登入KAMARII should have left.The moment I heard that belt buckle, I should have gotten up, walked out, and pretended I heard absolutely nothing.Instead, I stayed. Maybe it’s because my legs won’t move, or maybe it’s morbid curiosity, the need to see just how far this woman will degrade herself at the dinner table to prove a point.And for what? Achilles? I find it hard to believe that this man who hardly talks, this monkish Alpha who just tortured me hours ago will sit here with a woman on his arm, or should I say…in his lap?My gaze shifts to him, but he wears the same blank look, lifting his fork to his mouth like this is normal, like any of this is normal.He’s not going to stop her? Nobody is?My gaze travels around the hall—from the smaller tables back to ours—and nobody looks mortified or disturbed in the slightest.Except there is a woman unzipping the Alpha right under our table. Right under our noses.The thought makes my stomach heave, and I glare down at my plate, suddenly
KAMARII failed…again.After the third or fourth attempt, I had honestly thought Achilles would show me some sympathy. I tried. Over and over again. Surely that should have counted for something.It did not.He didn’t let me go.The training continued, and by the time the sun sat in the center of the sky, I was certain every bone in my body would shut down.That’s when he let me go.“Get some rest and come down to the pack’s dining hall at sunset,” he had said, and I almost shook my fists at him in rage.Except I can’t feel my hands enough to clench them. I should have scored that hit. Now I have to see his face again and act like I don’t want to punch it.I shut my door behind me and resist the urge to slide to the floor and just lie there.One thing is certain. I will NOT be leaving this room tonight.My hands tremble violently as I lift my shirt over my head. I bite down on my bottom lip, cursing when I taste blood from when my lips kissed the earth.I hate that I don’t have a
KAMARIThe sound of marching boots vibrating through the earth is what finally drags me out of sleep.For a few seconds, I lie perfectly still beneath the bed, staring up into the darkness and wondering where I am.Then the cold bites through my clothes, and I remember.Grimmane.And just like that, I remember everything—Elias, the journey, Achilles and his blindness, the training…Oh dear. The training.I crawl out from beneath the bed, rubbing my arms as another wave of boots thunders past outside. Apparently, the wolves here have no concept of sleeping in.Neither do they have curtains.The narrow door to the bathroom sits open, and I step inside to see the bare walls and lone shower stand a bit far from the toilet seat and sink.No sliding glass, no tiny oval mirror to examine my morning face. Nothing.I brush my teeth in the sink and comb my hair up into a ponytail. No shower for me. If water can give frostbite, this one certainly will.I’m making my way towards the entrance whe
KAMARI I know I’m getting close to Grimmane when the mountains ahead disappear into fog.They stretch on ahead, darker than anything I’ve seen in Bloodmoon. I find myself wondering if my father really expects me to survive eight weeks here.The carriage slows down at several checkpoints throughout the pack, and I feel myself shrink whenever a warrior locks eyes with me and asks the same question;“Is this the Alpha?”And each time, I have to sit through their dissatisfied grunts. There are no pack members lining the streets, no eyes following my carriage, no tears or awe or even a smile lingering on their faces.All I hear around me is the sound of warrior boots blending with horse hooves and the whistle of the wind through cobblestone streets.The air smells strongly of metal, and I let down my window as we near the Alpha’s huge silver gates. “Here we go…” I mutter under my breath, but nothing prepares me for the emptiness in the gravel courtyard before me.I don’t care for recog
ELIASI wait until Kamari’s carriage disappears before turning my horse toward Bloodmoon.Griffin will want to know why I stopped the carriage.I am not entirely sure I know myself, or that I even want to know.By the time I ride through the huge silver gates, I’ve decided not to tell him about our encounter.“Easy,” I pat my horse’s mane and climb off the saddle. She sniffs my shoulder as I secure her halter. I nudge her muzzle away, wincing at the pain vibrating in my arm.Contrary to my words, I have not healed. Not fully. But it killed the pain to watch a bit of guilt leave her eyes.I make my way up to Alpha Griffin’s quarters and hesitate outside, looking over my shoulder and the scanty courtyard before knocking.The door is opened by a servant, and he leads me to Alpha Griffin’s dining hall, muttering something about how the Alpha didn’t want to be disturbed.He must be gutted about Kamari’s departure, I tell myself as I enter into the common room.I find him sitting at his l
KAMARII lie flat on my back, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling, and consider running away again. Apparently, making one terrible decision at a time is no longer enough for me.Sleep is a luxury I can’t afford. Every second brings me closer to the moment I’ll be removed from my pack and dumped in Grimmane to survive under an Alpha I don’t know.I could run. I could push my door aside, disappear into the morning darkness and be far from Bloodmoon before sunrise.Maybe they will miss me, or maybe they’ll be grateful I took the easy way out instead of endangering the pack.They already have Darius to fill in my absence. Surely they won’t bother with a rogue Alpha and her wild wolf.But this is all wishful thinking. I know what they’ll see me as—a coward. A wolf that abandons her pack over and over.And they will be right.Even if I do run, where will I go? Back to FreeHide? That’s not even an option, and there surely isn’t a place I’ll run to where my father and Elias won’t find me.I’







