Alpha claude

My shoulder healed fast. Alpha Claude’s pack doctor was good. But I think the real healing came from the Alpha’s protection. That single touch on my forehead, that warmth, felt like it put my soul back together.

It took a week for me to move out of the Alpha’s private room. He gave me a new room. It was on the second floor, next to the library. It had a real bed with a thick mattress. And a window that opened.

My old room had been a tiny, dark hole in the basement. This new room felt like a palace. I also had new clothes. Soft cotton dresses, not rough servant rags. They were plain, but clean and new.

I tried to go back to the kitchen on my first day out. I needed to work. I had been a servant for ten years. It felt wrong to be idle.

I was halfway to the stairs when a guard stopped me. He was a huge, scary wolf named Garen.

"Where are you going, girl?" he asked.

I kept my head down. "To the kitchen, Garen. To scrub the pots."

"No," he said, his voice flat. "The Alpha ordered you have no duties. None. You are recovering. You are under his direct care."

"But... the maids will be angry," I mumbled.

Garen shrugged. "Their anger is not your problem. The Alpha's word is law. If they speak to you, report it to me. Now, go back to your room."

I went back. It felt strange to be a prisoner of comfort. I was free from chores, but I was still hated. Now I was hated with more power behind it.

The other servants would not look at me. When I walked, they froze. They whispered about me.

"Look at the reject," one maid hissed to her friend. "Sleeping in a royal room now."

"She thinks she's a princess just because the Alpha feels pity," the other replied.

But the worst was the princes. I saw them on the third day. I was walking past the main lounge. They were sitting there with a few of their friends and two stunningly beautiful girls. Their girlfriends, I guessed.

I tried to walk by quickly.

"Well, well," Prince Zayne said. His voice was loud. It stopped the whole room.

I froze. I slowly turned to face them.

"Look who decided to join the living," Prince Zack sneered. His eyes were cold. "The wounded little pet. She heals fast, doesn't she?"

Zayne stood up. He walked toward me slowly, his eyes raking over my new dress.

"The Alpha bought you new clothes," he said, sounding disgusted. "Is this what betrayal pays now? A soft bed and a nice dress?"

"I don't know," I whispered, my heart racing. "The Alpha gave them to me."

"He did," Zayne agreed, nodding slowly. "Because you are a good little actress. You run off and get yourself chewed up by the Ironclaws. It was a good show, Rayna. You got the old man to feel sorry for you."

"I was not acting!" I protested. "I was almost killed!"

Zack laughed, a dry, harsh sound. "Of course you were almost killed. You ran into enemy territory. Traitor’s blood finds company, doesn't it?"

The beautiful girls giggled. They looked at me like I was dirt stuck to their shoes.

"Don't worry, Mia," Zack said to one of the girls. "She's just a servant. She smells like dirt no matter how she appears."

Zayne leaned in close to me. His breath smelled like mint. "Enjoy your break, Rayna. It won't last. My father is sentimental. But he is not stupid. Eventually, he will remember who your parents were. And who you are."

He stepped back and made a sweeping gesture toward the stairs. "Now, go. You pollute the air in here. We are trying to enjoy ourselves."

I ran back to my room. I didn't cry. I was too angry and too scared. Their words hurt more than the wolf bites.

But the Alpha kept his promise. Every day, Alpha Claude came to see me. He never stayed long, but he brought me things. A book of ancient pack history. A small, carved wooden wolf. And silence.

One evening, he asked me to come to his private study. I was terrified. This was the most powerful room in the house.

I walked in. He was sitting at a massive desk. He smiled faintly when he saw me.

"Come in, Rayna. Sit down," he said.

I sat in a chair across from him. I kept my back straight.

"I need a break from documents," he said. He pushed the papers aside and pulled out a wooden box. Inside was a chessboard.

"Have you ever played?" he asked.

"No, Alpha," I replied. "Servants don't have time for games."

"You do now," he said. "It is a game of strategy. I will teach you."

For the next hour, he taught me the moves. He was patient. He explained the strategy of the pieces. When he touched the board, his fingers sometimes brushed mine. It was a small contact, but it sent a strange flutter through my chest. This time, it wasn't fear or shock. It was something... warm.

"The Queen is the most powerful," he explained, moving the piece. "But the King is the most important. You must always protect the King." He looked up, his eyes meeting mine. The look was intense.

He talked about the pack. He talked about his burdens. "It is a heavy thing, Rayna, to lead the Moonlight Pack. You must decide the fate of many. You must be lonely."

"I understand loneliness, Alpha," I admitted quietly.

"I know you do," he said, his voice soft. "But I have been lonely for a different reason. The burden of power. The burden of command. And the burden of seeing my own sons become... difficult."

He was telling me things no one else knew. It felt dangerous. It felt like trust.

The lessons continued for days. I realized I looked forward to them. I was seeing the man behind the Alpha, the tired, lonely commander.

One night, the Alpha was called away quickly by a pack emergency. I was already leaving his study. I walked down the long, quiet hallway back to my room.

The hall was dark. Only a few wall lamps were lit.

I heard voices. Hushed voices, coming from the shadowed entrance to the north wing.

I stopped. I knew those voices.