CHAPTER 6

Elena’s POV

The Alpha’s Test

The courtyard of Blackfang Pack was a theater of brutality.

The clang of steel rang out as warriors sparred in pairs, their blades glinting in the harsh morning sun. Dust rose in the air with every strike, mixing with the iron tang of blood and sweat. The sound of fists meeting flesh drew cheers from onlookers, wolves eager to see dominance proven and weakness crushed.

Omegas scurried about the edges like shadows—hands raw from scrubbing, backs bent from hauling buckets of water to wash away the blood splattered on the stones. Violence was as common here as rain, and just as inevitable.

I trailed behind Damien as he strode to the center of the courtyard. His presence commanded every eye, his shadow stretching long across the cracked stone. The weight of his authority pressed against my chest until it was hard to breathe. My cuff burned against my skin, hidden beneath my sleeve, the reminder that no chain was as cruel as the one forged in flesh.

Damien raised a hand, and the noise died instantly. Conversations choked into silence. The clash of blades stilled. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.

“Bring her forward,” he said.

Two guards emerged, dragging a girl between them. She stumbled, wrists bound, her bare feet scraping against the ground. She couldn’t have been more than fifteen—her face round, her frame slight, eyes wide with terror. Her hair was matted, her cheeks streaked with dirt and tears.

“She was caught stealing from the kitchens,” one of the guards announced, his voice carrying.

A ripple of cruel laughter spread through the crowd. Warriors jeered. An omega shook her head and looked away, as if even sympathy was too dangerous to risk.

Damien’s smirk curved, sharp and merciless. “And what do we do with thieves?”

“Punish them!” voices chorused back.

I swallowed hard, nausea rising. I’d seen what “punishments” meant in this pack—broken bones, shredded skin, humiliation until nothing of a person remained but pain.

Then Damien’s gaze slid to me. I felt the full weight of it pin me in place.

“Elena,” he said smoothly. “You’ll deliver it.”

My heart lurched. The courtyard went still again, dozens of eyes swiveling toward me. Anticipation hung thick in the air.

The girl’s sobs broke the silence. “Please—please, I was hungry—” Her voice cracked, thin as glass.

Blood roared in my ears as I froze. I would physically destroy her if I followed orders. Damien would crush us both if I didn't.

Damien’s voice dropped, soft and deadly. “Show them your loyalty, little omega.”

The whip was thrust into my hands. I had the uneasy feeling that the leather itself was rejecting me.

My pulse thundered. The crowd leaned forward, eager, cruel. The girl’s wide eyes met mine, pleading silently.

I lifted the whip with trembling hands. My arms shook. My stomach twisted. Every instinct screamed to drop it, but the command in Damien’s tone pressed like a knife against my throat. My body was trained to obey.

Still… something inside me rebelled. Something small, fragile, but unbroken.

Not this. Not her.

The whip slipped from my grasp and fell at my feet with a dull thud.

Gasps ripped through the courtyard. A stunned silence followed.

I forced my chin up, though my whole body quaked. My voice was steady but hardly carried..

“No.”

The single word rang louder than the clang of swords.

Damien’s smirk vanished.

Shadows Watching

The air grew razor-sharp as my defiance echoed across the courtyard. Wolves shifted uneasily, some whispering, others watching with hungry eyes, waiting for Damien to unleash hell.

His gaze burned into me, a fire and frost that froze my blood. “What did you say?”

I swallowed, throat dry. "I won't," I muttered in a clear but trembling voice. . “She’s a child.”

The slap came swift and brutal. The crack echoed off the courtyard walls as I hit the ground, the taste of blood filling my mouth. The girl cried out, but no one moved to help either of us.

Damien loomed above me, eyes blazing, his voice a venomous snarl. “You think you choose? You think you defy me and live?”

The pack watched, rapt. Some hungry for blood, some terrified into silence. My cheek burned, my vision blurred, but I pushed myself onto my elbows, then my knees.

Everything in me screamed to submit. To bow my head and beg for mercy. To survive.

But something else—small, furious, desperate—demanded I resist.

I lifted my chin, tasting copper on my tongue. “Then kill me. But I won’t.”

For a heartbeat, I thought he might. His claws half-formed, his hand twitching at his side. Rage carved deep lines into his face.

Then—

“Enough.”

The voice cut through the tension like a blade. Calm, steady. Commanding.

All eyes turned.

Zephyr.

He stood at the edge of the crowd, arms folded across his broad chest, grey eyes sharp and unreadable. His presence alone silenced the whispers. He didn’t raise his voice, but it carried nonetheless, heavy with authority.

Damien’s head snapped toward him, fury sparking. “You dare—”

Zephyr moved forward, unhurried, each step deliberate. He wasn’t a man walking into danger; he was the danger. The air shifted with him, tense, charged, as if the storm itself bowed to his will.

“Breaking your toys doesn’t make you stronger, Damien,” Zephyr said evenly. “It only shows how fragile you are.”

A stunned hush swept the courtyard. Warriors stiffened, unsure whether to breathe. No one spoke to Damien like that. No one.

Damien’s claws retracted slowly, his lips curving back into that sharp smirk, though it no longer reached his eyes. “Careful, Bloodfang. This is my territory.”

Zephyr stopped only a few feet away, his gaze flicking toward me. Just for a heartbeat. Damien's steely gaze returned.

“Then act like it.”

The tension coiled tight, a storm ready to break. The crowd held its breath, waiting for 

Hn  

bloodshed. Damien’s jaw clenched, but after a long, taut silence, he gave a short laugh. Cold. Dangerous.

He flicked his hand dismissively and turned away from me.. “Take the girl to the dungeons. I’ll deal with her later.”

The guards obeyed instantly, dragging the weeping girl away.

My knees threatened to buckle with relief and dread all at once. Damien had spared her… for now. But his punishment would be worse for the delay.

Still, as Zephyr’s words lingered in the air, burning bright against Damien’s cruelty, something stirred inside me.

Hope.

Because for the first time, someone had stopped Damien’s hand.

Even if it was only for a moment.