After Carina left, I couldn't sit still. I was in a strange place and even if I was given a room I had never dreamed in my life to inhabit, I was still not comfortable. I didn't know what to expect here.
The room was too quiet. Back in the Royal Pack, the servants made a lot of noise and here was different. The weight of the fortress pressing around, making me feel like prey trapped inside a wolf's den.
Which…I supposed I was. Alpha Hades' was the wolf and I was the prey. I was still surprised as how he could claim me to be his mate.
A human and wolf.
I shook my head. It couldn't be possible. Maybe he was just trying to save me from being killed.
'Why would he try to save you, when you are a mere human?' Something in my mind said and I thought about it, many humans have been killed and he didn't save any of them.
So did that mean I was someone special?
I sat curled near the edge of the bed, staring at the door. I was waiting.
For what, I didn't know. Perhaps for someone to come drag me away like in the Royal Pack. Perhaps I was waiting for Alpha Hades to return.
Neither happened.
A soft knock came making me startled.
"C-come in."
The door creaked open and Carina stepped inside carrying a tray of food. She had a smile on her face.
"Oh! You haven't freshened up yet?"
Her voice was gentle and cheerful. I wondered why she was kind to me. Nobody had ever been kind to me because of my station.
"I-I don't have any dress to wear"
"I should have known. I brought breakfast. So you wan first and I'll find something suitable for you to wear and later I'll let the Alpha know you don't have clothes"
She set the tray down. Then clasped her hands.
"If the food is not enough, just let me know. I'll get more. I'm here to serve you" she said quickly. I blinked.
Serve me?
"You're… not afraid of me?" She tilted her head.
"Why would I be?"
"Because I'm human. Wolves hate humans" she shrugged lightly.
"I'm not superior to you. Omegas are treated just as humans are treated and you are higher in rank than I am. You are the Alpha's mate"
A startled laugh escaped me before I could stop it. It felt strange, laughing in this place. Carina smiled warmly.
"See? You're not scary"
"What do people here think of me?" I asked.
She looked uncomfortable.
"Well…"
"That bad?"
She winced.
"Most wolves believe humans are weak"
"That seems accurate. It was like that in the Royal Pack" she shook her head quickly.
"You stood in the sacred ritual circle."
"By accident. I was tricked by some wolves"
"I can guess"
I picked at the food on the tray.
Bread.
Fruit.
This was more than I had eaten in months. More than I had eaten in my life.
"Carina" I said quietly.
"Yes?"
"Why did Hades bring me here?"
She froze, then lowered her voice.
"You're his mate."
"So everyone keeps saying. But how does that work?"
Carina looked at me strangely.
"You don't understand what that means?" I shook my head slowly.
"I barely understand anything about wolves. I only know we should serve them and not get them angry"
Carina hesitated then sat beside me.
"The Alpha… isn't like the others" I raised an eyebrow.
"He seems very much like the others"
"No" Carina whispered.
"He's worse"
I froze. That was not reassuring.
"The pack fears him. Everyone fears him. The Alpha King too" Carina continued softly.
I was confused on why the Alpha king would fear another Alpha. Wasn't he the highest in rank?
"Why?" She hesitated again.
"They call him the cursed Alpha because everyone he loves dies"
A chill ran through me.
"The previous Lunas?" She nodded.
"No mate of Alpha Hades has survived past the fourth moon"
The words hung in the air like a curse. I stared down at my wrist. The brand beneath the cloth pulsed faintly.
Four months.
That was how long I had to live.
Before I could respond, a horn blasted outside. Carina jumped to her feet.
"Oh no"
"What?"
"Something has happened"
We rushed to the window. The courtyard below was filled with wolves gathering in a circle.
At the center, a man knelt in the dirt. He was bound and bleeding.
"What did he do?" I whispered.
"He might have stolen from the pack stores" she said quietly. I frowned.
"That doesn't seem like—"
The fortress doors opened. Alpha Hades stepped into the courtyard. Instant silence fell. He walked slowly toward the kneeling man. Each step filled with authority. The prisoner lifted his head.
"Please, Alpha" he begged. Alpha Hades stopped before him.
"What did you steal?"
"Food"
"Why?"
"My children were starving"
I felt sympathy for the man because I understood starvation. Alpha Hades didn't react
"The pack feeds its own" he said.
"I know, but.."
"You stole. That is forbidden in my pack"
"I was desperate" the man's voice cracked.
Alpha Hades drew a blade. The courtyard held its breath even I did.
"Don't watch" Carina whispered but I couldn't look away.
"Steal from the pack and you steal from every wolf who fights to protect it. You weren't desperate, that's greed" his voice echoed across the courtyard.
The blade flashed. The man's body collapsed into the dirt. He was dead before he hit the ground. Gasps rippled through the crowd. I staggered back from the window.
My stomach twisted violently. A wave of nausea coiled my throat.
"He… he just…" Carina looked pale.
"Our Alpha doesn't tolerate such. Everyone fears him" I pressed a trembling hand to my mouth. Death was not a new thing to me but watching someone's throat being slit…I didn't know how to feel.
Alpha Hades slowly wiped the blood from his blade.
Then as if sensing something, his head lifted. His eyes locked with the window.
With mine.
Even from across the courtyard, the intensity of his gaze burned. His gaze was cold. Something dark danced in his eyes.
Claiming me as his.
The word echoed again in my mind. For the first time since arriving this pack, I wondered if the real danger wasn't the wolves around me but the Alpha who had claimed me.