Chapter 1 : The Hooded Stranger

*Ember*

My stomach turned as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were the same striking shade of blue that they had always been, but now they were heavily rimmed with kohl and shadow. My strawberry blonde hair was piled on top of my head in an intricate series of braids, not falling in a smooth cascade down my back like I was used to.

But the part that made me shudder was the dress, if I could even call it that. The sheer piece of white silk barely covered the swell of my breasts before it looped down to hug my hips, ending at the very tops of my thighs. Beneath, my feet were bare against the cold stone floor of the antechamber.

“I am Ember Moonrise, sole daughter of Luther Moonrise, Alpha King of Silver Crescent. This is my duty,” I whispered to myself. I tried to make the words sound strong and confident, but the quiver in my voice didn’t quite go away.

“You’re damn right, girl,” a voice boomed from behind me. I jumped and spun, my heart hammering in my chest. My father, the Alpha King, was standing in the doorway of the antechamber, his face chiseled into an ugly sneer.

“I…I’m sorry, Father,” I murmured, bowing my head and dropping my gaze to the stone floor.

“You will be if you fuck this up,” he snarled. He pushed himself off the doorframe, and stepping up to me, grabbed my chin roughly in his hand, forcing me to look at him.

We had the same electric blue eyes, but that was where our similarities ended. Where I was fair and thin with delicate doll-like features, he was round, rough, and coarse. I was told he had been handsome once, back when he had been the old Alpha King’s Beta. But Luther Moonrise had grown greedy. One night, he had slipped a vial of molten silver into the Alpha King’s wine and taken the throne of the Silver Crescent for his own. The war that followed had taken away any charm he may have once held.

“I will do my duty,” I promised, flinching away from him.

He dug his fingers harder into my jaw. “You had better,” he said coldly. “I need to secure an alliance with a powerful Alpha tonight. We can’t afford another war in Allusia. I’ll offer you to whoever can promise me the biggest army. If you embarrass me, you’ll meet the same end as the breeder who birthed you.”

I shuddered under his grip and blinked back tears. “Yes, Father.”

“You will dance like your life depends on it,” he continued mercilessly. “You will be courteous. Whatever is asked of you, you will do it. Do you understand?”

My voice was barely audible as I answered, “Yes, Father.”

He smiled, but there was nothing pleasant about it. “Good girl,” he said, finally releasing me from his grasp. I stumbled back and rubbed the tender flesh of my jaw where his fingers had dug in. Before I could recover, he grabbed my arm and held it. “It’s time. We wouldn’t want to keep the Alphas waiting, would we?”

“No, Father.”

We crossed the antechamber toward the door to the castle’s great hall. As we grew closer, I could hear the raucous sounds of the gathering within. There were no female voices, only the laughter and shouts of men rising above the music. I swallowed thickly. One of those voices belonged to my future Alpha. What would he be like? Would he be kinder than my father?

The Alpha King pushed the doors to the great hall open. The noise inside ceased immediately. The Alphas and their Betas turned to stare, and it took me a second to realize that they were all staring at me.

My father pushed me forward through the doorway, earning a chuckle from some of the crowd. “Alphas of Allusia,” he announced grandly, “I present my daughter, Ember Moonrise.”

I could feel the hungry eyes of the Alphas and Betas prickling at my exposed skin. I felt like a piece of meat dangling in front of the hungry jaws of a great beast.

“Dance,” the Alpha King commanded. The music started up again.

From a young age, I had always loved to dance. When I danced, I felt like the stress of the day just melted off me. So I closed my eyes and began to sway in time with the music, doing my best to ignore the raking eyes of the males staring at me.

After several long moments, I opened my eyes and looked about the room. Many of the Alphas were still watching me. I smiled at some of them, as I knew that would please my father.

As I spun past one group, I felt a hand drift onto the small of my back. Before I could turn, the hand dipped lower and squeezed the curve of my ass. I bit back a yelp and turned wildly to see who had touched me. The Alphas snickered. The Alpha King, now seated on his throne at the front of the hall, laughed right along with them.

Knowing that my father would reprimand me if I said anything, I danced away from the group, blushing furiously as the cruel laughter followed behind me.

Things only got worse from there. On the other side of the room, a different Alpha slipped behind me and grabbed one of my breasts, dragging me back against his chest. He trailed the other hand lower onto my belly, playing with the high hem of my dress. I didn’t dare struggle. Instead, I plastered a strained smile onto my face and just kept dancing.

Finally, the Alpha released me. I twirled away as quickly as I could, but not before I heard the Alpha say, “Fucking whore!” His entourage laughed cruelly at the remark.

After that, I could barely keep count of how many men touched me. The words came from all directions.

Whore.

Tease.

