THE ALPHA KING

I first heard his name, it was spoken with fear.

“Kael Blackthorn will attend the summit.”

The Alpha Summit was approaching, the announcement sent ripples through Moonfall pack. Warriors straightened their backs. The entire territory buzzed with tension. Warriors doubled patrols. Servant like me worked until our hands bled.

Kael Blackthron. The Alpha king. They said he conquered packs without mercy. That he once tore out a rival Alpha chest torn open, blood pooling into the dirt. Kael’s warriors watched silently as he stepped closer, his presence alone enough to make them lower their heads.

“You tested my borders,” Kael said calmly. “Now you understand the price.”

He ended the Alpha’s life with one swift strike.

When the battle ended, his Beta approached him. “The Alpha Summit begins tomorrow. Moonfall Pack will host.”

Kael nodded, eyes cold. “We attend.”

Rumors followed him wherever he went—of the Alpha King who felt nothing, who killed without mercy, who ruled with iron claws.

They said he felt nothing. He ignored them.

Power was duty. Duty was everything.

I imagined him as a monster towering, brutal, eyes like ice, hands stained permanently with blood. I didn’t know why, but the first time I heard his name, something strange stirred in my chest. Not fear. I pushed this feeling away.

Men like him didn’t notice girls like me.

The summit preparations were chaotic.

Moonfall territory buzzed with tension as packs arrived.

I carried trays of wine and roasted meat past Alphas and Betas who barely spared me a glance my arms ached. My back burned. But I kept moving. Everywhere I went I felt eyes on me judging, measuring, waiting for me to fall.

That afternoon, I passed Lyra’s Moonfall near the feast hall.

She was beautiful in the cruel way only powerful people could afford to be she was surrounded by her friends, she looked at me with disgust

“Careful,” she said loudly if she drops that tray, the moon Goddess might punish us for letting cursed blood touch the food.”

Her friends laughed

I kept walking

“She will never have a mate,” Lyra continued, loudly “who would want a wolfless omega?” Wolfless trash dies alone. Just like her traitor father.”

Her friends laughed.

I kept walking, the words sliced deeper than expected my heart heavy, my hands clenched.

That night, i was sent to the deliver extra supplies to the northern border. The forest was quiet. Wrapped in mist. I welcomed the solitude. The tress didn’t judge me. The wind didn’t whisper.

Halfway there, something tugged at my chest.

It wasn’t physical.

It was…….. magnetic.

I tried to ignore it, but my feet moving forward, past the boundary markers I had memorized since childhood

The air changed.

Heavier, Colder, Charged.

I had crossed the boundary into Blackthorn territory.

I should have turned back instead, I walked deeper

My heartbeat quickened as the air thickened. Then I saw him.

He was kneeling beneath a shattered oak tree, one hand against his side where blood soaking through his shirt. Even injured, he radiated dominance. Power rolled off him in waves that made it hard to breathe. His presence was overwhelming, crushing. His eyes glowed silver when he looked at me..

“You crossed my border,” he said.

His voice was deep, wasn’t loud but it wrapped around me like a command.

“I didn’t mean to,” i whispered.

He grabbed my wrist. His touch burned, the world tilted.

Footsteps echoed. Moonfall warriors arrived through the trees moments later, dragging me back Alpha Rowan arrived, face twisted in irritation.

“She is nothing,” Rowan said coldly. “A wolfless curse. Not of my pack anymore.”

The words hit harder that any slap.

Not of my pack anymore.

I felt it then the thread snap. The connection vanish.

I excepted Kael Blackthorn to turn away.

Instead, his grip tightened.

“If she is unclaimed,” he said, his voice dark and final echoing through the trees, “then she belongs to me.”

The forest fell silent.

And for the first time in my life, someone had claimed me.

Not as a burden.

Not as a curse.

But as his.