Rejected by Her Mate, Claimed by Four Alphas

CHAPTER 6

Clara’s POV

His weight crushed me to the ground. His claws dug into my shoulders, cutting deep into my flesh. Pain shot through my body like fire.

"You're finished," he growled in my face. His breath was hot and smelled of blood. "The Alpha wants you dead, and I'm going to enjoy it."

He pushed his claws deeper into my shoulders. I bit my lip to keep from screaming. Through the trees, I could see the border stones. So close, yet so far while trapped under his weight.

"Kill her quickly," Marcus called. Blood ran from his nose where I'd hit him earlier. "We need to go back."

"The Alpha didn't say it had to be quick," the warrior on top of me said. He dragged his claw down my cheek, cutting me. Blood ran warm down my face. He licked his claw and smiled. "I want to make her suffer."

Something inside me snapped. My wolf howled with fury, not pain.

I twisted and bit his arm hard. I tasted his blood as my teeth tore through muscle. He screamed and his grip loosened. I took my chance.

I pushed up with all my strength, throwing him off balance. My hand shot up, fingers curled like claws, and I slashed his throat open. Blood sprayed everywhere, covering my face and chest. He fell back, hands clutching his neck, eyes wide with shock.

I got to my feet, spitting his blood from my mouth. He lay on the ground, bleeding out fast.

Marcus roared and charged at me. His face changed as he partially shifted, his teeth growing sharp and long. "You're dead!" he yelled.

I braced myself, my body also shifting partly. My nails grew into sharp claws. My senses got sharper, the smell of blood strong in the air.

We crashed into each other hard. His claws caught my side, cutting through skin and muscle. I gasped as pain tore through me. Blood soaked my shirt.

But I didn't fall. I slashed at his face, my claws cutting deep from his jaw to his eye. He howled and stepped back, blood pouring down his face.

The third warrior attacked from behind. His teeth sank into my shoulder. I screamed as he tore a chunk of flesh away. Blood ran down my back in hot rivers. My vision blurred, darkness creeping in at the edges.

I spun around and drove my elbow into his throat with all my strength. There was a crack as his windpipe broke. He fell back, choking, hands at his throat.

Marcus came at me again. His claws cut across my chest, leaving deep wounds that sliced through muscle. I felt ribs crack. Each breath hurt, a wet sound coming from my damaged lungs.

I fell to one knee, blood dripping from many wounds. It pooled under me, soaking into the dirt. So much blood. Too much. The world spun around me.

"You should have died quietly," Marcus said, circling me like prey. His face was a mask of blood from the wounds I'd given him. "Now I'm going to tear you apart, piece by piece."

My wolf raged inside me, refusing to give up. "Get up!" she shouted in my mind. "FIGHT!"

Something powerful surged through my body, a strength I never knew I had. My wounds still bled, my body still hurt, but somehow I stood up.

Marcus charged at me, sure he would win. I stepped aside at the last moment, moving faster than I thought possible. As he passed, I drove my claws deep into his back, between his shoulders.

He screamed as I tore downward, cutting through muscle and spine. He fell, his legs suddenly useless. Blood poured from the huge wound, spreading across the forest floor.

He tried to crawl away, leaving a trail of blood. I followed slowly, each step sending waves of pain through my beaten body. When I reached him, I grabbed his hair and pulled his head back to show his throat.

"Wait," he gasped. "Please—"

I didn't wait. My claws cut across his throat, nearly taking off his head. Blood sprayed, covering my arms to the elbows. His eyes went wide, then empty as he died.

I let him go and watched his body fall to the ground. The third warrior lay nearby, no longer choking but still, having died from not being able to breathe.

I stood there, covered in their blood and my own. My body shook with tiredness and pain. My wounds were bad—the torn shoulder, the cuts across my chest and side, the deep wounds on my face and arms. Inside, I was hurt too, making each breath painful.

But I had to keep going. The border was so close.

I started running, ignoring the screaming pain from my wounds. Blood poured from my injuries with each step, leaving a clear trail behind me. My vision blurred and my head felt light from losing so much blood. Still, I pushed forward.

More warriors would be coming soon. I had to cross the border before they caught me.

I looked over my shoulder, hearing shouts in the distance. They were getting closer. I forced my legs to move faster despite the agony tearing through me. Each step was a battle against my failing body.

The border stones stood just ahead, old markers with carvings that separated Shadowcrest territory from the neutral grounds. Relief surged through me. Just a little further and I'd be safe.

"Almost there," I whispered to myself. "Almost free."

I could see the border line now, just yards away. A smile touched my bloody lips. Once I crossed that line, I'd be in neutral territory. Not completely safe, but beyond Jaden's immediate reach.

That small hope gave me the strength for a final sprint. I pushed my battered body to its limit, racing toward freedom.

Just as my foot was about to cross the line, Jaden's voice thundered through the pack bond, so powerful it made me stumble.

"Clara Ashburn has murdered pack warriors," he announced, his voice cold with fury. "She has gone rogue and is killing pack members. I brand her a fugitive and traitor to our pack. She is to be killed on sight, without mercy. Whoever kills and returns with her head gets a prize."

The shock of his words hit me like a physical blow. I tripped and fell, landing hard just short of the border. For a moment, I couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't breathe. The pain of his declaration was worse than all my physical wounds combined.

He had just publicly sentenced me to death. Not just exile, not just rejection, but death. Every member of the Shadowcrest Pack would be hunting me now, eager to claim whatever reward Jaden had promised.

Tears mixed with the blood on my face. After everything—all the years of loyalty, of love, of trying to be what he wanted—this was how it ended. With him telling everyone I was a murderer who deserved to die.

I could hear footsteps getting closer. With a final surge of determination, I picked myself up and crossed the border line. The moment I did, I felt the pack bond snap like a thread, cutting me off from the only family I had ever known.

The sudden silence in my mind was deafening. For years, I had lived with the constant hum of pack consciousness in the background of my thoughts. Now there was nothing but my own voice and my wolf's.

I stopped on the other side, turning to face the territory I'd just fled. My body was broken, blood still flowing from my numerous wounds. But I stood tall, refusing to collapse despite the pain threatening to overwhelm me.

I was a fugitive now. A traitor to my former pack. A rogue. With nowhere to go and nobody to turn to. But I was alive. And as long as I lived, I could fight.

My wolf stirred within me, her presence stronger than ever before.

"They will pay for this," she growled. "All of them."

For once, I didn't silence her. Instead, I embraced her rage, letting it fuel me. I turned away from Shadowcrest territory and limped deeper into the neutral grounds, leaving bloody footprints in my wake.

According to wolf laws, as long as I had crossed the borders, I was free from this bounty hunt.

I didn't know where I was going or what would happen next. I only knew one thing for certain—this wasn't over. Not by a long shot.