All Chapters of Adored by my ruthless alpha: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Zara’s POVAt first, I thought it was a coincidence.The guards outside my door doubled overnight, their footsteps constant against the marble floors. Every corridor I walked down, another shadow trailed a few paces behind. When I reached for the door to the garden, a soldier blocked me with a stiff bow and murmured, “Forgive me, Luna, but the Alpha commands you to remain inside.”It was not a coincidence. It was a cage.And Andre had locked me inside it.I pressed my palms against the cold glass of my chamber window, staring out at the moonlit courtyard. The night had never felt so far away. Only a week ago, I had longed for walls to shield me from his wrath, from the council’s whispers. Now I craved escape, air, freedom even if danger waited beyond the gates.Danger.The word settled in my chest like a stone.I didn’t know what had changed, but I felt it in the air: sharp, charged, secretive. Andre moved through the palace like a storm, silent and furious, his orders falling like th

Zara’s POVThe door slammed behind Andre, leaving the chamber trembling in his wake. His scent lingered cedar smoke, steel, and something wilder that pulled at the thread binding us.I stood rooted where he’d left me, wrist tingling where his hand had gripped mine. My pulse hadn’t slowed, even though his storming presence had vanished.Every time I swore I hated him, that thread tugged harder. Every time I wanted to spit in his face, some traitorous part of me wanted to lean closer instead. The bond was poison.And yet, I could not let it break me.I sank onto the bed, my thoughts a whirlwind. He wanted me silent, hidden, locked away like a secret weapon too fragile to use. But that was not living. That was waiting to be slaughtered.No. If I was to die, it would not be behind gilded bars. It would be with my head high, teeth bared, fighting until my last breath.A soft knock rattled the door. One of the guards peeked inside, hesitating. “Luna? Do you need anything?”I almost laughed.

Zara’s POVThe dawn air was cruel, biting against my skin as I stepped into the training yard. Dew slicked the grass, and the cold seeped through my boots until my toes went numb.Andre stood waiting.He didn’t wear his usual suit or cloak of authority. Instead, he was stripped down to a black shirt and loose pants, the fabric stretched across a body built of iron and shadows. A predator disguised as a man.His gaze cut across the yard and landed on me. Cold. Assessing.“You’re late,” he said, though the sun had barely climbed the horizon.“I’m not,” I whispered, though I might as well have been shouting. His wolf-sharp hearing caught everything.One corner of his mouth twitched, not amusement, not approval. Something darker.He tossed a wooden staff toward me. I fumbled, catching it clumsily, the weight dragging at my arms.“Today,” he said, “you will learn what it means to fight. And you will hate me for it.”I already did. And yet… part of me was grateful he hadn’t caged me after l

Zara’s POVPain has become my constant companion.It sits in my bones, in the ache of my muscles, in the sting of bruises that bloom like dark flowers across my skin. Every breath feels borrowed, but I cling to it because it means I’m still here. Still standing.Andre had dismissed me at dusk, his eyes sharp, unreadable. He thought I would collapse the moment I returned to my chamber. Maybe he even wanted me to.But I couldn’t.Because beneath the pain, something had changed inside me.I was no longer content to survive.I wanted to fight.The training yard was silent when I slipped back into it that night, moonlight spilling across the dirt. My palms were raw, skin torn where the staff had bitten deep, but I picked it up anyway.One step. Another. Swing. Block. Twist.Again. Again. Again.I whispered counts under my breath until the numbers blurred. Sweat soaked my tunic, strands of hair stuck to my face, and still I moved.Every bruise Andre gave me was a reminder. Every drop of blo

Andre’s POVThe courtyard still buzzed with whispers, though most of them silenced the instant I stepped outside.Omegas never drew attention, not unless they were in trouble. And yet, the name rolling on every tongue tonight was hers. Zara.The omega who had killed a rogue.The very idea made my skin burn. Impossible. Wrong. Dangerous.The men stiffened as I passed, bowing their heads, but I didn’t miss the way their eyes darted after me. Questioning. Doubting.Doubts had no place in my pack. Not among my warriors. Not among the omegas. And certainly not within me.I clenched my jaw and quickened my pace.This wasn’t just about her survival. This was about control. And if I didn’t crush this spark before it became a fire, I would lose both.She was waiting in the training hall, as I ordered.The staff leaned against her shoulder, her hands clenched tight around it as though it had become her lifeline. She looked small beneath the dim lantern light, shadows pooling under her eyes.But