A hungry shiver bit through to my bones. Dawn was breaking. I lay on an uncharacteristically soft mattress under a silk duvet, but it provided no warmth. It only felt heavy. The cold of the walls seeped through the fabric, pressing down. The air in the chambers wasn't musty like in my tiny room, but too clean—sterile. A golden cage, yes. No scent of herbs, no hint of freedom. Only stone, cold, and that vile, pulsing heat on my neck where the mark was.
It throbbed. Not just an ache—it was a deep, gnawing pain, like a wound that refuses to heal and only burrows deeper. Every heartbeat echoed there, against my skin. The bond. Cale. It pulsed, this invisible channel connecting us. I could feel his presence somewhere within the castle walls, like a predator waiting. Waiting for his prey to grow accustomed to her new chains, to become more submissive.
I got up. A wooden tub of water, clean clothes. Everything here was better than before. But it was worse. Because now I knew the price. The price was myself. My will. My life. I pulled on a simple dress, the same grey as before, but without holes. A high collar. It hid the mark but couldn't stifle its pulsing. My hands shook as I tightened the laces. Eyes downcast. I avoided the mirror. I didn't want to see myself; I didn't want to see who I had become.
Footsteps. Slow, cautious, approaching my door. The guard. Jake. I knew it. His scent—a mixture of wood, sweat, and a kind of awkward shyness—was familiar to me. He had never been cruel. He just followed orders.
"Alina?" Jake's voice sounded muffled through the door.
I flinched. It was the first time he had called me by my name. Before, it was always: "Hey, you."
"Yes."
"Breakfast. You're expected."
"Expected." Not invited. Ordered. I moved toward the door but stopped. I took a breath, trying to steady my shaking. I didn't want to go out. I didn't want to go where every look was a blow, where every whisper was a condemnation. But there was no choice. I opened the door.
Jake stood there, eyes downcast. His hands gripped the shaft of a spear. He looked tense. Something like sympathy flickered across his face. Or maybe I just wanted to believe that.
"Let's go," he said, not looking at me.
We walked through long, stone corridors. The cold seeped through the thin fabric. Our footsteps echoed against the high vaults. Jake stayed a little ahead, his back rigid. I could feel the eyes on me. Not direct looks, but sharp, stinging ones. Maids, other guards. They whispered. I caught fragments: "The mark..." "Cale..." "Disgrace..."
I tried to keep my eyes on my feet. The stones of the floor, the chips in the masonry. The main thing was not to look up. Not to meet anyone's gaze. Not to give them a reason.
The great hall, where the pack usually gathered, was crowded. The smell of food—roasted meat, fresh bread—mingled with the pungent scent of wolves. Cale was at the table. He sat at the head, as always, radiating power. His gaze flicked over me, then Jake, and immediately turned away. Not a single emotion. Total indifference. His armor. My torment.
I took a plate from the edge of the table and sat on the furthest chair. The food stuck in my throat. Cale never once looked my way. He spoke with his alphas, laughing at jokes. I was invisible. And that was even worse than if he had shouted. It was a calculated humiliation. My place was here, at the foot of the table. But not among them.
The day dragged on endlessly. I tried to find something to do. I just wandered the castle. Sweeping where it was already clean. Sorting through old scrolls in the library, not understanding a word. This was my way of not sitting in my "cage" and not thinking. Thinking was terrifying.
In the corridor leading to the library, I ran into her. Selena's scent. Sickly sweet, sharp as poison. It hit my nostrils before I even saw her. She was walking toward me, her heavy silk dress rustling against the stone. Her face was a frozen mask of hatred.
"Well, look at this," Selena said, her voice sounding like the grating of metal. "Our new... mistress? Or whatever you are now?"
I stopped. Eyes downcast. My heart hammered.
"What do you want, Selena?"
"Me?" Selena laughed, the sound dry and lifeless. "I want nothing. But you... it seems you have something. Something that doesn't belong to you."
She stepped closer. Her scent filled the space, crowding mine out. It became hard to breathe.
"I didn't take anything," I finally looked up. Pure malice swirled in her eyes.
"Didn't take anything? Are you sure? It seems Cale recently... took something for you. Something that was mine."
I took a step back. My back hit the cold wall.
"He didn't take anything..."
"Don't lie!" Selena raised her hand, her long nails digging into her palm. "Do you think I'm stupid? Do you think I don't see how he looks at you? How he—"
"He doesn't look," I interrupted her, my voice quiet but steady. "He ignores me."
