The Alpha’s Fated Choice (Alpha's Fated Encounter Trilogy #1)

“I know. But I’m not sure how much longer I can go on like this. It’s not as if a lot of people are downright cruel to me, but there is a general hostility that I can sense. You haven’t been through it, Noah, so you can’t possibly understand.”

“You’re right,” he says after a moment. “I can’t understand. You’re the one who has experienced all this.”

He begins walking again, a heavy sigh leaving his lips. “I wish my father had been more understanding. Deliberately isolating you here as punishment is far too cruel—and it’s for far too long. You were so young. And none of what happened was your fault to begin with.”

I stop him so I can look him in the eye. “What? What’re you talking about? What do you mean, deliberately isolating me?”

Noah studies me, his brows knitting together in confusion. “That was your punishment, Sophia. That’s why you were sent here. To separate you from the entire pack. That’s the reason why nobody has accepted you, even though you’ve lived here for so long and it’s such a small town. You are isolated on the Alpha’s orders.”

Chapter 12

Sophia Hope

For a moment, it feels like my ears are ringing.

I stare at Noah, stunned.

“Deliberately isolated?” I repeat numbly.

It’s a rare punishment. You have to be a traitor for that to happen. It is one of the harshest punishments that exist within packs and definitely not something that fits what I did. I killed those boys in self-defense. The head of the orphanage knew it. Alpha Black knew it.

And he still chose to do this to me?

If my wolf weren’t latent, I wouldn’t have survived the isolation for more than a year. It would have been a slow, cruel death.

Noah must see the shock on my face because he grabs my arm. “Sophia?”

I look up at him, my voice quivering. “They were going to rape me. Those boys at the orphanage, they wanted to violate me. The Director knew the truth. Your father knew the truth. Why did he do this to me?”

Noah has a helpless look on his face. “I wish I could tell you. I don’t know. I didn’t even know where you were sent till a few months ago, when I finally got all the details from my father. Believe me, Sophia, I had asked him before. I interrogated the orphanage Director at the time. She told me that the boys had attacked you, unprovoked. I tried talking to my father, but he just told me to stay out of it. That’s one of the reasons why I’m here now. To make sure you’re okay.”

It’s not like I trusted Alpha Black to begin with, but to experience this sort of betrayal from the one person who was supposed to protect me, even if he hated me, is a hard pill to swallow.

I look at Noah. My body feels cold. “Nobody here would so much as touch my hand.” My voice is uneven as I recall the day I arrived in Oakrest. “I was scared, traumatized, and the pack security led me to my apartment and told me to stay there. I didn’t eat for days. The money I was told I would receive never appeared for the first few months. One of my human neighbors gave me food out of pity. Wouldn’t it have been better if your father had simply executed me?”

Noah shakes his head. “I can’t answer for the wrongs you’ve faced because of my father, Sophia. But I can promise you, you won’t face any further injustice.”

“How can I believe that?”

He smiles at me, his hands coming to settle on my shoulders. “You have my word. I won’t let anybody hurt you again.” Pulling me to his side, he wraps one arm around my waist. “You will never lack affection, physical or emotional. I will make sure of it.”

My wolf is silent inside of me, not responding at all to Noah’s touch.

As we begin walking toward the beach again, I am unable to enjoy myself. My mind is still struggling to wrap around this new information. No matter how much Alpha Black loathed me, to do that to me was insanity. He gave me a cruel death sentence for nothing more than defending myself.

And then there is the fact that nobody even questioned it. Nobody asked why a teenager was given such a harsh punishment.

How am I supposed to reconcile with that? I don’t think I ever will. My resolve to escape this pack and this Alliance is hardening.

However, I am good at masking my emotions, so I don’t let Noah see the hurt and anger burning inside me. We arrive at the beach; there is a human family there, the children building sandcastles while the parents prepare a barbecue. The water is too cold to enter, and both of us are fully clothed with no bathing suits anyway, so we just take off our shoes and walk along the shoreline, letting the waves tickle our feet. I listen to Noah talk about the college he went to, the degree he got, what he’s been up to since we last saw each other, and while I can muster up some happiness for him, it also makes me angry that I never got to experience any of that. I don’t think I’ve ever truly hated anybody till today. My hatred for Noah’s father is now a festering boil within me.

Perhaps in his love for his father, Noah sees things that aren’t there, but I know Alpha Black has a vicious nature. I don’t believe he loved my mother. And I don’t believe he and my mother were friends. There must have been something else going on there. What the reason was for my mother giving birth in his house, I may never know. But his hatred for me is obvious now.

Even if Alex continues to reject me as his fated mate, I will take him up on his offer to sponsor the Wily Vixen. I want to leave this place as soon as I can.

Noah and I end up having lunch at a small pizzeria that has recently opened. The food is said to be delicious, but I can barely taste the pizza. The sensation in my mouth is bitter, as are my feelings. My wolf paces inside my mind, anxious and agitated. By the end of the meal, Noah seems to be in the mood to get something sweet for dessert, and I feel like I have no choice but to pretend I am of the same mind.

After we pick out some custard buns at the bakery, I wait outside for Noah to finish paying. Across the street, I see a familiar face.