#2. Dungeon

Rachael POV

They dragged me across the forest like a captured animal.

My claws dug into the dirt as I tried to stop them, but the two wolves hauling me were stronger. Much stronger. Their teeth clamped around the fur on my neck, and I bit down a cry. I knew if I made a sound, they would notice my voice wasn’t like theirs. They would notice everything.

I kept my tail curved tightly over my lower body. My hind legs pressed together so hard it hurt. I could not, must not let my appendage be seen. One mistake, and they would know I was a female. And in this world, a female wolf was not just rare. They were extinct, that they believe.

My heart hammered as they pulled me past the giant trees and into their pack house.

The pack was enormous. Bigger than anything I had ever imagined. Houses, training grounds, watchtowers, everywhere I turned, there were wolves, all males, all huge and muscular and sharp eyed. Their scents were strong, aggressive, dominating. Alpha magic hung in the air like thick smoke.

Not a single female scent.

Not one.

My stomach twisted. This pack was exactly what I had feared my whole life, an entire kingdom ruled by men, without the softness or safety of a woman anywhere.

The two wolves yanked me toward a large building made of stone and wood. The structure screamed power. This was their heart, their leadership, their control.

They shoved the door open and dragged me inside.

The air smelled like dominance and fury.

They pulled me across polished floors and stopped in a wide office. My body hit the ground with a hard thud. I whimpered quietly, terrified they heard the softness of it.

Several wolves sat around a long table. They looked like they were in the middle of a meeting. Maps lay open, weapons rested leaning against chairs, and their attention snapped to me instantly.

But I only saw him.

The alpha.

He sat in the largest chair like he was born on a throne. His presence filled the whole room. His black hair fell around his shoulders in thick waves. His skin was sun touched, his muscles built like stone, and his jawline sharp enough to cut glass.

And his eyes… cold, dark, and locked on me with pure disgust. He was deadly handsome.

"What filth have you brought here?" he roared, voice shaking the walls.

I shrank back, tucking my tail tighter, bowing my head low. My paws trembled on the floor.

The wolf who dragged me cleared his throat. “We found this rogue on our border. Perhaps he was trespassing. He has no scent.”

No scent. Thank goodness.

I swallowed hard. My secret held, at least for now.

The alpha rose from his chair so fast the others flinched.

“My border?” he thundered.

“Yes, Alpha,” the wolf said quickly. “It looks like a young wolf for his size, but could be very dangerous.”

The alpha’s glare was brutal. His aura rolled out like a wave of fire and rage. My lungs squeezed painfully under the pressure.

“Throw him in the dungeon,” he growled. “I’ll deal with him when I’m done. Young wolf or not.”

I didn’t breathe.

No one in the room did.

Every pair of eyes focused on me as if I were a disease.

“Move,” the wolf ordered, nudging me with his paw.

I forced my legs to work. Each step was agony, but I walked, keeping my tail tight around me. If it moved even an inch the wrong way, everything would be over.

They led me down a cold hallway that smelled like old blood and damp stone. Doors lined the walls, each one locked, each one belonging to a prisoner who probably never left alive.

Finally we stopped at a heavy iron door.

The wolf opened it, revealing a small dungeon room. It was dark, cold, with no bed and no blankets, nothing. Just stone walls and a metal chain on the floor.

“Shift,” he said, smirking. “And when the alpha comes, I pray you don’t meet your death.”

A shiver shot through my spine. I curled tighter, tucking my tail further, shaking from fear and cold.

The wolf’s grin widened, like he enjoyed seeing me afraid.

Then he slammed the door behind him and left.

I stayed still for a long moment, heart pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat. My claws scraped the stone floor.

Shift?

No. Never. Absolutely not. If I shifted, my secret would be revealed in seconds. My human form would give it away instantly, my voice, my body, my everything. Females were too different. Too rare. Extinct.

I backed into the darkest corner of the dungeon and pressed myself there.

My breath trembled.

I had lived my whole life hidden. My parents had warned me before they died—“Never let anyone see you. Never shift in front of them. Hide your scent. Stay alive.”

I obeyed for years.

I stayed in the shadows. I stayed in my wolf form. I learned every trick to conceal my smell, my gender. I had never been caught. Never been careless.

Until today.

Now I was trapped in a male only pack. A place where females were extinct and only written in stories. A place ruled by an alpha I didn’t trust.

My tail wrapped around me even tighter, like a shield made of fur and fear.

Could I be the last female wolf alive? Maybe. I sometimes thought so. But deep down, I didn’t fully believe it.

There had to be survivors somewhere.

I remembered seeing one female when I was very young, just a flash of her yellow eyes before she vanished into the woods. I never saw her again. Maybe she had others with her. Maybe she didn’t. Maybe she died.

I didn’t know.

All I knew was that females did not show themselves. Ever. The former alpha of this pack was a monster. I had heard stories of how he treated females, how he owned them, used them, locked them away. No one survived him.

They said his son, the new alpha, challenged him and took over… but that didn’t make him safe. Power passed from father to son, and cruelty often passed with it.

I didn’t know what this alpha was like, but I wasn’t risking my life to find out.

I paced the dungeon, tail dragging across the floor, panic growing in my chest until it felt like I was choking.

I wanted freedom. I wanted the forest, the cold wind, the quiet safety of loneliness. I wanted anything except this.

Maybe if the alpha killed me before forcing me to shift, I would be lucky. Maybe it would be fast. Maybe I wouldn’t suffer.

Because if he made me shift…

If he found out I’m a female. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me. I dreaded the thought.

My paws froze mid step.

A heavy footstep sounded harshly from somewhere far down the hallway.

Then another.

Then another.

Growing closer.

Coming straight to the dungeon.