Chapter 4~ A trap

**Raina's POV**

The sound of mocking laughter reached my ears, and my heart lurched. 

“Oh goddess… did you come here to entertain us with your jokes?” Someone asked, sneering. 

“You will win?” Jake snickered, glancing at Silas. “Alpha, I think someone is in the wrong place. Should I ask someone to take her back to the packhouse?”

“Will they be able to carry that load?” Silas asked, and the rest of the crowd burst into fits of laughter. 

I took a step back and placed a hand over my stomach instinctively before tucking it in. I always did this to make my stomach look flat, but it didn’t help. 

“Silas, it’s fine. If she wants to participate, we can’t stop her,” Gwen said, and I raised my eyes to look at her. What was she playing at?

This was the first time she was speaking up for me in public. She’d been acting strange today, and I couldn’t help but question her motives. 

“She will get in everyone’s way,” Silas said, glancing at me and giving me a warning look. 

I trembled, knowing what that look meant. I was going to get punished later for defying his orders. He told me to stay hidden, but here I was, embarrassing him and the entire pack. 

But I couldn’t stay hidden today… not when there was a chance I could win my freedom. 

There’s no way Silas would let me go. He didn’t love me, but he didn’t want to let me go either and always made sure he reminded me that I had nowhere to go. 

But I was done and ready to live as a lone wolf. I was more human than wolf anyway… I could find a decent job among the humans and spend the rest of my days there. 

At least there were people like me among the humans. 

“No, Silas… that’s not very nice,” Gwen said. “She’s also part of our pack and deserves a chance to participate. I bet there’s something she wants to ask you when she wins.”

“Maybe she wants to be your Luna,” Jake chipped in, and everyone burst into laughter. 

“This fatty is not Luna material. Luna material is someone like Gwen. She’s beautiful, smart and has one of the fastest wolves in the pack,” someone in the crowd said, and I won’t lie, their words stung. 

I was once again reminded that I could never fit in. 

“Jake, don’t make jokes like that again,” Silas uttered, his voice laced with anger. “Anyway, today’s prize is not a wish. I will decide what the prize is when I see the winner.” 

Anger washed over me in violent waves. 

“That’s not fair… how could you change rules at the last minute?” I asked, unable to hold myself back.

Silas glared at me. “Because this is my pack, and I decide what happens on my land. Jake, make the announcement.” 

I coiled my hands into fists, feeling like someone had punched me in the gut. 

He was doing this on purpose- leaving the prize open so that I couldn’t demand a wish in case I won. 

He didn’t believe I could win, but he didn’t want to risk it either. What a calculating and cruel man.

I wanted to give up and return to the packhouse, but Silas forced me to head into the forest. He said I had already shown up, so he didn’t allow me to back out until I participated in the games. 

There were a few who seemed to feel sorry for me. They led me towards the area where some big animals are found, and we split up because this was a competition… they had already gone out of their way to help me. 

As I made my way through the dense forest, I heard a twig snap, and I turned, sliding an arrow from the quiver on my back and raising my bow into position, ready to strike.

When I was at the werewolf academy, I loved archery. No one knew this, but I was quite good, and if I didn’t suddenly start having more flesh on my body, I would have continued with my archery and maybe become a professional archer in the human world. The bullying made me drop out of so many school activities. 

The sound of rustling leaves reached my ears from the left, and I turned swiftly, aiming my bow and arrow in that direction. 

Still… there was nothing. 

I frowned. 

That’s odd… normally, I should be able to spot even something as small as a rabbit. 

But so far, I hadn't seen any animals in this place. 

I heard some more intense rustling, and it seemed like it was getting closer. Since I couldn’t see anything, my heart jumped into my throat, and I stumbled back, only for me to feel iron jaws clamp around my foot. 

“Ah!!!” A scream tore through my throat as excruciating pain shot through me. 

I dropped on my ass, my leg trembling at the intensity of the pain jarring through me. It hurt so much that it knocked the air out of my lungs for a few seconds. 

My eyes blurred with tears, the pain threatening to consume me.

I didn’t like pain.

My whole body felt like it was on fire, and I felt like I was going to die. 

Who the hell put an animal trap in the hunting grounds when there was a hunting game event?

I tried to remove the leg-hold trap, but its jaws were locked into my skin, embedded into my bone. If I forced my leg out, I would lose my foot. 

My heart clenched in pain. Who could I even ask for help? No one would come for me. I could feel my wolf whimpering, feeling guilty about our weak state. If I was a normal werewolf, rescuing myself from this trap would have been easy. 

I sat for a while, watching my leg bleed out. The pain was so intense that I ended up sweating heavily, and my loose clothes now stuck to my body like a second skin.

All hope was lost, or so I thought, until an intoxicating scent filled the air. It was a mix of woody and something sweet… if I were to be specific, something like cedarwood with hints of dark chocolate. 

My wolf stirred within me, and I could feel her excitement, which made me frown because why would she be excited in this situation? I was about to lose a leg for fucksakes. If I lose a leg, so does she, and we would never be able to run in the woods again.

Suddenly, the delicious scent intensified, and I couldn’t help salivating. Footsteps followed, and I looked up, my breath catching in my throat at the man staring down at me with a hungry look in his eyes. 

It's shameless of me since I was in pain, and this was the first time I was seeing this man, but I couldn't help but notice how devilishly handsome he was- dark caramel brown, medium, neatly styled hair... a neat, trimmed beard with a sharp enough jaw to cut through glass...

He definitely wasn't from this pack.

“Oh my…” the man said, his deep, sexy voice reaching my ears. I felt my core clench at how smooth he sounded. “I came here to hunt the biggest prey, little did I know I would find something even better.”

My heart raced as my wolf pranced around in my mind.  

‘Mate!’ I growled in my mind, and my eyes widened when it dawned on me.

This man was my fated mate! I could feel the undeniable magnetic pull between us… the way his voice alone was enough to make my knees weak… the way I wanted to bare my neck to him and let him mark me, claim me as his… he was definitely my mate. 

I could feel butterflies in my stomach, but I suddenly lowered my eyes, my heart clenching in excruciating pain. 

How could I get excited about meeting my mate when I know what would come next is a brutal rejection?

I sighed, not bothering to look at him. “Go on. Do your worst.” 

“What are you–”

“Alpha! Alpha Rowan! Why did you run off? You found something?” Someone’s voice came as they approached. 

The man I now knew as Alpha Rowan approached me. He crouched to my eye-level before grabbing my chin. 

Immediately, I felt sparks and tingles coursing through me, making me shiver, and a gasp escaped my lips. 

What was this feeling? It was new… but I didn’t hate it. 

Alpha Rowan smirked, tilting my head up, his touch sending delicious shivers down my spine. 

“Yeah...” He said, more to himself than to the person who was approaching.

His eyes glowed a deep red.

“I did find something… something big and round,” he murmured, his eyes raking up and down my body. “Just the way I love my prey… with some extra meat on its bones.”