Selena laughed again, but this time it was full of bitterness.
"Ignores you? Is that what you think? Why do you think you were moved to new chambers? Why do you think everyone is whispering?"
She suddenly reached out, grabbed me by the collar, and jerked me hard. I stumbled.
"What is this?" her finger poked at the fabric. "Hiding it? You think I don't know what's under there?"
I tried to break free. Her grip was strong, unexpected.
"Let me go!"
"Let you go?" Selena leaned in, her face so close I could feel her hot breath. "Why? So you can keep leading him by the nose? So you can think you're better than me?"
She shoved my shoulder. Hard. I hit the wall with my back, nearly falling. Pain shot through my body.
"You are nobody, Alina! You were a servant, and you will remain one! Cale will never be... do you hear me?! He is mine!"
I barely stayed on my feet. Humiliation flooded over me. I felt my cheeks burning. I wanted to sink through the floor. Behind us, deep in the corridor, footsteps were heard. Someone was passing by. But no one stopped. No one intervened.
"Cale won't look at you," I whispered, looking her in the eyes. "He doesn't want..."
"Liar!" Selena swung her hand. I flinched, covering my face. But the blow never came. Instead, she just spat the words out maliciously. "You're pathetic. You aren't worth his gaze. Look at yourself! You're nothing! Just a filthy omega who..."
She pushed me again, harder this time. I stumbled, nearly falling, and Selena, satisfied, turned away. Her silk dress rustled again.
"Watch your step, Alina," she threw over her shoulder. "Because next time, you'll end up in the dirt for sure."
Her receding footsteps. The rustle of her dress. And me, standing in the middle of the corridor, trembling, feeling broken. Burning cheeks. A cold wall behind my back. Her scent still hung in the air, sharp and acrid, a reminder of her hatred.
In the evening, I returned to my chambers. I had no strength left. Only an exhaustion that weighed me down, squeezing out the last scraps of hope. I lay on the bed, curled into a ball. The day's humiliations, Cale's indifference, Selena's aggression—it all settled inside like a heavy stone. I felt so lonely. And so small. The mark pulsed on my neck. My new pulse.
The hours dragged by. Darkness thickened outside. The castle was falling asleep. I tried to sleep, but it wouldn't come. Every rustle behind the wall made me jump. Fear. It had become my constant companion.
And then. An icy chill bit to the bone. I felt it. Cale's scent. Campfire smoke, earth, predatory power. He was close. Too close. My heart skipped a beat.
The door opened. No knock. No sound. It just swung wide. In the darkness, I could barely make out his silhouette. He entered and closed the door. The silence became even denser, more oppressive.
Cale. His footsteps were silent. He moved like a shadow. I sat up in bed, hugging my knees to my chest.
"Come here," he said. His voice was low, commanding. Tender? No. Commanding.
I didn't move. My body was paralyzed.
"I said: come here," he repeated. There were notes of impatience in his voice. And a warning.
My body jerked. Against my will. The bond pulled me like an invisible thread. I slowly slid off the bed. Every step was a struggle. My legs wouldn't obey, barely moving. I approached. I stopped half a meter from him.
"Closer," Cale ordered.
I took another step. Another. Until our bodies were almost touching. His scent enveloped me, suffocating. I felt his heat. His strength. His breath. My eyes were downcast. I didn't dare raise them.
He was silent. Just standing there. Appraising. Testing. His power. My submission. I felt his gaze sliding over me, burning. My body trembled. Not from the cold. From fear. From his proximity.
"You... shouldn't..." I whispered, my voice barely audible.
"What?" Cale tilted his head.
"Shouldn't... be here," I squeezed out.
He made a short, guttural sound. A chuckle?
"Shouldn't?" He raised his hand. I flinched, expecting a blow. But his fingers settled on my neck. Gently? No. Firmly. Masterfully. Right on the mark. "I am wherever I want to be. You. Are. Mine."
His touch. It brought no comfort. It brought a wave of heat that surged through my body, from the mark to my fingertips. The bond. It flared, becoming brighter, sharper, stronger. It pulsed not only on my neck, but now, it seemed, through my entire being. I felt ensnared, bound. Even tighter. Even more hopelessly.
My dependency. It was growing. I could feel it. Feel how my body responded to his touch, to his presence. My will was weakening. I was his. Completely.
Cale pulled his hand away. He turned. And as silently as he had appeared, he left the room. The door closed. I was left alone. In the middle of the room. Trembling. Hollowed out. And realizing: I had lost myself entirely. My scent was now mingled with his.