dark fortress

Amara Eldwood

My sides felt as heavy as ice blocks when I startled awake.

What was that noise? 

My brows furrowed as I blinked around the room, the memory of my breakdown coming back to me in waves as I struggled to sit up.

I’d dissolved into tears after Caius excused himself to let me rest.

I hadn't been sure if he’d noticed the tears threatening to pool over and stream down my cheeks until his full blond head disappeared outside the door and it clicked shut.

Of course he’d noticed…like one the most powerful wolves in all of Shadowville would ever miss anything!

It wasn't enough that they all hated me, now the blond wolf must think I was some sort of pitiful wretch!

The most gut-crushing pain I’d ever known squeezed around my chest, worse even, than when Kiernan, my first mate rejected me to the entire pack.

My breath hitched in my throat and I let out a gasp, scrambling for the water pitcher on the bed and draining the glass in one gulp.

“Goddess, what have I gotten myself into?” I choked, furiously wiping the tears from my eyes as the pang of loneliness cut deep into my chest.

A gentle breeze rattled the floor-to-ceiling windows, forcing me to look past my faint, haggard reflection into the fortress square.

There was a large crystal fountain at the forefront of what looked to be the throne-room, if the crown-shaped roofing was anything to go by.

A boom of thunder rumbled through the sturdy cedar wood walls, scattering the scent of wet earth into the room.

Mine. For now...

“Its so beautiful…I wish you were here to see it Mama,” my soft voice sounds alien in my ears as I run my fingers along the tall pink flower vase bursting with thick-leaved plants and petals.

My fingers shook on the thin strip of wood lining the windows before the deafening book of an explosion makes my head snap up.

“What in the world?” I wheeze, my eyes going wide as a plume of black smoke rose up into the sky.

An attack? 

The noise of screams as soldiers rushed forward from all around the castle made my heart hammer violently in my chest.

Something was wrong.

Desperation tainted the air like diarrhea gas, but it was the excited chatter of maids as they passed by in the hallway that held my attention.

“What to do…what to freaking do?” 

I’d gotten strict orders not to leave my room, but with the pound of cannons exploding outside, I doubted anyone would care.

“An attack on the fortress…” 

“Think they’ll get in?” 

“So scary,” The maid’s frenzied chatter only made my breathing come faster and faster as I marched behind them, careful not to say a word.

The vast hallway looked gloomy now as the overhead yellow lights flickered. Almost as if they too sensed the danger looming on the horizon.

Had I somehow led strays from The Darkness toward their pack?

Guilt and shame made me clamp my lips shut as more maids pushed against my back and I stood on my tiptoes to see there was a congestion at the entrance.

“Turn back, all of you!” one of the tree-sized guards bellowed, before the other guards crossed their spears, making it impossible for us to go through.

“Shouldn’t we be running to hide if there’s ambush?” I rasped to the blond maid closest to me and watched her thin brows jump in surprise and confusion.

“Hide? Why ever would we want to do that, M’lady?” her tone was saccharine, and I tried and failed to dislodge the weight now settling in the base of my spine.

“Oh, you don't need to bother about that. No pack has been able to break into our fortress since our new Alphas took over. Since Alpha Dante’s reign,” Another petite girl offered beside me and I swallowed the ash filling my mouth.

Just how powerful were the elite four?

“The balcony! Come on everyone! We’ll have a better view there!” The blond hissed with such morbid excitement that I cringed away from her.

Soldiers were going to lose their lives in the Darkness. 

“Those shadows…” my body shuddered reflexively when I remembered the way I had almost run mad in the dark woods.

I let the crowd push me along the sleek stone walls until it opened up into a wide balcony and I edged toward the front lines.

“Are the Alphas going to be okay?” I hissed at one of the women, who nodded after giving me a dubious look.

“The Darkness wounds all wolves. It shouldn't be taking this long for our cannons to do the work. Whatever it is out there…they’re strong, i’ll give them that.” She wheezed, face pale with dread.

“Doesn’t this remind you of what happened with Alpha Dante’s woman all those years ago, Mabel?” 

I had almost missed one of the servant’s silvery whispers and forced my body to still, no matter how I desperately wanted to twist around.

Mabel. That sour maid.

“Goddess, if I have to speak to her again, it would be too soon.” I muttered under my breath when her gasp reached my ears.

“We don't speak of Leila in this fortress, Amenie, you should know better than that.” Mabel’s saucy snap must have frightened the other maid because silence stretched in the space.

Leila? Who was she? Alpha Dante’s woman? Something ached in my belly when the thought of the sexy wolf I had seen earlier longing for another woman went through my head.

Why the hell did I care who’s throat he had his tongue stuffed into?

“Is it true then, that he might be mates with that…that woman?” the blond girl from earlier whispered, the rest of her words drowned out by the roaring of the soldiers in the distance and the noise of the wind in my ears.

