Laughter echoed off the cold stone walls—low, wicked, and cruel.
The seventh alpha sat sprawled on his throne, a goblet of dark wine in one hand, the other lazily draped over the armrest. His eyes gleamed like frostbite, sharp and hungry.
Zev.
The youngest of the seven alpha kings.
His smirk widened as he pointed to the pale-skinned girl kneeling at his feet. Slender. Bloody. Dirt smudged across her cheeks. A torn collar hung from her neck.
Beside her, an older woman gripped her shoulder tightly—half-shoving her forward, trying to keep her from collapsing.
"She's not even fit to be my slave," Zev drawled, eyes raking over the girl. "Look at her. She's shaking like a leaf."
Another alpha laughed from the other throne. "You break girls like that in a night, Zev. What's the problem?"
Zev tilted his head. "The problem is…" —he stood, circling her like a predator— "she doesn't smell like fear."
Aurora didn't raise her eyes.
Not yet.
But her jaw tightened just slightly.
Zev crouched in front of her, grabbing her chin with two fingers.
"Tell me, little rabbit," he murmured, voice a whisper only she could hear. "Why aren't you afraid?"
"I am," she said. But it wasn't a tremble—it was a challenge. "Just not of you."
The room went silent.
Even the guards flinched.
The woman beside her yanked her shoulder. "She doesn't know her place, Alpha. Forgive—"
"Leave," Zev said simply.
The woman blinked. "Alpha?"
"I said get out. Before I decorate the floor with your throat."
She didn't wait to be told twice.
The door slammed shut.
Now it was just Zev… and the girl who wasn't afraid of him.
He ran a thumb over her jaw.
"Maybe you are interesting after all."
Then he stood, turning to face his brothers lounging on their thrones.
"I'll keep her," he announced.
"But you just said—" one began.
Zev cut him off with a lazy smirk. "I changed my mind. That's allowed when you're king."
He turned back to Aurora, voice lower now.
"You'll come to my wing. You'll serve. You'll obey."
Then his tone dropped darker, sharper.
"And if you don't… I'll make you wish you did."
Aurora raised her eyes at last.
And Zev felt it—that flicker of fire hiding behind all the blood and weakness.
She didn't blink.
Didn't cry.
She just looked at him like he was a storm she planned to survive.
Zev snapped his fingers.
Two guards stepped forward, gently but firmly taking Aurora by the arms.
"You're coming with me," Zev said, his voice cold but commanding.
Aurora didn't resist. Her shoulders trembled as she looked up at him, eyes wide, scared—but not broken.
Zev's gaze softened just a fraction, but his tone stayed sharp. "Good. You'll learn fast."
He turned and led the way through the dark halls of his wing, silent except for their footsteps.
Inside the room, Zev pushed open the heavy door and stepped in.
The room was bare but warm—the flicker of candlelight casting long shadows.
He motioned for her to enter.
"You'll live here now," he said simply. "You obey. You survive."
Aurora lowered her gaze, voice barely a whisper. "I understand."
Zev studied her a moment, then nodded.
"Rest. You'll need your strength."
Aurora's lips twitched into the faintest smile, relief and fear tangled in her chest.
As the door shut behind him, she sank to her knees, whispering to herself, I'll survive. I have to.
*****
Aurora sat on the cold wooden floor, her fingers trembling as she folded the thin, worn cloth that was all she owned.
The flickering candlelight cast long shadows across the bare walls of the small room. It felt like a cage, but also the only shelter she had now.
Her heart pounded—part fear, part exhaustion.
She whispered to herself, "I'm a slave now. I have to obey."
Yet beneath that submission, a flicker of something stubborn glowed—hope. A promise that she wouldn't completely lose herself.
She packed the few belongings she'd been allowed to keep—a small, cracked mirror, a piece of fabric from her mother's shawl, a faded locket.
As she folded the locket into the cloth, her fingers brushed the cold metal, and a pang of longing tightened her chest.
"Who am I now?" she wondered aloud.
Tears welled.
This time, they didn't stop.
They slid silently down her cheeks as she pressed her forehead against the bundle in her hands, her body shaking with quiet sobs.
She didn't want this life.
She hadn't asked to be given away like some object… traded like she was worth less than a coin.
But what choice did she have?
Seduce the Alpha... or return to that place.
That small, rotting shack.
That endless hunger.
The cold nights curled beside her dying sister.
The men who stared too long.
The hands that took what they wanted when no one was watching.
Her sobs grew tighter in her chest. She swallowed them down, even as they burned.
She had no weapons.
No freedom.
Only the one thing left they believed she could use—herself.
Her mistress's voice echoed again in her mind like a brand.
"Make him want you. A girl like you doesn't fight. She submits. She survives."
Aurora sat there a moment longer, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.
She stood slowly, clutching the bundle to her chest.
She looked at the cracked mirror again, her tear-streaked face barely visible in the broken glass.
"I'll survive," she whispered.
"Even if it means becoming exactly what he wants."
And with that, she laid down quietly on the hard bed, facing the wall.
Not dreaming.
Not hoping.
Just… preparing.
Because tonight ,she'd meet Zev again.
And this time, she would start the game she never wanted to play.