Elara Thornfield

Beta Kieran Stormfang stepped into Alpha Command, holding out the stained linen sheet.

Through the clear crystal window, Alpha Ronan Blackridge watched my small four-foot-five frame retreat down the hallway. My face had flushed red outside as I frantically searched through my leather bag.

Kieran glanced toward the corridor where I was standing, shaking his head slightly. "She is as frantic as ever, Alpha."

Kieran turned back and placed a sealed parchment onto the heavy desk. "The Pack Sentinels confirmed it. The Blackridge Alpha Elders ordered the potion spiked into your moon-ale that night."

A low frequency vibration sounded from the corner of the oak table.

Kieran looked down and picked up a glowing handheld comm-stone wrapped in a carved wooden case. It was mine. I had left it on the desk when I hurried out.

Outside, I reached into my coat to text Willow Ashbourne that I was finished, only to realize my pockets were completely empty. Panic seized my Zeta wolf. I turned back toward Alpha Command with heavy, hesitant steps.

As my fingers touched the iron door handle, Alpha Ronan’s dark, commanding voice echoed through the crack.

"What of the female who laid hands on me?" Ronan growled.

My hand froze in mid-air. My core clenched violently, my heart hammering against my ribs. They were still hunting the female from that night.

"The elders hid her scent," Kieran reported coldly. "She is likely a lower-caste female chosen by the Blackridge Bloodline to force a lineage heir onto your throne."

"A pawn of the elders?" Ronan’s aura flared, thick with suffocating Alpha dominance. "Find her before the next full moon. Strip her mark, break her bones, and get rid of anyone who stands in your way."

"Understood," Kieran answered without hesitation.

I backed away, my four-foot-five frame shaking so hard my heels clicked loudly against the stone floor. Getting rid of her meant exile or death in the rogue wasteland. If Ronan discovered I was the Zeta who pinned his broad five-foot-eight body to that bed, my life was over.

Kieran pulled the heavy oak door open and bumped right into me. "What is wrong, Elara?"

"Greetings, Beta Kieran," I choked out, keeping my eyes fixed on the floor to hide the terror in my eyes.

Kieran frowned, taking in my pale skin. "Are you sick? Your scent is spiking with fear."

"I am merely fatigued from the territory ride," I lied, my voice trembling.

Kieran gave a stern nod. "Go to the pack healers after your shift."

He walked past me down the corridor.

I stepped into Alpha Command on shaking legs, my Zeta submission instincts screaming at me to flee. "Forgive the intrusion, Alpha Ronan. I left my comm-stone."

I reached out to grab the device from the desk, but Ronan’s dark, muscular hand moved faster. His fingers slammed over mine, trapping my wrist against the hard wood.

He picked up the glowing stone with his free hand, tapping the glass. His dark eyes locked onto mine, piercing right through me.

"Is there something you need to tell me, Elara?" he drawled, his thumb rubbing over the pulse point in my wrist where my heart was thrashing.

My blood ran cold. The glowing screen displayed Willow’s incoming message right at the top: What is taking so long? Did Alpha Ronan catch you...

The rest of the words were cut off by the edge of the glass, but the implication hung in the air like blood.

"What did you do," Ronan whispered, leaning down until his dark complexion filled my sight, his tobacco-laced breath hot against my lips, "that would cause me to catch you?"

My breath hitched. The heat of his broad chest radiated into my Zeta body, instantly triggering a sharp pulse of wetness between my thighs as my wolf remembered his heavy cock tearing through me.

"Nothing, Alpha," I gasped out, my voice barely audible. "Nothing at all."

Ronan did not release my wrist. His grip tightened just enough to bruise, his massive frame towering over my small height. "You are a submissive, dutiful Zeta. Why does your scent smell like treason?"

My mind raced wildly, searching for any cover story to save my skin.

Willow sent another ping: Answer me. Does Alpha Ronan know about...

That second message sealed it. I was cornered.

I pulled against his grip, dropping my head down toward his leather boots. "Alpha Ronan, I am sorry!"

"Speak," he commanded, the raw Alpha command slipping into his tone, forcing my jaw to open.

"I work a secondary trade on my rest cycles!" I blurted out, tears of terror stinging my eyes.

Ronan raised an eyebrow, the dark tension in his brow shifting to brief surprise. "What?"

"I carve sacred relief stones for the lower-caste shrines," I stammered, my nails biting into my palms as I forced the lie to take shape. "I know Blackridge Pack Officials are forbidden from holding outside trade, but I needed the silver for my family. I swear I have never betrayed the Blackridge Alpha Dominion!"

Ronan stared down at me in total silence, his dark eyes searching my pale face. His thumb slid up my arm, squeezing the soft flesh above my elbow before he finally let go.

He reached into his jacket, pulled out a cigarette, and clicked his lighter open.

"A secondary trade," Ronan murmured, blowing a thick trail of smoke directly over my head.

He leaned down until his lips brushed against my ear, his voice dropping into a dirty, possessive growl.

"If I catch you selling anything else that belongs to this pack, Zeta," he whispered, his heavy hand sliding down to grip the swell of my hip, "I will lock you in my den and make you work for me on your knees."

My core throbbed violently at his words, my Zeta wolf whimpering in pure arousal despite the absolute terror in my chest.

Before I could answer, the door to Alpha Command burst open again. Beta Kieran stood in the doorway, holding a sealed parchment stamped with the red wax of the Thornfield Council.

