With trembling fingers, I reached for the cabin door and knocked softly. My breath clouded in the icy air, and for a moment, there was no response. I thought of leaving, running back into the darkness to find another way, but the creak of the door interrupted my thoughts.A woman stood in the doorway, her piercing green eyes locking onto mine. She was older, her silver hair braided over one shoulder, and though her face was lined with age, there was a sharpness to her gaze that warned me she wasn’t to be underestimated.She sniffed the air and narrowed her eyes. “A rogue,” she said, her voice calm but laced with suspicion. “You’re injured.”I didn’t deny it. “Please,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “I need shelter, just for tonight.”Her gaze swept over me, taking in the blood, the bruises, and the desperation in my eyes. She let out a slow breath before stepping aside. “Come in, then. But don’t think I won’t throw you out if you bring trouble.”I stepped inside, the warmth of the ca
I sat frozen, my mind racing as his words echoed in my ears. Was he serious? Would he actually kill someone just to prove a point—or worse, to feed me? A part of me wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all, but the cold reality was that Alpha Kade wasn’t one to make empty threats.I pulled the blanket tighter around me, my body trembling from more than just hunger. His dominance, his sheer cruelty, clung to me like a suffocating shadow. Yet, beneath it all, there was a fire—a part of me that refused to break no matter how hard he tried to bend me.I forced myself to stand, leaning against the wall for support as I moved to the window. The moon hung high in the sky, casting a silvery glow over the packhouse grounds. My wolf stirred within me, restless and angry, urging me to fight back, to run, to do something other than sit and wait for him to come back.But how? The room was locked, and I was weak. My injuries, though healing, had drained me, and I wasn’t sure I could survive anoth
As soon as I was out, the real me hit me so badly. What did I just do?!But they real deserved it.I looked around then noticed that the guards weren't around. I was happy for it. This time I didn't want to escape but I wanted the stupid ruthless bastard. Their Alpha.I walked slowly due to hunger until my eyes landed on one of the workers."Where is Kade?", I asked and when her eyes fall on me, fear showed in her eyes. I was scaring with blood of the rotten meat all over my body.She hesitated for a second but when she saw me open my mouth, she gave in i'mmediately. "He's in the meeting room."My brows furrowed. Meeting room?"Where is that and what meeting?""The meeting with the council. It's downstairs, near the cellar." The servant replied, staring at me with wide eyes. The second the compulsion wore off, she walked away without a single thought of what happened.I remained calm, used the energy I had in me and went downstairs, the underground level of the estate, one I had never
As I walked back to my room, my mind raced with confusion and anger. Kade's sudden shift in tone had left me reeling. He had spent so much time treating me like an inconvenience—his enemy even. But for a moment, just a fleeting moment, there was something softer in his voice. It wasn’t enough to convince me he wasn’t a monster, but it was enough to keep me awake tonight, questioning everything.I shook my head, scoffing under my breath. "What the hell is wrong with me? Since when does 'clean yourself up' count as sweet?"Yet, I couldn’t deny the flicker of something I’d seen in his eyes. It wasn’t just anger or frustration. There was hesitation, maybe even a hint of… concern? That thought made me stop in my tracks. Concern wasn’t something I associated with Kade. He was a brute, a dictator, someone who seemed to view me as an inconvenience at best and a burden at worst.But then, why hadn’t he punished me for eavesdropping? Why hadn’t he locked me up, as he so often did before? Why ha
The room felt colder after Kade left, his presence lingering like a shadow I couldn’t shake. His words swirled in my head, heavy with implications I couldn’t unravel. You’re asking questions you don’t want the answers to. The truth. That’s what I wanted, but was it what I needed? What could possibly be so dangerous about knowing the truth?I leaned back against the bedpost, staring at the ceiling, my thoughts refusing to settle. Kade is well known as brute, a man who ruled through fear and dominance, yet through out this day, something about him felt... different. Like he wasn’t entirely the monster I’d painted him to be.That thought made me angrier than it should have.I stood abruptly, needing to move, to do something. My room, though bigger than the one I’d been thrown into when I first arrived, still felt like a prison. The clean walls, the soft bed, the untouched clothes—it was all a farce. A pretty cage was still a cage.And there was nothing to do in the room.Tomorrow, he sai
The rest of the day blurred into a haze of exhaustion. Training with the pack wasn’t just physical; it was mental, a constant test of endurance and focus. The wolves pushed me relentlessly, their disdain obvious in their sneers and muttered comments. I didn’t care. Every blow I blocked, every hit I landed, was another small victory, another step closer to proving I didn’t belong at the bottom of their hierarchy.By the time the sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in streaks of red and gold, my body felt like it had been put through a meat grinder. I limped back to my room, muscles screaming in protest with every step. The clean, sterile space greeted me with an emptiness that felt heavier than before.I made my way to the bathroom.I started the shower, and peacefully washed my body. Everything was well and I took my time while showering but everything changed i'mmediately when I opened the bathroom door to get out.My eyes instantly fall on the bastard who was seated on th
