Chapter 1: The Cursed Alpha

Samantha POV

My ears were still ringing when the second struck of Carmen’s slap finally registered in my bones.

I stood frozen in the center of the great hall, my cheek burning so fiercely that I could feel my heartbeat pulsing beneath the skin.

The taste of copper flooded my mouth where my lip had split against my teeth, but I refused to raise a hand to it. I would not give her that satisfaction. Not here. Not in front of everyone.

Her eyes glittered with vicious delight as she looked down at me. “Kneel, Samantha,” she said slowly, savoring every word. “Kneel and lick my shoes clean. Every single drop.”

The red wine was still dripping from the pointed toes of her silver heels, staining the polished marble beneath her feet. The sharp, sour scent of it mixed with the heavy floral perfume she wore, making my stomach twist.

I could feel them all staring.

Some werewolves watched with open amusement. Others shifted uncomfortably but said nothing. Most simply looked pleased.

I lifted my chin. “No.”

A collective inhale rippled through the hall.

Carmen tilted her head slightly, her lips curling upward. “You dare refuse your Luna?”

“You are not my Luna,” I replied quietly. “And I will not degrade myself for an accident you caused.”

Her smile vanished instantly.

Fury flashed across her face before she caught herself and stepped closer, the heat of her body radiating toward mine. “You think you still have dignity left to protect after everything?” she asked softly. “Get on your knees before I have the guards drag you down.”

“I will not.”

For a moment, the only sound was the crackling of the torches along the walls.

Then the memories came rushing back.

The annual harvest banquet was meant to celebrate abundance. Instead, it celebrated our failure.

The summer scorched the land. Crops withered under fierce sun. Grain rotted in fields. Forests hushed as prey fled to mountains. Yet the great hall shone, dressed in crimson Grayfang banners and late roses over tables of venison and bread.

And without my father's protection, I had been ordered to serve by Carmen. “Let the former princess play the role she was born for,” she had said sweetly. “It suits her.”

Wolves who once bowed to me now sneered openly. Now they could finally treat me the way they wanted, like a wolfless person, something my father wouldn't allow when he was alive.. And the worst of them was Carmen, who never missed a chance to humiliate me.

Like now at this event, shining in her splendid dress, walking around with the new alpha, Finnick, bragging about being Luna, but still messing with me. “Look at you,” she murmured. “Reduced to serving drinks.”

She took a glass from my tray, sipped, then tipped her wrist. Wine spilled across the front of my uniform. “Oops,” she said lightly. Laughter followed.

When I ignored her and turned to leave, she moved and her foot caught my ankle. The tray flew from my hands, crystal shattered across the floor as red wine splashed across the toes of her silver shoes. All just cheap drama from her.

But I stood firm even after the slap and everyone looking at me like I was insolent. I wasn't going to bow down to her yet.

However, that caught the attention of the pack's new alpha, Finnick. "What's going on here? How dare you bother your Luna?" he said, defending his new great love.

I swallowed hard, the wound from our breakup still too fresh. My chest tightened painfully at the sight of him. Memories rushed in before I could stop them. Running through the woods together as children. His hand in mine the night the bond flared to life between us.

Then his rejection. His choice.

Now he looked at me with faint disgust. “Samantha,” he said. “Apologize to Carmen.”

"I'm not going, and you know very well that she's not innocent," I replied firmly.

His eyes flashed gold. A crushing wave of dominance slammed outward so hardly wolves around us dropped instantly to their knees, heads bowed.

But I remained standing.

My legs trembled violently but I did not move. For a brief moment, surprise crossed his face.

Then anger.

“You dare stand against me?”

“You are no longer my Alpha,” I replied. “You gave up that right the day you chose her.”

His jaw tightened. “You will be punished for this insolence. Guards, take her to the dungeon!”

Carmen feigned a small sob as she curled up in it, but her furtive glance at me was one of delight as she watched me being dragged from the hall by the alpha's guards.

….

That same night, while I was huddled in a corner of the damp, cold, and dark cell, crying silently, I heard firm footsteps approaching.

