CHAPTER THREE: The West Wing

AERIN

Everything happened so fast.

One moment, I was still kneeling on the stone floor, my body shaking under the weight of Alpha Kael’s presence. Even after my chains were unbound, the pressure of him had not lifted. It pressed into my chest, heavy and inescapable.

Then he spoke.

“She will stay in the west wing.”

That was all.

The council was dismissed immediately. No one questioned him. No one argued. The elders rose at once. The guards moved as if they had been waiting for the order.

Before I could understand what those words meant, I was being taken from the chamber.

They did not touch me.

Not again.

The guards kept a careful distance now, walking a half-step ahead and behind me. Never beside me. Never close enough that their hands might brush my skin. Their eyes stayed forward. Their jaws were tight.

I understood what that meant.

They were afraid.

The corridor stretched long and quiet, the stone polished smooth beneath my bare feet. Each step echoed too loudly. Each breath felt exposed.

People noticed us.

Not with curiosity.

With calculation.

Servants pressed themselves into alcoves before we reached them. Wolves lowered their eyes. Conversations stopped mid-word and did not resume after we passed.

No one stared openly.

They watched anyway.

The weight of it pressed into my shoulders. It was not dominance. It was attention.

This was not fear.

It was awareness.

We went deeper into the palace than I expected. Past wings that smelled of old fire and iron. Past corridors where heavy banners hung with symbols I could not read but somehow felt. The air cooled as we descended a short stairwell, then warmed again as we climbed another.

When we stopped, I felt it immediately.

The hesitation.

The guards slowed. One of them reached for the door, then stopped. His jaw clenched. He glanced at the guard beside him. After a brief nod, he finally pushed the door open.

The west wing.

I did not know the name yet.

But the woman behind me did.

Her steps faltered the moment she saw where we were. Her breath caught, sharp and angry, before she could hide it. Her fingers tightened around the tray she carried, knuckles whitening.

Her expression hardened.

Not with surprise.

With resentment.

The air here was quieter. Not empty. Held. As though sound itself knew better than to linger. The walls were pale stone, bare and undecorated. No banners. No trophies. No signs of glory.

It was not luxury.

It was restraint.

Power that did not need to prove itself.

They led me down a short corridor and stopped at the second door.

“This is your room,” the woman behind me said.

Her voice was smooth.

Too smooth.

Before I could turn, her hand slammed hard between my shoulder blades.

I stumbled forward and caught myself against the doorframe. Pain flared across my palms.

Behind me, she laughed softly.

Cruel.

“Careful,” she said lightly. “You’re clumsy.”

I turned.

She was beautiful. Not striking. Not dramatic. Pale hair braided neatly over one shoulder. Clear skin. Calm posture. An omega who had never known hunger or fear.

Her eyes swept over me with open disdain.

“Don’t misunderstand,” she said, stepping closer. “Alpha Kael did not choose you.”

She leaned in, lowering her voice.

“He pitied you.”

Something twisted sharply in my chest.

She straightened and lifted the tray she carried.

“Here,” she said.

Then she tipped it.

The bowl shattered against the stone. Broth spilled across the floor, soaking into the cracks. Bread rolled away. Fruit bruised where it landed.

She stared at the mess, then sighed.

“Oh,” she said. “Look at that.”

Her gaze snapped to mine.

“You are so careless,” she continued. “Wasting the pack’s resources already.”

Her eyes burned.

“Wolfless. Useless. And now a burden.”

She stepped back, lips curling.

“Sleep well,” she added. “If you can.”

The door slammed shut.

I stood there, heart pounding, staring at the food on the floor.

Then I turned and looked at the room.

It was simple.

A narrow bed. A small table. A basin of clean water. One chair placed neatly against the wall. No windows. No decoration. No softness beyond a single folded blanket at the foot of the bed.

It was not a cell.

But it was not a guest room either.

‘This is containment.’

The thought came calmly.

No panic.

No hysteria.

I sat on the edge of the bed and waited for fear to arrive.

It did not.

What came instead was confusion.

I had expected chains. Darkness. Cold stone floors.

Instead, I had been placed somewhere clean.

Quiet.

Close.

Too close.

I did not understand why that unsettled me more.

It was not until I heard footsteps outside the door that I realized why.

They were lighter here.

Measured.

Careful.

People did not walk loudly in this wing. They did not linger.

They did not belong.

‘This is Alpha Kael’s place.’

The realization settled slowly, then all at once.

Alpha Kael’s wing.

No one had said it aloud.

They did not need to.

And yet… no one came to check on me.

No orders.

No instructions.

As if they were waiting to see what would happen if they did nothing at all.

Night fell without warning.

The palace did not sleep.

It softened.

The air thickened. Sound traveled differently, as if the walls themselves were listening.

Sleep came in pieces. Thin. Unreliable.

I dreamed of standing beneath an open sky, the ground stretching wide and empty around me. No walls. No borders. Just space that should have held something and didn’t.

I called out.

Once.

Again.

My voice carried too far, too clean, as if the world had nothing left to absorb it.

Something was meant to answer.

Something that always had.

But the silence remained.

I woke with a sharp gasp.

Pain exploded across my scalp.

Fingers twisted into my hair, yanking me upright.

“Get up.”

Her voice.

Cold.

Stripped of all sweetness.

She dragged me toward the door without effort.

“The Alpha wants you,” she said.

Now.

The word landed wrong.

In the middle of the night.

My heart began to race.

Alpha Kael’s eyes flashed in my mind. Focused. Unmoving. Dangerous.

The palace was dark as she pulled me into the corridor.

Too dark.

And somewhere ahead…

Firelight waited.