Chapter 3: The Iron Alpha
1320 Words
The journey to Moonstone Kingdom lasted two days.
Two long, miserable days.
Elara spent most of them staring through the train window.
Forests blurred past.
Mountains rose in the distance.
Villages came and went.
But none of it held her attention.
Her thoughts remained trapped on one thing.
The future awaiting her.
Or rather, the future that had been forced upon her.
Every time she remembered the contract, anger surged through her chest.
Every time she remembered her father’s signature at the bottom of the page, the anger became something sharper.
Something colder.
Betrayal.
By the second night, she had stopped crying.
Not because she had accepted her fate.
Because she was tired.
Tired of wasting tears on people who didn’t deserve them.
The train finally slowed shortly after sunrise.
A loud whistle echoed through the air.
Passengers began gathering their belongings.
Moonstone Capital.
The announcement spread through the train cars.
Elara’s stomach twisted.
This was it.
The point of no return.
The guard waiting outside her compartment opened the door.
“The palace carriage is ready.”
She ignored him.
The guard sighed.
“You can make this easier.”
“For who?”
His jaw tightened.
“For yourself.”
Elara stood.
“If you wanted to make things easier for me, you would’ve left me in Silver Fang.”
Without waiting for a response, she brushed past him.
The station was enormous.
Far larger than anything she had ever seen.
Hundreds of people moved through the platforms.
Nobles.
Merchants.
Servants.
Soldiers.
Everywhere she looked there was wealth.
Moonstone practically dripped gold.
Even the station itself looked more expensive than her entire hometown.
A black carriage waited outside.
Royal guards surrounded it.
The Blackthorne crest gleamed on the doors.
A silver wolf beneath a crescent moon.
Elara hated it immediately.
The moment she climbed inside, the carriage began moving.
The city stretched around her.
Massive stone buildings.
Elegant storefronts.
Wide streets.
The capital looked like something from a dream.
A beautiful dream.
One she couldn’t enjoy.
Not as a prisoner.
The palace appeared nearly an hour later.
Elara’s breath caught despite herself.
It was enormous.
Towering white walls.
Silver spires.
Massive iron gates.
The entire structure sat atop a hill overlooking the capital.
It looked less like a palace and more like a kingdom all by itself.
The carriage rolled through the gates.
Servants lined the entrance.
Guards stood at attention.
Everyone seemed prepared for her arrival.
That realization only made her more uncomfortable.
The carriage stopped.
A servant opened the door.
“Welcome to Blackthorne Palace.”
Elara stepped out.
The palace courtyard stretched endlessly before her.
She felt small.
Insignificant.
A lamb delivered to wolves.
Lady Evelyn waited at the top of the stairs.
Her elegant black dress fluttered in the breeze.
“You’re late.”
Elara stared.
“I was dragged here.”
“Details.”
The older woman turned.
“Come.”
Elara followed reluctantly.
The palace interior was even more impressive.
Marble floors.
Crystal chandeliers.
Paintings that probably cost more than entire villages.
Everywhere she looked, wealth surrounded her.
Yet the place felt strangely cold.
Empty.
Like nobody truly lived there.
Eventually they reached a pair of massive double doors.
Evelyn stopped.
For the first time since meeting her, she looked serious.
Very serious.
“He is inside.”
Elara’s pulse quickened.
Kael.
After everything she had heard.
Everything she had imagined.
She was finally going to meet him.
A strange knot formed in her stomach.
Fear.
Anger.
Curiosity.
Maybe all three.
Evelyn pushed open the doors.
“Enter.”
Elara stepped inside.
The room was enormous.
Sunlight poured through towering windows.
Bookshelves lined the walls.
Maps covered one side of the room.
A massive desk sat near the center.
Behind it stood a man.
Her breath caught.
For a moment, everything else disappeared.
He was taller than she expected.
Broad shoulders.
Dark hair.
Sharp features.
The kind of face artists would spend years trying to capture.
Power radiated from him.
Not the loud kind.
The dangerous kind.
The kind that didn’t need to announce itself.
Ice-blue eyes lifted from the documents in his hands.
And landed directly on her.
The air changed.
Elara felt it immediately.
Something invisible.
Something primal.
Her wolf stirred violently beneath her skin.
The reaction startled her.
The man seemed equally affected.
Only for a second.
Then the emotion vanished.
Buried beneath cold indifference.
This was Kael Blackthorne.
The future Alpha King.
And he looked at her as though she were another item on his schedule.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
His gaze traveled over her.
Evaluating.
Judging.
Calculating.
Elara hated it.
The silence stretched.
Neither spoke.
Neither looked away.
Finally Kael broke it.
“Leave us.”
The order was directed at everyone else.
Evelyn and the servants immediately obeyed.
The doors closed behind them.
Now they were alone.
The realization made Elara uneasy.
Kael walked around the desk.
Every step seemed deliberate.
Controlled.
Predatory.
He stopped several feet away.
Close enough that she could see the faint scar above his eyebrow.
Close enough to realize just how intimidating he truly was.
“You attempted to escape.”
Not a question.
A statement.
Elara folded her arms.
“You would’ve done the same.”
“No.”
His answer came instantly.
She frowned.
“No?”
“I don’t run.”
Arrogant.
The word flashed through her mind.
Infuriatingly arrogant.
“Good for you.”
Something flickered in his eyes.
Not amusement.
Not exactly.
Interest.
Brief and fleeting.
Then gone.
Kael reached for a document resting on a nearby table.
The same contract.
The sight of it made her blood boil.
He placed it between them.
“You’ve read it.”
“Unfortunately.”
His gaze remained steady.
“Then you understand why you’re here.”
“No.”
The answer surprised him.
She could tell.
“What part confuses you?”
Elara laughed bitterly.
“The part where human beings are apparently bought and sold.”
The room fell silent.
Kael’s expression didn’t change.
“I did not create the contract.”
“But you signed it.”
That struck home.
She saw it.
Only for a second.
A tiny crack in the armor.
Then it disappeared.
“You were compensated fairly.”
The words ignited something inside her.
Fairly?
Fairly?
Elara took a step forward.
Anger blazing through her veins.
“My family was compensated.”
She jabbed a finger toward the contract.
“I wasn’t.”
For the first time, genuine surprise crossed Kael’s face.
Nobody spoke to him like that.
Nobody challenged him.
Certainly not a woman delivered to his palace under contract.
Yet Elara didn’t care.
She was tired of being afraid.
Tired of being controlled.
Tired of everyone deciding her future.
“If you think money makes this acceptable, then you’re just as disgusting as the people who sold me.”
The words echoed through the room.
A dangerous silence followed.
The kind before a storm.
Kael stared at her.
His eyes unreadable.
His wolf pressed heavily against the air.
The pressure was overwhelming.
Dominant.
Terrifying.
But Elara refused to back down.
Several long seconds passed.
Then, unexpectedly, Kael spoke.
“You are not what I expected.”
Elara frowned.
“Likewise.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw.
The closest thing to irritation she’d seen from him.
And strangely…
The realization brought her satisfaction.
Unfortunately, it didn’t last.
Because Kael’s next words sent ice through her veins.
“The ceremony is tomorrow.”
Her heart dropped.
“What ceremony?”
His gaze hardened.
“The one that officially binds you to the Crown.”
A horrible feeling settled in her stomach.
Slow.
Heavy.
Dreadful.
Then Kael delivered the final blow.
“The breeder contract becomes permanent afterward.”
The world seemed to stop.
And for the first time since arriving at the palace…
Elara understood just how trapped she really was.
- Writer
