ELLA'S POV
As I slowly regain consciousness, I feel a stinging sensation on my cheeks as someone repeatedly slaps me, jolting me further awake.
"Wake up fat pig! I don't have all night," the voice of Princess Hellen! What could she possibly want from me now?

Blinking my eyes open, I immediately panick when I see I am bound to a wooden chair, ropes tightly restraining my hands and legs and there is a piece of clothing tied around my mouth so I can't even scream. Panic sets in and I tug at the ropes, my eyes darting around the unfamiliar room.The room is sparsely furnished with a rough-hewn table and a few wooden chairs. Definitely not somewhere inside the palace.
Princess Hellen, Asher, and Julia stand before me, sinister grins on their faces as they watch my fear escalate. Whatever this trio wants from me, it can't be good.
"I thought you'd never wake up," Princess Hellen taunts. My fear immediately gives way to anger as I meet her gaze.
"What more do you want from me?" I demand. "You have my mates, they're all yours. Take them and leave me be."
She laughs out loud. "Oh, dear. The kings were mine from the beginning. But there are two more things I desire from you," she says, a hint of malice in her voice.
"First," she raises a finger, "I want you to loudly accept their rejection," she says.

"Are you feeling insecure. You are scared they will dump you too after they are done with you." I snort.
She laughs. "I'll forget that you said that, because as a woman I understand your sorrow. I understand you are upset." She mocks. "It must have been so embarrassing and hurting to watch the men you love choose someone else."
"You...can't hurt me more." I retort but she continues.
"You probably wish you had accepted their rejection back then. To spare yourself the humiliation," she jabs.

I know she is trying to provoke me, but her words are really hitting home like a knife to the heart. Of course by now I know none of my mates liked me at all, but having her put it out there loudly...makes me feel like I might start crying all over again.
When I didn't have anyone to care about me, I had the power to survive alone because I was used to that. But then they came along and promised to love me, I got attached to their promise and that took my power of knowing how to be alone.
And the hardest lesson to learn now, is how to be alone all over again.
I can't stand to hear anymore but I know she will keep pushing the knife in until I give her what she wants.
"I, Ella Rodriguez, accept the rejection of Kings Reagan, Aleric, and Kian," I declare in a frigid tone, steeling myself for the expected blow of pain that surprisingly never comes.
Princess Hellen's grin widens in satisfaction.
"Now we should get done with the last thing." She says.
'What... What are you going to do?" My voice sounds weak and pathetic. “What are you going to do to me?”
She laughs wickedly. “Oh, you’ll soon find out.” That does not sound good. At all. I am not going to lie and say I am not scared. Because I am downright terrified.
She snaps her fingers. “Bring me the crown."
"The crown!?"
Asher strides forward carrying a small black box. She hands the box to hellen and then retreats back to the conner of the room again.
With a smile, princess Hellen extracts the crown of the King of Alpha Kings from the box! My confusion and fear deepen as she approaches me with the crown in hand. I recoil in the chair, my heart pounding in my chest.
"What are you doing?" I plead, my voice betraying my escalating fear.
She places the crown on my head with a strange gentleness.
She then steps back.
A moment of eerie silence follows as they all gaze expectantly at me, like they are waiting for something to happen.
"Nothing is happening," Asher remarks, breaking the tense silence. Confusion clouds Princess Hellen's expression as she furrows her brow, a worried look creeping into her features.
But suddenly, something is taking over my body, a power I had never felt before.
My senses sharpen, my muscles tense.
Hellen grins as I let out a painful gasp and clutch onto the edge of the chair as my whole body starts to hum.
Everyone's eyes go wide as the orbs of the crown on my head glow brightly golden. I suddenly no longer feel like the weak, wolfless girl that anyone can break at will. I have this intuition that there are powers already deep within me.
A strange energy flows through me, making me push hard against the ropes binding me. The knots loosen as if by magic.
"I . . . I think it's the crown!" Asher exclaims in panic.
"Get the crown! Quickly!" Princess Hellen's shouts, her eyes fixed on Julia, who is closest to me.
In a burst of unexpected strength, my feet breaks free from their restraints just as Julia rushes at me. Reacting on pure instinct, I kick out, sending Julia hurtling across the room to collide with the unforgiving concrete wall. A moment of disbelief washes over me as I stand there, shocked by my own actions, not understanding this sudden power. Asher rushes to Julia's side.
I rise to my feet, breaking free from the ropes that held my hands just as Princess Hellen lunges at me. Our collision sends us both crashing into the wall, knocking the crown off my head and sending it rolling across the floor.
In an instant, my strength fades as quickly as the crown rolls away, the surge of confidence that had coursed through my veins vanishes too. Princess Hellen seizes the advantage, quickly recovering and making a dart for the crown. I struggle to my feet, seizing the opportunity to make my escape.
She turns around and her face drops. "Asher, get her!" she shouts to Asher, but it's too late. I slip out the back door and into the dark night outside. Apparently we were in a small cabin is hidden deep in the woods.
I can hardly see a thing, but Adrenaline pushes me to run faster than I thought I could. They will probably chase me to as far as I can go. So I force my way through the thick bushes, using my hands to push away twigs and smaller branches. They get scratched, but I ignore the pain as I strain to move even faster.
I can already hear their heavy footsteps catching up fast. At least they haven't shifted into their wolf form, so there is hope I can outrun them. I no longer have time to carefully scan the way ahead, I just keep moving. There isn't even a clear path anywhere around me as rough branches keep hitting and scratching the sides of my body.
"She's too damn fast!" Asher shouts, and I realize they're catching up despite how fast I am running.
I try to move faster, but my body is getting too tired and my long dress makes it harder.
My chest burns from the cold air I have breathed in and stinging pain shoots from my bare feet but I do my best to block away the pain because I can't stop running.
 
