I was forcefully brought back to consciousness when a bucket of icy water splashed over me, soaking through my gown and chilling me straight to the bone. My breath caught in my throat as I gasped, shivering violently on the cold stone floor.

Blinking against the sting of the water in my eyes, I lifted my head and tried to make sense of where I was. The faint moonlight filtering through a barred window revealed stone walls, iron bars, and the faint scent of mildew and blood.

A dungeon.

The Blood Moon pack’s dungeon.

As the memory of last night came crashing back, so did the tight ache in my chest. My father’s body, lifeless in my arms. My mother, being dragged away like me or killed like my father by strangers. The screams, the slaughter, the metallic scent of blood heavy in the air. My face twisted with hatred for whomever and whatever caused by father's downfall.

The door to the cell scraped open with a shriek of rusted hinges, and a tall guard stepped in, his expression fierce and void of emotion.

“Who are you?” I demanded through chattering teeth, my voice rough but defiant.

The guard didn’t bother to answer. He just grabbed my arm roughly, hauling me to my feet and dragging me toward the open doorway.

“Where are you taking me?” I cried, stumbling to keep up with his long strides. “Please… tell me if my mother is alive! Please!”

He didn’t even take a single glance at me. His grip tightened on my arm, and I bit back a cry of pain as he dragged me through the dim corridors and up a flight of stone stairs.

We emerged into the dry night air, and my heart squeezed as I saw where we were.

The new pack house.

My father’s dream project. He’d poured his soul into building it, a symbol of his leadership and strength, meant to stand as a legacy long after his time. He’d planned for us to move in after the mating ball.

But now…

Now it belonged to the man who murdered him.

As if summoned by my thoughts, the murderer stepped out of the grand double doors. His cold eyes swept over me, and the guard immediately bowed.

“My greetings, Alpha Lottana,” the guard intoned. “Here is the late Alpha’s daughter, as you requested.” He shoved me forward without ceremony, and I stumbled to my knees in front of the man who’d destroyed everything I loved.

“Alpha Lottana ...” I thought

The said Alpha Lottana regarded me with a cruel smile.

“I was told you’re cursed,” he said slowly, his voice dripping with disdain. “Wolfless. Weak. Worthless.” His lip curled. “You have no value to this pack… except in my bed.”

He took a few steps closer, towering over me.

“Choose now. Become one of my concubines… or die.”

His words pierced through me, each one deeper than the last.

I’d heard whispers of him before, his cruelty and his harem of unwilling women. I remembered pack members muttering that someone like me belonged in his service.

And here I was.

I straightened slightly, though my body trembled. My father was dead. My mother… my mother was likely already gone. There was nothing left for me.

I parted my lips, ready to tell him I would rather die than become his plaything—

But then…

“Rose…”

My head snapped up at the sound of her voice.

My mother.

Luna Aliyah.

The guard dragged her forward, and she sagged in his grip, her face pale and bruised, her hair disheveled.

“You’re alive,” I whispered in disbelief. “Mom! Are you all right? Did they hurt you? Are you—”

“Enough of this nonsense,” Lottana barked, and his voice cut through my frantic questions like a whip.

“You have a choice,” he growled, his eyes glittering with malice. “Save yourself… and your mother… or watch her die alongside you.”

I looked at my mother, her usually proud shoulders slumped, her eyes filled with silent anguish. My heart broke seeing her like this, so diminished, so fragile.

There was no choice.

I swallowed the bile rising in my throat, forcing myself to meet Lottana’s cold gaze.

“I’m not doing this because I want to,” I said, my voice hard. “I’m doing this to save my mother’s life.”

Lottana sneered, unimpressed.

“Doesn’t matter why. You’ll do as you’re told.” He turned and barked orders to the guard. “Take her to my mansion. Have her bathed. Prepared.”

As he strode away, my mother reached for me weakly.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, throwing my arms around her and clutching her tight. “I’m sorry, Mom. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you. I’m sorry I—”

She cut me off, shaking her head, her tears hot against my cheek.

“You don’t have to sell yourself to him for me,” she murmured, her voice breaking. “You don’t deserve this. You shouldn’t have.”

“I had to,” I said, pulling back, my own tears blinding me. “We have to live, Mom. We have to survive… and someday we’ll make him pay for this.” I whispered.

The guard tugged me away, and I gave her one last desperate look before he dragged me through the inner gates of the mansion.

The closer we got, the heavier my limbs felt. My knees nearly buckled as we stepped through the gilded doors and into his chambers.

***

Alpha Lottana lounged on a golden couch, his sharp gaze fixed on me the moment I entered.

“You’ve made yourself useful at last,” he said coldly, standing and circling me like a predator. “Your mother may live or leave, I don’t care.”

Tears burned my eyes as I stood stiffly before him, his presence suffocating.

“You’re weak,” he hissed, his lip curling. “Pathetic. It amuses me.”

He was right. Without a wolf, I was nothing. Just a weak, broken girl.

But something inside me sharpened my tongue.

“I’m more than you think,” I said, my voice quiet but steady, wiping at my tears.

Lottana barked a laugh.

“Oh really? I’d love to see what you think you are.” His hands gripped my shoulders, squeezing just hard enough to hurt.

“You’ll serve me. And my men. And whoever else I choose. You’ll be nothing more than what you already are.”

Just then, two women entered, both impossibly beautiful. One draped herself across Lottana’s lap, purring into his ear. The other approached me, her eyes warm and sympathetic.

“Hi,” she said softly. “I’m Anita. One of his… concubines.”

Her gentle voice was almost enough to make me melt in her arms for solace.

“I’m Rose,” I replied hoarsely. “His… newest.”

Anita smiled sadly.

“Don’t worry. It’s not as bad as it seems.”

Maybe it was foolish, but still, something in her presence soothed me.

Then another voice called my name.

“Rose.”

I turned toward it and froze.

The second woman had lifted her face from Lottana’s shoulder.

And my heart stopped and my breath ceased for a moment when I saw her face.

Wretched. Familiar. Unchanged.

My breath returned as I stared at her, my mind screaming the fool's name.