CLAIMED BY THE RUTHLESS ALPHA

Another POV of Saraphine

The farmhouse smelled of pine cleaner and simmering resentment by late afternoon. I’d scrubbed every surface until my knuckles bled and my fractured ribs screamed with every reach. Darius’s “beta duties” were nothing more than a leash long enough to let me move, short enough that I felt it choke me with every step.

Sweat clung to my spine as I hauled another bucket of dirty water out the back door. The sun hung low, painting the forest edge in bloody oranges and deep purples. My knee throbbed from yesterday’s beating, but I refused to limp. Limping invited more teeth.

A low whistle cut through the quiet. “Look at you, playing house for the new Alpha.”

Leo.

He lounged against the woodpile, shirtless despite the chill, his bulky frame covered in crude tattoos and old scars. A half-empty beer bottle dangled from thick fingers. This was the man who had laughed while my father bled out on the dirt. One of the last two still breathing who deserved to die.

I set the bucket down slowly. “Shouldn’t you be off somewhere pretending you matter?”

Leo’s grin widened, revealing crooked teeth. “Heard you’re the new beta. Funny. Last time I checked, bitches don’t get titles unless they’re on their backs earning them.”

My wolf cowered, but I lifted my chin. “Careful. Darius might hear you.”

“Darius ain’t here.” Leo pushed off the woodpile and stalked closer. “And even if he was, he’s got bigger problems than some submissive pretending she’s tough. Jax is pissed. Real pissed. Says you’ve been hiding something valuable.”

My hand instinctively moved toward the locket beneath my shirt. Leo’s eyes tracked the motion like a hawk.

“That pretty little necklace?” He chuckled darkly. “Jax has his eye on it. Says it might be worth more than you are. Maybe I’ll take it off you myself after I—”

I moved before he finished. The heavy metal bucket swung hard, catching him across the side of the head with a satisfying crack. Leo staggered, beer spilling down his chest. Rage twisted his face.

“You little”

I was already running, or trying to. My damaged knee buckled on the second step. Pain exploded up my leg and I hit the ground hard, biting back a cry. Leo’s boot connected with my side before I could roll away, right over the bruised ribs. Stars burst behind my eyes.

“Should’ve stayed quiet like a good submissive,” he snarled, grabbing a fistful of my hair and yanking my head back. “Now I’m gonna make you scream loud enough for the whole pack to hear what you really are.”

His free hand fumbled at my collar, fingers closing around the chain of the locket.

No. Not this. Not the only piece of them I had left.

I drove my elbow back into his throat. Leo gagged but didn’t let go. The chain bit into my neck as he pulled. I heard the delicate links strain.

A roar shattered the air.

One moment Leo was above me, the next he was flying backward like a rag doll. Darius stood over me, chest heaving, emerald eyes glowing with pure fury. His partial shift had already begun, claws extended, fangs lengthening.

Leo scrambled up, eyes wide. “Alpha, she attacked me first”

Darius’s fist slammed into Leo’s jaw with a sickening crunch. The bigger man dropped like a stone. Darius didn’t stop. He grabbed Leo by the throat, lifting him clear off the ground with one hand.

“You touched her.” The words were barely human. “You put your hands on what’s mine.”

I pushed myself up on shaking arms, chest tight. “Darius….”

“Stay there,” he snapped without looking at me. His focus remained locked on Leo, whose face was turning purple. “I should rip your spine out through your throat.”

Leo’s legs kicked uselessly. “She’s… just… a sub”

Darius squeezed harder. “Exactly. And in a real pack, the strong protect the weak. But you animals don’t know anything about that, do you?”

I managed to get to my feet, limping closer. “Don’t kill him. Not yet.”

Darius’s head snapped toward me. Surprise flickered through the rage. “Why the hell not?”

Because I wanted to do it myself. Because Leo still had to pay slowly for my father’s death. But I couldn’t say that.

“Because the pack will turn on you faster if you start executing them for touching the new toy,” I said instead, forcing my voice steady. “You’re still new here. Play smarter.”

