Chapter 3: Inside the Enemy Pack

My fingers froze on the edge of the scarf. 

One heartbeat. Two. 

I lifted my gaze to his slowly, hoping that permanently scarring my skin was enough for me not to end up in my own pool of blood beside the last person. The guard didn’t even flinch.

With surprisingly steady hands, I unwrapped the scarf.

Cool air hit the ruined skin on my neck. The guard’s eyes dropped to it fast. He stared at the blistered mess, the uneven texture, and the angry red that still wept in places. His jaw tightened, and then his brows pulled together. I could read the pity in his eyes.

He didn’t speak.

Xena stepped beside me, her shoulders brushing mine. Her hands trembled once at her sides before she clenched them. Tears welled in her blue eyes, but she blinked hard, fighting them back. Her voice came out ragged.

“My sister… she was attacked on the road here. We barely made it. The journey was long and cruel, but we chose Bloodfang because we heard this pack was strong, ordered, and safe.” She swallowed hard. “We have nowhere else. Please.”

Her voice cracked on the last word. She appeared travel-worn and desperate because she was. We both were.

The guard looked at my neck again, then at Xena. The two of us were standing there with nothing left but each other. He waved us through. The man didn’t even bother to check Xena. It was almost unbelievable.

We walked forward with our eyes straight and our pace even. The gate closed behind us with a heavy clang that sank into my bones. We were now inside Bloodfang territory, and there was no going back.

Only when the guards faded from sight did I let out the breath I had trapped in my lungs. It shuddered out of me. 

A young escort led us through buildings heavier than anything in Ironclaw. Fortified stones stood to the left and right, and watchful eyes were on every corner. 

I kept my face blank. I was Scarlett Bane. A woman who had lost everything and was looking for a place to land. I repeated it in my head with every step.

Our trek ended in a cold evaluation room. Three senior pack members sat behind a long table with lips pressed into thin lines and without even so much as a welcome.

They asked questions, watched our answers, and then asked us to show small pieces of our gifts. Mine rose easily. 

I had no wolf. I had never shifted, never felt the break and rebuild of bones that every other wolf in Ironclaw took for granted. My parents back home had called it a curse. The gift that filled that absence was healing, as though the goddess were offering a small apology for creating me wolfless.

Warmth built from somewhere beneath my chest and slowly spread outward, until the air between my hands and the evaluator's arm shimmered faintly with heat that had no fire behind it. One of them leaned forward almost involuntarily. The other wrote something down without looking away. 

Only one of them responded. “Valued. Step aside.”

Xena stepped forward and showcased her gift without a second to waste. Her gift hit harder. The moon goddess had blessed her with warfare knowledge, strength, tactical sharpness, and a wolf just as savage to match. They saw it in how she moved, how her eyes tracked exits even while standing still.

The same person who told me my result told Xena hers. “Valued. Both of you, step forward.”

He sat while another senior, a woman this time, stood up and spoke flatly. “Healers stay in the castle. Close to the Alpha. The Warriors go to the outer territories. Our training grounds.”

My stomach dropped so fast I felt it in my knees.

The word castle echoed in my skull. Outer territories echoed right behind it. I gripped the strap of my bag until the fabric bit into my palm. We had survived the gate together. We had turned ourselves into different people together. I had not once imagined surviving this place without her beside me.

They separated us before I even had the opportunity to protest.

An escort stepped forward for Xena first. She turned to me. Her blue eyes locked on mine. She gripped my hand once, in a brief but firm grasp. “Stay alive, sister,” she muttered. The words sounded ordinary to anyone listening. To me, they meant everything.

Then she was gone, led away in one direction while I was taken the other.

The absence was louder than everything I had ever heard in my life.

There was no Xena, and no sign of anything that felt familiar. It was just me, pregnant, scarred, and undeniably lost, lying with every breath inside enemy walls. I straightened my shoulders and followed the escort. 

Scarlett Bane didn’t look back. So I didn’t either.

The castle corridors stretched long and were busy. People moved with purpose, eyes slid over me, and they all said the same thing: new, traveler, outsider. 

I kept my gaze low but took in turns, doors, and exits. It was an old habit from the Alpha’s residence that kept me from feeling completely trapped.

The healers’ wing smelled of herbs and sharp medicine. 

The moment I stepped inside, the stares sharpened. 

Healers noticed everything. Bodies. Breath. The way someone held pain. They probably already sensed that I held more pain than I let on. 

I stood still with my bag heavy on my shoulder and one hand resting lightly over my stomach under my clothes.

The chief healer approached before I could set the bag down. She was a tall woman with sharp eyes and tired lines around her mouth. 

She didn’t waste time.

“Rules,” she started. “Keep your mouth shut. Do not ask about things outside your assignment. Do not offer opinions on how we run this wing. Do not speak of your past unless asked, and even then, keep it short. I am Ms. Darkmoon, and you are.”

“Scarlett Ba—”

She held a finger in front of me, stopping me, and then paced once in front of me. “You talk too much, child. Follow instructions exactly. Hesitation and negotiation will be seen as disobedience. You are new. New means you prove yourself through obedience.”

Her gaze pinned me. “Do not draw attention. Travelers live on borrowed trust here, especially in the castle. Break it, and there are no second chances.”

I nodded, my throat tight. “I understand.”

She studied me for another beat, then nodded once. “Good. Your first assignment comes this evening. Alpha Dimitri’s nightly tonic. Deliver it to his chambers. Knock and enter only when acknowledged. Set it down and leave immediately. Simple.”

Ms. Darkmoon turned away, leaving me to settle in alone.

Two younger healers showed me my small room with one bed, one window, and a small shelf for my bag. It was smaller and not as nice as my old home, yet I already felt more comfortable in this space. I set my bag down and sat on the edge of the bed. 

My hand found its way to my stomach without thought. My baby remained for another day.

I exhaled, my head tilting back.

Xena was out there somewhere in the outer territories, and I was here. Alone.

This was pure survival now.

Evening came too fast, and the chief healer, Ms. Darkmoon, handed me the tonic. It was a warm, small cup with a specific mixture even I could not identify, no matter how much I stared at it. “Do not spill it, and do not linger.”

I took it and walked the corridors toward the Alpha’s wing, just as the healers described. Although now and then, I paused to verify directions from the guards that littered the halls. 

My heart beat harder with every step. Guards grew more alert the closer I got to the Alpha’s chambers. Through it all, I kept my head down, my scarf high and secure around my ruined neck, and my hand steady on the cup.

I reached the door and knocked once.

Only silence met me.

I knocked again, and once again there was no answer.

Knots twisted in my stomach. I could not return to Ms. Darkmoon without fulfilling my first task, and I could not step into the Alpha’s room without his permission.

I took in a deep breath and knocked one more time. The same cold silence met me.

A sheen of sweat gathered at my hairline. The guard across the corridor had already begun to watch me with narrowed eyes. I had one task. One. And standing frozen outside a door was not completing it.

I pressed my palm flat against the wood, closed my eyes, and whispered a single word to the goddess.

I stepped inside and pulled the door shut behind me.

The Alpha lay on the floor.

Face slack with his body completely still, and foam gathered at the corner of his mouth. His chest moved in shallow, uneven pulls, telling me he had minutes, not hours.

My healer's mind registered everything at once: the cup knocked on its side nearby, the faint color of his lips, and the way his fingers had curled inward. 

He had been poisoned.

My stomach turned to ice.

Everyone was going to know me as the traveler who killed their Alpha.