Elara!" a voice, soft but distinct, cut through the quiet hum of the hallway behind me. I turned quickly, a flicker of relief easing the tension I hadn't realized still gripped my shoulders.
It was Jessie—my only friend in this vast, indifferent pack house.Jessie, the girl who had been abandoned by her own parents after failing to awaken her wolf, a cruel twist of fate that branded her an outcast, a loner, shunned by the very pack she was born into. Just like me, a supposed Omega, forced into hiding, living a lie
We had bonded over our shared status—the overlooked ones, the invisible. Birds of a feather stick together, or so they say, and in this place, a single feather could be a lifeline
.I paused in my tracks, waiting for her to catch up
"I heard you got into trouble with Alpha Draco," she said, her voice dropping to a cautious whisper as she stepped closer, curiosity warring with a nervous edge in her eyes. Her scent, usually clean and fresh, held a faint tang of worry
"How did you know that?" I asked, slightly stunned. The Alpha's study felt like a sealed vault, a private moment of humiliation and terror.She shrugged, a subtle movement of her shoulders
"News spreads fast in this pack, even if it's just whispers through the vents. I was scrubbing the hall just outside his office when it happened. They didn't see me, but I heard everything—his growl, Tatiana's frantic apologies
."I sighed, a long, weary exhalation. "Hmm." It seemed nowhere was truly private in this house.
"But Elara," she continued, lowering her voice until it was barely a breath, her gaze darting around the empty hallway,
"why did you even volunteer to serve directly under the Alpha? You know what they say about him...
""He's scary," I finished for her, the word a bitter taste in my mouth, laced with the memory of his burning eyes.
Jessie raised a delicate brow, a faint, teasing smile touching her lips. "I was going to say handsome, but I guess that works too." She chuckled softly,
the sound a fleeting moment of normalcy in the cold reality of my life.I allowed myself the faintest, almost imperceptible smile in return. It felt fragile, like a shard of ice in the desert.
"Have you seen Tatiana?" she asked, her tone shifting back to concern. "She looks like she's on a warpath.""I was just on my way to her before you stopped me. But... I ran into Beta Silas."
The name alone made my blood run cold.Jessie's expression changed instantly, her eyes widening with genuine fear. "No, no, no. Elara, that's bad. You've got to stay away from him. You've heard the stories, right? The things he does to the maids—the way he manipulates, controls, the subtle threats, the way they disappear when they don't comply—""He's disgusting," I said through clenched teeth, a surge of revulsion tightening my stomach.
The memory of his predatory gaze, the cloying scent of stale lust that clung to him, made my skin crawl. If only my powers weren't sealed, a frustrated thought flashed through my mind, a phantom sensation of strength I no longer possessed.
I wouldn't be so utterly at their mercy."Voice down!" Jessie whispered, her eyes frantically sweeping the hallway. "Walls have ears. They always do."I nodded, the tension gripping my chest again, tighter than before. Every shadow seemed to lengthen, every hushed corner a potential listening post. My mission required invisibility, but in this pack, even invisibility felt like a target.
"I have to find Tatiana," I said quickly, needing to escape the conversation, needing to get back to my objective. "I'll see you at dinner."We parted ways,
Jessie sending me a worried glance over her shoulder as she hurried off.I stumbled a little as I climbed up the worn, creaking steps to my room—a small, cramped, dark space shared by Jessie and the maid who had once served the Alpha before she mysteriously "fell ill." The scent of harsh cleaning fluids and damp, aged wood clung to everything, a constant reminder of my meager existence here.
The former maid, a surly woman named Kira, hadn't been happy to share her space when I first arrived. She'd made her feelings clear through muttered curses and deliberate bumps. Now, a strange silence permeated the small room, a sense of something unspoken that Kira left behind.My hands trembled, not just from the climb, but from a growing dread, as I dug through the meager mess under my cot, searching for my messenger stone—the small, smooth orb of obsidian, enchanted with forgotten magic, that I used to communicate with my clan.I clutched it, pressing the cool stone against my palm. Still no response. Nothing. Not even a whisper, not a distant hum of recognition. Each attempt was met with deafening silence.
