Chapter 1

The Bargain

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“In a few days, she’ll be out of our lives for good.”

The plate almost slipped from my hand. I kept scrubbing even though the water had gone lukewarm.

I knew that voice—my stepmother, Lycril.

She was talking to someone in the sitting room, her tone low and pleased, the kind of tone she used only when something evil was on her mind. A cold shiver ran through my body.

Every day I felt weaker.

The bruises stayed. New ones came.

My skin was a living map of their anger.

When my mother was alive, love filled this house.

After she died, I became nothing but a servant—working morning till night just to survive under a roof that never felt like home.

The voices in the sitting room pulled me closer. I dried my hands on my apron and tiptoed toward the doorway, fear and curiosity twisting inside me.

“Do you think he’ll take her right away?” Lycril asked, sounding far too excited. “It’s time we made something out of her.”

Made something out of me?

My heartbeat kicked hard.

Then my father’s voice—deep, rough, tired.

“Once he sees her, it’s his decision. After that, the debts are cleared.”

Debts?

Who was he talking about?

What debt could they possibly clear with me?

A sick feeling grew in my stomach. I pressed myself against the wall, praying they wouldn’t see me.

But someone else did.

“Well, well… sneaking again?”

Enzo’s voice slid behind me like a cold blade.

I turned, and he was already too close. His eyes crawled over me with that disturbing, hungry look he always had.

“Enzo, please—” I tried to move back, but he stepped forward, blocking the narrow passage.

His hand shot out. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward him until his breath hit my cheek.

“Look at you,” he whispered, brushing his fingers along my jaw. Slow. Greedy. “Maybe I should take you for myself.”

My stomach twisted. My skin crawled. I wanted to vanish, melt, anything to escape the way he looked at me.

Something inside me cracked.

I jerked my wrist out of his grip and slapped him. Hard.

The sound echoed through the room. My palm burned, but for a second, I felt free.

His shock didn’t last. His face darkened.

“Little wolf with no claws,” he hissed, eyes burning with the promise of revenge.

Lycril stormed out. “You again!” she shouted. “Didn’t I tell you to stay in the kitchen?”

“I wasn’t—”

Her hand hit my face before I finished.

Heat rushed up my cheek.

“She was eavesdropping,” Enzo said quickly. “Teach her what happens to snoops.”

Lycril grabbed a fistful of my hair and dragged me down. Pain exploded across my scalp as she pushed me to the floor.

“It’s time you learned your place,” she spat, reaching for her horsewhip.

Amanda appeared behind Enzo, smiling like she had been waiting for this moment all day.

I struggled, but they held me down—Enzo pinning my arms, Amanda trapping my legs.

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move.

The first strike landed across my back.

White-hot pain shot through me.

I bit my lip to stop the scream rising in my throat as tears blurred my vision.

Another strike.

And another.

My body shook from the pain.

Then my father’s voice came from the doorway.

“Enough.”

I lifted my head, expecting relief.

But his eyes were empty.

Cold.

Like he was looking at a broken chair, not his daughter.

“Lay her flat,” he said. “We don’t want her too bruised. She’s leaving for the NorthRidge Pack in a few hours.”

I froze.

My breath caught.

So they were serious? 

NorthRidge?

Everyone knew the stories.

The land ruled by Alpha Xavier—cold, fierce, merciless.

Some said he tore his enemies apart with his bare hands.

Some said he barely spared his servants.

And they were sending me there?

My father knelt beside me, gripped my chin, and forced my face up. His fingers dug painfully into my skin.

“You’re going to serve him, Freya,” he said. “Finally, you’ll be worth something.”

My heart cracked.

The pain in my back was nothing compared to the ache inside my chest.

“Please, Father,” I whispered. “I’ll work harder. I’ll do anything. Just… don’t send me there.”

Lycril let out a sharp laugh.

“You leave tonight. The Alpha paid well, and after tonight, we’re free of you.”

Free of me.

Like I was trash.

My father pushed my face away, and I hit the tiles hard.

They turned and walked off, already speaking about me as if I no longer existed.

Their voices faded down the hall.

Just before they disappeared, Lycril’s voice drifted back:

“Let’s hope she lasts the night. They say he never goes easy on new servants.”

Silence swallowed the hallway.

I lay on the floor, cheek pressed against the cold tiles, my body trembling.

For a moment, I wanted to let go—to sink into the darkness and stay there.

But deep inside, something small refused to die.

A spark.

A whisper.

Survive.

My fingers curled against the floor. My breath trembled, but it was still there. I wiped my tears with the back of my hand and pushed myself up, even though every muscle screamed.

If they were sending me to the NorthRidge Pack 

Then I have to live long enough to take my life back.

And one day…

I would make them pay.