ELARA
The clang of the door woke me before dawn. The sound of boots followed, heavy against stone.
"Up," a voice barked.
A soldier grabbed the chain at my wrists and yanked hard enough to drag me from the cold slab I'd slept on. My body protested every movement my wrists raw, my feet blistered, my muscles screaming but I refused to cry out. They would not have my weakness.
The soldier smirked. "The Alpha wants to see what kind of use you are. Try not to embarrass yourself more than you already have."
The words stung, but I kept silent.
The courtyard was colder than before, the morning fog curling around the fortress walls like smoke. Wolves gathered again, eager for a show. Their jeers and whispers filled the air as I was shoved to the center, the chains dragging behind me.
Kieran Ironclaw stood at the far end, flanked by the same two men. Torin the Beta with golden hair and measured eyes. And the darker one, Kael, whose gaze never softened, whose suspicion hung over me like a blade.
Kieran's arms were folded across his chest, his storm-gray eyes fixed on me with unreadable intensity. The weight of that gaze burned hotter than the morning sun.
He didn't speak at once. He let the silence grow until it pressed heavy against my skin. Finally, his voice rang out, low and commanding.
"Put her to work."
They brought buckets of water from the well, heavy and full, the wood damp and slick against my fingers as they shoved the handles into my bound hands.
"Clean the steps," a soldier ordered, his grin cruel. "On your knees. Use your rags. Let's see if Blackfang breeds anything useful."
Laughter followed, sharp and cutting.
I dropped to my knees on the cold stone, the chains clattering as I lowered the bucket. My wrists screamed with every movement, the skin already torn and raw, but I forced myself to work. Each stroke of the rag was a fight against humiliation.
Warriors lingered nearby, throwing comments like daggers.
"Careful chains might drag her down."
"She's too delicate. She'll break before midday."
"Or maybe that's what Alpha wants. A toy to break."
My jaw tightened. I kept my eyes down, rag scraping across the stone. Rage burned in my chest, but I swallowed it.
Not yet. Not here.
Time stretched, cruel and heavy. My body trembled with exhaustion, my arms aching as I scrubbed. The water grew dark with dirt and blood from my raw wrists. Still, I didn't stop.
I could feel his gaze on me. Kieran. Watching from the steps above, silent, assessing. I didn't dare look up, but I knew he was there the storm pressing against my skin, the pull I couldn't name gnawing at my chest.
Torin approached, his boots echoing softly. He crouched beside me, his expression unreadable to the others but his voice pitched low enough for only me to hear.
"Don't fight every battle," he murmured. "Sometimes survival is its own kind of defiance."
My head lifted slightly, my eyes meeting his. There was no pity there, only quiet understanding. For a moment, something like hope flickered in my chest.
But it was gone as quickly as it came. Kael strode forward, his gray eyes sharp as knives.
"She's hiding something," he said loudly enough for all to hear. His gaze bore into me, cold and unrelenting. "Look at her too proud to be broken, too quiet to be useless. Whatever Blackfang sent, it isn't just a slave."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
Kieran's voice cut through them all.
"Enough."
The single word silenced the courtyard.
Hours later, my body was a battlefield of aches. My hands were raw, my knees bruised, but I kept going until there was nothing left in me. The bucket tipped, spilling filthy water across the stone.
I sank back, chest heaving, vision blurred with sweat and exhaustion.
A soldier laughed, kicking the bucket aside. "Pathetic."
Kieran descended the steps, his presence parting the crowd like a blade. He stopped before me, looking down at the girl on her knees, chained, broken yet unbowed.
His eyes held mine, storm gray and unyielding.
"You've survived the morning," he said, his voice low, unreadable. "But survival is not enough here. In Ironclaw, you will learn obedience. Or you will learn pain."
The chains felt heavier with every word, pressing into my skin, into my bones.
I lifted my chin, meeting his gaze despite the fire in my wrists and the ache in my body.
"I've known pain all my life," I whispered.
Something flickered in his eyes quick, sharp, gone before I could name it. He turned away, his voice snapping like thunder.
"Take her back."
The cell was colder when they shoved me inside again. My body trembled, my arms heavy, but my spirit refused to crack. I pressed my forehead to the wall, the chains rattling softly as my wolf stirred within me, restless and hungry.
Let me out.
The whisper was louder this time, sharper, clawing at my soul.
Not yet, I told her, clutching the chains tight. Not now. Not here.
But even as I fought to silence her, I knew Kieran's eyes, Kael's suspicion, my mother's desperate warning they were all threads of the same noose tightening around me.
And one day, something inside me would break free.
—End of Chapter 3