Finnick appeared there along with Carmen, both dressed in Nightgowns, as if they'd just gotten out of bed to come all the way here. And Carmen displaying a recent mark on her neck.

"I wonder what would have made you stop having fun to come and pay me a visit in my new quarters," I teased, but their gazes were cold.

"Take her," Finnick said quietly, pointing at the guards.

"What does that mean?" I was confused.

"It means your death, Samantha," Carmen smiled malevolently.

"So the new Alpha of the Grayfang pack condemns prisoners to death without a proper trial?" I laughed skeptically. The guard was already opening the cell.

"You don't need a trial," Finnick said.

"King Maddox needs a new soother since the last one didn't even last one mating with him and died. It's our pack's turn to pay tribute, and you're disposable." Carmen's smile was pure evil as she said those words.

My heart dropped. "The council won't allow it, for the memory of our father—"

"Father died, Samantha. Now it's the era of a new Alpha and a new Luna, and you, you imposter, are not part of it," she laughed.

I looked at Finnick for some reaction from the guy I knew and loved before, but he looked at me coldly. "You should never have rejected me as a mate," said harshly.

"You betrayed me first, I only gave you what you deserved," I replied firmly, though my fate was sealed.

"Then die in King Maddox's bed!" He sentenced me and let the guards put heavy chains on me and drag me to the carriage.

The carriage left at that very hour of the morning so that no one could see what was being done to me, but it wasn't like anyone cared anyway. Without my father's protection, I knew this end awaited me.

The chain was heavy and cold on my wrist, hurting me and every bump in the road made my bruises throb

I thought of my father and wanted to cry more. He was a good alpha who always gave so much love to me and Carmen. But on my 15th birthday, when my wolf didn't manifest, I was declared his illegitimate daughter, and even then he continued to love and protect me twice as much because he always believed in me.

But now that I was going to my death, I just wanted to cry and say that he was wrong, that I wasn't strong enough or capable of anything.

The journey lasted hours. The guards riding beside the carriage spoke openly, their voices drifting through the window. “You hear about the last soother they sent north?” one said casually. “Pretty girl from Riverpack. Lasted two nights before they sent her back in pieces.”

Another laughed harshly. “King tore her apart during one of his fits. Curse makes him wild.”

My stomach tightened.

“Wolves twice his size can’t hold him when it hits,” the first continued. “Those chains in his hall? Forged with silver. Even they snap sometimes.”

I pressed my forehead against the cool bars and stared out at the trees rushing past.

But their voices continued. “They say he’s cursed,” another guard said. “Some old witch hex. Others say it’s his bloodline. Too much power and nowhere for it to go.”

“And the soothers?”

“Just temporary relief. Their scent calms him for a while. But the curse always comes back.”

Silence followed.

“And when it does… pray you’re not in the room.”

Fear coiled in my stomach. I was wolfless, I wasn't sure if my scent would work, if I would be able to calm him.

The forest grew darker as we traveled north. Ancient trees crowded the road, their branches forming a thick canopy that blocked the sunlight. The birds had gone silent. The carriage eventually slowed.

I looked up just as the castle came into view, it rose from the mist like something carved from darkness itself.

Tall towers of black stone pierced the sky, and iron spikes lined the walls like teeth. No banners flew from the battlements. It looked abandoned. Forgotten.

As we approached the gates, the guards grew tense. Their conversation stopped, one wiped sweat from his forehead, another rested his hand on his sword. They seemed more frightened than I was.

The massive gates opened slowly, the carriage rolled inside the courtyard. A tall servant dressed in black approached, his face was pale, his eyes shadowed with exhaustion.

He looked at me through the bars and then nodded to the guards. “The King requires her immediately.”

I was pulled from the carriage and led through silent halls, footsteps echoing across marble streaked with silver veins. Wolfsbane wards lined the walls.

At the end of a long corridor, massive double doors opened into the throne room. Thick chains bolted to the floor held runed manacles. Kneeling in the center was Maddox Emberclaw, broad shoulders straining against a torn shirt, breathing ragged as he fought something within.

