LOGINALPHA JEFFREY The moment I stepped into the dungeon corridor, the stench of blood, damp stone, and fear crashed into me like a physical force. My vision blurred at the edges, my wolf clawing viciously beneath my skin, begging to be released. But I couldn't shift. Not here. Not now. The corridor was too narrow. One wrong movement and I would crush her.My gaze locked instantly on Charlotte.She was pinned in front of the foreign wolf, his arm wrapped around her, pulling her back against his chest while the blade in his hand pressed hard against her stomach. Too hard. Hard enough that the sharp tip pierced her skin, drawing a thin bead of blood that slid slowly down her abdomen.My heart stopped. My entire world stopped.A growl ripped from my chest before I could hold it back, low and instinctive, the sound of a creature seconds away from murder. My claws pushed through my fingertips, my fangs ached to lengthen.But I forced myself still. I couldn't afford to lose control at this poin
CHARLOTTE The door creaked open with a slow, heavy groan that seemed to drag through the entire dungeon, and every instinct inside me jolted awake. My breath caught. My legs trembled. I pressed myself back against the freezing stone wall, trying to create distance that didn’t exist because the chains dug sharply into my wrists, reminding me I wasn’t going anywhere.Water dripped steadily from the ceiling, echoing through the dark, suffocating space. The faint torch outside my cell barely illuminated anything, so when the stranger stepped inside, he entered like a shadow with a body—tall, broad, and masked. His boots splashed through the shallow water pooled across the dungeon floor, each step sending ripples toward me.I felt my heart race so hard I thought it might tear through my ribs.He paused a few feet away, sniffing the air like a predator picking up a scent. His voice came out low and rough.“You. Are you the puppet he keeps down here?”For a second, I couldn’t even speak. My
CHARLOTTE The sound of dripping water pulled me out of unconsciousness.At first, I didn’t even know where I was. My mind felt foggy, like someone had stuffed cotton into my skull. My eyelids were heavy, glued shut, but as soon as I pried them open, a sharp jolt of awareness shot through me.Cold water touched my cheek.I jolted upright in shock.The floor beneath me was already flooded. A thin layer of icy water covered the entire dungeon floor, rippling softly every time I moved. My clothes clung to my skin, heavy, soaked through. I pushed myself onto my knees and tried to squeeze the fabric dry, but the water kept dripping from the ceiling in thin, relentless streams.My breath shook out of me. “Goddess… how long was I out?”The dungeon smelled of rust and mold. The air was cold enough to bite my bones. My wrists, scraped raw by chains earlier, throbbed painfully. Every part of me ached.My eyes moved to the steel bars of the dungeon door. Empty. Silent.Liam wasn’t here.My heart
CHARLOTTE The first thing I felt was the unbearable pain.And then I felt the cold metal biting into my wrists, digging into my skin, pulling my arms upward until my shoulders screamed in pain. My head throbbed, my vision blurry, my throat raw as if I had been screaming before I even woke up.A torch crackled somewhere close, then another, and another, until the heat of flames licked my cheeks.When my vision finally sharpened, I realized exactly where I was. The auction hall.The same hell I had stood in once before… except now it was worse. So much worse.I was upright, chained to a tall metal pillar on a raised platform. And below me were rows and rows of rogue alphas, all gathered like predators at a feast. The hall buzzed with snarls, laughter, the scrape of boots, the clink of gold coins.They weren’t here to buy weapons or supplies. They were here to bid on wolves. And Liam had put me on display just to spite Jeffery.My stomach twisted. A wave of nausea hit me so hard I almos
ALPHA JEFFREYThe council chamber buzzed with the low rumble of voices long before I entered, each Elder and commander already gathered around the long obsidian table. Maps were spread across its surfaces, every sheet of parchment inked with progress we had fought through blood to achieve.Yet the moment I stepped in, silence snapped through the room like a whip.“All rise for the Alpha King,” Elder Kade announced.My wolf paced beneath my skin, restless, snarling, its claws scraping my insides. It had been like this for days. Weeks. Ever since she disappeared.Charlotte.Even thinking her name made something sharp twist in my chest.I forced my expression into steel and motioned for everyone to sit. “Let’s begin.”Elder Mi re a leaned forward, tapping at the map. “Alpha King, reports from the northern borders show a seventy-nine percent reduction in rogue sightings since you reinforced the eastern patrols. The new warrior units are performing beyond expectation.”General Dax nodded f
EMMALAINEI hated the stink of the dungeon.It seeped into my clothes, my hair, my skin.But today, it excited me.I balanced the tray of food in one hand as I approached the cell. The guards stepped aside quickly. I might not have been anything in this house, but I was Liam’s right hand now.I reached the cell door.Charlotte heard the footsteps and lifted her head. Her hair was matted, her face hollow from days of starvation, her lips cracked. She looked weak, pathetic, but still unbearably beautiful. Everything about her made the old jealousy coil inside me like a living thing.I smirked and lifted the tray slightly.“Hungry?”Her eyes widened at the food.I didn’t even finish speaking before I grabbed the tray and smashed it against the doorpost, letting the metal clang and echo through the stone corridor.Food scattered everywhere across the floor—bread, meat, a bruised apple.Charlotte lunged for it like a starving animal.I crossed my arms and watched her on her knees, shovelin







