried out, stumbling backward. Blood trickled down my skin, warm and sticky, but I couldn't stop. If I stopped, I was dead.

The other wolf knocked the branch from my grasp, its weight sending me to the ground. I bucked under it, my hands pressed to its chest while its teeth snapped mere inches from my face.

"Get off me!" I yelled, twisting and kicking, but my strength was deserting me fast.

Just as the wolf's teeth closed in, a deafening roar broke the night.

The weight was gone, the wolf yanked away; I scrambled to my feet, vision swimming, and saw a figure emerging from the dark.

With deadly precision, he wove through the rogues, his fists and claws ripping through the off guard rogues like they were nobody. One wolf leaped at him; he dodged it easily, and his hand shot out to grab its throat. He gave a brutal twist, snapping its neck before casting it aside like a rag doll.

The other two wolves faltered, but he didn't. In an instant of whirling fur, he was among them, his claws raking and his motions a dance of death.

It was over in less than a minute.

Once more, the forest was quiet, silent bodies of the rogues strewn across the forest floor. The man turned to me, his bright silvery eyes gleaming faintly in the dark.

"Are you okay?" His tone was low and authoritative, but beneath the firmness, there was a softness to take me by surprise.

I tried to answer, but my throat felt tight. The adrenaline that had kept me going started to wear off, quickly replaced by extreme fatigue and the keen sting of my injuries.

"Hey," he said, closer to me now. His tone quieted down with his words, though his presence overwhelmed me. "You are safe now."

"Safe." The word felt foreign. I hadn't felt safe in what seemed like an eternity.

Before I could respond, my knees buckled, and the ground rushed up to meet me.

(Kennedy's POV)

I stood over the unconscious woman sprawled at my feet, the soft glow of the moonlight catching the blood staining her torn clothes. Her breathing was shallow but even. Her dark hair was matted, strands clinging to her sweat-dampened face. A face so delicate, yet marred with bruises and scratches from the fight.

I frowned. This was supposed to be a simple task.

I hadn't been patrolling this stretch of the Northern borders out of duty-I had simply been clearing my head after another tiresome dispute among my council members. The rogues had been nothing more than a distraction, an irritation that required swift elimination. And this girl... She was an unexpected complication.

"Troublesome," I growled under my breath, crouching beside her.

It was then that her scent hit me, something faint and sweet, yet layered with a sorrow so deep it cut through the coldness I'd so carefully nurtured. My wolf stirred, pacing restlessly in my mind. I ignored him. She was a stranger, a weak one at that, and likely a liability.

Yet here I was.

"What am I supposed to do with you?" I asked the unconscious girl. She didn't answer, of course, but even as I considered leaving her there, my wolf growled low and dangerous in my chest.

"No."

The refusal wasn't mine, but his. His ferocity left no room for negotiation, no room for my indifference.

"Fine," I grunted, sliding my arms beneath her battered form. "But you'd better not regret this."

The journey back to the pack was quiet, her scent so invasive and distracting. When we arrived at the main gates of the Northern Pack territory, the guards snapped instantly into a stern, respectful stance, their postures taut with respect-and fear.

"Alpha," one of them said, his voice even, but his gaze straying to the girl in my arms. He didn't dare to ask any questions. They never did.

"Take Jerry to the infirmary," I said shortly. "Now!."

"Yes, Alpha."

I walked through the settlement of the pack, and wolves turned and stared, whispering to one another. It was not often that their Alpha brought anyone into their private world, and definitely not unconscious ones covered in blood. I ignored them all, my attention on reaching the infirmary.

Jerry was already waiting by the time I arrived. He was leaning casually against one of the counters, his arms crossed and a mischievous grin plastered on his face.

"Well, well," he drawled, pushing off the counter and sauntering toward me. "What have we here? A damsel in distress? Don't tell me you've gone soft, Ken."

I shot him a glare. "Save your jokes for someone else. She's injured."

Jerry raised his hands in mock surrender, though his grin only widened. "Alright, alright. Bring her over."

I set the girl down on the nearest cot, stepping back as Jerry immediately got to work. Whatever his playful attitude was towards life, he was strict and attentive with his craft.

"She's a mess," he muttered, pulling out various herbs and salves from his kit. "What happened to her?"

"Rogues," I said, crossing my arms over my chest as I leaned back against the wall. "She was fighting them when I found her."

Jerry turned around, looking back over his shoulder. "She survived a rogue attack? Looking like this?"

"She fought hard."

It wasn't praise, it was a fact. The girl was scrawny, obviously underfed, but when she'd swung that piteous branch at the wolves, there'd been a spark behind her eyes.

Jerry hummed and turned his attention back to her. "She's lucky you found her. Another few minutes and..."

He left the sentence unfinished.

I said nothing. I didn't know why I'd bothered saving her. I didn't save strangers.

"After all," Jerry said some time later, tone lightening again, "her injuries aren't too severe. A few deep cuts, some bruising, and she's clearly exhausted. But nothing I can't fix."

"Good. Do it quickly.

Jerry snorted. "Always so impatient. You know, most people would say 'thank you' when someone's saving the life of the woman they dragged in."

"Don't push your luck."

Jerry laughed, a low, teasing sound. "You're no fun, Ken. But fine, I'll save her."

It wasn't long before Jerry finished his work, his salves and bandages covering the worst of her injuries. She looked fragile lying there, but her breathing was stronger, steadier.

"She'll wake up soon," Jerry said, putting away his stuff. "And when she does, you might want to try not scowling at her. You're scary enough as it is."

I didn't pay any attention to him, but continued staring at the girl. Jerry sighed dramatically, muttering under his breath something about how I was a lost cause, and then left the room.

The silence after that was deafening.

I watched her for a long moment. Her fine features were still screwed up in pain, even in sleep. My wolf shifted again, restless.

Then her eyes flickered open.

Dark and wide, they blinked fast, the same as if she couldn't believe where she was for a few seconds. Then, she just stared at the ceiling, her confusion palpable.

Then her gaze shifted to me.

The instant our gazes met, something primitive and beyond control ripped through me. Heat spread, every nerve in my body lit with a feeling I'd never known. My wolf roared, his voice low and possessive, growling over and over in my mind.

Mate.

The word raged inside of me, an undeniable and absolute thing.

"Mate," I said aloud, the word escaping before I could stop it. My voice was low, rough, and full of raw intensity I hadn't meant to reveal.

Her eyes went wider, all confusion giving way to shock.

"Mine," I added, the word slipping out like a vow.

She froze, strained, staring at me. She said nothing, didn't move-only looked at me like what I said was something she couldn't understand.

And I couldn't blame her.