Alarm rippled through my body when I realized they were referring to me.

My fingers tightened on the sleek, dark stone balustrade as I craned my neck closer, pretending instead that I was staring down at the fog rolling over the foyer.

Mates.

Was that what the spark between us had been the other time?

It didn't make any sense! 

Why was the Moon Goddess toying this much with me? 

How could a wolfless maiden move so quickly from one mate to four new ones?

Sweat itched the hairs on the back of my neck and the forested white dress I was wearing suddenly felt too tight.

“Enough. We’ve got to be careful now…walls have ears,” one of the servants hissed so viciously that I turned without thinking, horrified when Mabel’s pitch-black eyes narrowed on my face as if i’d confirmed her suspicions.

Crap! They must have noticed me eavesdropping!

“M-My apologies, I couldn't help overhearing—”I stuttered, before feeling my face flame when the uniformed servants turned away from me, sticking their noses high in the air.

Rage trickled in my chest like poison but I swallowed back the bile sitting in my throat.

Everywhere I had turned since I came into the pack they had managed to make one thing very clear.

I was not welcome here.

Hell's gates, I might be a reject, but I was not a woman without pride! 

If my stupid wolf had shifted through the other night I would have been arm-in-arm with the most powerful beast in Shadow Pack.

I could have been Queen of shadow pack if they’d given me a little more time…but now, that life, like many other things, was lost to me.

I could take the Alphas turning up their noses at me but I would be damned if I stood here to explain myself to the servants as well.

“I’ll need a fresh round of grape wine delivered to my quarters,” I snapped at Mabel, injecting as much venom as I could into my tone.

Her thin brows narrowed even more so that tight folds stretched across her forehead before she jitter her chin at me.

“I’ll have it delivered once the kitchens are cleared to use,” She hissed back, causing the other women to murmur furiously.

“I’m sure you would,” I added unnecessarily, unable to stop myself.

I’d be damned if I drank anything that came from her. I wasn't particularly keen on tasting her spit or excrements.

The tension between us made the windy balcony feel like it was scalding hot. 

I needed to get out of here.

Tears pricked my eyelids as I stumbled away from the railing, aware of all the eyes that moved to watch me.

“Just a little longer, Mara, until you recover enough to get the hell out of here,” I muttered to myself, bracing my hands on the coarse hallway walls before heaving a sigh of relief when I closed the door behind me.

My hands swipe over my forehead when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

Long red hair curls wildly around my face and shoulders, framing my hollowed cheeks.

I’d always hated my face. All hard lines and empty eyes. I had nothing of mother’s soft face and lively raven-black hair.

My thoughts strayed to the Alpha King with harsh, calculating blue eyes. Dante Milburn.

“Goodness, Mara, what have you gotten yourself into?” I groaned, hissing as I peeled off my dress to reveal the ripe, full lumps of my breasts and the blood-stained gauze wrapping around my midriff.

I’d heard stories about the ruthless Alphas of the Infinity pack from my time in Shadow pack.

Rumors of how Dante, the ruler, was the most powerful and brutal of all.

“I never thought he would be so gorgeous,” I grumbled, jolting when the fireplace crackled ominously.

The distant wailing of the fortress siren had died down so that only the muted growl of wolves seeped through the half-open windows.

“Unghh, get off, stupid thing!” I hissed, struggling out of the dress and feeling my body freeze when heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway.

Someone was coming! No!

“Eldwood!” Dante’s gravelly roar sent goosebumps skittering up my back and I scrambled away just as the door flew off its hinges, missing my head only by inches.

Like a puff of black smoke, the dark Alpha appeared in the doorway, hard blue eyes sweeping over my body in one swift motion.

Horror and arousal wove over my body like quicksand as my lips opened and closed wordlessly.

Every nerve in my body screamed for me to move. 

To get out the way of the overwhelming rage I could feel rolling off his body in waves.

“Y-Your Highness—” I breathed, finally forcing my tongue to move as I dragged my dress over my nudity, feel in the sting of embarrassment heat my face.

If he had noticed my nakedness, he didn't show it, his face remaining as impassive and hard as when he had walked in.

“Do you care to explain what the fuck this is?” His deep voice sounded like thunder and I couldn't help staggering back as he closed the distance between us.

I was aware of how he towered over me, and how there was nothing separating his eyes from my body save for the flimsy dress I was gripping against my body tightly.

“P-Please, I-I don't know what—” I sputtered, gasping when his large hands wrapped around my arm and he yanked my forward.

What the hell was happening? What was he saying?

The heady scent of his cologne made my knees buckle but it was impossible for me to tear my eyes away from the dastardly handsome face that had become a mask of fury.

It was confirmed. This was the night I was going to die.