Unwanted Mate (The Alpha Shifter Collection)

Prologue

Sofia Foster tried to shield her entire body from the blows being rained down on her by her pack. The pain was excruciating, and nothing she did stopped them in their need to cause her harm. Each one took great pleasure in harming her. The sounds of her screams, along with their laughter, were all that could be heard.

It was freezing cold tonight, and it didn’t matter how hard she tried to run or how far she tried to get, if they wanted to find her, they would.

“Fucking bitch.”

“Slut.”

“Fat cow.”

“Ugly whore.”

The words kept on coming, and she had no choice but to wait until their bloodthirst slowly left them.

Time ticked by. This had to be close to thirty minutes now before the final person spat at her, and they walked away.

She curled up in a tight ball, shivering as her body took the time to heal.

Squeezing her eyes closed, she tried to think of happy thoughts, but nothing would come to mind. Ever since her parents had abandoned her at the pack, there had been no kindness for her.

She was considered a burden. Unwanted. No matter how many times she tried to leave, her alpha wouldn’t let her. She was nothing more than the pack’s punching bag.

Sofia rolled onto her back, staring up at the sky. There was no moon tonight, but she felt her body slowly starting to mend.

No matter how many times they tried to break her, her body had a mind of its own. Within a matter of hours, she’d show only mottled bruises as if she’d been beaten weeks ago, and not hours.

As a wolf, her ability to heal was natural, but … and this was the biggest but, she shouldn’t heal quite as fast as she did. She imagined that was why people were so pissed within the pack. Even the alpha couldn’t heal this fast.

As she lay, waiting for her body to finally heal itself, she wondered if there would ever come a point when she was free. Where nothing and no one scared her. She closed her eyes and imagined a life filled with happiness and laughter. One day, she wouldn’t be afraid to go to sleep at night for fear of what would happen. There would be a time when she’d be part of a pack who had each other’s backs rather than try to harm those that were different.

She took a deep breath, feeling the heat swirling in her gut.

Her body jerked and she whimpered. One day soon, her life within the pack would come to an end. Either that or she’d find the strength to cross the pack line and finally leave. She hated that she stood at that pack line and never crossed over it. Always poised, but the alpha had given his instruction and there was no chance of her leaving.

She had to believe in a better future. Praying for an end of all of this, to find a life she deserved rather than being a constantly unwanted female. She’d done nothing wrong. Never harmed anyone, and yet, this was what happened to her.

There would be an end soon.

She’d cross that line.

She would find peace.

Until then, she had no choice but to stick with the abuse and hope for a miracle to one day come upon her.

Chapter One

Two months later

Sofia sat with her hands tied in front of her as the sounds of crying filled the air. This wasn’t a miracle.

She didn’t even know what had happened. One moment the alpha had been hitting her for spilling coffee on his pristine shoes that were some kind of designer brand, then they were running. The entire pack had tried to save themselves as they were attacked.

Seated in the center of the town, Sofia tried not to look, but she had no choice as the lead man who attacked stood in the center, right near the torn-down statue of their alpha. Their present alpha whimpered on the ground like a coward.

She didn’t care what happened to her alpha. He was poison, pure evil. The man who had his foot on the alpha’s chest, he captured her attention, and she wasn’t sure why.

Her mouth went dry as she glanced from the top of his head, all the way down his body. He only wore a pair of pants and boots. His chest and arms were all bare, showing the sight of his muscular chest. There was no ink on his body, but a lot of scars. Several of them she recognized as wolf marks.