🐺 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 🐺

🌕 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 🌕

Nymeria's eyes fluttered open.

The ceiling above her was made of carved wood with golden patterns she had only ever seen in paintings. Sunlight streamed through tall windows draped in silk curtains.

The bed beneath her was so soft she felt like she was floating.

She sat up slowly, her heart racing.

Where am I?

Then the memories came flooding back. The festival. The attack. The brothers carrying her here.

"No, no, no," she whispered, scrambling out of the massive bed. "This is wrong. This is all wrong."

The room was enormous. A fireplace big enough to stand in. A vanity with a mirror framed in gold.

Thick carpets that swallowed her bare feet. Clothes scattered across chairs. Books stacked on tables.

This wasn't her room.

This wasn't even close to her room.

Her room was a tiny closet in the servant's quarters with a thin mattress and a bucket for washing.

This place probably cost more than she would earn in a lifetime.

"I need to leave," she muttered, searching frantically for her worn servant dress. "They'll kill me. The Luna will kill me. I'll be whipped for sure."

She found her old dress crumpled in the corner and started pulling it on with shaking hands.

"Please let me get out before anyone sees me," she prayed.

Her fingers fumbled with the ties. "Please, please, please."

She reached the door just as it swung open.

Six maids entered carrying trays of food, steaming buckets of water, armfuls of dresses, and boxes of jewelry.

They stopped dead when they saw her.

Nymeria froze too.

Then one of the maids the same girl who had watched Seraphina shove her and done nothing smiled coldly.

"Well, well. Look who actually slept in the Alpha's bed. How did you manage that, orphan? Did you crawl in while they were sleeping?"

Another maid laughed. "Probably begged them. Got on her knees—"

"That's enough."

The maids spun around.

Damien stood in the doorway, his eyes hard as steel. Kai and Rafe flanked him, their expressions dark with barely contained fury.

The maids immediately dropped into bows. "Alpha Damien. We didn't see you—"

"You didn't see me," Damien repeated coldly. "But you saw her. And you spoke to her like she was dirt."

The maid who had spoken first went pale. "I—I was just—"

"You were just about to learn your new place." Damien walked into the room, his presence filling every corner. "Let me make this perfectly clear. Nymeria is no longer a servant.

She is under my protection. Under OUR protection."

He gestured to Kai and Rafe. "All three of us."

The maids stared in horror.

Damien pointed to the bathwater. "You will prepare her bath. You will dress her. You will attend to her needs with the respect owed to the future Luna of the Volkov Pack."

"Future Luna?" one maid whispered.

Rafe's voice cut through like ice. "Did you hear my brother? Or should we find replacements who can follow simple orders?"

The maids scrambled into action, their faces white with terror.

Nymeria stood frozen, still clutching her old dress. "Wait—I don't—this isn't—"

Kai walked over and gently pulled the dress from her hands. "You don't need this anymore."

"But I'm just a servant—"

"You were just a servant," Damien corrected, his voice softer now. "You're not anymore. From today, you live here. You sleep here. You eat with us."

He paused, his eyes meeting hers. "You're ours, Nymeria. Start getting used to it."

---

Nymeria was bathed, dressed, and groomed like she had never been before.

The maids worked in terrified silence, their hands gentle but their eyes filled with resentment.

They brushed her hair until it shone.

They wrapped her in a gown of deep silver silk that hugged her curves and made her skin glow.

When they were finished, Nymeria barely recognized herself in the mirror.

"Is this... me?" she whispered.

She looked like a noblewoman. Like someone important. Like someone who belonged.

But she didn't belong. She knew she didn't.

She was just an orphan. A wolf-less nobody. And any moment now, someone would realize the mistake and throw her back where she belonged.

Rafe noticed her unease first. "What's wrong? Don't you like the dress?"

"It's beautiful," Nymeria said quickly. "Too beautiful. I don't deserve—"

"You deserve everything," Kai interrupted, walking over with a box of chocolates. "And more. Here. Eat these. They're from the southern territories."

She stared at the box. "You bought me chocolates?"

"I bought you chocolates," he confirmed. "And flowers. And this ridiculous fluffy pillow I saw in the market."

He pulled a pillow shaped like a wolf from behind his back. "Look at its face. It's so stupid. I love it."

A small laugh escaped her lips.

Kai's face lit up. "She laughed! Did you see that? I made her laugh!"

Damien rolled his eyes, but Nymeria caught the smile he tried to hide.

Rafe held out several books. "These are from the family library. Old journals and histories. I thought you might enjoy reading about the world beyond the pack."

She took them carefully, her hands trembling. "I... I used to read at the orphanage. Before they took away the books."

"Took away the books?" Kai's playful expression vanished. "Why would anyone take away books?"

Nymeria shrugged, her voice small. "They said reading made me think I was better than I was. That I needed to learn my place."

Damien's hands clenched into fists. "Who said that?"

"Doesn't matter," Nymeria said quickly. "It was a long time ago."

"It matters," Damien said firmly. "Everything about you matters."

When Nymeria's belongings were brought from the servants' quarters, she felt her face burn with shame.

It was pitiful.

Three worn dresses. A broken comb. A few keepsakes. Her silver pendant. That was everything she owned in the world.

"This is all of it?" Kai asked, his voice strange.

Nymeria nodded, not meeting his eyes.

"The orphanage," she whispered. "When I left, I didn't have anything. I've been saving for years, but..."

She gestured helplessly. "Servants don't earn much."

Damien looked at the pile of rags. "Burn them."

"What?"

"Burn them," he repeated. "You don't need them anymore."

He turned to the servants. "Contact the best dressmakers in the territory.

I want her fitted for a new wardrobe today. Dresses. Coats. Shoes. Everything."

Kai was already scribbling notes. "Jewelry too. And accessories. And—"

"And enough to last her through every season," Rafe added. "Don't be cheap about it. Get the best materials."

Nymeria opened her mouth to protest, but Damien silenced her with a look.

"This isn't negotiable," he said. "You're ours now. And ours get the best."

Nymeria lowered her eyes. “I don’t deserve any of this.”

Damien stepped closer. “You’ll spend the rest of your life learning that you do.”

Before Nymeria could answer, her silver pendant suddenly grew hot against her skin.

Hotter…

And hotter.

Then, for the first time in twenty years…

It began to glow.