The morning came too soon. A soft beam of sunlight filtered through the curtains, casting a golden glow across the room. My body felt heavy, as though the exhaustion of the previous day had embedded itself deep into my bones. I blinked groggily, disoriented by the unfamiliar warmth cocooning me.And then it hit me.Kade.My heart lurched, and I instinctively jerked back, only to find that the source of warmth was no longer lying beside me. The bed was empty, the sheets on his side rumpled but cold. I let out a shaky breath, a mixture of relief and confusion washing over me.Had he left? Why hadn’t I woken up when he did? The thought that I’d slept so soundly in his presence both unnerved and irritated me.I pushed myself upright, clutching the blanket to my chest as I scanned the room. The bathroom door was closed, but I didn’t hear the sound of running water. My gaze darted to the small desk near the window, where a folded piece of paper caught my eye.Curiosity tugged at me, and I s
The training dragged on, but I refused to let exhaustion slow me down. Kade's gaze seemed to follow me with every movement, sharp and calculating, as though he were cataloging my every flaw. He didn’t pair with me again after the initial spar, but his presence loomed over me, pushing me harder than I thought possible.By the time the session ended, my muscles felt like they were made of lead. The pack dispersed slowly, some offering me lingering looks, others ignoring me entirely. I stayed behind, leaning against a wooden post to catch my breath.“You held your own today.”The voice startled me. I turned to see Torren standing a few feet away, arms crossed, his smirk less mocking this time.“Barely,” I muttered, wiping the sweat from my brow.“Barely’s better than nothing,” he said with a shrug. “Most don’t land a hit on Kade their first time sparring. You’ve got potential.”His words, while backhanded, felt oddly like praise. I narrowed my eyes at him. “Why does it sound like there’s
I showered up, getting rid of the soreness of my muscles. I had never worked out in my life before and exerting my body so much in a single day has taken its toll. I had cramps everywhere.I heard some voices coming from downstairs. I couldn't recognize them. I mulled over the fact that I should go and check it out because it could be Nikolai's business partner. His business partners were not the kind of people you want to make a conversation with.But then I heard a shrill female voice.I went out of the door and stood at the top of the stairwell. Still, all I heard were the voices. I went downstairs and saw a tall, lean middle-aged man with a young blonde woman standing beside him. I could only see their side profiles. The woman turned and I sucked in a sharp breath.It was Grace Russell, Nikolai's wife-to-be. I know because I had attended their engagement. Her face was engraved at the back of my mind, the sight when Nikolai had slipped the ring on her finger replayed in my head on
"Have you ever worked out before?" he asked.I looked around with wide eyes. "Does running around in the gardens count?""No,""Then no, I have not""Come on, let's do a little warm-up first then I'll teach you how to box."My mouth hung open. "Box? As in boxing?"He heaved a sigh. "I want you to learn how to defend yourself, Natalya."I thought for a while before I nodded. Turns out, I don't even know what warm-up is, he had to tell me everything. The thing that annoyed me the most was his tone, he was speaking to me like I was a child and repeating his words so, that I'd understand clearly.Another thing that annoyed me was his toned muscles, and his stupid sculpted chest.When it was time to step into the boxing ring, Alessandro handed me a pair of boxing gloves. I was about to put them on but he came to me and put them on me himself as if I don't know how to put the stupid gloves on.I rolled my eyes and out of nowhere Alessandro gently smacked the back of my head. "Roll your eyes
Someone pounded on my bedroom door waking me up from my deep slumber. I groaned and stuffed my face back into the pillow to block out the sound coming from the door. The knocking intensified, whoever it was, didn't really have much patience.I sat up and glanced at the wall clock. It was only six o'clock in the morning. I rubbed my eyes to rid of the grogginess, tossed the duvet aside, got to my feet, and headed for the door. I opened it and was met with an unknown face. She was wearing the uniform the household help used to wear."What?" I asked."Don Alessandro had requested you to freshen up and wear this before you come downstairs."Frowning, I took the clothes from her and noticed that they were gym clothes. I heaved a sigh, I liked it better when I could say no to him but I dug my own grave when I promised him that I'd listen to him and follow his rules but that's all there was to it.I'm not the same girl who had a massive crush on him.I closed the bedroom door and glanced at
