IRIS POV
Morning arrives grey and cold.
Iris didn't sleep. She lay in the bed in the cottage and listened to the sounds of the compound waking up. Warriors shouting in the distance. Wolves running through the forest. Voices calling orders. A world moving forward without her in it.
The grey dress Eleanor mentioned hangs in the dresser. Iris puts it on because having something to do feels better than sitting still. It fits perfectly like someone measured her body in advance. Which they probably did. Everything about this situation feels planned. Calculated. Like every moment of her life has been leading to this exact point.
There's a knock on the cottage door.
Eleanor enters without waiting for permission. She's wearing all black again and her expression is the same as yesterday. Professional. Cold. Empty of anything that looks like kindness.
The Alpha will see you this morning in his study. Nine o'clock. You know the way to the main house. The guards will escort you. Third door on the second floor, left side. You'll knock. You'll wait. You'll answer only what he asks. You will not speak unless he speaks first. Do you understand?
Yes, Iris says.
Eleanor steps closer and her eyes narrow slightly.
And do not make the mistake of thinking this meeting is about getting to know each other. He doesn't care about knowing you. He wants to make sure you understand what ownership means. That's all.
Iris nods. Her throat feels like it's closing.
Eleanor turns and leaves the cottage without another word.
Two hours until nine o'clock.
Iris stands at the window and watches the compound come alive. Guards changing shifts. Warriors training with partners. Wolves in human form moving between buildings with purpose. Everyone knows where they belong. Everyone understands their place in the hierarchy.
She's new. She's unproven. She's the Alpha's property and nothing more.
At eight-fifty-five, a guard arrives at the cottage door. He's massive and his face is scarred across one side. He doesn't acknowledge her as a person. He's just escorting cargo that needs to be delivered.
Follow me, he says.
Iris follows him out of the cottage and toward the main house.
The compound is different when she's moving through it. The warriors stop what they're doing to watch her pass. She feels their eyes on her like weight. She keeps her gaze down like Eleanor taught her. She doesn't make eye contact. She doesn't acknowledge their existence.
They belong to the pack. She belongs to the Alpha. Those are different things.
The main house gets closer and bigger. The white stone gleams in the morning light. The dark windows look like eyes watching everything that moves below. Guards stand at every entrance and they don't stop her. They know who she is. They know where she's supposed to go.
The inside of the mansion is cold. All marble and dark wood and silence. The halls are long and empty like they're expecting her. Her footsteps echo off the stone floor.
The guard leads her to a staircase and gestures up with one hand. No words. No explanation. Just a direction.
She climbs alone.
The second floor hallway is lined with doors. All closed. All dark. She counts them as she walks. First door. Second door. Third door. She raises her hand to knock but her hand is shaking so badly she almost drops it.
She knocks softly.
Nothing happens for a long moment.
Then his voice comes from inside. Quiet. Calm. Absolutely certain.
Come in.
Iris opens the door.
The study is massive. Books line the walls from floor to ceiling. Windows overlook the territory far below. And sitting behind a desk that looks like it could command armies is the man who owns her.
James Blackwell.
He's more terrifying in person than he was in the warehouse. Maybe thirty years old. Maybe older. His face is all sharp angles and cold calculation. His hair is dark. His eyes are the color of winter and they're looking at her like she's a math problem he needs to solve.
Iris closes the door quietly behind her.
He doesn't tell her to sit so she stands. Her hands hang at her sides but she can feel them shaking.
For a long moment, he just stares at her. Like he's reading something written on her skin that she can't see. Like he's measuring her and finding her lacking.
Then he speaks.
What's your name?
Iris. Her voice comes out barely a whisper.
Iris what?
Chen. Iris Chen.
He nods like she's confirmed something he already knew. Like her name doesn't matter. Like she doesn't matter. Just the fact of her existence in this room.
You understand what you are here, Miss Chen?
A bride. For the pack. For you.
The Alpha leans back in his chair. Something flickers across his expression but it's gone before she can read it. Disappointment maybe. Or amusement. Or nothing at all because maybe there's nothing inside him left to feel.
You understand your role. Your duties. Your place.
Yes.
You will not question me. You will not speak unless I speak to you. You will obey without hesitation or complaint. You will do exactly what is expected of you.
I understand.
He stands and walks around the desk slowly. Every step feels calculated. Deliberate. Like a predator moving toward something it's decided to keep.
He stops in front of her and she forces herself not to step backward. She keeps her eyes on his chest. Not his face. That would be too much.
Your father gave you away, he says quietly. Do you understand why?
Because the Chen Pack was dying.
And what's your opinion on that?
Iris hesitates. This feels like a trap. Everything about him feels like a trap.
I don't have an opinion. I'm an omega. Omegas don't have opinions.
He reaches out and touches her chin. Forces her to look directly into his eyes.
His eyes are empty. Completely empty. Like someone reached inside him and removed everything that makes a person human. Everything that makes a person capable of feeling.
Good answer, he says. But I think you're lying.
Iris's heart stops.
I think you have opinions. I think you had thoughts about being sold like livestock. I think you're terrified right now.
She says nothing.
He releases her and turns back to his desk.
You'll have time to settle. Eleanor will help you understand what I expect. Then you'll fulfill your purpose. You'll move into my chambers. You'll do whatever I require.
Yes, Alpha.
You can go now. Don't come back until you're summoned.
Iris turns and walks toward the door. Her legs are shaking so badly she thinks she might fall.
She reaches the hallway and closes the door quietly behind her.
The guard is waiting. He escorts her back through the halls and out of the mansion and back toward the cottage. The entire way, she feels like she's floating. Like the ground underneath her isn't quite real.
Back at the cottage, Eleanor is waiting at the window.
The woman looks at her like she can read everything that happened in that study just by looking at Iris's face.
So he was cold, Eleanor says. That means he's interested. If he was truly uninterested, he would have been cruel.
Iris doesn't understand the difference.
Eleanor sits on the bed and pats the space beside her.
We have much to prepare. Much to teach. Your wedding night is coming soon and you need to understand what that means. Everything you were trained to be is about to be tested.
Outside, the sun moves across the sky. The day passes. Eleanor explains things that make Iris's face burn. Things about bodies and pain and what it means to be owned completely.
As darkness falls, Eleanor finally leaves.
Iris stands at the window and looks out at the distant mansion. Somewhere in that building is the man who owns her. The man with empty eyes. The man who will own her completely in a way she can't fully understand yet.
She puts her hand on the cold glass and thinks about her father. About the choice he made. About the price she's paying for his survival.
And then she cries. Just once. Just enough to break.