Diana's POV

The guards grabbed my arms before I could even process what was happening. Their fingers dug into my skin like iron clamps as they dragged me away from Alpha Kieran's chambers.

"No!" I screamed, trying to twist out of their grip. "Let me go! Let me go!"

But they were too strong. My bare feet scraped against the floor as they dragged me through the corridors. I twisted and fought against their grip, but it was useless.

"Stop fighting," one of the guards grunted as he tightened his hold on my arm. "You're only making this harder on yourself."

But I couldn't stop. The mate bond that had just formed was now being torn apart, and it felt like someone was ripping my heart out while it was still beating. I had never felt pain like this before in my entire life.

I doubled over from the pain, but the guards just kept dragging me. Tears poured down my face as I gasped for air between the sobs.

How was this even possible? I didn't have a wolf. I had never shifted in my twenty-two years of life. So how could I feel the mate bond? How could I have a mate when I was just basically human?

The guards dragged me through corridor after corridor while I continued to struggle against them. My legs gave out from the pain, but they just kept pulling me along like I weighed nothing at all.

When I was younger, I used to dream about meeting my mate. I would lie in bed at night and imagine how gentle and loving he would be. I pictured him holding me close and whispering sweet things in my ear while we danced under the moonlight. I thought about how safe I would feel in his arms and how perfect our life would be together.

But this was nothing like my dreams. This was a nightmare.

My mate had rejected me without even giving me a chance. He looked at me with such disgust, like I was something dirty he had stepped on. And now he was going to have me killed.

Maybe it would have been better if he had just killed me right there in his chambers. At least then the pain would have been quick and over with. Now I had to suffer through this agony while waiting for my execution tomorrow.

"Leave me alone!" I screamed again, digging my heels into the floor. "Leave me alone!"

The guards ignored me completely. They dragged me down a set of stone stairs that led to the dungeons. The air got colder and damper with each step, and I could smell old blood.

"Please don't do this," I whispered as tears streamed down my cheeks. "I'll do anything you want. I'll leave and never come back. You'll never see me again."

Neither of them answered me. They just opened the door and shoved me inside so hard that I fell to my knees on the stone floor, and the cell door slammed shut behind me.

I scrambled to my feet and grabbed the metal bars, shaking them as hard as I could.

The guards' footsteps were already fading away down the corridor, leaving me completely alone in the darkness..

I kept shaking the bars and screaming until my voice was hoarse. But no one came back.

"Quit trying. Don't disturb yourself."

I stopped shaking the bars and looked around the dark dungeon, but I didn't see anyone."Who is there? Who is that?"

The voice was coming from the cell next to mine. Our cells were separated by a thick concrete wall, so I couldn't see who was talking.

"I see you, Diana Ashworth," the woman said in a low tone.

My heart skipped a beat. "How do you know my name? What is your name? How long have you been here?"

But she didn't answer any of my questions. I waited in the silence, listening to the sound of water dripping somewhere in the darkness.

"Is there any way I can escape?" I asked desperately.

Still no response.

I pressed my ear against the concrete wall, trying to hear if she was still there.

"I scent your wolf," she said finally. "Lavender and peach."

I shook my head even though she couldn't see me. "But I don't have any wolf. I am twenty-two years old and I don't have any wolf."

There was a long pause before she spoke again.

"You don't know anything, do you?"

I wanted to ask her what she meant, but what was the point? I didn't know anything. I didn't understand how I could feel the mate bond without having a wolf. I didn't understand why Alpha Kieran had rejected me so quickly. I didn't understand any of this.

I didn't care about having a wolf or not having a wolf anymore. After all, I would meet my fate tomorrow. By tomorrow I would be dead anyway. The Lycan King had rejected me because I hadn't satisfied him, and now I was going to pay the price with my life like all the other breeders before me.

My mind drifted back to Rowan, and I wondered if he was safe somewhere. I hoped they hadn't hurt him after dragging him away from me.I might never know what happened to my best friend, and that hurt almost as much as the rejection pain.

I slumped against the cold wall and wrapped my arms around my knees to make myself as small as possible in the corner of the cell. The thin red dress offered no warmth against the chill, and I started shivering.

I tried to sleep, but the mate bond kept sending sharp pains through my chest. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Alpha Kieran's cold blue eyes staring at me with pure disgust.

The hours passed slowly. It seemed to move differently in the dungeon. I couldn't tell if minutes or hours were passing. There were no windows, no sounds from the outside world. Just darkness and the occasional drip of water.

I must have dozed off at some point because the sound of keys jangling woke me up. My whole body was stiff and sore from sleeping on the hard floor, and my neck ached from leaning against the wall.

The cell door burst open and two gammas stepped inside. They were both huge men with scars on their faces and arms.

"Time to go," one of them said as he reached for my arm.

"No!" I scrambled backward until I hit the wall. "No, please don't! This cannot be happening!"

They grabbed my arms and hauled me to my feet. I tried to fight them, but I was too weak from crying and not eating.

"Help me," I sobbed as they dragged me out of the cell. "I will do anything for you, please."

The guards didn't even look at me. They just kept walking, pulling me along like I weighed nothing.

The guards pushed open a set of heavy doors, and sunlight hit my face for the first time since yesterday. We were outside in what looked like a courtyard surrounded by high stone walls.

There were dozens of other guards standing around in a circle. In the center of the circle was a wooden platform with a large block of wood on it.

An execution block.

My legs gave out when I saw it, but the guards just lifted me up and kept dragging me forward. I was crying so hard I could barely breathe.

"Please," I whispered. "Please don't do this."

They forced me to kneel in front of the block and pushed my head down so my neck was exposed. The wood was stained dark with old blood, and I could smell the blood of everyone who had died here before me, and my stomach turned.

One of the guards pulled out a massive silver sword that gleamed in the morning sunlight. My whole body was shaking as he raised it above his head.

I closed my eyes and tried to think about something beautiful. I thought about running through the forest with Rowan when we were children. We had always hoped we would get to travel and see the world beyond our pack lands.

Now I would never get the chance.

The guard holding the sword tensed his muscles, preparing to bring it down on my neck.

This was it. This was how my story would end.

I took a deep breath and waited for the blade to fall.

"Stop."

The guard froze with the sword still raised above his head. Every guard in the courtyard turned to look toward the voice.

I kept my eyes closed, afraid to hope that someone had actually come to save me. But my heart was beating so fast I thought it might explode in my chest.

"Stop," the voice said again.

Who had stopped my execution?