CHAPTER THREE

Three weeks before my eighteenth birthday, and I can't stop trembling. Not from the heat this time – we've learned to mask that with a complex blend of herbs and meditation – but from the whispered conversation I wasn't meant to overhear.

Silver Creek Pack. Alpha Alexander Stone. The Beast of the Northwest.

I press my ear harder against my parents' bedroom door, my enhanced hearing catching every terrified whisper.

"He breaks them, Elena," Dad argues, his voice hoarse. "Every wolf he's ever owned. They say he can smell defiance, that he takes pleasure in crushing it."

"Better broken than dead." Mom's voice cracks. "The Seekers are coming, James. You know what they'll do if they find her. A blood wolf in heat—"

"Don't." Something crashes against a wall. "There has to be another way."

I slide down the wall, wrapping my arms around my knees. The thin cotton of my sundress does nothing to stop the shivers wracking my body. They're right – the Seekers are coming. Even now, I can feel them getting closer, their magic reaching out across pack territories, searching for anomalies. For monsters like me.

"Alora?" Mom's soft call makes me jump. I didn't even hear the door open. "Come in here, baby. We need to talk."

Dad stands by the window, his shoulders rigid with tension. A shattered vase lies at his feet – the source of the crash. Mom perches on the edge of their bed, clutching a silver envelope bearing the Alpha Stone crest.

"How much did you hear?" she asks quietly.

"Enough." My voice comes out steadier than I feel. "You're giving me to him. To the Beast."

"Don't call him that," Dad snaps, then immediately softens at my flinch. "Alora, baby... you don't understand what's coming. The Seekers—"

"Will perform aura readings on every unmated wolf between sixteen and twenty-five," I recite numbly. "They'll discover what I am. What I can do. And then they'll either kill me or breed me. I understand perfectly."

Mom makes a choked sound. "We thought we had more time. Time to train you, to perfect your control. But the heat changes everything. You're too powerful to hide now."

She's right. Even with all our precautions, unmated males still react to my presence. Just yesterday, the baker's son shifted involuntarily when I walked past their shop. If I stay, it's only a matter of time before someone realizes the truth.

"Tell me about him," I whisper, sinking onto the bed beside Mom. "Please. I need to know."

Dad runs a hand over his face. "Alexander Stone became Alpha at twenty through combat. They say... they say he killed his challenger with his bare hands, that he showed no mercy even though it was his own uncle."

My stomach churns. "And now?"

"He's twenty-eight. The most powerful Alpha in five territories. His pack prospers, but..." Dad trails off.

"But?" I prompt, even though I'm not sure I want to know.

"He keeps slaves. Wolves who've broken pack law, wolves seeking sanctuary, wolves with... defects." Mom squeezes my hand. "Like being wolfless."

The plan clicks into place. "You want to register me as wolfless before the Seekers arrive. Give me to him as a slave, knowing they won't check his property."

"Alora—"

"Do the stories say what he does to his slaves?" The question comes out before I can stop it.

A heavy silence fills the room. Finally, Dad speaks. "They say he's strict but fair. That he protects what belongs to him. And..." He hesitates.

"And?"

"And that he's never taken a mate. Never even shown interest in one. The female Alphas throw themselves at him, but he treats them all with the same cold indifference."

Something inside me stirs at that – my wolf, awakening despite the suppressants. Interested.

"When?" I ask, forcing that dangerous interest down.

"Three days." Mom's hand trembles in mine. "The tribute caravan leaves at dawn. You'll travel with five other tribute wolves. None of them know what you are. None of them can ever know."

I stand on shaky legs, moving to the window. The afternoon sun paints our territory in shades of gold, highlighting the forest where I used to run, the streams where I played as a pup. My home. My prison.

"If I refuse?"

"Then we run," Dad says immediately. "We'll try to outrace the Seekers, but..."

"But they'll catch us," I finish. "And everyone who helped us will die."

The weight of it settles over me like a chain. This is why blood wolves went extinct – not just from being hunted, but from the impossible choices they had to make to protect others.

"The caravan master will be here tomorrow to inspect you," Mom says softly. "He'll... he'll need to document any distinguishing marks. Establish your value."

My face burns. I know what that means – a physical examination, cataloging every inch of my body like livestock. The first of many humiliations to come.

"Alora." Dad's voice breaks. "If there was any other way..."

"There isn't." I turn to face them, straightening my spine. "I'll do it. I'll be his slave. I'll learn to submit, to obey, to be whatever he wants me to be." A bitter laugh escapes me. "At least as his slave, I'll be protected. Owned. Safe."

Mom reaches for me, but I step back. I can't handle comfort right now. Can't risk letting my control slip.

"Tell me one more thing," I say. "These stories about Alpha Stone. Do they say what happens to slaves who disobey him?"

The silence is answer enough.

I nod, then head for the door. I need to pack, to prepare, to build my walls higher and stronger than ever before.

But as I reach the threshold, Dad's voice stops me. "Alora. There's one more thing you should know about the Beast."

I pause, hand on the doorframe. "What?"

"They say his wolf is pure silver. Like moonlight given form. They say..." He swallows hard. "They say he can smell lies, that he can force-shift other wolves with just his voice. If he discovers what you are..."

I close my eyes, fighting back tears. "Then I'll have to be very, very good at lying."

I flee before they can respond, running to my room and locking the door. Only then do I let myself slide to the floor, let the tears fall.

Three days until I belong to the Beast.

Three days until I become a slave.

Three days until I have to convince the most powerful Alpha in five territories that I'm nothing but a broken, wolfless slave.

I can do this. I have to do this.

But deep inside, past all my carefully constructed walls, my wolf stirs.

And she's not afraid.

She's excited.