𑣲Strange.

Aradia's POV

I couldn't stop staring at his face.

When he pulled back his hood, the moonlight had shown me features that looked carved from stone. Strong jaw. Sharp cheekbones. Eyes so dark they were almost black. He was young, maybe mid twenties, but something ancient lived in those eyes. Something that had seen too much.

This was Alpha Xior. I'd heard the whispers in the market after he bought me. The Silver Star Pack. The boy who became king at eight years old.

And now I belonged to him.

My legs shook as his beta, Kade, led me through the forest. The camp appeared between the trees. Dozens of tents circled a large fire pit. Wolves moved in the shadows, their eyes glowing as they watched me pass. I kept my head down and tried not to stumble.

Kade stopped in front of the largest tent. Black fabric, trimmed with silver. The alpha's tent.

"Wait here," he said, then disappeared inside.

I stood in the darkness, my bare feet cold against the ground. Around me, I could hear the pack settling in for the night. Low voices. The crackle of fires. Somewhere, a wolf howled at the blood moon.

I'd expected to be used tonight. That's what happened to slave girls, especially ones bought at the blood moon market. I'd prepared myself for it, steeled my mind against what was coming. As long as Emma could see again, I could survive anything.

But the alpha had asked for my name.

That confused me. Slaves didn't keep their names. The masters gave them new ones, pet names to show ownership. Flower. Dove. Sweet thing. I'd heard them all at the market.

Yet he'd asked. Like it mattered.

Kade emerged from the tent. "He wants you inside."

My heart jumped into my throat. This was it then.

I stepped through the opening.

The tent was larger than I'd expected. Furs covered the ground. A low table held maps and papers. And against the far wall stood a bed. Bigger than any I'd ever seen, piled high with dark furs and pillows.

Xior stood beside it, his back to me. Even without the cloak, he was massive. Broad shoulders. Muscled arms. Power radiated from him like heat from a fire.

He turned. Those dark eyes fixed on me.

"Come here."

I moved forward on shaking legs. Stopped a few feet away, my hands clasped in front of me.

He frowned and stepped closer. I fought the urge to back away. Everything in me screamed to run, but I knew better. Running from an alpha meant death.

He leaned down. I froze as his face came close to my neck. My hair.

He was smelling me.

My breath caught. Wolves did this, I knew. Used scent to understand things humans couldn't. But having him so close, his breath warm against my skin, made my pulse race for entirely different reasons.

Then I saw it. The smallest curve of his lips. Not quite a smile, but close.

He pulled back, and that almost-smile vanished like it had never been.

"Get on the bed."

The words hit me like cold water.

So this was happening. My mind went blank and numb, the way it did when things got too hard to bear. I'd perfected this skill over the years. Lock away the fear, the pain, the shame. Just survive.

I didn't argue. Argument meant death here. I'd chosen this life so Emma could have a better one. Whatever came next, I would endure it.

I climbed onto the bed. The furs were soft beneath me, softer than anything I'd ever touched. I lay down and stared at the tent ceiling, forcing my breathing to stay even.

I heard movement behind me. The rustle of fabric.

He was undressing.

My hands curled into fists. I kept my eyes on the ceiling and tried to remember Emma's laugh. The way she used to chase butterflies in the garden before the fever took her sight. That's what this was for. That's why I was here.

The bed shifted as he climbed on.

I braced myself. Waited for his hands. His weight. Whatever alphas did to their slaves.

Instead, he lay down beside me.

And pulled me against his chest.

His arm wrapped around my waist, holding me close but not tight. His face pressed into my hair, breathing deep. I felt the warmth of his bare chest against my back, the steady rise and fall as he breathed.

But nothing else.

I lay there, confused and tense. What was he doing? This wasn't what I'd expected. Wasn't what happened to slave girls bought at market.

Minutes passed. His breathing stayed slow and even. His heartbeat thumped against my spine, steady as a drum.

He wasn't going to use me.

The realization crept over me slowly. He just wanted to hold me. To smell my hair and feel another body close. That was all.

My new master was very, very weird.

I didn't know what to do with that information. Didn't know if this was better or worse than what I'd been expecting. At least I'd known how to survive that. I'd prepared for it, built walls in my mind to hide behind.

But this? Being held like something precious? Like I mattered?

I had no defenses for this.

Outside, I could see the blood moon through the gap in the tent flap. Still huge and red, watching over the world with its ancient power. The same moon that had witnessed my parents' death five years ago. The same moon under which I'd sold myself tonight.

I thought of Emma in the healer's tent, probably already asleep. When she woke, he would begin the process of restoring her sight. She would see the sun again. See colors. See my face.

She would never know what I'd given up for that.

The alpha's breathing deepened. His arm around me relaxed slightly. Was he falling asleep? I didn't think alphas slept, especially not on blood moon nights when their power was strongest.

But his body had gone heavy against mine. Still. Peaceful.

I closed my eyes and whispered a prayer to the old gods. The ones my mother had taught me about before she died. Gods of the forest and the moon and the wild things.

"Please," I breathed, so quiet even wolf ears couldn't hear. "Let Emma see again. Let this be worth it. And please, help me understand what I've gotten myself into."

The alpha shifted slightly, pulling me closer. His voice came out rough with sleep.

"Aradia."

Just my name. Nothing else.

I didn't answer. Didn't move. Just lay there in the arms of my strange new master and watched the blood moon sink slowly toward the horizon.

Whatever my life was going to be now, it had already begun.