C5

CASTIEL CROWE POV

"You are a very strange girl, do you know that?"

Alpha Castiel Crowe covers my mouth with his heavy palm right away. His eyes look very dark. "Be quiet! Most girls scream when they fall. You stay completely silent when you fall, but now you scream just because I am holding you!"

"You... you need to let me go first."

My words come out broken. Castiel smiles a mean smile. "Did you really scream just because my hands are on your body?" He looks down at my face, and his eyebrows twitch. "Hey, little wolf, has a male ever held you like this before?"

He thinks my fear is a big game. He looks at my red ears and decides to be cruel. His big arms squeeze my middle even tighter.

Gasp!

My face burns hot. Castiel looks at me like he just found a strange new toy in the woods. He thinks it is funny that a girl still blushes when an Alpha touches her waist. He looks very excited.

He pulls me close to his chest and pinches my skin through my big clothes. He forgets all his noble alpha manners. His long fingers slide right under the edge of my thick shirt. His hand touches my bare skin, and he stops moving. His eyes look shocked.

"What are you doing to me?"

I use all my strength to push his chest away. Castiel just stares at his own fingers. "Your middle... it is too small." He does not even know what to say to me.

He is a powerful prince of the Noble Moonborn Families. He has many beautiful Luna Court Maidens and top female wolves in his bed. But my waist is thinner than any girl he has ever seen. I am so small that his one big hand can almost go all the way around my bones.

"You..." His mouth opens and closes. He looks at my thick clothes, then he looks at the big pain in my eyes. He sees that I am trying to act strong even though I am terrified.

He just stands there. Many years later, Castiel Crowe will still talk about my face at this moment. He cannot understand how a wolf can look so broken and so proud at the same time.

I push him away hard and run down the dark steps. My bad leg hurts too much, and I trip after three steps. I fall right on the stones. I do not care about the pain. I pull myself up using the wall and drag my body away from him as fast as I can.

My head feels crazy. My biggest secret is out.

After leaving the Ironfang Prison Keep, I only want a quiet life. I want to eat my food, have a safe bed in the barracks, and work hard. I want to save some coins to visit the blue waters of the Silvermoon Territory. I want to see the clear sky far away from the rogue cells.

I cannot survive another pack war.

Castiel tries to walk after me to help, but every time his boots make a sound, I drag my body faster against the wall. I am panting and scared.

He stops walking so I can get away.

"Please, I do not want to do this!"

I push open the door of Room 606 and hear a crying voice. The room is very dark. Several noble Alphas are sitting on the big soft chairs with barmaids in their laps.

Only one young girl stands by the crystal table.

It is Bela Talbot. She is a young pack scholar from the Lunar Crest Academy who works here to get coins. She lives in the same dorm room as me.

"Rowena..." Bela looks at me, and tears come out of her eyes.

Every single Alpha in the room turns to look at me. I lower my head fast. "I am the cleaner," I say in my rough, broken voice.

The men make angry faces because my throat sounds so ugly.

I know my place. I just need to keep my mouth shut and do my job. I am a nameless criminal, so nobody will bother me if I stay quiet. But Bela is in big trouble, and my presence might make things worse.

I walk past her with my head down. I go into the small bathroom and grab my bucket and my mop.

I start cleaning the floor right away. I pretend I do not see Bela's wet eyes begging me for help.

The prison cells taught me to never get involved in other wolves' problems. If these high Alphas get mad, they can kill me, and nobody will care.

I am not like Bela. Bela has a family and a school. I am just a banished wolf from the cells. I have no power to save anyone.

"Sing the pack song for us, and then you can leave the room," a big Alpha says from the couch.

I look up for one second. Bela bites her lip like she is being tortured. "I will not..."

My hands shake. I push my mop too fast, and it hits Bela's shoes. Thud.

Bela stops talking and looks down at me in surprise.

I keep my head down and whisper, "I am sorry. I dirtied your feet."

I try to break the tension, but the Alphas on the sofa notice us.

Bela gets brave and yells at the man, "I am just a waitress who brings water! I am not a tavern singer!"

I feel sick inside. I should not have tried to help her.

Bela is making a big mistake. You cannot disrespect the playboys of the noble families. They own this whole territory.

They just think she is pretty and pure, so they want a song. If she just sings the words and leaves, they will let her go. But she is fighting them.

I need to clean this floor fast and run out the door. If the guests get mad at me for messing with their game, I will be back in a cage.

"You do not want to sing?" A mean, laughing voice comes from the dark corner. "Fine. If you drink that whole bottle of strong wine on the table, you can go home."

"I do not drink! I am not a barmaid!"

"Hahaha! You do not drink?" The mean Alpha stands up. "When you work inside the Bloodmoon Gathering Hall, it does not matter if you are a waitress or a floor cleaner. When an Alpha tells you to do something, you obey."

My stomach drops when he says the word cleaner. A horrible feeling goes through my body.

The big Alpha steps out of the shadow and looks right at me.