The Alpha’s House

Elsa’s Pov

The car slowed, crunching across the gravel driveway, and my breath caught in my throat. Before us rose a mansion unlike anything I had ever seen a towering structure of stone and glass, its windows glowing with golden light against the dark sky. Balconies wrapped around the higher floors, draped with crimson banners bearing the Red Claw Pack’s crest. Guards stood stationed at every entrance, their stances rigid, their eyes sharp.

My chest tightened. This was nothing like the small, worn houses of the Moonstone Pack. This wasn’t just a home it was a fortress.

The car door opened, and Dylan stepped out first. His presence alone commanded silence from the guards. Then he turned back, holding his hand toward me.

I hesitated. My hands trembled in my lap, my heart hammering as though it wanted to leap free. But Amy’s voice rose inside me, steady and certain. Take it. He is your mate. Your protector.

I placed my hand in his. Warmth coursed through me the moment our skin touched, sending sparks along my arm. Dylan’s fingers tightened around mine, and he helped me out of the car as though I were something fragile, precious.

Inside, the pack house left me breathless.

The entrance hall soared above me, its ceilings carved with intricate designs of wolves in battle and stars shining down on them.

Chandeliers dripped crystal light over polished marble floors. A grand staircase curved upward like a river of stone, its railing gilded with silver.

Everywhere I looked, I saw beauty and power. Portraits of Alphas lined the walls, their eyes seeming to follow me as I walked. Plush rugs muffled my steps. The air smelled faintly of cedar and smoke, warm and inviting.

But the grandeur also made me shrink inside. My worn dress, my bruises, the ache in my body they didn’t belong here. I didn’t belong here.

Whispers floated from the shadows. Servants and pack members lined the hall, their gazes flicking between Dylan and me.

“Who is she?”

“Is that the girl he marked?”

“She’s no one. A maid from another pack.”

The words struck like stones, but I kept my chin low, fighting the urge to hide behind Dylan.

Then his voice filled the hall, firm and commanding.

“She is my mate. From this night forward, she is to be treated with respect worthy of your Luna.”

The room fell silent. Every head bowed.

Shock rippled through me. My chest tightened, heat pricking behind my eyes. He had just announced me as his Luna. Me the outcast, the rejected, the maid who had been humiliated in front of everyone.

Amy howled with pride inside me, her voice fierce. They will bow to us now. No more chains. No more cruelty.

But my human heart trembled. Could I really be Luna? Could I carry such a title when I had spent years barely surviving?

Dylan led me further inside. We climbed the sweeping staircase, his hand never releasing mine, as though he knew I might falter without that anchor.

At the top, a wide corridor stretched before us, lined with doors. The air here was quieter, more private. Two guards stood at the end, but they stepped aside at Dylan’s approach.

He opened a door and guided me in.

The room was vast, bathed in warm light from a roaring fireplace. A canopy bed draped in velvet stood at the center, its pillows piled high. Heavy curtains framed tall windows, and the scent of lavender lingered in the air. A table by the window held fresh fruit, bread, and a steaming kettle of tea.

My knees nearly gave out. This was more than luxury. It was everything I had never dreamed I could have.

Dylan turned to me, his eyes unreadable. “This is your room. You may rest here tonight. No one will disturb you.”

My lips parted in shock. “My… room?”

“You are my mate,” he said simply. “This house is yours now.”

I stood frozen as he moved across the room, pouring tea into a delicate cup. He handed it to me, his fingers brushing mine again, sparking warmth along my skin.

“Drink,” he said softly. “You need it.”

I lifted the cup with trembling hands and sipped. The warmth slid down my throat, easing some of the tightness in my chest.

Still, my voice shook when I asked, “Why are you doing this? You don’t even know me. You saw what I was…how broken I am.”

His gaze held mine, steady as stone. “I know enough. I saw the strength in your silence. The fire in your survival. You may think you’re broken, Elsa, but I see only a woman forged in fire. You are mine. And no one breaks what is mine.”

My heart stuttered, torn between disbelief and the fierce certainty in his words.

After I finished the tea, Dylan stepped closer. His hand brushed gently against the mark on my neck, sending shivers through me.

“This bond will only grow stronger,” he murmured. “You will feel it as I do. And in time… you will understand why fate brought you to me.”

My breath caught. His nearness overwhelmed me, his scent wrapping around me like smoke and pine. Amy whimpered with longing, but I forced myself to take a step back.

“I… I can’t,” I whispered, clutching my arms. “Not yet. Everything is moving too fast.”

Instead of anger, Dylan’s expression softened. He nodded once. “I will not push you. Rest tonight. Tomorrow, you will see my world with clearer eyes.”

When he left the room, closing the heavy door behind him, silence settled around me. I sank onto the edge of the bed, my hands twisting in my lap.

Luxury surrounded me. Safety enclosed me. Yet I couldn’t shake the fear clawing at my chest.

The whispers downstairs still echoed in my ears. She’s no one. A maid. She doesn’t belong.

I curled onto the bed, hugging my knees, staring into the flickering firelight.

Amy’s voice rose again, fierce and sure. They are wrong. You are Luna. You will grow into it. You will make them bow not because you are his mate, but because you are strong enough on your own.

Tears pricked my eyes. For so long, I had believed I was nothing. But here, in this strange new world, with Dylan’s claim burning on my skin, a question stirred in me for the first time.

What if I am more than they ever allowed me to be?

That night, as I drifted to sleep in a bed softer than any I had ever known, my heart ached with confusion. Fear, hope, and longing tangled inside me, pulling me in different directions.

My life had changed forever.

And whether I was ready or not, I was now the Luna of the Red Claw Pack.