Breeder trash.

Unable to listen to the comments anymore, I waited until an Alpha approached my father with a gift before slipping into an alcove. I flagged one of the maids down and asked her for a glass of water.

“Thank you,” I said as she passed me a goblet. I drank it down quickly. The maid had just passed me a second goblet when a hand struck my arm, sending the vessel clattering to the stone floor.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” my father roared. I hadn’t even noticed that he had finished with the Alpha, but now he towered over me, his red face inches from my own. He grabbed my wrist and flung me down. “When I say dance, you had better fucking dance!”

I scrambled to my feet, keeping my eyes cast down towards the floor. Once again, I could feel the eyes of the crowd on me. When I spoke, my voice came out as a sob. “Yes, Father.”

He roughly shoved me back into the center of the hall. “Well what are you waiting for? Dance!”

The musicians quickly started a fast-paced song. Frantically, I moved my feet in rhythm and began to sway with the beat. I could feel the tears threatening to fall but blinked them back furiously. I could not afford to embarrass the Alpha King any further by crying.

The hours passed in a blur of rough touches and crude comments. I tried my best to block them out, but the shame remained. Under the cruel eyes of my father, I danced until my feet were raw, and my head was pounding. I didn’t dare stop.

I thought I could make it until the end of the night when an Alpha bumped into me. I spun, grasping at the air to catch myself, but there was nothing to hold onto. My feet, bloody from dancing, slid out from under me and I tumbled hard to the floor. The crowd burst into laughter as the wind was knocked out of my lungs.

As I struggled to stand, the crowd around me parted to reveal the Alpha King. He stalked towards me, his fists clenched at his sides.

“This is the last time you embarrass me,” he growled, grabbing me by the upper arm and wrenching me up. I cried out in pain as he dragged me towards the door. The Alphas, still laughing, watched as my father hurled me through the doorway into the antechamber. The door shut behind us with an ominous thud.

“Please,” I begged as he grabbed me again, this time dragging me farther into the depths of the castle. “Please, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

“You’re sorry?” he roared. His balled fist collided with my face, and pain exploded in my cheek. “You’re fucking sorry?” The force of his blow sent my head crashing into the wall. Stars danced in front of my eyes. “What kind of Alpha would want a Luna who can’t even fucking dance properly?” He emphasized the last three words with three swift kicks to my belly. I howled in agony and curled up into a ball.

He loomed over me and spat, “Worthless, just like your breeder mother.”

And then he was gone.

I could barely move. The pain in my ribs was so bad that it hurt to breathe. I lifted one hand to brush my forehead where it had hit the wall and winced as I touched the open gash. Blood ran down into my eyes, stinging through my tears. I tried to stand, but I couldn’t seem to push myself up.

That’s when I heard footsteps approaching. I desperately tried to move, to not be found like this, but my body was heavy and leaden. I couldn’t see through the blood and my tears, but I could hear the person approaching me.

“No,” I croaked, terrified my father had come back to finish the job. “Please… don’t…”

“Shh,” a voice hushed. A large, soothing hand ran over my hair before gently tipping my head back. Gentle fingers brushed the tears and blood from my eyes. Through the hazy pain and darkness, I could just make out a broad-shouldered figure wearing a hooded cloak.

The stranger slipped his arms beneath my body, shushing me again as I whimpered in pain. Tenderly, he lifted me in his arms and held me against his chest. Through the thick fabric of his cloak, I could feel his heart beating beside my ear. For some reason, I felt safe in his arms.

Moving smoothly, the stranger carried me through the halls of the castle until we came to the door of my chambers. Inside, he laid me carefully on the bed. My heartbeat quickened as I realized that I was alone in my room with an unknown man. He had to be one of the Alphas from the party. They had all spent the night leering and groping at me, making crude comments about my body. What would he do to me, now that he had me alone?

“Please don’t hurt me,” I whispered, feeling fresh tears spring to my eyes.

Silently, the stranger crossed the room and returned with a damp cloth. He brought the fabric gently up to the wound on my head, dabbing the blood away as I tried not to wince at the sting of cool cloth.

I managed to lift a hand and grasp the edge of his cloak. “Who are you?” I demanded weakly.

The shadowy stranger didn’t reply. Instead, he leaned closer and closer, the hood of his cloak covering all but the lower quarter of his face. I could feel his warm breath on my cheek. His scent – woodsmoke and leather – swirled around me in a mulling haze. My heart fluttered as he drew nearer, warmth pooling low in my belly as I realized what was about to happen.

The stranger pressed his lips gently to my own. I closed my eyes, stunned by the electric feeling of the feather-light touch.

And when I opened my eyes, the stranger was gone, leaving only the scent of woodsmoke and leather in his wake.