Kate’s POV
I gasped awake, my heart pounding as the nightmare visions slowly faded.
I recalled the image of how that girl had killed me back in the cell and shuddered.
I looked around again… how did I end up here? I was pretty sure that wasn’t a dream.
Did I, go back in time?
This was my one chance to escape the anguished fate that awaited me at Dimitri’s side.
There was no time to waste. I threw off my tangled sheets and quickly dressed by the moonlight streaming through my window.
The manor was still and silent in these pre-dawn hours – perfect for slipping out unnoticed.
I made my way soundlessly through the shadowed halls, careful not to wake the household.
The reassuring rumble of my father’s snores echoed from behind the master bedroom door.
Despite his warmth and affection for me growing up, he had callously promised me off to Dimitri like a traded commodity, intent on sealing his precious pack alliance at any cost.
Even if it meant consigning me to a life of torment and depravity.
A flicker of resentment took hold, steadying my resolve.
There was no going back now.
Not when the alternative was to surrender myself over to that vicious, unhinged fiend.
Better to defy my father’s plans and face his wrath than suffer what awoke in Dimitri’s domain.
The front door creaked slightly as I eased it open.
I held my breath, ears straining for any signs that the noise had awoken my parents.
When the house remained silent and still, I slipped outside into the crisp night air.
My pulse thundered with a combination of fear and determination as I loped across the dewey fields towards Kayden’s secluded cabin at the edge of our territory.
More of an uncle to me who has always been the one that cared and shown me love. Ever since he felt it that I might be his Mate.
Surely he would understand the terrible reasons behind what I was about to ask of him!
I rapped firmly on the cabin’s weathered door, forcing myself not to flee like a startled deer at the first sound of movement from within. It was too late to have second thoughts now.
The door swung open to reveal Kayden himself, his eyes heavy-lidded with lingering sleep.
He blinked owlishly as he registered my unannounced presence on his doorstep.
” Kate?” His gruff voice rasped with confusion and dawning concern. “What in the name of the old ones are you doing out alone at this hour? If your father caught wind of me allowing you to wander untended at night before the bonding ceremony…”
He trailed off, running a hand down his face as he seemed to realize I was in no apparent danger or distress.
I drew a steadying breath to brace myself for what needed to be said.
“Kayden, you have to listen to me very carefully. What I’m about to ask of you will likely seem like utter madness…”
The torrent of explanations came tumbling out in a feverish rush.
How the Alpha Dimitri had promised to subjugate and torment me for years on end until I was a broken, hollow husk.
How his own packmates would ultimately butcher me in cold blood when my defiance towards their depraved treatment reached its limits.
How I had chosen to travel back through the ancient Litha ritual to prevent that grisly fate from ever coming to pass.
But in doing so, I had put everything on the line – my father’s trust, my family’s security, even my own place and status within the pack hierarchy.
By the time I finished, Kayden’s expression had hardened into a thunderous mask of barely-restrained fury.
“That sick, depraved bastard!” Kayden snarled, a menacing crimson aura flaring around his bulky frame. “Using our sacred bonding traditions to try and trap you as some damn plaything to torture and toss aside when he’s done!”
His hands clenched into tight fists, and for a second I thought he might actually hulk out right there on his rickety porch.
But then the wave of fury seemed to pass, leaving him looking almost defeated.
“Katie…” he started hoarsely, visibly struggling to rein in his instincts. “What you’re proposing, this crazy scheme to defy your bonding vows before they’re even made… it goes against everything our kind believes in. The old ways and all that.”
A knot of desperation twisted in my gut.
I knew this request would sound utterly insane to the traditionally-minded Beta, but I couldn’t back down now. Not when my life literally depended on it.
“Please Kayden, I’m begging you to put aside the rules and customs, just this once,” I implored, fighting to keep my voice from shaking. “You know me, you’ve watched me grow up loyal to our pack every step of the way. Can you honestly look me in the eye and say you think I’d put us all at huge risk without an incredibly serious reason?”
The Beta’s jaw tensed mutinously for a long moment.
But then his shoulders slumped in resignation as he searched my gaze, seeming to weigh the sincerity burning there.
“No…” he finally growled in a low rumble. “No, I don’t believe you’d ever act so recklessly without justification, no matter how crazy this all sounds.” He drew himself up to his full intimidating height, his expression hardening with grim resolve.
“Alright, Katie. As much as it shames me to even consider defying your father’s promised oaths, I can’t in good conscience ignore your pleas and hand you over to that degenerate’s sadistic clutches.” His piercing stare bored into me with solemn intensity. “Tell me what you need from me, and I’ll move heaven and earth to make it happen if I have to.”
I felt weak with gratitude and relief, though a tendril of apprehension still gnawed at me.
There was still one more shocking request to voice.
The one that would irrevocably alter both our fates forever if he agreed.
“Thank you, Kayden,” I breathed, placing a hand over my pounding heart. “You have no idea what your loyalty means to me right now. But I’m afraid there’s one final, unthinkable thing I have to ask if we’re going to unravel Dimitri’s vile plot.”
The Beta’s bushy brows furrowed, but he gave a resolute nod for me to continue.
I licked my suddenly dry lips, the words feeling like shards of glass in my throat.
“You… you have to claim me as your own mate before the bonding with Dimitri can happen.” The words hung in the air as realization slowly spread across Kayden’s weathered features. “It’s the only way to sever those vile oaths and keep me safely out of that monster’s grasp for good.”
Kayden recoiled like I’d slapped him, his expression one of utter shock.
When he finally found his voice, it was a strangled rasp of disbelief.
“You can’t be serious, Katie! To ask something like that… it’s the biggest breach of not just pack law, but the most fundamental rules our kind has!”
His eyes bored into me, silently pleading for me to take back this unthinkable burden.
But I could only hold his stricken gaze, willing him to understand the desperation of my situation.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the fight seemed to go out of him.
“Aw hell…” he muttered, shoulders sagging in defeat. “What you’re asking… it’s a line I never dreamed I’d be forced to cross. Knowingly going against my own Alpha’s decree like that, it’s a stain on my honor that can never be washed clean…”