Mabel’s POV”””

Days had passed and I hadn’t been outside of this walls nor have I spoken a word. I had become a shadow of myself from being in the darkness for so long.

It’s been a week since I last had a shower or stared at a screen— this was the least of my problems. I had always wanted to join a pack, stability I said but I never knew this would be it.

“”””Skrrraaaang””””

The door scraped open, letting in a sliver of cold light. Two guards stood there, shadows in the narrow corridor.

“Get up,” one said.

I obeyed, my wrists aching from the iron cuffs. I followed them knowingly— thinking it would be another day to see the face I hate most but this time the route was different, they didn’t take me to the throne room. Instead, we wound through a quieter passage of the pack-house, no bustling servants, no curious glances just wooden fire touches unlike the bulbs and chandeliers in the main building, our movement continued until we reached a stone chamber lit by a single torch. The air was still and heavy.

And there he was.

Alpha Lynx leaned against the far wall, arms folded. His dark eyes tracked me the way a wolf watches prey—not in a hurry, but absolutely certain of the kill.

“Leave us,” he told the guards.

The door shut with a deep thud and Silence swallowed the room.

He stepped forward. “Have you had enough time to think?”

I swallowed. “Think about what?”

His gaze dipped to my bound hands, then rose again, sharp and unblinking.

“You must have forgotten whose walls you’re in. Look around you, if I’m to tear you to shreds right now, no one would fucking care.”

“Then why haven’t you?” I sounded

Immediately, his expression shifted; a muscle in his jaw twitched before his lips stretched into a slow, unsettling smile

My heartbeat quickened, thudding against my ribs as I sensed the sudden shift in his intent.

He closed the distance, his presence like heat against my skin. With every step my breathing grew shallow, and a tremor ran through my hands.

“Interesting!” He let out.

His smile lingered, sharp and unreadable, I instinctively backed away, continuously until my spine met the cold, unyielding wall. My breath caught in my throat.

He didn’t stop.

One hand slammed against the wall beside my head, then the other, caging me in. The sheer heat radiating from his body contrasted with the icy chill of the stone at my back. His eyes locked onto mine—piercing, unblinking, stripping away every layer of defiance I tried to hold.

Leaning in, his voice dropped to a low, dangerous whisper that curled through the air like smoke.

“Do you know what you’re about to make me do?”

And just then, a wolf’s howl split the air outside—sharp, urgent. The torchlight flickered against the walls.

The door burst open and a warrior rushed in, breathless. “Alpha, there’s been a breach on the western border.”

Lynx’s eyes snapped to him, then back to me. I saw frustration flicker in his gaze, quickly smothered by cold authority. “Lock her away. No one goes near her without my command.”

The guards seized my arms, dragging me out before I could even form a question.

Alpha Lynx POV”””

The western border reeked of blood and churned earth. My warriors moved through the trees, scanning for threats, but there was no sign of the attackers—only scattered claw marks and trampled ground.

Then I saw it.

A black-feathered arrow stuck in the bark of an oak, a strip of parchment tied neatly to its shaft.

One of my men approached, holding it out. “It was delivered by a rogue who fled before we could catch him.”

I tore the parchment free. The seal was unfamiliar—dark wax pressed with the outline of a wolf’s head crowned in thorns.

I broke it open. The handwriting was precise, elegant, every curve deliberate.

"”””””””content of letter”””””””””

“Alpha Lynx, Be mindful how you treat what is mine.

A Luna should be cherished, not caged.

You will not keep her for long.

Wolves can be lost in more ways than death. Enjoy your reign while it lasts.

—Alpha Damion

“””””””

How daring those words sounded.

I crushed the parchment in my fist, claws piercing through. My wolf bristled at the thought of another Alpha daring to speak of my… of Mabel, as if she were his.

She is my slave.

Mabel’s POV”””

Back in the cell, I sat against the wall, staring into the dark. My chest felt tight.

I didn’t know what had happened out there, but I felt it—the faint echo of his anger, the heat of it bleeding into me and the unease of the guards.

This feeling, the ones I knew not of, the ones that clearly belonged to others had now become consistent— painful but dormant.

I never had this before me and just when I didn’t want to feel anything I was punished with the weight of other people emotions…

Heavy footsteps approached, stopping right outside my cell. For a moment, there was only silence. Then, the scrape of claws on metal.

The door unlocked, and Alpha Lynx stepped in, eyes darker than I’d ever seen them.

He said nothing. Just stood there, watching me like I was both the question and the answer to something he didn’t yet understand.

And I realized, with a slow, chilling certainty—whatever had just happened beyond these walls had made my place here far more dangerous.

For the first time, I feared the Alpha would not be my only danger.