Alpha Silent Protector

I ran.I've been through a lot in my life. Humiliating things, failed plans, broken ideals; perhaps more mistakes than successes. But even so, when Gregor looked into my eyes and proclaimed his contempt for me, it was as if my whole body shattered.Things hadn't been going very well. For a while, maybe."You're pathetic," he told me. I felt pathetic too. For lowering my head to him, for always letting him have his way with me.I don't know where it all went wrong.The next thing I knew, one day, he was no longer who I thought he was.Gregor was my predestined mate from childhood. We've lived through generations like that, with the Alphas of the pack choosing the prettiest girls for their sons, testing how the combination would look.I grew up with an idealization of what a mate meant anyway.My mother used to bring human literature home in secret. I'm not sure how she got hold of those books, but they fascinated me: they all described men who were strong and respectful, powerful but f

The walk was silent and awkward.The Frostbites surrounded me as if I were a prisoner, which I feared I really was. Gregor could sniff me out if I was in danger, but as much as I wanted to deceive myself and tell myself it wasn't true, I knew deep down that he wouldn't come after me. Maybe he'd be relieved that I'd gone off on my own, maybe it'd be the highlight of his day. I don't know.In any case, they didn't seem aggressive.Viktor's companions whispered among themselves. They watched me, attentive to any movement on my part, as if I were planning to plunge a knife into their alpha's neck at any moment. I understood the caution. I would also be wary if I met a Frostbite in my condition; I would think it was a trap, a set-up.One of them was in her wolf form. It looked like a female. She walked beside Viktor, and I wondered if she could be his mate from the way they communicated non-verbally, and how his fingers brushed against her hair at times.She and he were the only ones who d

VIKTORIt didn't make sense. Gregor was a disappointing guy. This was something everyone knew in a way that set aside the difference between our banners—this wasn’t about clan rivalry when it came to Gregor, not entirely. All the Frostbite knew it was impossible to fit him into a single positive adjective.First, I thought it might be an ambush, but it didn't seem like it. The bruises, her behavior... the way we found her, with blue lips, alone. Gregor should have noticed her absence by now, but perhaps he didn't know that she was distancing herself from him on purpose. He certainly had no way of knowing that she was with the enemy."We reinforced the main gate," Pandora said, crossing her arms and leaning against the thin wooden boards of the trim. I had spent the whole day answering worried questions from the panicked villagers, questioning what was on my mind to bring an Ashenfur like that straight to our quarters."Thanks, Pan," I said without looking back at her. Even so, I could

That must have been the strangest scene of my life.I didn’t understand. What exactly happened? I knew I was the one who killed those hunters, but it happened so suddenly that my head hurt just trying to understand it. Why? Where did this power come from? Have I always had it? Why didn’t I use it before?I looked at all those Frostbites, bowing. They didn’t dare to look me in the eyes, as if I were… some kind of entity, a superior creature.The reddish glow still faintly radiated from my body, gradually fading. There was no transformation, my body didn’t take its wolf form… that ball of power just bubbled up, as if it had been suppressed for a long time.The scene before me was grotesque. The bodies, the blood, and those people bowing to me, even while injured.I stared at Viktor. He seemed displeased, having bowed only at someone else’s request, breathing heavily. The arrows were lodged in his back, and I saw blood dripping from his body, but no one did anything. They were just on the

Viktor put himself in front of me to take those arrows even before this whole story involved Athelia. That disturbed me.The explanation that he believed there was a goddess inside me seemed like a much better alternative because otherwise, it would become something... personal. More concrete. He saved me for me, or for some moral reason of his own—for himself—and I owed him.Being a goddess would be great. Gods don't owe others, do they? I could consider it an honor for him to save me.But Pandora was right. Without that, I was of enemy blood, just another person they would mostly want to end at the nearest opportunity. I had no right to be responsible for Viktor like this. I was already struggling to save myself."How am I supposed to..." My voice failed as I looked at my own hands, unable to form the words."Can you show me what you did in the forest?"I raised an eyebrow at her. Pandora had calmed down a bit, her anger fading in favor of an emotion she could use and that was easie