Zielle
❈──────༺❀༻──────❈
The door closes behind me with a solid thud, but the echo of his words follows me like smoke I can't breathe through.
"You'll break before you can break me."
I hate how it lingers.
The hallway outside the taming quarters is quiet, save for the faint rustle of servants setting up for the midday meal. I ignore them. I ignore everything—except the gnawing weight growing in my chest.
I don't head back to my quarters. Instead, I take a sharp turn and slip into the side garden. It's empty, as it always is at this hour. I sit on the low stone bench beneath the willow tree and press my face into my hands.
Why did I let him get to me?
I've dealt with worse—alphas that howled like beasts, spat at my feet, tried to lunge at me despite their restraints. I've been called every name. I've been bruised, mocked, humiliated.
But none of them made me feel… this.
Not ashamed. Not exactly. Just—raw.
Maybe it's because he never begged.
Or maybe it's because he looked at me like I was the one who needed taming.
A flutter of movement catches my eye.
Leah.
She's standing at the edge of the path, arms crossed, her gaze unreadable.
"You missed breakfast," she says. "Again."
I blink at her. "I wasn't hungry."
"That Alpha again?"
I don't answer.
She walks toward me slowly, her footsteps soft in the grass. "You know, it's okay if it's hard. He's a powerful one. You're not weak for feeling something."
I shake my head. "I'm not feeling anything."
Leah gives me a look. "You're sitting in the garden with the face of someone who's just been gutted. That's not 'nothing,' Zielle."
"I didn't sleep."
"You never do when it's a new one."
I look away. "He summoned me last night."
Leah's eyes sharpen. "What?"
"In my room. I don't know how. I couldn't sleep and… I ended up in the training quarters."
She moves closer, sitting beside me. "Zielle, are you telling me he isn't just an alpha? How can he summon you like that? It's impossible."
I nod, slowly. "I felt it. I was pulled from my chamber—my body didn't even resist. When I came to my senses, I was standing in front of him, completely alone. No guards. Nothing."
Leah looks pale now. "That's not supposed to be possible. He's chained, restrained. They suppress all Alpha powers—"
"But not his," I whisper. "Or not fully. He's different. There's something ancient in him. I felt it… like the air itself bent around him."
Leah's lips part, but she says nothing.
"I don't think he's just a normal Alpha," I continue. "And there's more. In the library, I found this old scroll sealed behind a false wall—something about 'Star-Bound Alphas.' There were symbols I'd never seen before. One of them glowed when I touched it. It burned my skin."
Leah grabs my wrist instinctively. "Burned you?"
I show her the faint red mark still pressed into the inside of my wrist. It's faded, but unmistakable—a shape like a crescent with a line through it.
Her fingers tremble slightly. "Zielle, this isn't just about taming anymore."
"I know."
"I think… I think they sent you to him for more than what they told you."
"I don't think so. I think they don't know it yet."
She exhales shakily. "You need to be careful. If anyone finds out what you saw, what happened in the library—"
"I haven't told anyone but you."
Leah looks at me for a long time, then pulls me into a tight, unexpected hug. "Don't let them use you."
Too late, I want to say. They had been using me for years now.
Instead, I whisper, "I think I've already started to care."
She pulls back slightly. "Care for him?"
"No," I say. "Care about what they've done to all of us."
We sit there for a while in silence, surrounded by the soft rustle of leaves and the low hum of cicadas.
"Oh, I also found Arieth in the library." I say after a while. Suddenly remembering what had happened last night.
"What was she doing there in the middle of the night?"
"She was looking for a book about runes," I say. "Specifically, ones that help seduce an Alpha."
Leah's brows shoot up. "What? Didn't she see you?"
"She did not see me," I add quickly. "I hid before she came in."
Leah shifts closer. "Did she find it? The book?"
"No. She didn't stay long after I made a noise— I acted like a ghost. I scared her off. I can only imagine what would have happened if she found that book."
Leah exhales slowly. "That's… strange. Why does she want to seduce him now?"
I sigh. "I think she is eager for him. For the alpha. She wants to rush the taming and mate with him sooner than later."
"Always the power hungry bitch." Leah scoffs. "I will never forget how she treated you or still treats you."
My jaw clenches at the memory. "I will not either."
"Everything that you go through now is because of that filthy one." Leah grits, "Zi, you know what, don't rush the taming. Take all the time you want. Let Arieth go crazy waiting for her alpha and power."
I chuckle at Leah's evil tone, "Maybe I can do that."
"Yeah, or you can do something else." She says, her gaze twinkling and lips pulling up into a smirk. From the look on her face, I can feel that whatever she is going to say is sinister.
"I can do what?"
"Seduce the alpha before she seduces him."
I flinch. "Are you crazy?!"
"Arieth will lose her mind. She will go crazy. Isn't this the best way to make her pay for her sins?"
"I'm a tamer. I cannot mate with anyone."
A cunning smile blooms on Leah's lips, "He is a star crossed alpha, if he says he wants to mate you and no one else, the court will bend to his wish."