Sold to the rogue Alpha

The rogue holding my arm dragged me through the fortress gates. I stumbled trying to keep up with his pace. He didn't slow down.The courtyard was massive. Stone walls rose on all sides, at least three stories high. Rogues were everywhere. Training, talking, walking with purpose. All of them stopped to stare as we passed.I kept my eyes down. I didn't want to meet anyone's gaze and I didn't want to see what they were thinking.Ryder walked ahead of us, his back straight, his stride confident. He didn't look back once or even checked if I was following. He knew I didn't have a choice.We crossed the courtyard and entered the main building. The inside was colder than outside. Dark stone walls. Torches lit along the corridors. It smelled like smoke and leather and something sharp I couldn't place.The rogue finally released my arm when we reached a heavy wooden door. Ryder stopped, turned to look at me for the first time since we'd arrived."This is where you'll stay."He pushed the door

By midday, my hands were raw, I'd washed dishes for three hours straight. Mountains of them. Plates, bowls, cups, pots. The water was scalding hot and Mara didn't believe in breaks."Faster," she barked from across the kitchen. "Lunch prep starts in twenty minutes and I need those pots."I scrubbed harder, ignoring the burning in my palms.Other kitchen workers moved around me. They were three women and two men. All rogues but none of them spoke to me. They just worked, efficient and silent.I finished the last pot and set it on the drying rack."Good," Mara said. "Now chop the vegetables over there."She pointed to a table covered in carrots, onions, and potatoes. A knife lay beside them.I walked over and started chopping. My hands were shaking from exhaustion but I didn't stop.The door to the kitchen swung open.Lila walked in.She looked perfect with her hair pulled back.She smiled at Mara like they were old friends."Morning, Mara. Smells good in here.""Always does," Mara repl

I didn’t sleep much that night.Every time I closed my eyes, I felt him again. The brush of his fingers against my hair. The way his thumb traced the bruise on my wrist like it mattered. Like I mattered. The bond wouldn’t let me forget it. It pulsed softly in my chest, steady and warm, as if it was pleased with itself for finding cracks in Ryder Blackwood’s armor.I hated it.I hated that a part of me clung to that moment. That I replayed it over and over, wondering what would have happened if he hadn’t pulled back. Wondering what it would feel like if he ever stopped fighting it.I turned onto my side and stared at the wall, the room dim except for the faint glow of moonlight slipping through the barred window. My hands rested on the pillow in front of me, wrapped in clean bandages. They barely hurt anymore. The healer hadn’t been exaggerating. The salve was already doing its work.That alone should have scared me.I finally drifted into a shallow sleep sometime before dawn.When I w

The door stayed open between us.Ryder stood there like he was blocking a storm. His bare chest rose and fell slowly, but I could feel the tension in him. The bond hummed so loud it made my head ache.“You shouldn’t be here,” he said.“I know.”“Then leave.”I didn’t move.His jaw tightened. “Vada.”“I tried,” I whispered. “I really did. But it keeps pulling me here.”“That’s exactly why you need to go.” He stepped back, creating space, like he was afraid of what might happen if I stayed too close. “This line shouldn’t be crossed.”“You already crossed it when you bought me.”His eyes flashed. “I gave you protection.”“You gave me a cage,” I shot back. “A safer one, but still a cage.”Silence fell heavy between us.“You think I don’t feel this?” he asked quietly. “You think I don’t wake up every hour with my wolf clawing at my chest because it wants you?”My breath caught.“I haven’t slept,” he continued. “Not since the bond snapped. Chaos won’t settle. He doesn’t care about rules or

I couldn't move because the thing pressed against the wall wasn't supposed to exist in my world like this.Phantom Wolf, silver fur catching the moonlight, violet eyes wide and terrified, the exact coloring I'd been hunting for seven years, the coloring that was burned into my memory from the night Selene died screaming in my arms while I was too slow to save her, and it was her, my mate.Vada was shaking so hard I could see it from across the room, blood covering her muzzle and chest and claws while the dead assassin lay between us with his throat torn open so wide I could see spine.She whimpered and the sound cut through the rage trying to claw its way up my throat.Cipher was losing his mind inside my chest, half of him screaming MATE, OURS, PROTECT and the other half roaring ENEMY, KILL, DESTROY.I took a step forward and Vada flinched, pressed harder against the wall like she thought I was going to kill her.Footsteps pounded down the corridor and Kade burst through the door wit