Rosari’e

Chapter 6:a knife to the chest

Rosari’e’s POV

The fortress was quieter than usual, but my wolf wasn’t.

I tossed and turned on the furs, the scent of iron and ash still clinging to me. The victory should have brought me peace. It hadn’t. Something inside me was… wrong.

A low growl rumbled in my chest, not mine but hers.

Rose.

My wolf had never been like this. She was steady, sharp, my shadow, my fury. But now—she hissed, snarled, pacing behind the cage of my ribs like a beast unchained. Her claws scraped my insides raw, demanding release.

Let me out.

I sat up abruptly, gripping my head. Not now. The pack’s on edge, Iris is suspicious already. If you break loose—

TAKE. ME. TO. HIM.

Her voice roared through me, hot and savage. My breath caught.

Him?

The hairs on my neck rose. I tried to reason with her, but she only snapped louder.

The man. The wolf. The one you brought in. Take me to him now.

My heart slammed against my ribs. “What are you talking about?” I hissed aloud, pacing the stone floor. “He’s no one. A half-dead stray. Probably a traitor. Why in the gods’ names would I—”

A sudden lash of pain cut through me, so fierce it stole my breath. Rose’s snarl echoed in my skull, raw and primal.

Because he is ours.

The words weren’t gentle. They were an order, a law written in blood and bone.

I froze, fingers curling against the wall as if steadying myself against a storm. My wolf never spoke like that. Never claimed anything.

Outside, the winter wind rattled against the windows. Inside, my pulse thundered as the truth I didn’t want to name curled in the pit of my stomach.

I forced a breath, steady, though my chest felt tight as chains. “If you’re wrong,” I whispered to the darkness, to Rose, to myself, “if you’re wrong about him… we both burn.”

Her answer was a growl so deep it shook through me, a promise and a threat all at once.

And for the first time since I became Alpha, I wasn’t sure I was the one in control

I couldn’t breathe. Not properly.

The walls of my office felt too tight, pressing in on me as Rose’s growls rattled in the back of my mind. I paced back and forth across the stone floor, the steady click of my boots echoing against the chamber’s high arches.

Why am I even considering this?

I dragged a hand through my hair, pulling at the roots until it hurt. I was Alpha. Fearless. Made of steel. Yet here I was, restless, my stomach coiled in knots… over a stranger. A beaten half-dead wolf who may very well be a traitor.

What was wrong with me?

I stopped at the tall glass window overlooking the courtyard, the dawn bleeding pale light into the snow below. Smoke from funeral pyres curled lazily into the air, the scent of charred fur still clinging to everything. My kingdom, my pride, my empire built by the hands of warrior women—unshakable, untouchable.

And yet here I was, shaken by a man.

My reflection in the glass glared back at me: sharp cheekbones dusted with soot, pale skin marred by faint scars from a hundred battles, a pair of icy blue eyes that never flinched… until now. My jaw was strong, my lips thin but often curved in smirks that sent enemies trembling. My long hair, black as raven wings, was braided tight and practical for war, though a few strands had slipped free, framing a face carved for command, not softness.

I sneered at myself. Pull yourself together, Rosari’e.

This was weakness. I didn’t tolerate weakness in my soldiers—why would I tolerate it in myself?

But still… my feet kept itching toward the door. My wolf’s voice gnawed at me like a persistent drumbeat: Go to him. Go to him. Go to him.

I exhaled sharply, decision hardening in my chest. Enough of this pacing. Enough of second-guessing. I would see him with my own eyes, and if this was some trap from my enemies, I’d end it myself tonight.

My boots struck against the stone corridor as I left the office, my breath steady, my mask cold. I was Alpha again, every step sharpened into command.

But what I saw next rooted me in place.

Iris.

My best friend. My right hand. The woman who had stood by me in a thousand battles… pacing the hall like a caged animal. Her lips moved furiously as though she argued with herself, hands clenching at invisible enemies.

I froze, watching her from the shadows.

“…should I kill her now?” she whispered to the empty air, her voice cracking under the strain. “Or wait…? No. If I don’t, she’ll never let me lead. She’ll never give me the crown. Rosari’e… she… she has to die.”

My breath left me in a silent hiss.

The wolf inside me stilled. For the first time all night, Rose went silent