Chapter 1

WARNING: This story is a dark romance and has a lot of mature themes. Most chapters would have a trigger warning, be warned and only continue if you can handle it ;)

Vena Ravensong.

I was running for my life.

The forest was dark and thick, branches hit my arms and face as I pushed through. My lungs burned with the lack of air. My bare feet slipped in the dirt and leaves, but I did not stop. I could not. If I stopped, they would catch me.

“Stop right there! Intruder!”

Behind me, I heard paws pounding the ground. Heavy, fast and getting closer.

Wolves.

A howl rose in the night and echoed through the trees. The sound made my heart drop into my stomach. The sound of them chasing me like I was prey.

“Human! Stop running!” Another voice yelled as their footsteps grew closer. Some had changed to their wolf form while some ran in their human forms shooting at me. It was a mystery how none had touched me yet.

I should never have crossed the border.

Thornmoon Pack territory. I had seen it in the maps, the largest and most feared of all the packs. Everyone had heard tales of their Alpha. His name was used by the Madam to frighten us young girls into silence.

And I had met him once.

Now I was here, on his land, hoping I didn’t get caught.

I heard a loud voice behind me. “Stop right there! Intruder!” I ignored it as I ran faster. There was no way I would stop now. Not when I knew what was waiting for me if I was caught.

A low growl came from somewhere behind me. It sounded too close, like they were right beside me.

My legs shook. I had been running for days since I escaped from House Rose. Resting only when I was almost passing out. Eating whatever fruit I could find in the trees. My body was almost at its limit. My knee still hurt from where I had fallen the day before. I could feel the dried blood sticking on my skin.

But I kept going anyway. I have always been brave, strong and never gave up.

I made the mistake of looking back, and in an instant, a massive wolf burst between the trees.

It was huge, bigger than any wolf I had ever imagined. Its fur was black, thick and dark as the midnight sky. Its eyes shone bright green, almost glowing in the darkness. It was closing the space between us with terrifying speed.

Panic shot through me as I turned my head forward again, but my foot caught on something.

And at that moment, I tripped.

The world flipped and my body crashed to the ground, my hands and knees taking the hit immediately. Sharp pain shot up my leg as my already injured knee scraped hard against stone. My chin hit the dirt. And for a second, everything went blank.

I lay there, stunned. The warm earth pressed into my cheek. My breath came in short, shallow bursts as I tried to push myself up, but my arms felt weak. I was too tired.

I rolled onto my back as tears filled my eyes.

The full moon stared down at me, bright and distant. I tried to move, but every part of me felt heavy and I groaned in pain. I could hardly move.

Move!

Come on, Vena!

But I was too tired, my ears were ringing so hard that I didn’t hear the wolf in front of me until it came into my line of vision.

The huge wolf stood over me, blocking parts of the moon. Its dark fur was thick and the only color was in its eyes. A cold green that started into the abyss of my soul.

Saliva dropped from its fangs as it bated its teeth at me.

This is it. I thought. This is how it ends.

Fear filled me and I stopped my eyes from blurring until the darkness pulled me under.

Leaving the last thoughts of my sister.

**

I woke up on a cold stone.

My head throbbed. My throat was dry. My wrists burned. For a second I did not know where I was. Then the smell hit me. Damp cold air.

My body felt stiff and heavy like I had been lying in the same position for hours. My knee ached and my wrist burned.

I tried to move my hands when I felt something holding it back.

A cold metal.

Slowly, I opened my eyes to the dim light. I was lying in a cold stone room. The air smelled damp and cold and a tall bar crossed from the ceiling to the floor. Locking me in the room.

I blinked as panic stepped in and I looked at my wrist chained to the floor. I frowned, jerking it but the cold hard metal didn’t bulge.

“No! No! Please!” I cried as I looked around the room for any opening but there was only a small window that barely fit my hand. I sat on the cold floor, pulling at the chains again.

"Good. You are awake."

The voice made me jump.

I snapped my head up.

A man stood a few steps away, watching me.

He was tall. Taller than anyone I had ever seen up close. At least six foot four. His build was lean and strong, his muscles and biceps visible even under his black shirt. His skin was tan, like he spent a lot of time outside. His hair was black and a little messy, as if he had run a hand through it out of habit. His jaw was sharp, his cheekbones defined.

