~Grace~
"There. You. Are."
The voice comes from everywhere. Behind me. Before me. Beside me. It's a fact that I hear a deep, echoing sound for the first time in my life, and this voice belongs to the man gripping my chin with a satisfying, predatory grin.
My lips part in awe, my cheeks immediately flushing with heat as I behold the man. The sheer height of him steals the air from my lungs. Seven feet of perfection.
He lifts me into his arms and walks toward the dais where the Alpha and his family are now standing. They all hurry down with each of his approaching steps.
I've never seen tables turn this quickly. The Alpha and the rest of the gathered pack members are now where I once stood. Their hands tremble as they don't dare to look at the man with their backs straight.
He looks to be in his late twenties, though the very air that surrounds him screams of something ageless, defeating the notion of time. His long hair falls in a black tumble over his shoulder, and it has streaks of silver just like my blonde.
He wears a fitted black shirt that emphasizes his muscular frame, and he moves with a predatory grace. His face is devoid of a smile, his eyes locked onto mine with unsettling focus. He has a presence so heavy and commanding it feels like that of a medieval king. His perfectly chiseled chin and sexy lips are enough to drive any woman crazy!
I swallow hard at the heat burning inside me. If he is a monster, then he is the most terrifyingly beautiful one I've ever seen. And yet, there is nothing monstrous about the way he looks at me. From the weight of one look, he seems to pity me a lot—and hell, I hate pity so freaking much.
The heaviness of his aura is sickening enough to make my stomach clench. And my eyes feel like they might bleed if I look upon him any longer.
"I don't know who the hell you are, but you can't just take her. Why kill my people just to save an omega hub? A poor, mute omega!" Leo's voice cracks, the bravado from moments ago replaced by high-pitched desperation. "Besides, she is a criminal. She belongs to the pack's justice!"
Oh God! I can hear his voice now as well.
The stranger's chest rumbles with a low, vibrating growl. "Your justice is a flea-bitten circus, wolf."
"We have protocols!" one of the Elders shouts, though he stays safely behind a line of armed warriors. "The Treaty of the High Moons states—"
"The Treaty was written by men who are now bones," the man interrupts, his voice dropping to a dangerous, silky whisper. He starts to walk, forcing me to stumble along with him. The circle of warriors parts like a curtain; not one of them dares to raise a hand.
"How can you judge a shifter who can't hear or speak? How exactly do you expect her to defend herself?" he demands.
"She was given a pen and paper," Emily interrupts, stepping up beside Leo. I watch her lips move, but it seems the only voices reaching me are limited to this man's and Leo's.
"Fine." He stops in front of her. "Let me give you those same tools. Let's see if you can defend your identity—or explain exactly how you plan to execute your own sister while you're still drawing breath from the moon."
"I... I don't know what you are talking about," Emily mutters and steps back.
"You can have a clean shifter. Just not her. Hell, she's not even a shifter. She's human. She's filthy," my mother pleads. I can only scoff at her audacity. Every one of them just wants me dead and gone!
My eyes spin, and the world blurs as I drift toward unconsciousness. I fight to stay steady. I can't afford to trust this man's arms, no matter how kind he seems. That's actually the problem—the kindness. What does he want? I have nothing to offer a man of his caliber, and in my experience, "nice" always comes with a price tag I can't afford.
Anthony, still holding out his sword, manages to bark out a command. "Stop him from leaving! Block the exit!"
The man stops. He looks at me, his eyes swirling with dark, primal intensity. "Do you want to stay, little bird? Or do you want to see what's outside those gates?"
I can barely find my breath. I want to live, of course.
He turns back to the pack, a sharp, terrifying grin cutting across his face.
"She wants to live," he announces to them. "Which means anyone who stands between us and that gate has volunteered to die in her place. Who's first?"