All Chapters of The Lycan King's Captive: Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

CHAPTER ONE:Elena's POVI learned early that silence keeps you safe.When you are the mistake in a family of perfection, when your existence is a source of shame rather than pride, you learn to make yourself small. You learn to move through rooms like a ghost. To speak only when spoken to. To disappear into corners and hope no one remembers you are there.My name is Elena Ashford.And I am the daughter my parents wish they never had.The morning starts like every other morning in the Crescent Moon Pack estate. I wake before dawn, dress quickly in the plain gray dress that marks me as different from my sister. Then I slip out of my small bedroom before anyone else stirs. The house is massive. Built for a family of importance, with high ceilings and expensive furniture and portraits of powerful ancestors lining the walls.None of those portraits include me.I make my way down the servant stairs, the ones I am expected to use rather than the main staircase,and enter the kitchen where t

CHAPTER THREE:Elena's POVThe journey was everything I feared it would be.Three days of endless travel through dark forests and over mountain passes. Three days locked in a windowless carriage with only brief stops for necessities. Three days of silence from the guards who treated me like dangerous cargo, not speaking to me except to give short commands.I tried to prepare myself for what was coming. I rehearsed the lie in my mind, practised walking like Elise, talking like Elise, being someone I am not. I apply the alpha pheromone perfume every morning as my mother instructed, checking constantly to make sure my omega scent is hidden.But underneath the preparation, fear eats at me like a living thing.On the third night, we camp at the base of a mountain range, and I can see lights in the distance. Bloodstone Fortress, the guards tell me. We will arrive tomorrow.I barely slept that final night. I lay in the carriage, listening to the guards talk around the campfire. They spoke of

Chapter fiveElena POV A servant entered with a tray of food, fresh bread, roasted meat, vegetables, fruit, wine. More food than I would eat in a week at home."The Lycan King has ordered a bath drawn for you as well, my lady," the servant says. "Shall I prepare it?""Yes, please," I say, suddenly desperate to wash away the dust of travel and the touch of those silver chains.The servant disappeared into the bathing room, and I heard water running. I took the opportunity to study the expensive room, The luxury feels wrong, like I am playing dress-up in someone else's life. But I am supposed to be Elise, and Elise would accept these things as her due.When the bath is ready, I sink into the hot water and close my eyes. For a few moments, I let myself forget everything. I am not Elena. I am not an omega pretending to be an alpha. I am not a liar wrapped in chains.I am just a girl in a bath, warm and clean and safe.But safety is an illusion. I know it cannot last.Tomorrow, Kieran sa