Chapter 4

ELOWYN 

I spent the night in the holding cell, rats and all sorts of creepy, crawling insects keeping me company.

I didn't sleep a wink, too afraid I’d be bitten by a scorpion… or worse. The walls of the cell were damp and cold, and my teeth chattered through the long, empty hours. I tried to curl into myself, arms wrapped around my knees, but it didn’t help. The chill found every corner of my body.

I was starving. My stomach clenched painfully, twisting with hunger, and I felt like I was on the verge of hypothermia. My fingers were numb, and my lips had started to crack. I wasn’t a wolf. I didn’t have the strength of one. I was human, through and through, and my body wasn’t built to endure cruelty like this.

Just when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, I heard footsteps echoing down the stone hallway toward the rusted iron gates. I bolted upright from the cold, damp floor and ran toward the bars, my palms curling around them, tears already burning in my eyes.

The two guards from the day before rounded the corner and unlocked the gate without a word.

“Please,” I began to beg, my voice shaking. “Please, let me out of here. I have family. My dad will be worried sick. Please, just let me go.”

They didn’t say a thing. Not even a glance of sympathy. One held the gate open as the footsteps drew closer. Several seconds later, Sabrina appeared.

She walked toward the cell slowly, like she had all the time in the world. Gracefully dressed in a silky midnight-blue gown that matched the colour of her eyes. She looked like royalty. Her long brown hair was curled in soft waves. 

She looked at my dirt-streaked face and chuckled. Then she turned to the guards and barked, “Leave us. I need to speak with my incompetent maid in private.”

The guards nodded and stepped out, leaving us alone.

I stared at her, unable to understand what she was scheming, what she planned to do with me. 

“What are you doing, Sabrina?” I whispered, voice cracking. “I gave you what you wanted. I’ve done nothing to you. Why are you doing this?”

“Gave me what I wanted?” Sabrina laughed softly, like I’d said the dumbest thing she’d ever heard. “You were simply doing me a favor, Elowyn. A favor in exchange for me keeping your little secret.”

My brows furrowed. Tears brimmed in my eyes again. “I don’t have a secret. I was only helping the alpha. I did nothing devilish.”

She cocked her head, almost amused. “You did nothing devilish? And yet, you tended to his wounds in secret? How come none of the guards saw you slip into his chambers? Or leave?”

“Because I wasn’t qualified to treat the alpha’s son!” I burst out. “Only the pack doctors were. That’s the only reason I was secretive about it. Please, Sabrina. Please, let me out of here.”

I stepped forward, desperate, but she stepped back quickly, her nose wrinkling.

“Don’t take a step closer. You stink.”

“Sabrina…”

She studied me for a long moment before sighing, almost theatrically. “Fine. I’ll let the guards release you. But on one condition.”

“Please,” I said quickly, desperately. “Anything.”

I couldn’t survive another night here. The rats, the cold, the fear… they would break me. And even if I survived them, I couldn’t survive hypothermia. I wasn’t like her. I didn’t have her strength, or the bloodline or powers to protect myself. I was just human.

“I need more of your dresses, Elowyn,” she said coolly. “My mate woke up this morning and noticed something… off. He asked why I smelled different. We can’t have him wondering if I’m someone else.”

I stared at her, my mouth falling open. “I can’t possibly give you my clothes. I don’t have many—”

“Then you’ll remain here until you learn your lesson,” she snapped, cutting me off. “Until you realize what you’ve done.”

“Sabrina, please!” I begged, taking another step. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“You disobeyed my instructions,” she said, her voice like ice. “That’s what you did wrong. And until you admit to your mistakes and take responsibility, you’ll stay here.”

Her blue eyes locked with mine. Cold. Merciless. I realized then that Sabrina wasn't just cruel. She enjoyed this.

Sabrina was my age, but that was where our similarities ended. She’d been born into power. Her father was the Beta of the pack, and she was raised like royalty. She’d shifted at a young age, one of the youngest to ever do so, and her gift had been immense. 

During pack training, she was always the strongest. She’d been appointed leader of the maiden warriors. Now that she was mated to the alpha’s son, she was unstoppable. She now had the affluence and authority to do what she wanted without being asked a lot of questions. 

I was fighting a battle I could never win.

“…Okay,” I said finally, my voice hollow. “Okay. I’ll give you my clothes. Just... please, let me out of here.”

Sabrina’s eyes lit with triumph. A sly smile curved her lips. “I would’ve loved to see you act a little more stupid, so I could keep proving you’d lose either way.”

Then she raised her voice. “Guards!”

They appeared immediately.

“Take the girl out of here,” she said lazily. “You’ll accompany her to her father’s house. She’ll pack all her belongings and return to me.”

I turned to her, stunned. “What?”

“Yes, Elowyn,” she drawled. “From now on, you work for me. You’ll be my right-hand maid. You’ll attend to my every beck and call.”

She stepped closer until her breath ghosted my cheek, her honey-sweet tone turning sharp.

“I need you close. You’re the only one who can help me be with the alpha the way he truly wants. If you’re absent, that won’t happen. So go. Pack your things. And return to me.”

She turned without another word and walked out of the holding cell, head high, looking every bit like the queen she was about to become. 

I stood frozen. My head spun. So this was it. Apparently, watching Sabrina and the alpha’s son mate that night wouldn’t be the only time. She wanted me near. To watch. To serve. To keep her secret while she wore my skin.

The guards stepped toward me and clamped their hands tightly around my arms.

“Unhand me right now!” I snapped. “I can walk on my own!”

“And risk running away?” one of them chuckled. “Yeah, we don’t think so.”

They shoved me forward.

“Now lead the way.”