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Chapter 1: The Debt
"Please, Dad. Stop. You’re hurting me!"Elara stumbled as her father dragged her down the hallway. His grip on her arm was like a vice, bruising her skin. He didn’t look back. He wouldn't even meet her eyes.
"Shut up, Elara," he snapped, his voice shaky. "Just... shut up and let me fix this."
He kicked open the heavy doors to his study. The room felt freezing, the air-con cranked way too high. Abram Silas was already there, sitting behind her father’s desk like he owned the place. He was nursing a glass of scotch, looking bored and dangerous.
"You’re late, Miller," Abram said. His voice was a low growl that made Elara’s stomach do a somersault.
"I have her," Elara's father panted, shoving her forward.
Elara tripped, her palms slapping hard against the cold floor. "Ow! What the hell, Dad?"
"The northern territory is a total loss, Abram," her father hurried to say, ignoring her. "The bank pulled the loans, the rogue attacks destroyed the crops—I don't have the cash. But we had a deal. A life for the debt."
Elara’s head snapped up. "A life? What are you talking about? What deal?"
Her father finally looked at her, but there was no pity there. Only desperation. Elara felt a cold lump form in her throat. She knew how the pack saw her. She was the fourth daughter. The "wolfless" freak who couldn't shift. Her sisters were all married off to high-ranking Alphas, bringing in money and power. She was the only one left. The spare part.
Abram stood up. He didn't even look at her father. He walked around the desk, his boots clicking slow and heavy on the floor. He stopped right in front of Elara.
He reached down, hooking a finger under her chin to force her to look at him. His eyes were like ice.
"Your father owes me millions," Abram said, his thumb brushing her jaw. "He can't pay. But you? You're a lot more interesting than a bank transfer."
"I'm not a piece of property," Elara gasped, trying to pull away. "Dad, tell him! You can't just give me away!"
"I have to!" her father yelled, his voice cracking. "The pack is broke, Elara! Thousands of people will be homeless. Do you want that? You want your sisters to starve because you’re being selfish?"
The guilt hit her like a punch to the gut. Selfish? He was the one who gambled the pack’s future, and now he was using her lack of a wolf as an excuse to throw her away.
Abram checked his watch. "The sun sets in five minutes, Miller. Either she comes with me, or I sign the eviction papers for the whole territory. Decide. Now."
"Take her," her father whispered. He didn't even hesitate. "Take her and we're even."
He turned and bolted out of the room. The door slammed shut with a heavy thud.
Elara stared at the door, her heart hammering against her ribs. She was alone with the man they called the Butcher of Blackwood.
Abram grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet. He didn't care if she was steady or not; he just held her in place. He leaned in close, smelling like expensive cologne and something sharp, like steel.
"Don't look so scared," he whispered in her ear. "You’re moving into a palace."
He started pulling her toward the back exit. Elara tried to dig her heels in, but it was like trying to stop a freight train.
"Just one thing," he added, his voice dropping to a dark, jagged edge. "The palace doors? They only lock from the outside. You aren't a guest, Elara. You're mine."