For a long second Darius just stared at me, Leo still dangling in his grip. Then he hurled the man into the dirt. Leo gasped and curled into a ball, clutching his throat.

Darius turned to me fully. His hands still clawed, gentled as he reached for me. I flinched on instinct. He paused, jaw clenching, then continued more slowly. One large palm cupped my cheek while the other brushed dirt from my hair.

“You’re hurt.” It wasn’t a question. His thumb traced the fresh bruise forming on my cheekbone. “Again.”

“I had it handled.”

A dark laugh escaped him. “You’re on the ground bleeding and you call that handled?” His gaze dropped to my knee, then to the way I favored my ribs. Something almost like regret shadowed his face. “This pack… they’ll keep coming for you.”

“Then maybe stop using me as bait.” I stepped back, breaking contact even though my body screamed at the loss of his warmth. “I never asked to be your beta. Or your obsession.”

Darius’s eyes darkened. “No. But here we are. And you still haven’t given me what I want.”

Eden. The name hung between us like a blade.

I glanced at Leo, who was slowly crawling away. “Let me finish my duties. I’ll bring dinner up later.”

He caught my wrist before I could turn. “Seraphine.”

The way he said my name low, rough, almost tender, made my stomach flip. My wolf pressed closer to the surface, desperate for the safety his dominance promised even as my mind recoiled.

“I’m not your enemy,” he said quietly. “Not entirely.”

“You sent your sister back to hell.” The words slipped out before I could stop them. “You and your family. You looked at her bruises and put her right back in Jared’s bed. So don’t tell me about enemies, Darius Blackthorn.”

Silence stretched, heavy and dangerous. His grip tightened, not painful but unbreakable.

“You helped her escape.” His voice was deadly soft. “Didn’t you?”

I said nothing. Admitting anything was a trap.

Darius exhaled sharply. “Two days, little wolf. After that, I won’t be able to stop what they’ll do to you. Jax is already whispering to the others. Tera wants you broken. Leo” He glanced at the retreating man with pure murder in his eyes. “won’t be the last.”

“Then give me a real chance,” I whispered. “Stop watching my every move and let me breathe.”

His laugh was bitter. “If I do that, you’ll run.”

“I won’t.” Not until Jax and Leo are dead.

Darius studied me for a long moment, searching my face like he could read every secret I’d buried. Finally he released my wrist.

“Finish cleaning. Then come to my room. We’re eating together tonight.” His tone left no room for argument. “And Seraphine? If anyone else touches you again, I won’t hold back. I don’t care what image it creates for the pack.”

He turned and walked away, leaving me standing in the cooling evening air with Leo’s groans fading behind me and my heart hammering against my ribs.

I touched the locket, feeling the small dent where the chain had nearly snapped. One day left after tonight.

I had to move faster.

As I limped back inside, I caught sight of Jax watching from the tree line, his sly smile visible even at a distance. He raised a hand in a mocking wave.

The game had changed. Darius’s protection was a double-edged blade it kept me alive but painted me as his weakness. And in a pack like this, weaknesses were destroyed.

I straightened my spine and went back to work.

By the time I carried a tray of stew and fresh bread up the creaking stairs to the Alpha’s bedroom, the sun had set. My body ached. My mind spun with plans.

Darius was waiting.

Shirtless again, standing by the window with his back to me, moonlight carving shadows across the powerful lines of his shoulders and back. Scars crisscrossed his skin old battles, old pain.

He turned when I entered, emerald eyes immediately locking onto mine. The tension in the room thickened, charged with everything unsaid: hatred, desire, suspicion, need.

“Set it down,” he ordered softly.

I did, on the small table near the bed. When I straightened, he was closer than I expected.

“Eat with me,” he said. Not an order this time. Almost a request.

I swallowed hard. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because I can’t stop.” His hand rose, fingers tracing the edge of my jaw with surprising gentleness. “And because something in you is calling to something in me. Even if we both hate it.”

My breath hitched. The slow burn between us flared hotter, more dangerous than any threat from the pack outside.

One day left.

And I wasn’t sure if I wanted to run from him anymore or toward the fire he promised.

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