The Iron Collar

The door burst open with a iron-shattering bang, and a foot slammed directly into my chest before my eyes could even focus.I hit the frozen stone wall of the cell, my lungs collapsing as the breath blew out of me in a wet gasp. Gravel bit into my back. Before I could scrape together enough air to breathe, a hand clutched my matted hair and yanked my head back until my neck popped."Get up, bitch," the head warden spat, his beer-soaked breath hot against my cheek. "Your time's up. The Alpha Heir is at the main gate."He threw me forward into the slush. My palms skidded against jagged ice, tearing open old scars, but I didn't utter a sound. I didn't gasp, didn't wince, didn't cry out. Two years in Iron Ridge taught you the first rule of survival: sound only invites more pain. In the freezing dawn, I sat motionless in the dirt, hands flat on my knees, staring straight at the gravel while the heavy steel gates groaned open.Inside my mind, where a vibrant, roaring white wolf named Astra

Last Updated : 2026-09-23

A Stranger at the Gates

The remaining hour of the ride passed in suffocating silence.Kaelen didn't reach for me again. Every few minutes, I could feel his gaze burning into the side of my face, searching the harsh hollows of my jawline and the silver-burn scars peaking past my collar. He was trying to reconcile the cowering, terrified creature in the footwell with the sister who used to race him through the pine woods. I could see the wheels turning in his head—the desperate, self-serving logic taking root.She’s just shaken, he was surely telling himself. Prisons are rough. Once she gets a hot meal and a soft bed, she’ll be fine.When the carriage finally ground to a halt before the sweeping limestone steps of the Vaelen manor, the estate was a hive of frantic activity. Servants rushed back and forth carrying polished silver trays, velvet banners, and arrangements of winter lilies. Banners bearing the Vaelen crest fluttered in the sharp wind, alongside the heavy, regal insignias of the Northern Frostmark D

Last Updated : 2026-09-23

Where the Sun-Roots Died

The third-floor guest room was barely larger than a storage closet. A single narrow bed, a washbasin with a thin crack running down its porcelain basin, and a window that overlooked the rear gravel courtyard. It smelled of stagnant dust and lye.I didn't unpack. My entire life now fit inside the small linen sack the prison wardens had handed back to me at the gates: a single change of coarse cotton, a broken wooden comb, and the silver-chain binding ring I had worn for two years.My chest felt suffocatingly tight. The cold air inside the manor wasn't what choked me—it was the silence. The eerie, hollow realization that I was a ghost walking through halls where my footsteps no longer left a sound.Desperate to breathe, I slipped out of the room.I didn't take the grand front stairs. My feet automatically chose the narrow stone service corridor, winding toward the rear glass conservatory on the east wing.The herb room.It was the one sanctuary in the entire Vaelen estate that hadn't be

Last Updated : 2026-09-23

Replaced

Dawn broke over the Vaelen territory in shades of bruised plum and silver.I didn't need an alarm. Two years of warden boots kicking down iron doors at five in the morning had carved an unyielding clock into my bones. By six, I was already walking down the carpeted hallway toward Mother’s quarters on the second floor.In the old days, this hour belonged to me. I knew every nuance of her illness: the way her lungs whistled when the morning dampness set in, the exact ratio of crushed sun-root to warm honey needed to ease her heart tremors, and how she took her tea with two drops of mint to mask the bitterness of her tonic. Taking care of her wasn't just a duty back then; it was the quiet anchor of my entire life.I reached the threshold of her bedchamber, the door standing slightly ajar. I held my breath, pushing it open with a light touch."Careful, Mama, take it slowly," a sweet, soothing voice coaxed from inside.I stopped dead in my tracks.Zephyra was sitting on the edge of the plu

Last Updated : 2026-09-23

The Darkness Inside

"I asked you a question, Vesper," Theron growled, stepping closer until his massive, armor-clad frame completely blocked the morning light. "Do you think playing the tragic, starved servant is going to win you a place back in this house?"I didn't blink. I didn't shift my weight. The heavy wooden crate dug into my raw palms, but two years of physical torment had taught me how to detach my mind from my flesh."I am carrying the work assigned to me, Captain Theron," I said, my voice flat, hollow, and utterly devoid of friction. "I have no desire to win anything back.""Lie!" Theron spat, his face twisting in disgust. "You’ve always been a poisonous snake. Zephyra spent the entire morning crying because you treated her like trash after she welcomed you with open arms! She spent two years suffering from your endless jealousy, and you still can't own up to what you did!"He reached out, slamming his bare hand hard against the front of the crate, shoving me backward. My heels dragged across

Last Updated : 2026-09-23

All Chapters of FORGOTTEN HEIRESS: The Alpha's Broken Princess : Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

The Iron Collar

A Stranger at the Gates

Where the Sun-Roots Died

Replaced

The Darkness Inside