STEFAN
I was fucking pissed.
For weeks now, strays had been sniffing around the borders of my territory like lost fucking pups, and I was tired of it. If I wanted to rule a damn daycare, I'd open one. Instead, I was Alpha of the strongest untamed pack left, and I had bigger problems to handle.
The eastern border was expanding, not because I liked being generous, but because my pack kept growing. Too many births. Too many mouths to feed.
So we needed more land. I wasn't about to squeeze my people into a corner like sardines just to play nice with the little wolves who didn't know when to back the fuck off.
But of course, some idiotic neighboring pack had started pushing their luck. They didn't attack outright, cowards never do, but small hits here and there, trying to slow us down. Weak bastards. I could already feel my claws itching to dig into someone's ribcage.
I was deep in thought, mentally listing all the creative ways I could rip their Alpha apart, when the doors to my throne room opened without a damn announcement.
My Beta rushed in, eyes dark and grim. "We caught another stray."
I growled, already irritated. "And why the fuck are you bringing this to me?"
"This one's… different," he said. "She won't talk. Not a word, and she smells strange. She's not like the others we have caught."
"Bring her to me. Let me see how badly she craves for death to walk into my pack."
My Beta nodded, bowing as he left.
Seems like I didn't have to wait so long to satisfy my blood lust.
My throne room was a massive, open space with high stone pillars and torches that never seemed to burn out. I sat in my throne, carved from blackened wood and bone, and I could stare down at my people whenever they are gathered here. The room smelled like earth, steel, and blood just how I liked it.
Then I smelled her.
Before I even saw her, that scent hit me. Sweet, wild, a little like crushed herbs and rain. It didn't belong here.
My wolf stirred.
"What the fuck…" I muttered, sitting forward slightly.
I knew the moment she was shoved in. Her scent filled the room.
"Lights." I said and my guards in the room switched on more lights, throwing the room in a bright scene than the dim one I liked.
Her hands bound in thick silver cuffs that left angry burns on her wrists. She stumbled, but didn't make a sound. Didn't cry. Didn't beg. She just stared ahead like she was already dead inside.
Blonde hair hung in blood-matted clumps around her face. Dirt covered her like she'd crawled through the pits of hell. But it was those green eyes that made something twist in my gut.
She looked at me, and I forgot, for one fucking second, who I was.
I stood. "Who is she?"
"She says her name is Alanna," my Beta answered entering from behind "Claims she's from the Ivory Moon Pack."
I blinked.
Ivory Moon? That was across the fucking continent. No way she got here alone, and yet… here she was. Something about her story, as thin as it sounded, made my wolf hesitate.
"She a wolf?"
"She smells like one. But there's no sign of her beast. We've tried everything to trigger a shift. Nothing."
My steps echoed as I walked down from the throne and stood in front of her. She didn't look away. Didn't shrink. Didn't spit. Just held my gaze like she was too tired to give a damn.
"Why are you in my land, Alanna?" I asked.
No answer.
My hand moved on its own, grabbing her chin and lifting her face. Her skin was soft, even under all the dirt. Delicate and breakable.
"You trespassed," I growled low. "In my land, and that's a death sentence."
Still no answer. Just a faint exhale.
Something flickered in her eyes. Not fear. Not even defiance. Just… pain.
And it made me angry.
Not because I gave a shit but because it stirred something I had buried a long time ago.
I shoved her face away and stepped back. "You've got five seconds to explain why I shouldn't end you right here."
She licked her dry lips. "I don't know how I got here."
The voice was hoarse, broken but it stopped my entire thinking system.
"What?" I narrowed my eyes.
She looked like it cost her to speak, but she forced it out anyway. "I was running from someone. I don't remember what happened. I just… woke up here."
That wasn't a good enough answer.
But it didn't feel like a lie either.
My wolf prowled inside me, conflicted. This wasn't normal. Strays didn't show up at my gate without a damn good reason. They didn't smell like… this.
And they sure as hell didn't make me feel like ripping out someone's throat for looking at them too long.
I turned to my Beta. "Heal her."
His eyes widened. "Alpha?"
"You fucking heard me. Get the silver off her, feed her, and treat her wounds. Then put her in the west wing under guard. She doesn't leave. She doesn't speak to anyone but me."
"You planning to keep her?" one of the elders in the room asked warily.
"For now," I said.
The guards began to move her. She stumbled again, and one of them caught her by the arm. She flinched, not from pain, but from touch. Like she'd been hurt too many times before.
I almost tore his hand off her.
Almost.
I turned away before I did something stupid. My head was already too fucked.
As they left the room, I mind-linked my Beta. 'I want every detail. Where she was found, the path she took, who saw her first. Track it all. I want answers, not guesses.'
'Yes, Alpha.'
I sat back down and rubbed my temples.
Her name echoed in my head.
Alanna.
Why did that name sound so familiar?
It didn't make sense. None of this shit did. I'd never seen her before in my life, and yet something inside me had recognized her.
My Beta spoke aloud now, breaking the quiet. "Those wolves who've been testing the eastern border? They fell into the trap. Their Alpha's among them."
That snapped me back into focus.
"Finally," I muttered, standing. "Get the men. It's time I reminded them who the fuck they're dealing with."
I paused only once before leaving the throne room, casting one last glance at the doors where the strange girl had been dragged through.
This wasn't over. Not even close.
Once I was done painting the eastern lands red with blood, I'd come back and get the truth out of her.
And if I didn't like her answers?
I'd finish what I should've done the moment she stepped into my world.