Chapter 2 The Beast Within
The Northern Kingdom pack house was nothing like home.
Home. The thought nearly made me laugh. Every marble floor and crystal chandelier in Father's pack house mocked the blood that stained them; it had been a prison wrapped in elegance. This place was different. Darker. Honest about what it was, a fortress built for war, not pretence.
“This way, Miss Sera.” A young woman with kind eyes and beta scent gestured down a hallway lined with portraits of fierce-looking alphas. “I am Maya, your personal attendant. The Alpha King has instructed me to see to your every need.”
Every need except survival, apparently.
With my bare feet soundless on the plush carpet, I trailed behind her up an enormous staircase. I still carried the jacket that Alpha King Kael had given me. Even though he scared me, I was strangely comforted by his scent and gripped it more tightly.
“Here we are.”A bedroom three times larger than my old room was revealed when Maya opened a door. The room was dominated by a four-poster bed covered in cosy grey linens. Windows from floor to ceiling provided views of forests that extended into the night. “Your suite. The bathroom is through that door. ‘’I've drawn you a bath and arranged some clothes.".
I stood in the doorway, frozen. “This is… mine?”
“Yes, Miss.” Maya’s expression softened with something like pity. “You are the Alpha King’s intended mate. Everything here is yours.”
Intended mate. Future corpse. Same thing, apparently.
“The Alpha King requests your presence in his office at midnight tomorrow,” Maya continued, and I watched her hands tremble slightly as she said it. She knew. Everyone probably knew about the omegas who died. “Until then, you are free to rest and recover. Dinner will be brought to your room shortly.”
“Can I eat in my room?” The question slipped out before I could stop it.
Maya’s eyes widened. “Of course. Unless you would prefer the dining hall?”
“No. Here is… here is good.” The thought of facing a room full of strange wolves made my stomach churn.
After Maya left, I walked slowly through the suite, touching things to make sure they were real. Soft curtains. A vanity with an actual mirror, Father had smashed mine years ago, claiming I was too ugly to deserve one. A bookshelf filled with novels.
The bathroom took my breath away. The tub was enormous, already filled with steaming water that smelled of lavender and something medicinal. I stripped off my bloodstained dress, wincing as the fabric pulled at my wounds.
The mirror showed the damage Father had done. Bruises in various stages of healing covered my ribs, my arms, and my thighs. The fresh cuts on my wrists from the shackles still bled sluggishly. My lip was split. A handprint marked my throat.
I looked exactly like what I was, broken.
The water stung at first, then soothed. I sank deeper, watching the water turn pink with blood, and tried not to think about tomorrow night. About the test. About the Alpha King’s wolf that had killed twelve omegas before me.
Why would he keep trying if they all died?
The question haunted me through dinner, roasted chicken and vegetables that I ate too fast, my stomach unused to real food. Through the fresh nightgown Maya brought me, softer than anything I had ever worn. Through the darkness as I lay in the massive bed, unable to sleep despite my exhaustion.
Every shadow looked like death waiting.
When dawn finally came, I gave up on sleep and explored the suite more thoroughly. I found a small library nook, a closet filled with dresses in my size, and a balcony that overlooked the training grounds where wolves sparred in their human forms.
And there, moving among them like a dark god of war, was the Alpha King.
He fought three warriors at once, his movements fluid and brutal. Even from this distance, I could see the barely controlled violence in every strike. The way his opponents flinched from his presence even as they attacked. This was not a man. This was a predator wearing human skin.
Tomorrow night, his wolf would test me.
I would not survive. How could I? I was weak, broken, worthless, everything Father had always said. The other omegas had probably been stronger, healthier, more worthy of an Alpha King.
“Admiring the view?”
I spun around to find a woman leaning against my doorframe. She was beautiful in a sharp, dangerous way, with amber eyes and an alpha’s bearing.
“I… who are you?” I pressed myself against the balcony railing.
“Lyra. The King’s Beta and oldest friend.” She prowled into the room uninvited, circling me like I was prey. “I wanted to see the latest sacrifice.”
“Sacrifice?”
