Selene Whitmore has known only pain. Half-blind, mute, and scarred from years of torment, she has spent her life as a captive, treated as nothing more than a possession by the ruthless rogue, Sebastian Kane. She stopped screaming long ago. She stopped fighting. She stopped hoping. Until the night Alpha Killian Blackwood slaughters her captors and finds her trembling in the dirt—his fated mate. Killian is a warrior, feared and respected, but nothing prepares him for the fragile girl who flinches at his touch. He swears to protect her, to give her the freedom she’s never known. But his pack whispers—how can a broken, silent human be the mate of a powerful Alpha? Selene tries to disappear into the shadows, but fate won’t let her. Neither will Killian. Because Sebastian isn’t done with her yet. When warnings turn into attacks and the past refuses to die, Selene must make a choice—remain the powerless girl she was or become something no one ever expected. Can Killian convince her to trust him before it’s too late? Or will Sebastian drag her back into the darkness she barely escaped?
View MorePain was all I knew.
It lived beneath my skin, it had been a constant companion, which had been whispering in my bones. I had forgotten what it felt like to exist without it. The bruises had faded into my flesh, with permanent reminders of a life that wasn’t my own. The scars—jagged, uneven—were stories I could never tell. Not with words. Not with a voice I no longer had. I sat in the iron cage, with my wrists shackled, the cold metal biting into my skin hurts.
Looking up, I saw the rogues surrounding me laughing, their voices were thick with the scent of blood and whiskey, but I barely heard them. I kept my gaze low, as I focused on the filth-stained floorboards beneath me. Looking up only earned me pain and I couldn't bear that now.
I kept my gaze down because looking up earned me more pain.
“Think she’ll last long?” one of them sneered, his boot slamming against the bars of my cage. It hurt, but I endured it, I had been through worse.
“She’s a fighter” another chuckled, from the way he sounded, I could feel amusement dripping from his voice. “But fighters always break in the end.”
“You’ve been quiet for years, little dove. Makes me wonder if you even remember how to scream.”
I didn’t.
My voice had been stolen from me the day Sebastian Kane carved his mark into my flesh. That was the moment I had stopped being a person. That was the moment I had become property owned by him.
And now, I was being sold again to god knows where.
My stomach twisted at the thought and the pain hurts. Another Alpha. Another prison. Another nightmare. All to begin.
I closed my eyes tightly, avoiding the tears which had circulated to drop.
If I were lucky, I wouldn’t wake up at all. I had prayed for that several times, but my prayers weren't answered. Had never been answered.
The attack came unexpectedly.
One second, the rogues were jeering, boasting about the gold they would earn for their newest piece of merchandise. The next second, the night erupted with snarls and the wet sound of flesh tearing and blood splashing around.
Someone screamed from behind. The scent of blood grew thicker. The laughter quickly turned to terror, and the night was filled with terrified howls all around.
I curled in on myself, my hand trembling as I wrapped my head down.
It wasn’t fear that made me do that. It was my instinct. I had learned, over the years, that it was best to stay invisible when wolves clashed, so I was putting into practice.
There was sudden silence.
I waited.
Waited for the boot to strike. For the hand to grab my throat. For the nightmare to take shape.
But when I opened my eyes slowly, it wasn’t a rogue standing before me.
It was him.
He was massive. I had never seen a man as huge as he is. And though he was still, there was something about him—something terrifying—that made my heart slam against my ribs as if it would crack soon.
He was a wolf. But not just any wolf.
An Alpha.
Raising my eyes towards him, I found his eyes locked onto mine. A strange burnt in my stomach, it was an unfamiliar pull that made my breath hitch for a while. I didn’t understand it. I didn’t want to.
But the Alpha did.
His gaze darkened as he stared at me, his lips slightly parting as if he, too, was stunned by something unseen.
Mate!
The word was unspoken to me, I couldn't breathe, it was all like the air was suffocating for me. Yet, it crackled in the space between us.
My blood turned to ice instantly.
No.
Not again.
Not another prison.
My body reacted before my mind did, years of training overriding rational thought. I scrambled away from him. I wanted to disappear into tiny air where I wouldn't be seen again. Likewise, I wanted to vanish into the night before he could claim me, before he could take me the way Sebastian had. Not only that, but I was powerless, I couldn't disappear.
He didn’t move toward me either.
He only watched me from where he stood with a silent and unreadable expression on his face.
Then, slowly, as if sensing my fear, he kneeled before me.
I stiffened, filled with astonishment. He was lowering himself, not in a way that threatened me, but in a way that confused me.
Alphas never lowered themselves and not to nobody like me.
They stood tall. They command. Furthermore, they cast shadows over those beneath them. If I was not mistaken, that was what Sebastian does.
But he… he was kneeling right before me with an unreadable expression on his face.
