Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother

76 Chapter 76

Valerie's POV 1

My hands shook as | gripped the steering wheel, the cheap plastic hot and slippery with sweat despite the air

conditioning blasting at

The highway stretched endlessly ahead, a ribbon of cracked asphalt leading toward the wild territories where

civilized wolves

feared to tread.

full power.

*What the hell am | doing?*

The question had been circling through my mind for the past three hours, ever since I'd thrown my designer

bags into Gabriel's beat-up

sedan and peeled out of our driveway like a woman possessed. My face still throbbed from where Sera’s claws

had raked across my

cheek, leaving angry red welts that would probably scar. The bitch had actually managed to shift and fight back-

something I'd never

seen her do before.

Something was different about her now. Stronger. More dangerous.

| caught my reflection in the rearview mirror and winced. The once-perfect features that had caught Gabriel's

eye were now marred by

three parallel scratches running from my left temple to my jaw. Foundation could only do so much to cover the

damage.

That omega freak ruined everything.

A horn blared behind me, joltingfrom my self-pity. I'd been driving twenty miles under the speed limit, lost in

my spiraling thoughts.

| pressed harder on the accelerator, watching the speedometer climb as the landscape outside grew wilder and

more desolate.

The truth was inescapable: | was fucked. Completely and utterly fucked.

Sera would tell Damien everything-aboutkidnapping her brat, about trying to sell her to that disgusting old

man. And Damien, as

the Alpha King, wouldn't just let it slide. He had resources | couldn’t even imagine, connections that stretched

across every pack

territory in the region. There was nowhere | could hide where his reach wouldn't eventually find me.

Unless...

I'd been driving toward the border territories for hours now, watching the well-maintained roads give way to

potholed backwoods paths, the neat suburban developments replaced by dense forests and abandoned gas

stations. This was rogue territory-the lawless lands where pack exiles and criminals made their homes. Where

even the Alpha King’s authority grew thin.

It was also where people went to disappear. Permanently.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” | muttered, my voice high and strained in the silence of the car. “This is insane, | can’t actually

be considering this.”

But what choice did | have? Go back hand wait for Damien's enforcers to dragaway in chains? Hope

that somehow Sera would show mercy to the woman who'd tormented her for years?

Ha. Fat chance.

The sun was setting by the t| reached the edge of truly wild territory. The last functional street light flickered

weakly behindas | drove deeper into the forest, following a dirt road that was barely more than a trail. My

expensive heels and designer dress were

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76 Chapter 76

laughably inappropriate for where | was headed, but | hadn't exactly had tto pack survival gear.

The trees pressed closer on either side, their branches scraping against the car's windows with sounds like

fingernails on glass. Every shadow looked like it might contain yellow eyes and bared fangs. My heart hammered

against my ribs as the road deteriorated further. forcingto slow to a crawl to avoid bottoming out on the

deeper ruts.

And then | saw them.

Yellow eyes gleaming in the darkness between the trees. Not just one pair-dozens. They moved parallel to my

car, keeping pace but staying just out of sight, like sharks circling prey.

My foot found the brake pedal without conscious thought, bringing the sedan to a shuddering stop in the middle

of the narrow track.

The engine ticked quietly as it cooled, the only sound in the oppressive silence of the deep woods.

A branch snapped somewhere to my left. Then another, closer this time. The yellow eyes were getting braver,

moving closer to the edges

of the road where the headlights could catch them properly.

I'd read about rogues in school, back when we'd studied pack law and territory management. They were wolves

who'd been exiled from

their birth packs for crimes too severe to forgive-murder, rape, treason. Without the civilizing influence of pack

bonds, they devolved

into little more than animals, living by violence and taking what they wanted from anyone too weak to stop

them.

They were also the only wolves in the region who might be interested in what | had to offer.

My legs felt like jelly as | stepped out of the car, the forest floor soft and treacherous under my heels.

“I know you're watching me,” | called out, my voice cracking embarrassingly. “I’m not here to cause trouble. |

just want to talk.”

A low growl answeredfrom the darkness, followed by another, then another. The sounds seemed to come

from all directions at once,

a chorus of predators sizing up their prey. My wolf cowered deep inside me, every instinct telling her to submit,

to roll over and show

her throat in hopes of quick death.

“I have information!” | shouted into the darkness. “Information about the Alpha King that your leaders would

want to hear!”

The growling stopped. The silence that followed was somehow worse than the threats had been.

Then they stepped into the light.

There were six of them, all male, all larger than any wolves I'd ever seen. Their eyes were the flat yellow of true

predators, and their lips

were pulled back to reveal fangs stained with old blood. Their clothes were torn and filthy, hanging in rags from

frames that were more

muscle than anything else.

The largest one, a brute with salt-and-pepper hair and a face full of scars, took a step closer. When he smiled, |

could see that half his teeth were missing.

“Well, well,” he rumbled, his voice like gravel in a cement mixer. “What do we have here? A pretty little pack

princess, all alone in the big

bad woods.”

The others laughed-a sound like hyenas around a fresh kill. They began to circle me, moving with the casual

confidence of predators who knew their prey had nowhere to run.

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76 Chapter 76

“I'm not just srandom wolf,” | said quickly, backing toward my car. “I know things. Important things about

Damien Nightshadow and

his weaknesses. Things your pack could use.”

“Oh, she knows things,” another rogue sneered, this one younger but no less dangerous. “Ain't that precious? Tell

me, princess, what

makes you think we give a shit about pack politics?”

My back hit the side of my car. Trapped. The metallic taste of fear flooded my mouth as the circle of rogues

tightened around me.

“Because he’s been hunting your kind!” | blurted out desperately. “Killing your people, driving you out of

territories you've held for years!

Don’t you want revenge?”

The scarred leader held up a hand, and the others stopped advancing. His yellow eyes studiedwith the

calculating look of a predator

deciding whether its prey was worth the effort to kill cleanly.

Finally, he nodded toward the darkness beyond the headlights.

“Go tell the Alpha we've got a visitor. One who claims to know things about the King.” He turned back to me, his

smile showing far too

many teeth. “You better hope you're not wasting our time, princess. Our Alpha doesn't like to be disappointed.”

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