The Alpha's Forgotten Heir

The Price of Loyalty

The scent of burnt cedar filled the grand hall. I stood near the back pillars, pressing my back into the cold stone. My knees shook, but I refused to sit. Omega rules were simple. You stay standing until a warrior tells you to move.

Two guards hauled Thomas into the center of the room. His hands were bound behind him with thick silver chains. The metal hissed against his skin, raising nasty red welts.

Thomas didn't scream. He kept his eyes on the floor, breathing heavily through a split lip. He got caught trying to erase the duty roster from last night. He tried to cover my shift, so nobody could prove I had gone near the upper floors.

Lucas sat on the heavy oak throne at the end of the hall. He looked like an ancient judge carved from granite. His dark eyes locked onto Thomas. The sheer weight of his pack aura pressed down on everyone in the room. The air grew thin, hard to pull into my lungs.

"You tampered with pack records," Lucas said. His voice echoed off the high rafters. It was low, quiet, and deadlier than a drawn blade. "Why?"

Thomas swallowed hard. "I made a mistake, Alpha. I mixed up the night shifts."

"You lie." Lucas stood up slowly. The room went dead silent. Nobody dared to breathe. "An omega doesn't touch the duty logs unless someone pays him. Or unless he hides a treasonous act."

My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. My palms sweated profusely. Thomas was taking the hit for me. If I kept my mouth shut, they would break his bones or throw him into the rogue territory borders. He had a younger sister to feed. He couldn't afford banishment.

Anyway, why did I expect anything different from this place? High-ranking wolves always burn the little guys to keep their own hands clean.

I took a step forward out of the shadows. The floorboard groaned under my boot.

"He didn't lie about the shift," I called out.

My voice sounded small in the massive hall, but it cut right through the tension. Every head snapped toward me. Guards reached for their silver daggers.

Lucas turned his gaze my way. His eyes flashed a bright, dangerous amber for a split second before settling back to black. The bond in my chest tugged hard, hot and demanding. I shoved the feeling down deep. I forced my face to stay completely blank.

"Step back, Elena," Victoria hissed from her spot beside the throne. She looked stunning in a deep red silk dress, her blonde hair pinned back with gold clips. Her blue eyes glinted with pure venom. "The Alpha is conducting pack business. Omegas don't speak unless spoken to."

"He didn't touch the logs to hide treason," I said, ignoring her completely. I kept my eyes fixed straight on Lucas. "He did it because I begged him to. I lost my task slip last night."

Lucas walked down the low stone steps toward me. Each step was measured, predatory, and silent. He stopped five feet away. The smell of rich pine and winter rain rolled off him, thick enough to choke on.

"You lost your slip," Lucas said softly. He tilted his head, watching me like a hawk studying a mouse. "Or you were somewhere you shouldn't have been."

"I was cleaning the lower archives," I lied straight to his face. "Ask anyone."

"I asked the guard at the archive door," Victoria chimed in, stepping down the stairs to join Lucas. She placed a possessive hand right on his forearm. Lucas didn't pull away. That hurt worse than a physical strike. "He said you left your station early, Elena. Right around that time, someone unlocked the private quarters upstairs."

She was setting the trap. She wanted me to panic.

"I dropped my keys," I said. "Thomas helped me find them. That is all."

Lucas stared at me. He looked for any sign of a flinch, any twitch in my jaw. I kept my posture straight, shoulders back, holding his gaze.

"Remove Thomas from the chains," Lucas commanded without breaking eye contact with me.

The guards hesitated, then unhooked the silver links. Thomas collapsed onto the stone floor, gasping for air.

"Thank you, Alpha," Thomas rasped out.

"Don't thank me yet," Lucas' cold voice echoed. He reached out, his long fingers closing around my chin with brutal force. He tilted my face up. His touch burned through my skin like hot iron. "If the omega takes the blame, she takes the punishment."

Victoria smiled, a tiny sharp twist of her lips.

Lucas leaned down until his breath brushed against my ear. "You think you can play games in my house, girl? You have until sunset to explain why your scent was on my bedsheet."