I was terrified by the act But there was something in his gaze as he stared at me, something that made me hesitate for a while.
It wasn't a pity, It wasn’t ownership. I could say it was a promise. Perhaps a vow as he drops the most melting words to me.
“I won’t hurt you, dear little one,” he said.
I didn’t believe him, I couldn’t believe him.
Because every time I had trusted before, I had suffered for it and not this time again, would I trust?
And then, with a sigh, he reached forward for my hand. I flinched violently, pulling away from him. Did he want to take me away?
He froze for a while, seeing the expression on my face.
A flicker of something—something that looked almost like pain—crossed his face as he glanced at me this time.
He drew his hand back then he smiled.
“I’m taking you away from here,” he murmured, as if he wasn’t sure I would understand. “You’re not a prisoner anymore.”
Lies!!
I had heard those words before, I had believed them before, and still, I had bled.
I don't need the lies, I know I was born to live and die in pain, yes the moon goddess has cast the curse on me.
Furthermore, I had suffered, and I knew my suffering wouldn't end here.
The Alpha's hand reached into the cage—not to grab me, not to drag me out, but to unlatch the chains around my wrists.
The shackles fell away and for a second the pain in my hand subdued.
A sharp breath caught in my throat, I was released for the first time.
My mind screamed at me to run, run away from him and get my freedom. But my body was weak, trembling, and broken so it betrayed me.
I couldn’t move and couldn’t breathe.
And then, for the first time in years, something warm, and gentle touched my skin.
I was being lifted, carried, held in arms that should have felt like iron but somehow felt… safe for me.
I didn’t understand it and I didn’t want to.
What kind of Alpha kneels for a slave…. And carries her as if she matters?
The door slammed shut behind me with a finality that echoed in the pit of my stomach. The sound reverberated in my head, louder than the fading footsteps of Raven’s retreating form. I was alone. Completely alone.The cell was small, the air heavy with the stench of mildew and stale water. It was cold, almost unnaturally so, and every breath I drew seemed to freeze in my lungs, as if the very air sought to rob me of warmth. There was no light—just an oppressive, suffocating darkness that wrapped itself around me like a shroud, each breath making it harder to remember the world beyond the cold stone walls. My vision blurred, not just from the physical pain but from the tears I refused to let fall. The anguish inside me was far too great, and I couldn’t let it break free. Not here. Not in front of them.I slumped against the wall, my body trembling with the aftershocks of the beating. My limbs felt like they were made of lead, too heavy to move. Every inch of me was bruised, battered,
The physical and emotional toll on me was mounting—an unbearable burden that weighed me down deeper with each passing moment. It was as if every breath I took was harder to draw, every movement an excruciating challenge. The weight of everything that had happened crushed me from all sides, and I could feel myself sinking into the abyss. My body was battered, bruised, and bloodied, showing the marks of unrelenting torture, and yet, there seemed to be no end in sight. I had been robbed of any hope for rest. I wasn’t allowed to recover, and every time I thought I might have a moment of respite, Raven would find some new, more inventive way to remind me of my place beneath him—broken, small, utterly helpless. The sense of defeat I felt deep in my bones was overwhelming, gnawing away at me from the inside.Even now, despite my barely being able to stand, Raven made sure to remind me of my weakness. His eyes, cold and unfeeling, never left me for a second. His voice was like a blade, ea
Raven’s Power PlayThe war-torn earth beneath my knees was still warm from the fires of battle, and yet cold dread soaked deeper into my bones. My limbs trembled as heavy boots thundered toward me, and I had no strength left to run. Two of Raven’s men appeared in the dim light, grim-faced and silent. They didn’t look at me with compassion—only duty, as if I were some cursed thing they were ordered to carry. I whimpered soundlessly, fingers scraping the broken ground, grasping for something—anything—that could anchor me here, but their hands were already on me. Rough palms dug into my arms as they yanked me to my feet. Pain screamed in every fiber of my body. My knees buckled beneath me, but I was dragged forward like a rag doll. In the distance, the sun was setting over the field, casting everything in a blood-orange haze. The silhouettes of fallen wolves and shattered weapons still littered the terrain, but the battle was over. The silence that followed felt heavier than the chaos
The sun had begun its descent, casting a molten hue across the bloodstained sky as darkness crept over the horizon like a slow, suffocating tide.Inside the damp tent, I curled against the far wall, limbs sore and barely functional, every muscle aching from strain and neglect. The fabric around me swayed slightly with the wind, but nothing felt natural anymore. The world outside roared with the dying groans of war, but in here, silence had settled like a weight across my chest. I didn’t need to see the sky to know the war was nearly over. The air felt heavier, like it was mourning with me. I hadn’t eaten in days, and my body throbbed with every movement, my mind clouded by fatigue and helplessness. Yet beneath it all was a flame of defiance, smothered but not dead. I had made plans to escape this place… but hope is a dangerous thing when you’re held in a cage that no one can see.That hope vanished the moment the flap of the tent shifted unnaturally, like the breath of something da
