After My Alpha Chained Me, I Ran to the Rogue King

The guards' grip on my arms was iron-tight as they dragged me across the pristine marble floors of Diamond Crest territory. My boots—caked with mud and blood from the rogue skirmish—left dirty tracks in my wake. The scent of pine and earth that clung to me after days in the borderlands seemed to offend every wolf we passed.

"Could you walk faster?" The guard on my right—a broad-shouldered man with a scar above his eyebrow—yanked me forward. "You're embarrassing us."

I spat a mouthful of blood onto the polished floor. "Sorry to inconvenience you with my existence."

The left guard—younger, with nervous eyes—shifted uncomfortably. "Margo, please. Alpha Harlan said to bring you straight to the holding—I mean, guest room."

"Holding cell," I corrected, twisting my arm free. "Just say it. We all know what this is."

They shoved me through a door that looked like it belonged in a high-end hotel suite. The irony wasn't lost on me—a gilded cage is still a cage. The door locked behind them with a soft click that sounded like a prison gate slamming shut.

I paced the room, my reflection in the mirror catching my attention. Mud streaked my face, dried blood crusted under my fingernails, and my clothes reeked of the forest. Exactly as I liked them.

On the bed lay a document with the official seal of the Silver Moon Pack—my pack. Or the pack that had been mine until today.

"Binding Mating Contract," I read aloud, my voice echoing in the empty room. "Between Alpha Gideon Hughes of the Diamond Crest Pack and Margo Knight of the Silver Moon Pack."

My father's signature was already at the bottom. No consent required from the actual daughter being traded like cattle.

"Pack merger," I snarled, crumpling the paper. "That's what my freedom is worth."

* * *

"Ms. Knight." The Beta's voice was professionally neutral as he led me through corridors lined with glass walls that reflected my still-unwashed appearance. "Alpha Hughes is waiting."

I'd refused to shower or change, a small rebellion against what was coming. The Beta's nose wrinkled slightly as we entered Gideon's office.

The man himself stood behind a massive desk of polished obsidian, not bothering to look up from his computer. Everything about him screamed control—from his perfectly tailored charcoal suit to his immaculate desk to the way he held himself, ramrod straight.

"You're late," he said, still not looking at me.

"I was busy being kidnapped," I replied, leaning against the doorframe. "And you're Gideon Hughes."

Finally, his eyes met mine. Cold. Calculating. Disgusted.

"This is unacceptable," he said, gesturing to my appearance. "You reek of the forest. And blood."

I grinned, showing teeth. "The rogues weren't exactly gentle when they ambushed my patrol."

"I don't care about rogue attacks." His voice dropped an octave, taking on the unmistakable resonance of an Alpha tone. "As my Luna, you will maintain a certain standard of cleanliness and decorum."

The command hit me like a physical force, though