He lifted his head. Molten gold eyes met mine. His nostrils flared, recognition blazing as his wolf surged forward.

The room went still.

“Mate,” he growled.

Gasps echoed around me, but I stood frozen, the word still hanging between us.

Mate.

Maddox Emberclaw’s growl silenced the world until only he existed. His molten gold eyes held mine, and something ancient awakened in my chest. The bond tightened like a waiting thread, pulsing warm and electric through my veins.

But the moment shattered, a guard behind me shifted impatiently and grabbed my arm roughly. “Approach him,” he snapped. “Now.”

Maddox’s vicious snarl tore through the air, and then the transformation began. Bones cracked, muscles expanded, and dark fur erupted across his body. Within seconds, a monstrous wolf stood in his place, twice the size of any normal beast, with burning crimson eyes and fangs dripping saliva.

Before the guards could react, Maddox lunged. Claws tore through armor and flesh. Jaws snapped bones. Blood sprayed across marble floors as chaos consumed the throne room. Screams echoed off stone pillars.

I could not breathe. Beneath the terror, I felt his pain radiating like waves of heat. The curse twisted his instincts, leaving violence as his only language. This was not cruelty. This was suffering.

“No!” I screamed. The word tore from my throat before I could stop it. “Stop!”

The monster froze, crimson eyes turning toward me. The room fell silent as the beast backed away, returning to its chains.

I crossed the blood slick floor, trembling hand pressing against its coarse fur. Everyone saw a monster, but I saw a man trapped in a nightmare.

A low rumble vibrated through him, not a growl but relief. The crimson faded from his eyes. Fur receded, bones shifted, and Maddox lay human on the stone floor, breathing slowly. A servant whispered, “He’s sleeping.”

Another voice answered in disbelief, “He hasn’t slept in weeks.”

The guards stared at me with wide eyes.

“She calmed him,” one muttered.

“None of the others ever could.”

“She’s the right soother.”

Their voices carried a strange note of reverence.

I forced myself to stand tall despite the blood around us. “Help me carry the King to his chambers,” I said. My voice was steady, though my heart still raced. “I’ll stay with him.”

Maddox was carried to his chambers, the castle shifting around me with newfound respect. I bathed and dressed in a simple linen gown, no longer an outcast.

I sat beside his bed, applying ointment to the wounds where chains had bitten his skin. He slept peacefully, the bond humming warm beneath my skin. He was beautiful, his suffering etched into a face that looked no older than thirty.

Then his breathing changed. Pain twisted across his features. The curse was stirring again.

“I’m here,” I said quickly, leaning closer. “It’s okay.” I grabbed a glass of water from the bedside table and lifted it to his lips.

He drank eagerly before his eyes slowly opened. For a moment he simply stared at me, confusion flickered across his face. Then curiosity.

“What’s your name?” he asked quietly. His voice was rough from sleep, but there was an unexpected gentleness in it.

“Samantha,” I replied softly.

He studied me carefully. “You’re not afraid of me?” he asked. “I could kill you during one of my rages.”

I shrugged lightly. “I’ll take the risk.” His brow lifted slightly. “You didn’t kill me earlier.”

The tension in his shoulders eased.

After a moment, I stood. “If you’re calm now,” I said carefully, “I can leave.”

His hand shot out instantly and caught mine. Warm and gentle. “Stay.” The single word carried raw vulnerability. “Please.”

The mate bond surged through our joined hands like lightning.

“Stay, Samantha,” he murmured. “I need you.”

Something inside me softened. I sat beside him again. Maddox shifted closer and slowly rested his head in my lap, his dark hair spilled across my gown.

For a moment I hesitated, then I lifted my hand and began gently stroking his hair. His breathing steadied almost immediately. The lines of pain faded from his face as sleep reclaimed him.

I continued running my fingers through his hair while the fire crackled softly beside us. And for the first time in years…I didn’t feel alone.