"I'll make sure to do everything he did to you... but his torture will be a hundred times worse," he whispered softly.His one hand was in my hair while the other was on my cheek caressing it with his knuckles. I leaned into his touch, feeling the security and comfort I used to feel when I first met him."They all took turns in beating me up, they laughed whenever I screamed in pain," I said as tears rolled down my cheeks and dripped down to the ground.His hand left my hair as he cupped my face with both of his hands. He tugged me closer. "I will make their death an object of ridicule."I looked into his eyes. "Promise?"He let out a deep breath with a hint of a smile."Promise," he declared. "Do you want to see it happen?"I considered it and then shook my head. I don't think I have the stomach for that much violence. "No...""Do you want to go home now?"I looked up at him. It's hard to forget what Alessandro did to me too and the fact that he was engaged was the hardest pill I eve
I had my headphones on as I continuously flipped the pages of the book that was before me. I hadn't read a word, the music blasted in my ears blocking out all the other sounds.I slammed the book shut and got off my bed. Alessandro had called Sabrina earlier, I knew that he did because Sabrina and I hadn't talked after his whole engagement fiasco.I pretended to be asleep while Sabrina waited for me.I didn't wake up until she finally gave up and left the house.I got to my feet, straightened out my dress, and headed downstairs. His house was crawling with his soldiers, they all tried to avoid making eye contact with me.They were moving some stuff into the house, some furniture, suitcases, and whatnot. Was Alessandro redecorating?I hopped onto the couch and put on the TV at full volume. Someone grabbed the remote out of my hand and turned the volume down.I huffed and looked up to see Alessandro looking down at me. He placed both of his hands on the headrest of the couch and dipped
She turned her back towards us and went into the kitchen. Probably to cook breakfast for herself, she didn't know how to cook shit."I'll be right back," I said to Scott, who nodded still clenching his hands like he wanted to punch something or someone. It won't be Natalya, I will fucking break his hand off before he does that.I followed her into the kitchen and saw her using her cell phone while she placed some of the ingredients on the counter. It looked like she wanted to make pancakes. She played a video and placed it before her while she followed whatever the lady in the video was narrating."Do you remember the rules?"She stopped whatever she was doing and glanced at me, her facial expression was bored, uninterested."I remember" she answered and before I could say anything she added. "But I could care less for them"Rage coursed through my veins. She was testing me, trying hard for me to slip up so she could hold it against me."Natalya, don't disrespect my men. I won't toler
I'm weak.Too fucking weak.I let her get too close to me.Until recently, I only ever really loved one woman in my life. My mother, I respected her, loved her.Anastasia Costello.I thought she was the only one who really knew me, the only one that can tear down my walls. I thought my ability to love ended with her, and I was fine with that.I've watched her writhing in pain, struggling to breathe, tears leaking out of her eyes but she couldn't move. My mother fought long and hard with the disease before she lost that battle. I thought that was it. My only weakness, the only woman I ever loved is dead and now I'm fucking invincible.But then she happened.The morning Nikolai Martinez died, I didn't fucking know what I was getting myself into when I brought his daughter into my home. I hadn't given it a second thought, I didn't even know what I was going to do with her.The men in my circle had many ideas about what I should do with her, but I didn't fucking agree with them. I thought
"I'm sorry, Angel, I'm sorry I let them take you, I'm sorry I wasn't there," his voice was so low that I barely heard it even though his mouth was right next to my ear."No! You are not sorry!" I choked out through my sobs. "I know I don't matter to you, I know I don't mean anything to anyone, least of all you!""Shh... I'll make it alright, I promise,"I tried to shake my head. "You can't! You can't""I will, I need you to trust me, okay?" he placed soft kisses on my temple."I hate you!""I know, I'll fix it""Nothing can fix this, nothing can fix me!""I will, Angel, I promise you.""I hate you so much.""I know.""I mean nothing to you.""That's a lie.""I don't want this, Alessandro.""I know.""You scare me too.""I know, Angel, I will make it alright""I don't want this, Alessandro. I don't want to be here.""I'm not letting you leave ever again."I cried harder. "Why?""I just don't want to," he answered softly."I don't want to get abducted again.""I won't let that happen."
Another day...Another morning...Still, it did nothing to calm the turmoil I felt inside of me. Everything around me was just the same but I didn't feel the way I used to. I feel hateful all the time, anger is the only emotion coursing through my veins right now.Ten days, I spent ten days in that cell but it felt like a year. It felt as if that cell didn't belong in this world, time passed by slowly there.I looked out of the window and felt nothing... this view always brought me comfort but now it did nothing to me. Nothing to calm the storm brewing inside of me.I remember looking out of this window and dreaming of a life outside these four walls. I thought it'd be a fairy tale. I thought my parents were wrong and the world out there was anything but evil."The world is a dangerous place and you are easy prey, Natalya. You are innocent and naive and you lack physical strength. This world will chew you alive."My dad wasn't wrong. He wasn't wrong at all but he betrayed me too. He l