ELARA
They dragged me across the courtyard like an animal on display, my chains clattering with every forced step. Dust clung to my torn dress, my bare feet scraped raw against the stone, and the warriors of Ironclaw gathered in a tightening circle, hungry for spectacle.
Their eyes gleamed with contempt. Their laughter rolled over me like a wave.
"A spy, no doubt."
"Look at her too thin to fight, too weak to serve."
"Blackfang sends us scraps."
One man spat deliberately at the ground near my knees. Another shouted, "She'll be good for nothing but cleaning floors or warming beds."
The others howled with cruel amusement, their jeers slicing deeper than the chains biting into my wrists.
I kept my chin high, refusing to bow, though every muscle in me screamed to collapse.
At the head of the pack, Kieran Ironclaw stood like a storm embodied broad shoulders squared, his stance radiating authority, his storm-gray eyes sharp as blades. He didn't need to raise his voice. His very presence was enough to silence wolves.
Two men flanked him. On his right, a tall golden-haired warrior with the mark of Beta upon his arm his face stern, but his eyes not entirely without compassion. On his left, darker, sharper features; a man whose gaze cut into me with such intensity I could almost feel him peeling away the skin, searching for whatever secret I carried.
The Beta spoke first, his voice calm but edged with disapproval.
"Alpha, this is no warrior. She can barely stand. Blackfang mocks you by sending her."
The darker man's lips twisted. His voice was a blade dipped in suspicion.
"Or maybe that's their game. Who would suspect something so weak, so broken, of being their spy?"
His words struck too close to the truth. My stomach tightened, but I locked my knees and forced my eyes forward.
Kieran lifted a hand, silencing them both with ease. His voice was quiet, yet it rolled over the courtyard with the weight of absolute command.
"Whatever she is, she's mine now. And she will serve as I see fit."
The words hit harder than the chains. Mine.
The guards shoved me forward, and I stumbled hard onto my knees at Kieran's feet. Pain jolted through me, raw stone scraping flesh, laughter rippling louder around the circle.
I forced myself upright, the chains dragging, my body trembling but my spine straight.
"I am no one's dog," I spat before I could stop myself.
The courtyard went deathly silent.
Kieran turned slowly, storm gray eyes locking onto mine. The air thickened, charged with something sharp and dangerous. For the briefest heartbeat, the world shrank to just the two of us the Alpha and the chained girl who dared to defy him.
His lips curved, not into a smile, but into a shadow of one dark, dangerous, promising ruin.
"You'll learn," he murmured, his voice low, almost intimate. "They all do."
The crowd roared with savage laughter.
"Break her!" one soldier shouted.
"Teach her to bow!" another bellowed.
My cheeks burned, shame and fury colliding, but I kept my head high. Chains or not, I would not bow.
They dragged me through the fortress gates, the black stone walls looming higher with every step. The scent of wolf filled the air raw dominance, sweat, blood, and smoke. Inside, the corridors were narrow, oppressive, echoing with the rattle of my chains as they forced me along.
Every wolf we passed stopped to stare. Some sneered, others whispered. The weight of their eyes pressed against me like chains of their own.
At last, they shoved me into a chamber carved from stone, empty save for a slab in the corner that passed for a bed. No windows. No warmth. Only cold confinement.
"This is where you'll sleep," the Beta said. His golden hair caught the torchlight, his voice measured. "Obey, and you'll survive. Resist, and you won't."
Despite his warning, there was no cruelty in his eyes. If anything, something like pity lingered there a dangerous kindness in a place like this.
The darker warrior stepped forward, his presence sharp enough to make the air cut.
"She's dangerous," he muttered, his gaze fixed on me like a blade pressed to the skin. "You can see it in her eyes. I don't trust her."
Neither did I trust him. The way he studied me felt too close, too sharp like he could see the restless thing clawing beneath my skin.
Kieran's shadow filled the doorway. He studied me for a long moment, unreadable, storm in his gaze. Finally, his voice came, low and cold.
"Chains stay on," he ordered. "At least until I decide she's worth unbinding."
The door slammed shut behind him, the echo rattling through my chest.
Time lost meaning in the dark. Hours, maybe longer. The chains bit deeper into my wrists, each movement tearing at raw skin. I curled against the wall, my breath shallow, the stone leeching warmth from my bones.
Alone, my thoughts circled like carrion crows. My mother's desperate face. Her broken plea. My father's threats echoing like knives. And above all else the way my wolf had stirred when Kieran's eyes met mine.
A whisper in the dark, soft but sharp, reverberated through me.
Let me out.
I pressed my forehead to my knees, clutching the chains in my fists until the iron cut into my palms.
Not yet. Not now. Not here.
But the harder I tried to silence her, the louder she clawed against her cage.
And deep inside, I feared the truth: the day was coming when I would no longer be able to keep her buried
—End of Chapter 2