My eyelids flutter open, but the world is an unfocused blur. A sharp sting pulls at the edges of my vision, making it hard to concentrate. My eyes feel as though they’ve been sealed shut, like it was crusted with remnants of dried blood and sweat. Each blink is like scraping sandpaper against my skin. I barely manage to peel them open and, for a moment, all I can see is the dim flicker of a single lantern swaying above me, casting erratic shadows on the four corners of the canvas walls around me. The lantern’s light dances wildly, its movements jarring and unpredictable. It’s like the flickering of my thoughts—disjointed, fragmented, struggling to come together.I take a shallow breath, but the air is thick, heavy with the metallic scent of blood—my own, Elara’s, and maybe others too. The smell is overpowering, coating the back of my throat and turning my stomach. Every inhale feels like I’m choking, each breath a reminder of the bruises and brokenness coursing through my body. My
Pain was the first thing I felt—dull, spreading like thick ink beneath my skin. My eyelids fluttered open to a blur of soot-streaked canvas above me, the tang of smoke heavy in the air. The shelter around me had once been part of a larger tent, now reduced to a makeshift half-wreckage held up by snapped poles and scorched rope. Somewhere beyond the torn flaps, muffled screams and the metallic clash of steel cracked through the air like thunder. The war had not ended. It had only grown teeth.I shifted slightly and nearly cried out from the burn that pulsed through my side. My body felt like it had been dragged through a storm, then left to rot in its wake. My mouth was dry, the taste of iron heavy on my tongue. My limbs refused to move as if they no longer belonged to me. That’s when I noticed her—Elara—kneeling by a battered table, grinding herbs together with quick, jerky movements. Her back was to me, but her shoulders were tense, her motions far too aggressive for someone trying
The sound of that roar clung to my bones like an ancient curse which was unearthed from the grave.It wasn’t just a warning—it was a promise that was hurting. A declaration that the devil had arrived at our doorstep, the devil that had given his warning for long, not in the shadows but in full, arrogant glory. That voice, that soul-deep growl that shattered the treetops and silenced the wind—it belonged to Sebastian. And with his arrival came the death of peace, the unraveling of safety, and the return of everything I had fought to escape from his dangerous grip. The fragile calm I had dared to hold like porcelain in trembling hands was crushed, its shards now scattered across the blood-soaked horizon.I stood there frozen, my boots sinking slightly into the damp earth, as my eyes searched the forest's edge where the world blurred into gloom.The trees shifted like breathing beasts, their silhouettes stretching unnaturally as if recoiling from what slithered through them. There were
The weight of the silence pressed down on me, thick and oppressive, like a suffocating blanket that refused to lift. Even the softest sounds—the rustle of leaves outside, the whisper of the wind brushing against the windowpane—felt muted, subdued, as though the world itself had fallen under a spell of eerie anticipation. I stood still, barely breathing, my fingertips grazing the cool, dew-frosted glass of the wide window that overlooked the forest stretching endlessly into the distance. The moonlight filtered through the trees, painting long silver streaks across the floor, but even its glow felt wrong tonight—too pale, too ghostly. The calm in the air wasn’t peaceful. It was unnatural, as if the earth itself was holding its breath, waiting for something terrible to happen. Deep in my bones, a low vibration hummed, growing louder with each second. A warning. A whisper from something ancient and primal within me.Something is coming, I thought, the phrase not just echoing through my
The sun crept through the trees in pale, hesitant beams, but they did nothing to ease the weight pressing on my chest. The camp, once a safe haven, now felt like a maze full of shadows. Each corner I turned seemed to hold another secret, and I was too exhausted to keep searching for answers. Every step I took felt like I was walking on the edge of something—something I couldn’t quite see but could feel closing in around me. I wanted to trust the people here, wanted to let the illusion of safety in, but I couldn’t. Not yet. Not when there were so many whispers in the air—so many secrets hidden just beneath the surface.The morning began like any other, the quiet hum of the camp bustling around me, but there was an unease settling deep within my bones. I could feel it the moment I woke up—the weight of silence between me and the pack. My body was healing, yes, thanks to Luca’s careful attention, but my mind… my mind was still a shattered mess. The tenderness in his touch, his constant
Welcome to GoodNovel world of fiction. If you like this novel, or you are an idealist hoping to explore a perfect world, and also want to become an original novel author online to increase income, you can join our family to read or create various types of books, such as romance novel, epic reading, werewolf novel, fantasy novel, history novel and so on. If you are a reader, high quality novels can be selected here. If you are an author, you can obtain more inspiration from others to create more brilliant works, what's more, your works on our platform will catch more attention and win more admiration from readers.
Comments