Chapter 1 - The Auction

ARIA'S POV The chains were too tight. They always were. The handlers liked to make the humans wince, liked to hear the scrape of iron digging into bone, as though pain made us look more valuable. I kept my head bowed, eyes fixed on the filthy floorboards of the auction pens. That was the first lesson drilled into every slave girl: don't look, don't hope, don't think. But that night, the air felt different. The room hummed with something sharp, alive, like blood just before it spilled. One by one, the other girls were dragged out. I heard the jeers of wolves beyond the curtains, the bark of bids shouted over one another, the whipcrack of the auctioneer's voice. Laughter, too. Always laughter. Wolves laughed at us the way men laughed at livestock. "Next," the guard snarled, yanking my chain. I stumbled, knees scraping the wood. My dress, thin gray linen, torn at the hem, clung to my knees with sweat. The curtain parted, and light blinded me. The stage was a pit of eyes. Dozens o

Last Updated : 2025-09-21

Chapter 2 - Is he obsessed?

ARIA'S POV The ride to Ironfang was a long, brutal eternity. Every jolt of the cart sent a new spike of pain through my body, a dull ache that settled deep in my bones. I was a sack of potatoes, a piece of meat. I was nothing. My wrists were raw from the auction chain, and the new collar on my neck felt like a brand, cold and heavy against my skin. The air tasted of dust and wet earth, and with every breath, I tasted the memory of my own shame. I wouldn't cry. I wouldn't. Not for them. When the cart finally stopped, the sudden, unnatural silence was worse than the endless jolting. I felt a gate groaning open, the low rasp of iron on stone, and then the scent hit me. Not just the scent of wolves, but the scent of this pack. A brutal, sharp tang of frost and blood and something else, something cold and metallic that settled in the back of my throat. It was the smell of power. A pair of hands, rough and unforgiving, grabbed me and yanked me from the cart. I stumbled, my feet finding n

Last Updated : 2025-09-21

CHAPTER THREE - Why me?

ARIA'S POVThe walk to his chambers felt like walking toward my own execution. Every step scraped against the cold floor and the thin dress did nothing against the freezing air that cut through the halls. Caelan's hand was locked around my wrist and he pulled me forward every time my legs threatened to collapse. I couldn't run. Fighting was pointless. All I could do was follow and try to keep my heart from exploding out of my chest.The halls stretched on forever. Wolves stopped to stare wherever we went. Some bowed their heads to Caelan without looking at him. Others stared at me with pure hatred in their eyes. A few looked at me with something worse…pity.I kept my head down. But I could still hear them whispering."He's taking her to his chambers.""A human. In the Alpha's bed.""She won't last the night."My throat got tighter. I wanted to scream at them that I didn't want this. That I hadn't asked for any of it. But what would that do? They didn't care. To them I was already dea

Last Updated : 2025-11-06

Chapter Four - The Lesson Begins

ARIA I woke with my heart still racing, his words echoing in my mind: “I’ll be back to claim you…” The memory pressed against my chest, making it hard to breathe. “He can’t take me that easily,” I muttered to myself, clenching the fur that kept me warm. Then the door burst open. "Get up," a voice growled. I scrambled to my feet and nearly fell. My legs were weak and my whole body ached from the night before. "The Alpha wants you in the kennels. Now,” Kellen, the Beta of the monster that bought me, said. "Why?" I muttered. "Did I ask you a question?" He grabbed my arm and started pulling me toward the door. "Move." I stumbled after him. I still wore the thin auction dress, no cloak to shield me from the freezing morning air. We left Caelan's chambers and walked through long halls, then we emerged into a courtyard surrounded by low buildings. The kennels. Wolves filled the space. Some in human form standing around talking. Others in wolf form prowling the edges. All of th

Last Updated : 2025-11-07

Chapter Five - The Key

ARIA Darius walked closely behind me and I could swear every step echoed in my head. We stopped at a door. It looked like every other door we'd passed but somehow it felt different. Heavier. Like it knew what waited on the other side. Darius shoved a rusty key into the lock and twisted it open. "Your room," he said. I stepped through and the air left my lungs. The space was barely bigger than a closet. Stone walls pressing in from every side and not a single thing to soften them. No tapestries. No rugs. Nothing. Just this sad excuse for a bed shoved against the wall with blankets that looked like they'd fall apart if you breathed on them too hard. A chair in the corner that was missing a leg. Basin on a table that wobbled. And one thin and barred window. This wasn't just a room. It was a place where hope came to die. "Someone will come get you in the morning." Darius's voice came from somewhere behind me. "Don't try anything stupid." The door shut. I waited for the locks

Last Updated : 2025-11-18

Chapter 7 - Flight through Shadows

ARIA The key bit into my palm. I kept my fist closed tight around it while I moved through the passages. The path seemed to be narrow again. I couldn't see any clearer from my blurred vision. My breathing seemed to sound too loud in the narrow space but I couldn't slow down.I turned a corner and something white caught my eye. Paper on the ground held down with a rock. I picked it up.It was a sketch. It had corridors mapped in rough lines, X marks on some and a writing at the bottom: Avoid the main hall. Stay to shadows.Was it help or a trap? It didn't matter. I was already moving.I heard heavy footsteps echoing from behind me. I quickly pressed myself into a tight corner and held my breath. Two wolves passed, standing close enough to touch each other. I feared that my human scent would have been caught but somehow it wasn't.The corridor opened into a proper hallway now. Moonlight lit the high windows and cast dancing shadows. Through the archway ahead I saw the courtyard. And

Last Updated : 2025-11-20