"We have to shift!" I hear Hellen yell again and my heart pounds harder, but somehow the fear fails to give me the jolt of adrenaline I need to pick up speed. I am running out of energy to keep my sore feet moving.
I catch a glimpse of white painted posts as I squeeze through even thicker bushes.
Did I just close the borderline? Did I enter alpha Ethan's kingdom? That would be worse than having Hellen catch me. Alpha Ethan is the worst enemy of Goldcrest and his border guards wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who is crossing their bonder from Goldcrest.
I have no time to really check whether or not I have crossed that borderline. A tide of terror runs through my body when I hear a wolf's howl not too far behind me.
They must have shifted to get to me faster. I can't outrun their wolves no matter how much I try.
The pain in my chest is increasing with each step I take and I finally feel like giving up. They will catch me in the end anyway.
An audible gasp escapes my lips as I'm suddenly knocked from behind, the air forced out of my lungs. I fall hard, my face hitting the ground with a thud, the side of my head striking a stone. Pain floods my senses.
I hear a growl and turn to see them, two wolves with fierce, glowing eyes. Their menacing fangs make my injured body jolt in fear, and I instinctively try to crawl away. The first wolf pins me down, its sharp claws digging deep into my left leg, causing searing pain that makes me cry out in agony.
"Please... don't kill me!" I manage to stutter, my voice filled with desperation.
I shut my eyes tightly as the second wolf attacks, sinking its teeth deep into my right shoulder while its claws tear into my chest. The excruciating pain reaches unbearable heights as flesh is ripped apart by teeth and claws. I feel a huge amount of blood wetting my dress and my life slipping away with it.
It's finally over. I can feel my spirit and body about to part ways. I wonder if my mates will be happy to hear the news of my death. They definitely will feel relieved, none will shed a tear to mourn my demise. No one will ever know that they had a useless human as a mate.
Suddenly, there is sound of twigs snapping, approaching footsteps, and voices through the darkness. Presumably border guards. The wolf withdraws its crawls and teeth and more blood gushes out.
I see them retreating as if cowering back from something before swiftly disappearing into the woods.
Whoever has come, has saved me from further pain but not death, because I can feel myself slipping. This was it. This is the end of my life. As short and sad lived as it was, I didn’t want it to come to an end.
The last thing I see is a dark silhouette of a gigantic man approaching before my eyes close.