The gallery railing creaked under my fingers. The wood groaned, splintering under my weight, but I did not loosen my grip. Below, in the gray haze of the courtyard, Alina was crossing the open space. She was heading toward the well.
"She places her feet differently," the wolf's growl in my head was barely audible, but claws were already scraping against my ribs from the inside.
She wasn't slouching. Her shoulders, which used to be pressed against her ears in anticipation of a blow, were now squared. Too straight. Too... defiant.
In the corner of the courtyard, two patrolmen froze. They didn't stop chewing or cease their conversation, but their heads turned in unison to follow her. One of them had flared nostrils.
I felt bitterness pool in my mouth. My omega. My property. But these curs smelled the same thing I did. She no longer reeked of mere submissive cellar dampness. Something sharp had entered the scent of rain and bitter herbs. Something metallic.
I turned and marched down the corridor, nearly knocking a servant off his feet.
"To my study. Now," I barked without looking back.
Five minutes later, the door creaked. Rein and Liam stood frozen on the threshold. One with an expectant smirk, the other with the eyes of a beaten dog.
"You're the seniors among the pups," I said, sitting at my desk without looking at them. "From this moment on, she is under surveillance. Constantly."
Rein leaned forward, his fingers digging into the edge of my desk. "Do we follow her to the latrine too, Alpha?"
"If you have to, you'll look down her throat," I looked up at him. "Who she talks to. Who she looks at. How many extra breaths she takes. If she steps outside the inner courtyard without an escort, I will skin you. Personally."
Liam shifted from foot to foot. "She's just going to the herbalist. Why..."
"Liam," I cut him off. "I'll ask for your opinion when you can take me down in the training circle. Until then—obey."
"Understood," Rein grinned. "I'll squeeze her so hard she'll forget how to breathe without permission."
"Don't go too far," Liam shot him a brief look. "She's still the Alpha's mate."
"She's a defective omega," Rein snapped. "A freak of nature. If the Alpha says watch her, I'll watch her. Even if I have to crawl under her bed."
"Get out," I waved them away.
They left, but I heard a muffled argument in the corridor.
"You're too happy about this," Liam's voice said.
"And you're trembling too much. What, has she spellbound you? With those eyes of hers?"
"Shut up."
I leaned back in my chair. The study smelled of old leather and cold metal, but the scent no longer soothed me. I was looking for another. The one that remained on my fingers after the morning rounds.
Control was slipping through my fingers like sand. Alina was changing. Every gesture, every second spent not in tears, was a blow to my authority. The wolf inside demanded blood. Or submission. The kind that burns a will to ashes.
Night came too quickly. Moonlight fell across the stone floor of her chambers, cutting the darkness into sharp stripes. I entered without knocking. The door hit the wall, but Alina didn't even flinch.
She was standing by the window. Her back was to me. A thin chemise barely covered her shoulder blades.
"You're not sleeping."
She didn't turn around. Her shoulders remained still.
"The moon is too bright tonight."
"Turn around when I'm speaking to you."
She turned slowly, with a sort of languid grace. No fear. No familiar trembling of eyelashes.
"What do you want, Cale?" her voice was steady.
I took a step forward, invading her personal space. The scent of herbs hit my head, mixing with the aroma of skin.
"You've become too bold," I took her chin, squeezing my fingers a little harder than necessary. "Do you think a couple of scratches on Damian's back made you special?"
"I don't think anything," she looked me straight in the eyes.
"Liar. Your 'pups' look at you differently. You're clouding their thoughts."
"My pups?" She barely raised an eyebrow. "I didn't choose this surveillance. Rein follows me like a shadow."
"He does as I commanded. You are mine. Every thought of yours belongs to me."
"Is my body not enough for you?" she gave a bitter smirk.
"Your submission isn't enough," I pulled her closer. The bond between us, usually dull and aching, suddenly flared with an aggressive pulse. The wolf inside howled, demanding I assert my ownership. "You're forgetting yourself. You need to be reminded of your place."
I pushed her toward the bed. She didn't resist; she simply fell onto the covers, looking down at me—or did it only seem that way because of her gaze?
"Is this a punishment?" she asked as I loomed over her.
"This is order," I tore the fabric of the chemise at her shoulder.
My lips bit into her neck, the spot where an old mate-mark scar still reddened. I wanted to hear a sob. I wanted to see her confidence shatter, turning into familiar terror.
I took her roughly, asserting my dominance with every movement. My hands pinned her wrists, crushing them into the mattress. The scent of fear should have filled the room, but instead, I felt only her heat. She took me as a rock takes a storm—motionless and terrifyingly calm.
When it was over, I pulled away, breathing heavily. The skin on Alina's neck burned from my teeth; her hair was a mess. I expected her to turn to the wall and curl into a ball.
Instead, she sat up. The chemise slipped down, exposing red marks on her skin, but Alina looked directly at me.
In her eyes, in the very depths of her pupils, silver flashed for a moment. A thin, barely perceptible spark of ancient, forgotten power.
"Are you finished?" she asked.
I froze. My hand reached for her throat, but my fingers stopped an inch from her skin.
"You are a mistake, Alina," my voice broke into a growl. "You are a weak omega whom the pack barely tolerates because of me. Don't you dare look at me like that."
She leaned forward. Very close. Her breath brushed my lips.
"I am not a mistake," she whispered.
The words hit harder than if she had stabbed me. There was no anger in that whisper. There was knowledge.
I stormed out of the room, nearly taking the door off its hinges. In the corridor, Liam pressed himself into an alcove, averting his eyes.
"Watch her," I rasped as I passed. "And don't you dare blink."
But I already knew. The walls of this castle were no longer a cage for her. They were becoming her stage. And I... I was beginning to fear my own prisoner.