Chapter 2

I woke up on stone.

Cold seeped into my bones before my eyes even opened, a dull ache spreading through my limbs like I’d been left out in the rain too long. My head throbbed. My neck burned.

The memory hit me all at once.

The forest.

The teeth.

The mark.

I sucked in a sharp breath and sat up too fast. The room spun, nausea rolling hard in my stomach. I pressed a hand to my throat instinctively.

The skin was tender. Raised. Wrong.

My fingers brushed the spot and pain flared, followed immediately by something else—heat, awareness, a pull that made my chest tighten.

Him.

The bond reacted before I could stop it, thrumming low and insistent, like it was pleased I was conscious again.

I clenched my jaw. “No.”

The word echoed uselessly in the room.

I looked around properly then.

Stone walls. Narrow windows set too high to reach. Iron sconces burning low with torchlight. The room wasn’t a cell, but it wasn’t a bedroom either. Bare. Functional. Meant to hold someone temporarily.

A holding room.

The door opened without warning.

I flinched back, heart slamming painfully against my ribs as wolves filed in. Two at first, then three more. All male. All watching me with open curiosity.

One of them smiled.

“She’s awake.”

I pushed myself back until my shoulders hit the wall. “Stay away from me.”

They didn’t.

They didn’t rush me either. That would have been kinder.

“Easy,” one said. “No one’s hurting you. Not now.”

“Where is he?” I demanded.

The smile widened. “Waiting.”

Hands grabbed my arms before I could react. I kicked, useless against their strength, panic clawing its way up my throat.

“Don’t touch me!” I shouted.

They ignored it.

They always ignored humans.

They dragged me down a corridor that smelled like wolves and fire and something metallic underneath it all. The deeper we went, the heavier the air became. I could feel eyes on me from every direction, even before the corridor opened into a wide stone chamber.

The pack hall.

My stomach dropped.

Wolves filled the space. Dozens of them. Standing, sitting, leaning against pillars carved with symbols I didn’t recognize. Conversations died the moment I was pulled inside.

Silence fell like a weight.

Every gaze locked onto me.

Heat crawled up my neck, shame burning hot and sharp. I tried to pull free again, but the hands holding me tightened.

At the far end of the hall, on a raised platform of stone, stood the Alpha.

He didn’t look at me right away.

He was speaking quietly to someone beside him, posture relaxed, like this was just another night. When he finally turned his head, the bond reacted violently.

My chest tightened painfully. My pulse stuttered. My body leaned toward him without my permission.

Humiliation flooded me.

He noticed.

Something unreadable flickered across his face before he stepped forward, descending the platform slowly. Each step felt deliberate, like he wanted everyone watching to feel it.

“Bring her here,” he said.

They did.

I was forced to stand in the center of the hall, exposed on all sides. I folded my arms over my chest instinctively, trying to make myself smaller.

It didn’t help.

“This is the human,” the Alpha said, his voice carrying easily through the space. “The one marked during the border conflict.”

A low murmur rippled through the pack.

“She doesn’t even have a wolf,” someone muttered.

“Can that even hold?”

I swallowed hard.

“I didn’t agree to this,” I said, my voice shaking but loud enough. “You can’t just decide—”

The Alpha raised a hand.

Silence snapped into place immediately.

“You were marked under my authority,” he said calmly. “The bond is formed. It cannot be undone.”

“I didn’t consent,” I said again, louder now. “That matters.”

He studied me for a long moment.

“Consent,” he repeated, like he was testing the word. “Is a human luxury.”

A few wolves laughed quietly.

My hands curled into fists. “I’m not your property.”

The bond pulsed sharply, like it was offended on his behalf.

His eyes darkened. “You are under my protection,” he said. “Which means you are under my control.”

“I don’t want your protection.”

“You don’t get to refuse it.”

He stepped closer, stopping just short of touching me. The heat of him was overwhelming now, the bond straining like a live wire between us.

“This pack will recognize the bond,” he said, addressing the room. “She is not to be harmed. She is not to be challenged.”

A pause.

“She is mine.”

The word landed like a blow.

Something inside me cracked.

“I won’t submit to you,” I said, tears burning hot in my eyes. “I won’t bow. I won’t pretend this is anything other than what it is.”

“And what is that?” he asked coolly.

“You taking something you had no right to.”

For a moment, no one breathed.

Then his hand closed around my wrist.

Pain shot up my arm as the bond flared, reacting instantly to his touch. I gasped, knees buckling, the sensation overwhelming and disorienting.

“This,” he said quietly, leaning down so only I could hear, “is what happens when you challenge me in front of my pack.”

He straightened and released me. I stumbled but stayed upright, trembling.

“Take her to my quarters,” he ordered. “She stays under guard.”

A few wolves shifted uncomfortably.

“Alpha,” one said carefully, “she’s resisting hard. The bond—”

“—will adjust,” he cut in. “Or she will.”

My heart sank.

As they moved to take me again, anger finally burned hotter than fear. “You think this makes you strong?” I said. “Forcing someone weaker than you?”

He paused, looking back at me over his shoulder.

“I think,” he said evenly, “that strength is keeping control when weakness is inconvenient.”

Then he turned away.

Hands closed around me once more, dragging me from the hall as whispers followed in our wake.

Human.

Marked.

Property.

The bond thrummed relentlessly in my chest, tight and unyielding.

And I knew, with terrifying certainty, that this was only the beginning.