“That is what you are, isn't it?” Her smile did not reach her eyes. “Another omega thrown at the beast, hoping this time will be different. Spoiler alert will not be.”
My wolf whimpered, but I forced my voice steady. “The Alpha King made me an offer. I accepted.”
“An offer.” Lyra laughed, bitter and cold. “Is that what he called it? Did he tell you about Amara? She lasted three minutes before his wolf tore her throat out. Or Celeste? She died screaming his name, begging him to stop. Or”
“Lyra.” The Alpha King’s voice cut through the room like a whip.
He stood in the doorway, his training clothes soaked with sweat, his eyes blazing with fury. The temperature plummeted.
Lyra bowed her head but did not retreat. “I was just introducing myself to your new toy, my King.”
“Get. Out.”
The command held so much dominance that even I felt the urge to obey, and it was not directed at me. Lyra left without another word, but her knowing smile said she had accomplished what she came for.
Planting fear. Watering doubt.
The Alpha King stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. In the enclosed space, his presence was overwhelming. His wolf pressed against my senses, huge and hungry and barely leashed.
“Sit,” he ordered.
I perched on the edge of the bed, trying not to shake.
He knelt before me, a king kneeling before an omega and reached for my wrists. I flinched, but his grip was gentle as he examined the cuts from the shackles.
“You should have told Maya these needed proper treatment.” His voice was rough. “They could get infected.”
“I have survived worse.”
His eyes snapped to mine, storm-grey and furious. “That is not the point. You are under my protection now. Your pain matters.”
The words hit me like a physical blow. When had my pain ever mattered?
He produced a first aid kit from somewhere and began cleaning my wounds with surprising tenderness. His hands were huge, scarred, deadly but they touched me like I was made of glass.
“Lyra was wrong,” he said quietly. “You are not a sacrifice. You are not a toy.”
“Then what am I?”
He wrapped bandages around my wrists with practised efficiency. “A gamble. A hope. Perhaps a solution to a curse I have carried for five years.”
“What happened five years ago?”
His hands stilled. “My first mate died. Not by my wolf by assassins who wanted my throne. After her death, my wolf broke. He has been unstable ever since, caught between grief and rage. Every omega I have brought here, I have hoped she would soothe him. Calm the beast.” His jaw clenched. “Every omega has died instead.”
“Then why keep trying?” The question burst out of me. “Why not just accept that you cannot have heirs?”
“Because a king without heirs is a king whose throne is vulnerable.” He finished bandaging my wrists and stood. “My enemies circle like sharks, waiting for any sign of weakness. I need heirs to secure my bloodline. I need stability to protect my pack.” He turned away, staring out at the forest. “And maybe, selfishly, I need to believe I am not completely beyond saving.”
The raw honesty in his voice cracked something in my chest.
“The test tonight,” I whispered. “What will happen?”
“My wolf will emerge. He will scent you, test your reactions, push your limits. If you panic, if you run, if your fear overwhelms you…” He did not finish, but he did not need to.
“I will die.”
“Yes.”
I stood on shaking legs. “Is there anything I can do to prepare? Any way to increase my chances?”
He turned back to me, and for the first time, I saw something other than dominance in his eyes. Regret. Guilt. Pain.
“Do not beg. Do not plead. Weakness triggers his predator instincts.” His fingers curled into fists. “And Sera? If you want to run, run now. I will not chase you. I will release you from our contract and give you enough money to start over anywhere in the world. You do not have to do this.”
It was the second time he had given me a choice.
I thought of Father’s fists. Of eighteen years spent as a punching bag, a mistake, a worthless omega daughter. Of the freedom the Alpha King promised if I could just survive long enough to give him heirs.
“I am not running,” I said, and meant it.
Something blazed in his eyes. Pride, maybe. Or madness.
“Then I will see you at midnight, Sera Blackwood.” He walked to the door, then paused. “Wear something you can move in. And pray to the Moon Goddess that my wolf sees you as a mate instead of prey.”
The door closed behind him.
I had sixteen hours until midnight.
Sixteen hours to prepare for a test that had killed twelve omegas before me.
Sixteen hours to figure out how to survive a beast that even its own master could not control.