"Alpha," Kieran said grimly. "The Thornfield Elders just sent an official petition. They are demanding Elara Thornfield be removed from your service immediately to undergo a virginity inspection."

Elara Thornfield

Beta Kieran Stormfang’s words hung in the air of Alpha Command like a poison fog. My four-foot-five body went completely rigid, my Zeta wolf trembling in sheer, unadulterated terror.

Alpha Ronan Blackridge slowly lowered his cigarette, his black complexion turning dangerously dark as his lethal eyes snapped from the wax-sealed scroll to my pale face.

"A virginity inspection?" Ronan asked, his deep Alpha voice dropping into a register so low it vibrated the stone beneath my feet. "By whose order?"

"The Thornfield Council," Kieran replied, handing the parchment across the heavy oak desk. "Your mother and half-brother filed the petition with the elders an hour ago, Alpha. They claim Elara has been sneaking out of the Blackridge Alpha Fortress to sell her body to wandering rogues."

My heart hammered so hard against my ribs I thought my chest would split open.

Ronan unrolled the scroll, his sharp gaze sweeping over the written runes before he let out a harsh, bitter laugh. "They are demanding five hundred silver coins from the pack treasury to cancel the public examination."

"I... I did not ask for this, Alpha," I choked out, my voice breaking as I fell to my knees before his massive frame, my submissive instincts overwhelming my ability to stand. "I swear on my bloodline, I have never touched a rogue!"

Ronan stepped around the desk, his dark, muscular five-foot-eight figure towering over me like a storm cloud. He grabbed my jaw with his thick fingers, forcing my head back until I was looking straight into his cold, black eyes.

"Tell me, Zeta," he drawled, his thumb pressing hard against my lower lip, tracing the sensitive skin until my breath hitched. "What is your secondary trade?"

"I... I carve sacred relief stones for the lower-caste shrines," I lied frantically, tears welling up in my eyes as my blood burned under his touch. "I carve them on my rest cycles to buy food for the Thornfield elders. It has nothing to do with pack business!"

"Relief stones," Ronan repeated, his gaze dropping to my mouth, then down to the heavy swell of my chest where my breath was coming in short, panicked gasps. "And you do not sell your body?"

"Never, Alpha Ronan!" I sobbed, my palms sweating against the cold floor. "If you do not believe me, you can cut my wages. You can forbid me from leaving the fortress!"

Ronan stared down at me in absolute silence for several agonizing seconds, his dark aura crushing the breath from my lungs. The scent of burnt tobacco and raw male cedarwood radiated off him, instantly making my wet core throb with remembered heat. My wolf whimpered in absolute betrayal of my fear, longing for his heavy hands to tear my armor away just like he did in the lodge.

"Dismissed, Kieran," Ronan commanded without looking away from me.

Kieran bowed his head. "Yes, Alpha."

The heavy oak door clicked shut, leaving us entirely alone in Alpha Command.

Ronan pulled his hand back, reaching for his silver lighter. Snap. The blue flame illuminated his sharp jawline as he lit the cigarette held between his fingers.

"You may leave, Elara," he said smoothly, turning his back to me and looking out over Moonhaven Ridge.

"Leave?" I stammered, picking my four-foot-five body up off the floor on shaking legs. "You... you are not handing me over to the council?"

"Go," he repeated curtly, dismissing me with a wave of his hand.

I did not wait for him to change his mind. I scrambled out of Alpha Command, my legs barely holding my weight as I practically ran down the corridor toward the lower-caste quarters.

When I slammed the door to the Ashbourne Pack house, Willow Ashbourne jumped out of her chair, dropping her wooden bowl.

"Why did you take so long?" Willow gasped, hailing me over as she grabbed my arms. "Why didn't you answer my comm-stone?"

I collapsed onto the wooden bench, my head buried in my hands as my body shook with delayed sobs. "He saw your texts, Willow."

Willow froze, her face draining of all color until she looked as pale as a corpse. "He... he saw what I sent?"

"He read the preview," I wept, wiping the cold sweat from my forehead. "He asked me what I was hiding that would cause him to catch me. I had to tell him I was illegally selling stone carvings on the side!"

Willow’s breath hitched in her chest. "Did he believe you?"

"I do not know," I choked out, my voice trembling. "He let me go, but my brother and mother just submitted a formal petition to the Thornfield Council. They are demanding a public virginity inspection by tomorrow morning unless I give them five hundred silver coins!"

Willow’s jaw dropped in absolute shock. "They did what? Your own bloodline is setting you up!"

"If the pack elders inspect me, they will instantly see that my seal is broken," I whispered, my eyes wild with terror. "They will know a powerful Alpha took me, and Beta Kieran will trace the scent straight back to Alpha Ronan's den!"

"You cannot go to that inspection," Willow hissed, gripping my shoulders tight. "Never use texts again. If we need to speak while you are in Alpha Command, call me directly. But right now, you have to get those silver coins."

Before I could answer, a loud, thunderous knock echoed through the heavy timber door of our quarters, rattling the iron hinges.

I froze, my heart dropping straight into my stomach.

"Open in the name of the Blackridge Alpha Dominion!" Beta Kieran’s voice roared from the hallway. "Elara Thornfield, by order of Alpha Ronan Blackridge, you are being taken into custody!"