But it was his eyes that froze me.

Mint green. Cold. Sharp. Unblinking.

I knew those eyes.

For a moment, the dungeon I was in faded and I was back in the hall of House Rose at eighteen, watching from the shadows as a young Alpha walked past with his men, just from war. My sister’s voice in my ear, whispering about how gentle he had been, how kind, how different. The promise he made.

I blinked and the memory vanished.

He was here, in front of me now, and there was no gentleness in him. No kindness.

Nikolai Kenji Ivanshov.

Alpha of the Thornmoon Pack.

He took a step closer, and the light from the torch caught his face, turning his expression even more dark. If he recognised me at all, he did not show it. His gaze ran over me once, taking in my chained hands, my torn dress and then my hair.

"You are human," he said. His voice was low, steady. "With red hair."

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"No human has red hair."

I swallowed. My throat felt tight as I forced myself to speak despite being scared to death of the man in front of me. "Yes, Alpha Obvious" I said sarcastically.

In my mind, I could almost see my sister face palm herself. This isn't the time to be sarcastic Vena! She would have scolded me. But I didn't care. I knew who Nikolai Kenji Ivanshov was, he was a fucking bastard who didnt keep his promise years ago.

He moved faster than I could react.

One moment he was standing a few feet away. The next, his hand was around my throat, lifting me off the floor.

I choked, toes scraping against the stone. The chains clanked below me. My fingers flew to his wrist, nails digging into his skin as I tried to pry him off me, but his grip only tightened and I struggled to breathe.

He slammed me back against the wall.

Pain shot through my shoulders. My vision blurred for a moment and then cleared. His face was inches from mine. I could see the faint scar across his eyebrow as well as the shadow of stubble on his jaw, the emptiness in his eyes.

"Which House are you from?" he asked, voice calm.

I struggled to breathe. Spots danced in front of my eyes as I blinked rapidly. He was too strong, stronger than I would have imagined.

Of course, Vena. He’s an Alpha and you're just a weak human.

Yeah, I shouldn't have said that earlier.

"Answer me," he growled.

"H–House Rose," I forced out. "Eastern border."

He held me there a moment longer, as if deciding something before he released me.

I dropped like a stone. My knees hit the floor hard. I caught myself with my hands, the weight of the chains pulling painfully at my wrists as tears filled my eyes. I sucked in breath after breath, coughing loudly.

"House Rose," he said slowly. "That is more than seventy miles from here."

I looked up, my hair falling over my face as I peered through my red hair at his cold face.

"You crossed my lands," he said. "Do you know the price of that?"

My heart hammered, but my mouth moved on its own.

"Yes," I said. "Death."

His gaze slid over my hair again, then lower, to the bare skin of my neck and collarbone where my dress had slipped off my shoulder. The touch of his stare felt physical, like a deadly touch against my frail and tired body.

I started to drag my dress to cover the mark he was staring at just by my shoulder. I refused to let him see all I was worth, all that I was reduced to a single mark.

He stepped closer, behind me this time, and strong fingers gripped my hand, tearing it away from my dress. His hands were cold against my skin, and I hated that I couldn't stop the hot rush of blush that filled my cheeks the way his rough fingers grazed gently against the mark.

The small ‘B’ that had been branded on my skin with a hot iron rod when I was only a year old.

"And you are a breeder," he said quietly.

My stomach turned.

"Do you have a master yet?"

I glared hatefully at him.

"No," I forced out, the lie tasted like dirt on my tongue. But I would do anything to survive. To be free.

He hummed, the sound low in his throat as if he was thinking of something. Then he let go and stepped back. I stayed on my knees, pulse still racing and the chains biting into my wrists painfully.

"I have a proposal for you," he said.

Fear filled in my chest. I lifted my head slowly, my hazel eyes meeting his green ones.

"If you refuse," he continued, "I will break your neck right here. Killing you without a second thought."

I believed him.

He was Alpha Nikolai Kenji Ivanshov. Everyone knew he never went back on his words. Every part of me believed he could do it, that he would not hesitate. Especially when he didn't recognise me.

"You will bear me a son," he said, his voice as cold as the stones I knelt on.

"And I will grant you your freedom."

**

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