All Chapters of The Alpha's Prized Captive: Chapter 1 - Chapter 6

Lyra POVAn arrow passed through my brother's throat as he was reciting the blood oath.For one impossible moment, time stopped. Callum stood at the altar, the ceremonial crown of silver and moonstone hovering inches above his head, his mouth filled and overflowing with blood. The blood bloomed across his white ceremonial robes like crimson flowers, and he crumpled to the ground.The Great Hall erupted into chaos."AMBUSH!" someone screamed, but I was already moving, my body reacting before my mind could catch up. I lunged for Callum as more arrows whistled through the air, their tips gleaming with something that made my wolf recoil in horror. Wolfsbane. They'd coated the arrows in wolfsbane.My father's roar shook the Great hall. Alpha Marcus of the Silvermoon Pack, the most powerful alpha in the northern territories, shifted mid-leap. His massive gray wolf form crashed into the first wave of attackers pouring through the shattered stained-glass windows. Around me, our pack warriors

Lyra POV "You heard me." He reaffirmed the words I thought I had heard wrong. Dante settled back onto his throne, crossing one leg over the other like he had all the time in the world. "Strip her of those royal garments. I want everyone to see what a Silvermoon princess truly is without her crown and comfort."Two female guards approached, and I tried to fight, but the silver had sapped too much of my strength. They tore at my ceremonial dress, the white silk gown I'd worn to watch my brother's coronation, now stained with blood and dirt. The fabric ripped easily, and soon I was standing in nothing but my undergarments, shivering in the cold hall.The crowd murmured. Some laughed."Better," Dante said softly. "But not quite right. Kira, bring the uniform."The golden-haired woman stepped forward, and I saw the triumph in her green eyes. She held a bundle of gray fabric that she dropped at my feet with deliberate carelessness."Servants wear gray in Blackthorne Keep," Dante explained

Lyra POVThe scream that woke me wasn't my own.I jolted upright on my thin mat, heart racing, disoriented in the predawn darkness of the servants' quarters. Around me, other gray-clad bodies stirred, whimpering, but no one dared speak. We'd all learned that lesson quickly, silence was survival in Blackthorne Keep.The scream came again, distant but unmistaken. A man's voice, raw with agony, cutting through the stone walls like a blade. Then it stopped abruptly, severed mid-cry, leaving only silence more terrible than the sound itself.One of the three survivors, I realized with sickening certainty. Marcus was making good on his threats.I pressed my hand against my stomach, feeling the map's edges through the rough fabric of my dress. Elena's wooden wolf dug into my hip where I'd hidden it in my pocket. Two days until the full moon ceremony. Two days until I could meet with the other survivors and figure out if we had any chance at all.If any of us lived that long."On your feet, sl