Chapter 5

• Chapter 5
• Zoey Malik
• ~•~
• I still had no idea who the man was, but I had no choice but to follow him. It was my only way to escape the punishment.
• The moon goddess finally gave me a miracle.
• My legs felt weak as he carried me away from the crowd. The pack members were murmuring behind us, but I didn’t look back at them.
• I already knew that most of them weren’t pleased that I was leaving without getting my punishment. I was even surprised that Conrad agreed to let me go.
• But how could I trust a stranger to expose the real killer in two weeks?
• The thought of being thrown into the dungeon was scary.
• He didn’t speak to me as we walked. He didn’t try to comfort me. He didn’t ask if I was okay. But I felt safe as he held my hands.
• Once we finally left the crowd, I stopped.
• “What?” He asked, narrowing his eyes on me.
• “Who sent you?” I asked, folding my arms. “Why did you call me your mate?” My mind was racing with different unanswered questions.
• At some point, I thought it was Selena who asked him to pretend like we were mates just so he could save me from my punishment.
• But I was confused about why Conrad listened to him.
• Why would an Alpha surrender a supposed murderer to a complete stranger?
• “Who are you?” I added, my eyes raking over him from head to toe.
• He didn’t say anything, he just continued walking.
• I trailed behind him.
• After he while, he stopped in front of a car. He opened the door and gestured for me to get inside. Without thinking, I entered the car and he sat down beside me.
• “I’m Sean. A Lycan king from the Moonbeam Pack.”
• My eyes grew wide in shock.
• What business did I have with a Lycan king?
• I exhaled sharply. “What do you want from me? Why did you save me?” I asked, my voice laced with curiosity. “Did Selena send you here?”
• “Who is Selena?”
• He seemed genuinely confused, so it was clear that Selena didn’t send him. “Never mind, what is your deal? Why did you save me?”
• Sean cleared his throat. “I need you to be my pretend mate for a year.”
• My lips parted slightly and I blinked. “What?”
• “It’s either that or I leave you here to face punishment for a crime that you didn’t commit.” His voice was cold and calculated.
• I shifted in my seat, anxiety creeping through my chest. “How do you know that I didn’t commit the crime?”
• Sean laughed. “Have you met yourself?”
• I scoffed. “What do you mean?”
• “Did you kill him?” He asked, disregarding my question.
• I shook my head. “No, I’m being framed.”
• “Exactly,” Sean replied, a slight smirk tugging at his lips. “I’ll help find out who really killed your pack’s beta. You just have to be my pretend mate.”
• I exhaled sharply. “Why?”
• “Don’t ask me too many questions.” His expression became sharp. “Would you rather stay here or come with me?” He asked, his voice laced with a hint of urgency.
• After weighing my options, I knew that I had no choice but to leave with him. “I don’t want to stay here, but I can’t leave with you without getting answers.”
• Sean sighed, dragging a hand through his blonde hair. “Fine.” He responded reluctantly. “What do you want to know?”
• I had a lot of questions.
• “Why do you want me to be your pretend mate for a year?”
• “My mother is on her dying bed. She wants me to find my second-chance mate before she dies. But I’m not interested in being with any other woman. So I settled on finding a pretend mate.”
• “Wow,” I muttered more to myself than him.
• “You’ll be compensated heavily for your time.” He added.
• I wasn’t concerned about his money. I was just curious about why he would want to lie to his sick mother. Wasn’t that a horrible thing to do?
• I wanted to ask, but I didn’t want to upset him.
• “But why did you choose me? I’m sure you have a lot of girls in your pack who would be willing to pretend to be your mate.” I couldn’t help but ask.
• He smiled. “Of course, but it would be risky getting someone from my pack. I might get caught and the last thing I want is for my mother to know that I lied to her.”
• I nodded. “Okay.” My response was clipped.
• Before anyone could say anything else, I saw Wendy storming towards the car with a group of men. My heart began racing as I realized they were about to cause trouble.
• “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of them.” Sean placed a comforting hand on my shoulder before stepping out of the car.
• I stayed inside the car and watched as he spoke to Wendy. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but Wendy seemed pretty upset.
• After a few minutes, she glared at me before turning around to leave. Her men followed, their faces hard and angry.
• I let out a relieved sigh as Sean returned to the car.
• “What did you say to them?” I asked, my eyes locked onto his.
• “Don’t worry about that.” He responded coldly. “Can we leave now?”
• “Before I leave, can I tell my best friend so she won't be worried?”
• I already knew that Selena would eventually know about my whereabouts because it would be the talk of the town. But I wanted to tell her by myself. She deserved to hear it from me.
• “Sure. But you can’t tell her that it’s a contract.” He replied, his tone serious. “You can’t tell anybody that you’re my pretend mate. Or else, I’ll hurt you.”
• His voice was low but I could feel the weight of his words.
• I flinched. “You’ll hurt me?” I asked, my voice cracking slightly.
• He nodded. “Yes, only if you give me a reason to do so.” He replied casually as if it was a totally normal thing to say to someone.
• Was I really making the right decision by going with him? He was practically a stranger. What if my life would even be worse than the one I had here?
• But what could be worse than being thrown into a dungeon?