Chapter 20: The Sovereign of Shadows"I’ll have his skin for this."Abram’s voice wasn't a roar. It was a dead, hollow vibration that made the crystal glasses on the sideboard rattle against each other. He didn't look at me. He was staring at the silver flash drive on his desk as if it were Thorne’s severed head. His hands were flat on the mahogany surface, his knuckles so white they looked like polished bone.I huddled in the oversized leather armchair, pulling my silk robe tighter around my "trembling" frame. I made sure my breathing was hitching, erratic. Messy."He said... he said I was just a tool, Abram," I whispered, letting a fresh tear track through the makeup I’d intentionally smudged. "He told me you were going to be executed. I didn't know what to do. I was so scared he’d kill me right there in the garden.""He won't touch you again." Abram finally turned. His eyes were no longer human. The amber was gone, replaced by a terrifying, blown-out blackness. He crossed the room
Chapter 19: The Serpent’s OfferThe conservatory was a cage of glass and humidity. Ferns as tall as men pressed against the panes, their damp leaves brushing against my skin like wet fingers. It was midnight. The moon hung bloated and white above the estate, casting long, skeletal shadows across the stone path.Elder Thorne stood by a fountain, the water’s trickle the only sound in the suffocating heat. He didn't turn when I approached. He just stood there, leaning on his silver-headed cane, smelling of stale tobacco and old power."You’re late, girl."His voice was a dry rattle. He turned slowly, his eyes raking over me with the kind of disgust one might have for a cockroach in a silk dress. To him, I wasn't a person. I was a common whore Abram had dragged home from a gutter.I pulled my lace shawl tighter around my shoulders, letting my lower lip wobble just enough. "I had to wait for him to fall asleep. He’s... he’s been very demanding tonight."Thorne’s lip curled. "Save the sordi
Chapter 18: Mapping the GraveThe library smelled like old parchment and the expensive cedarwood Abram loved. Dust motes drifted through the shafts of moonlight hitting the floor, making the room look like a graveyard of dead ideas. I sat at the center of it, curled in a velvet armchair with a thick book on Lycan history propped on my knees.To the security cameras, I was a girl trying to learn her place. A "Good Little Alpha's Wife" doing her homework.In my lap, hidden by the heavy book, was my tablet. The screen was a black sea of green text.I typed in the password. Lana.The system didn't just open; it surrendered. Abram’s entire life—every bribe, every heartbeat of his empire—laid itself bare. My pulse didn't even quicken. I felt like a surgeon looking at a tumor. I moved through the folders with a cold, jagged precision.The Black Ledger.There it was. It wasn't just a list of assets. It was a map of every sin the Silas family had committed for a decade. I scrolled through bank
Chapter 17: The Coldest DawnThe sun crawled over the edge of the city, bleeding a pale, sickly gold across the penthouse floor. It was too quiet. Abram’s chest rose and fell against my back, a steady, rhythmic thud that felt like a mockery. He looked peaceful. The lines of tension in his face had smoothed out, making him look younger, almost human. His arm was draped over my waist—not the bruising grip of a captor, but the heavy, relaxed weight of a man who finally felt safe.He thought he had won. He thought that by baring his pathetic, bloody secrets, he had tied me to him forever.I lay there, staring at the dust motes dancing in a beam of light. My heart felt like a dead thing in my ribs. For a second—just a heartbeat—the "Gilded Cage" felt warm. I could stay. I could be the queen to his broken king. I could let him buy me more diamonds and pretend the blood on them was just paint.Then my gaze drifted to my own wrist.The faint, yellowing bruise from his grip last week was still
Chapter 16: The Breaking of the MasterThe elevator ride up to the penthouse was silent, the only sound the faint hum of the cables and the rasp of Abram’s heavy breathing. The graveyard mud still clung to his boots, staining the pristine white floor. He didn't look at me. He didn't look at anything.We stepped out into the living room. The panoramic view of the city lights mocked the darkness still clinging to his skin.Abram walked straight to the bar. His leather gloves were gone, shoved into some pocket. His bare hands trembled as he reached for the crystal decanter. The glass clinked violently against the rim of his tumbler, amber liquid splashing over his knuckles.He didn't drink. He just stared at the glass."Abram?" I said. I stayed near the door, keeping my voice low. Natural. "You're shaking.""I'm a monster, Elara."The words were so quiet I almost missed them. He turned around, leaning his weight against the marble counter. His "Alpha King" mask didn't just crack; it fell
Chapter 15: The Grave of Secrets"Get in the car."Abram didn't look at me when he said it. He was already staring through the windshield of the black SUV, his jaw tight, his gloved hands gripping the steering wheel until the leather creaked. Since Sloane was dragged out of the boardroom three days ago, he’d been a ghost. No shouting. No breaking things. Just a heavy, suffocating silence that made the penthouse feel like a tomb.I didn't ask where we were going. I just slid into the passenger seat.The city lights faded into the rearview mirror, replaced by the jagged silhouettes of pine trees and the dark, rolling hills of the old pack lands. The heater hummed, but I was shivering. Abram drove like a man possessed, his foot heavy on the gas, weaving through the winding mountain roads without tapping the brakes.We slowed down near a rusted iron gate that hung off its hinges. The sign was long gone, buried under decades of weeds and gray moss."Wait here," he barked.He climbed out, t







