A Royal Mate

I was so overwhelmed with emotions that I couldn't help but feel like I was suffocating when he said her name. My head felt dizzy and I had to grab onto Jack's arm to steady myself.

"Anna, are you ok?"

I started to hyperventilate, taking multiple breaths too quickly causing my mind to shut off. I held on to what little piece of clarity I had left and channeled my inner goddess.

"Breathe. Just like me." Jack's voice was smoothe and commanding and I immediately responded.

I focused on his words as he tried to soothe me. He took my hand and placed it on his chest where I felt his strong rhythmic heart beating and the rise and fall of his upper body. I tried several times before we finally fell into sync. "Good baby. Just like that. Breathe."

He held my other hand tight while running circles along my thumb. After I finally calmed down he looked at me with sorrowful eyes and said "I'm sorry Anna but I wasn't worried about her at the time. I was solely focused on not losing you. My men detained her immediately after you collapsed and threw her down in the hole when they returned here."

"Jack, it's ok. But we need to deal with it before we go to Augusta." I said taking his hand and standing up.

"We don't have to do anything right now, Anna. We can wait until we get back." He said as he placed his hands on my shoulders.

"No Jack. She has to be dealt with now. I want to make sure that when I return these women home that I can look their Alpha's, mates and families in the eye, and tell them that the sick, twisted she-wolf who ripped them from their homes, is 100%, without a shadow of a doubt, dead."

He smiled at me and said "Look at my badass Luna!"

"I'm not thrilled to have to see her but I need to do this. For them...for me!" I looked down at the floor trying to suppress the feeling to cry. I took a deep breath and said "Austin? Can you call Alex in here." I looked at Jack needing his support.

He nodded his head and I watched as his eyes glazed over staring into the distance then he blinked letting me know his internal conversation was over. I turned around and started pacing the floor trying to figure out what to say to him. I also had no clue what to do about Rebecca but I knew she had to be punished for her treasonous acts. And death was usually the only answer.

I continued wearing a hole in the floor until I heard someone knocking on the door. Jack went to meet him and walked alongside him as he made his way to the table. He never lifted his head and his posture was tense with worry.

I didn't really know Alex that well but Jack trusted him so I was sure he didn't know his mate was a conniving bitch and I felt so sorry for him especially since he was positive he knew what her future was.

"Alex, I'm sure you know why we called you here?"

He nodded his head and his breathing started becaming rapid and shallow. His fists clenched by his sides and Jack immediately whispered something in his ear. He relaxed a little but you could still see how upset he was.

"We are going to talk to her now about her sentencing. I just wanted you to be aware of what we were doing."

He lifted his head and his eyes were changing from blue to grey as he tried to control his wolf. His canines elongated and he growled menacingly. "I want to see her." He said in a low voice.

Jack had already placed himself in front of me after the first semi-outburst but this time he was about to go full fledge Alpha on Alex. They stood there facing each other as Jack said "I suggest you stand down before I send you to the hole with her. Your Luna was considerate enough to inform you of her plans and you will not speak to her that way."

He immediately flinched at Jack's tone and bowed his head, tilting it to the left bearing his neck. Jack relaxed a bit but not enough to let his guard down. If he thought Alex was a threat he wouldn't think twice about throwing him in seclusion or worse, ripping his throat out.

I grabbed Jack's bicep and gave him a shove hoping he would take the hint that I was ready to go. I needed this to be over with as soon as possible. With his eyes still on Alex, he walked forward towards the door as the others followed.

Jack, Austin, Brayden, Alex and I all made our way towards the hole and the entire time my stomach was in knots. I didn't even know what I'd say to her, let alone what I should do. Even though her actions almost cost the lives of several other wolves and myself, I still didn't believe in such harsh punishment but if I didn't make an example of her behavior I would be showing weakness, and I never show weakness.

Within minutes we were standing in front of an iron door adorned with intricate locks and a top notch security system. The only way to enter was with the alpha, beta and gammas fingerprints along with a key to which Jack had sole custody of. Once the door was unlocked we crossed through the threshold and entered next into what Jack referred to as the holding area, which was located behind a gate, that was also locked, and contained two benches attached to each wall.

We entered the room and had to go through another door that had to be unlocked to get through. Finally we came to a circular shaped cave that looked like an arena, with a humongous cage in the middle. Inside the cage was Rebecca.

She was lying on the ground huddled into a corner and started shivering and mumbling the moment I walked in causing me to feel tons of emotions all at once. Anger. Nervousness. Anxious. Happy. Devious. But most of all, pure unadulterated HATE

I loathed her and everything she stood for. Just being here, looking at her brought back all the memories of how Ryder treated me, how I was never good enough for him, except for my title, and how pissed off I was that I couldn't do what I wanted to do to her in that fucking cell. She was a coward and she would find out exactly how much she was worth...nothing.

Walking right up to the bars where she was, I said "I bet you never thought you would see me again."

She tried to crawl away but I reached through the bars and grabbed her by her hair and couldn't help but laugh as she let out a terrified shriek. I tugged harder the more she tried to pull away and felt a swell of pride in my chest as she sprouted tears from her eyes as the pain rippled through her scalp.

I turned her face towards Alex and said through clenched teeth "How could you do that to him? Your mate! Huh? I bet you never told Alex just how much Tyler meant to you?" I watched Alex's eyes narrow and his lips turn into a snarl.

"Luna, with all do respect, that piece of shit is not now, never was, and never will be my mate."