Had I been completely abandoned?
Had they sent me here... to disappear, a forgotten weapon in a war they no longer cared to fight? A terrifying hollowness spread through me, colder than the damp room, settling in the pit of my stomach.
Beta Silas's behavior earlier sent another cold chill down my spine. The fear of being trapped, truly alone, was a suffocating blanket. But I couldn't give up. Not now. I needed to stay focused, to cling to the fragments of my purpose.
Then a shadow moved in the doorway, blocking the meager light.
"Elara,"
Tatiana's voice rang out, sharp and venomous, laced with a potent scent of bitter anger and old, festering frustration.I scrambled, shoving the stone deep beneath my thin blanket, my movements clumsy with panic.
"Yes, ma," I answered quickly, trying to mask the tremor in my voice, the raw fear that threatened to betray me.She stepped inside, her eyes blazing, the harsh lines of her face drawn tight with suppressed fury.
"You slutty little brat," she hissed, the words a cutting lash. "I've had enough of your incompetence. You have any idea what your carelessness is costing me? My reputation? My standing in this house, which I've worked tirelessly to maintain?" Her voice cracked with genuine, raw anger, a dangerous edge hinting at how close to the precipice she truly was.
"I would've thrown you out the moment you got here..." she continued, her voice filled with a desperate, seething resentment, "but guess what? The Alpha insisted on handling you himself. So congratulations—you're still his responsibility, his problem.
"He insisted? My mind reeled. The Alpha, who had looked at me with such cold suspicion, such calculated assessment, had insisted? A strange heat, unwelcome yet undeniable, pricked beneath my skin. This wasn't just fear. This was… something else, something tugging, tethering me to him in a way I didn't want to acknowledge, a terrifying pull that defied every instinct. I stayed silent, my eyes fixed on the grimy floorboards, desperately trying to control the inexplicable flutter in my chest.
"Until then," she snapped, her eyes narrowing to slits, "you'll scrub the study room. Top to bottom. Every corner, every inch. Then head to the kitchen and do the same. I want it sparkling. You hear me? Every surface glistening, every shadow banished. I want this done by sunrise.
""Yes, ma'am," I said quickly, relief washing over me despite the impossible task. At least... at least I was still in the Alpha's service. His direct, unspoken responsibility. It was a flimsy shield, but a shield nonetheless.As she stormed off, her heels clicking a furious rhythm down the hallway,
Jessie crept in, her eyes wide with concern, a silent question in their depths."I heard everything," she whispered, her voice laced with sympathy. "She's really out for blood today. You should've seen her face when she came back from the Alpha's office."I let out a shaky breath I hadn't realized I was holding. "It's fine, Jessie.
""Good thing I'm off-duty tonight," she murmured. "I'm sorry it had to be you. It's not fair." Her tone was soft, genuine.
Jessie had a gentle way of showing concern that always caught me off guard, a stark contrast to the harshness of this pack.
"I'm fine," I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt. "It's just scrubbing. I've done worse before. Much worse." The words slipped out before I could stop them.She gave me a curious look, her head tilting slightly.
"Speaking of 'worse'... you've never told me where you came from. Or what 'worse' could possibly mean in a place like this." Her gaze was innocent, but probing.My breath hitched, and I felt a sudden, dangerous coldness spread through me. The weight of my deception, the knowledge that any truth could shatter this fragile friendship, was a heavy cloak. "I should start my punishment," I said quickly, turning away, the excuse thin and obvious.She didn't push further. But her eyes lingered on me as I turned away, the silence in the small room stretching between us. I could feel her gaze on my back, wondering about the girl no one really knew—the girl who came with secrets, a silent mission, and a past that could unravel everything.