BLOOD ON THE SNOW

“Father." A scream tore out of my throat as I watched my father’s head roll across the frozen ground and felt nothing but the cold bite of silver cuffs on my wrists.

The snow drank his blood like it was thirsty. One clean swing from a Crescent beta and the man who taught me to stand tall was just meat.

That was six months ago.

Now Brian Crescent’s boot pressed the back of my neck into the stone floor of the great hall while I scrubbed his last victim’s blood out of the cracks. My fingers split open and the rag I was using had turned pink but I kept scrubbing.

“You missed a spot, wolfless,” Brian growled. His weight shifted, grinding my cheek harder against the wet stone. “Right under my chair where I spilled that traitor’s guts. Clean it like you mean it.”

“Yes, Alpha.” I said in a flat voice. Exactly how he liked it.

From the dais, the sound of Ben’s laugh rang out and cut through the silence. “Father, when are you going to let me have a turn with her? She’s been here half a year and I’ve only gotten to watch.”

Brian lifted his boot just enough for me to breathe. “Patience, boy. She’s still useful as a warning. Break her too fast and the fun ends.”

I kept my eyes on the floor. The blood smelled like rust and fear. My own blood joined it from my cracked knuckles.

Catherine Hale. Daughter of Alpha Declan. Last living thing from Ashen Ridge.

Now just a rag in their hands.

Ben’s boots stopped beside me. I saw the shine of them inches from my face. “Look at me.”

His hand fisted in my hair and yanked my head up. “I said look at me, slave.”

I met his stare. My burned where he’d flogged me last week. The bruise still ached every time I moved.

“That’s better,” he said softly. “You know, in three days every pack in the eastern range is coming for the mating ceremony. I’ve been thinking about claiming you right there on the platform. In front of all of them. Show them what a Crescent does with his new toy.”

My stomach clenched. I kept my face blank. “Whatever you want, Ben.”

He smiled like I’d given him a gift. “Good girl. Maybe I’ll even mark you. Make it official. Then everyone will know the great Alpha Hale’s daughter belongs on her knees for me.”

He let go of my hair. My scalp screamed and my fingers itched to relieve the pain but I stayed on all fours.

Brian chuckled from his chair. “Careful, son. Don’t get attached. She’s still got that alpha blood in her veins. Might bite back one day.”

Ben’s laugh was ugly. “She has no wolf. She’s nothing. I could snap her neck and no one would blink.”

I stared at the blood on the floor and imagined driving the scrubbing rag into his throat instead. I have a wolf but I can't connect to her. I knew it in my bones, and so did they. They simply preferred to call me wolfless.

My father had wasted years chasing cures for what he believed was an aberration of nature, I was nothing more than an unranked mistake who couldn’t be called omega or alpha because my wolf refused to surface.

That night the hall emptied and the heat from torches burned low. I was on my way back to the cell they called my room when Ben stepped out of the shadows behind the kitchens.

He slammed me against the wall and a stone scraped my spine. His hand shoved under my thin dress, fingers digging into my thigh like he owned every inch.

“Just a taste,” he whispered against my ear, breath hot and sour. “You’ll like it. Or you’ll pretend you do, I don't care. Either way, you’ll stay quiet.”

I bit the inside of my cheek until copper flooded my tongue. “Please, Ben.”

“Please what?” His teeth scraped my neck, right over an old bruise. “Please stop? Please more? Make up your mind, wolfless.”

I stayed silent. Fighting only earned broken bones. I had learned that the first week when they dragged me here and Brian made me watch them kill the last of my pack’s children.

Ben’s hand moved higher. “Three days. I’m going to mark you in front of every alpha. Then I’m going to take you right there on the platform while they all watch. You’ll thank me for it.”

My chest tightened so hard I thought my ribs would crack. “I said please.”

He laughed softly. “That’s right. Beg. I like the sound.”

He pressed harder. I felt the silver dagger he always carried brush my hip. One wrong move and he could end me. Part of me wished he would.

Instead I whispered, “Whatever you want.”

He stepped back, wiping his mouth like he’d finished a meal. His eyes gleamed. “Smart choice. Keep being smart and maybe I’ll let you sleep in a real bed after the ceremony. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

He turned to leave, then paused. “Oh, and Catherine? Smile tomorrow when I introduce you to the guests. I want them to see how well trained you are.”

The corridor went quiet after his footsteps faded.

I slid down the wall until I sat on the cold floor. My dress was torn at the shoulder. My thigh throbbed where his fingers had dug in. I touched the fresh bite on my neck and felt the skin break under my own nails.

I pressed my forehead to my knees and let the rage burn behind my eyes. I couldn't cry even if I wanted to, my tears dried up a while ago.

My legs shook as I stood up slowly, straightened my torn dress the best I could and walked back toward the cell.

Lena, the old cook, waited at the door with a scrap of bread hidden in her apron. She pressed it into my hand without a word. Her eyes were sad and fierce at the same time.

“Three days, child,” she whispered. “Whatever you’re thinking, do it quiet. They’re bringing in every alpha for this ceremony. Even Red River’s monster.”

I took the bread. My fingers left bloody prints on the crust. “Who’s Red River’s monster?”

Lena glanced down the hall. “Alpha Adrian Voss. Brian’s terrified of him and pretends he isn’t. If you’re smart, you’ll stay far away from that one.”

I bit into the bread, it tasted terrible. “I’m not planning to be smart, Lena. I’m planning to be gone.”

Her eyes widened. “Don’t you dare Cathy”

I stepped into the cell before she could finish. The iron door clanged shut behind me. I closed my eyes and whispered to the empty place inside me, “Just hold on a little longer.”

It sounded almost like a promise.