Chapter 003: The pull

~Seren~

“Keep your head down, speak only when spoken to, and do not—under any circumstances draw attention to yourself.”

Gwen’s voice was sharp and completely uninterested in whether I lived or died in this pack.

I adjusted the sleeve of the maid uniform that swallowed my arms like it had been stitched for someone twice my size. “If I wanted attention, I wouldn’t be wearing this.” I muttered.

Her eyes flicked to me briefly, “Good, then try not to die in his room.”

I paused, “Is that supposed to be comforting?”

“It’s supposed to be realistic,” she replied, already turning away. “You’ve been assigned to Alpha Draven’s chamber, clean thoroughly, leave quickly and do not provoke him.”

His name alone made my chest tighten. Even before exile, before everything collapsed, I knew that name so well.

My father’s voice echoed in my head, “That man is not to be trusted. He is our nemesis! An enemy to our pack.”

And now…I was being sent to his room, dressed in a servant outfit. Seriously, life has a twisted sense of humor.

I stepped out into the corridor, Ignoring stares immediately thrown my way. The other maids did not bother hiding their amusement.

“Look at her outfit,” one whispered, loud enough for me to hear. “It’s dragging on the floor.”

“Did they run out of proper sizes?” Another added with a quiet laugh.

I did not stop walking, I did not slow down, infact, I did not even care. Let them laugh, at least they allowed have a name, they still had homes, families and names that weren’t spoken in disgust.

If this oversized dress was the price of survival, then I’ll wear it without complaint.

Still….the fabric caught under my feet, nearly sending me forward, I clicked my tongue in irritation as I lifted the hem slightly.

“Ridiculous,” I muttered under my breath.

My hair brushed against my neck, the weight of its new color that I had not gotten used to…Black.

The old woman had changed me entirely, my wine red hair had been recognizable and just one look at me, she dyed the hair, telling me that if I used the previous hair to enter the pack, then I’ll die early since I was from a rival pack.

Now, I was just another shadow in a crowd….that was the point.

The closer I got to his chamber, the more quiet the hallway became. No guards lingered, no servant passed through.

I exhaled slowly, steadying myself. “You have faced worse,” I whispered. Hadn’t I? I had watched my life collapse in a single day, faced betrayal and exiled out of a pack that called me a curse.

This was just a room, just a man…and nothing more.

I reached the door, and just as I lifted my hand, it swung open.

A woman rushed out so quickly that she nearly collided with me. Her hair was disheveled, her breathing uneven, her eyes wide in a way that sent something off my instinct.

She did not even look at me, she just ran past me.

My heart jumped. “What…” I stopped myself. No, don’t ask, don’t involve yourself. But my mind didn’t listen, “What happened in there?”

The door remained open. I hesitated. “This Alpha—?” I muttered under my breath a faint frown pulling at my lips. “What kind of man send people running like that?”

The moment I crossed the threshold, my breath caught. It wasn’t fear… it was like stepping into a place I had never been but somehow I recognized.

I stood still, gripping the clean cloth in my hand a little tighter as my eyes scanned the room.

Everywhere was messy but that wasn’t the problem, I pressed my hand lightly against my chest.

“What is that…” I felt a pull…a subtle pull, like something inside me had just opened for the first time in years.

My sealed wolf. For so long, it has been nothing but silent, but now, there was a movement. Faint, weak but there, and it was reacting to something in this room.

I took a step forward without thinking, like I was being pulled.

“No—“ I whispered, forcing myself to stop. “Get a hold of yourself.” This wasn’t normal.

I tightened my grip on the cloth again, trying to ground myself in something simple. Work, clean, and leave. That’s it…that’s all.

I moved towards the table, pretending the strange tension in the air did not exist.

Behind me, the sound of a door opened and I froze. I turned slowly and my breath stopped. Draven stood there, a towel loosely secured around his waist, droplets of war still tracing down his skin. Obviously, he had just stepped out of a bath.

But it wasn’t that. It wasn’t his appearance that locked me in a place, it was him.

The moment his eyes landed on me, that strange pull inside me surged so suddenly I staggered slightly, my hand instinctively reaching for the edge of the table to steady myself.

My wolf moved as if dragging me to him and suddenly, I felt wet between my legs, not even drake had made me feel this way.

“What…” I breathed.

Draven just stared at me like he figured out something impossible, and in a single motion, he was in front of me. My back hit the table before I could even react.

“What are you—“ I didn’t finish because his hand already gripped my wrist firmly. His gaze dropped briefly, then snapped back to my face.

Then he spoke. “Mate.”