Claimed By The Alpha King

The forest went completely silent.

Not the quiet kind of silence that comes when the wind dies or the night creatures pause their songs. This was heavier. Thicker. The kind of silence that pressed against your chest and made every breath feel too loud.

Kael Blackthorn’s hand was still wrapped firmly around my wrist.

His grip wasn’t painful, but it was unbreakable. Heat from his skin seeped into mine, spreading through my arm like wildfire. My heart pounded violently in my chest as his words echoed through the clearing.

Then she belongs to me.

No one spoke for several seconds.

Even the Moonfall warriors men who had spent years mocking and pushing me aside stood frozen among the trees, their expressions caught somewhere between shock and disbelief.

Alpha Rowan was the first to recover.

His face twisted with irritation, his sharp eyes flicking between me and Kael’s hand gripping my wrist. “Alpha Blackthorn,” he said stiffly, forcing a polite tone that barely hid the tension beneath it, “you misunderstand. The girl is… insignificant.”

His gaze slid toward me with the same cold dismissal I had endured my entire life.

“She is wolfless,” Rowan continued. “A burden to my pack. If she wandered into your territory, consider it an unfortunate accident.”

My chest tightened.

A burden.

The word should not have hurt anymore. I had heard it too many times for it to still sting. But hearing it spoken so casually, in front of another Alpha, felt like being stripped bare.

Kael didn’t move.

If anything, his hold on my wrist tightened slightly.

“I heard you clearly,” he replied calmly.

His voice carried no anger, yet the warriors surrounding us instinctively shifted their weight. Even Rowan’s Beta lowered his gaze slightly.

It was the quiet authority in Kael’s tone.

The kind that didn’t need to shout to command obedience.

“You said she is not in your pack anymore,” Kael continued. “That makes her unclaimed.”

Rowan’s jaw tightened.

“She is nothing,” he repeated sharply. “Take her if you wish, Alpha King. She is of no use to Moonfall.”

The words struck harder than any blow.

Something inside me twisted painfully.

Just like that. Eighteen years of living under the Moonfall banner, and I had been discarded like broken equipment.

My throat tightened, but no sound came out.

Kael finally looked down at me again.

His silver eyes glowed faintly in the darkness, studying my face with unsettling intensity.

“You heard him,” he said quietly.

I nodded slowly, though my mind felt numb.

“I heard.”

A strange emotion flickered across his expression something brief and unreadable.

Then he released my wrist.

The sudden loss of contact left a strange emptiness behind, like stepping away from a fire on a cold night.

Kael turned his attention back to Alpha Rowan.

“Then the matter is settled,” he said.

Rowan gave a short, impatient nod, clearly eager to end the interaction.

“Do as you please with her.”

The Moonfall warriors began backing away through the trees. None of them looked at me. Not one.

They simply left.

Just like that.

I stood frozen, staring after them as the last flicker of torchlight disappeared into the forest.

A hollow feeling spread through my chest.

That had been my home.

Even if it had never truly welcomed me.

Now it is gone.

The sound of movement pulled my attention back to the man standing in front of me.

Kael Blackthorn was watching me carefully.

“You’re bleeding,” I said suddenly.

The words slipped out before I could stop them.

His dark shirt was soaked along one side, the scent of blood sharp in the cold night air.

His brow lifted slightly.

“You noticed.”

“Anyone would notice,” I muttered.

But that wasn’t entirely true.

The moment I stepped closer, the scent hit me stronger. Iron and something deeper, something powerful beneath it.

I hesitated.

“You’re injured.”

“It’s nothing,” he replied dismissively.

He shifted slightly, and for the first time I saw the deep slash across his side.

My breath caught.

“That’s not nothing.”

His eyes flickered with mild amusement.

“Are you always this bold?”

“I’m not bold,” I said quickly. “Just… observant.”

He studied me for another moment, then stepped back slightly, leaning against the shattered oak tree again.

“Come here,” he ordered.

The command was quiet but absolute.

My feet moved before my mind could argue.

When I reached him, he gestured toward the bag still clutched in my hands.

“You were delivering supplies.”

“Yes.”

“Bandages?”

I blinked.

“Yes.”

He held out his hand.

For a second I simply stared at him.

The feared Alpha King conqueror of packs was asking me for help.

I fumbled through the bag, pulling out cloth strips and herbs the healers used for minor wounds.

My hands trembled slightly as I knelt beside him.

Up close, his presence was overwhelming.

Power rolled off him in quiet waves, pressing against my senses. Even wounded, he felt dangerous. Untouchable.

Yet he allowed me to touch him.

As I pressed the cloth against his wound, he went completely still.

“Your scent is strange,” he said suddenly.

My hands froze.

“I… I know.”

“No,” he murmured thoughtfully.

“You don’t.”

A shiver ran down my spine.

He leaned forward slightly, his silver eyes locking onto mine.

“You’re wolfless,” he said slowly.

“But something inside you is waking up.”

My heart skipped.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Kael’s gaze darkened slightly.

“I think you do.”

The wind suddenly shifted through the forest.

A distant howl cut through the night.

Kael’s head turned instantly toward the sound.

His expression hardened.

“That,” he said quietly, rising to his feet, “is a problem.”

Another howl followed.

Closer this time.

My stomach dropped.

“Who is that?” I whispered.

Kael’s eyes gleamed in the darkness.

“Not who,” he said grimly.

“What.”

Branches snapped somewhere deeper in the forest.

And whatever was coming…

It was coming straight for us.