Chapter 15
1046 Words
"The cruelest chains are the ones forged from obsession."
Morning came slowly to the Blackwood pack territory, the pale light of dawn creeping over the towering pines that surrounded the Alpha compound. The air carried the scent of damp earth and pine resin, but beneath it lingered something sharper—something tense.
Inside the pack house, that tension had a name.
Isolde.
Over the past few days, whispers about the Gamma girl had spread like wildfire. Servants murmured about the strange calm that seemed to follow her through the halls. Warriors spoke quietly of the way their wolves stirred uneasily whenever she passed nearby.
None of them could explain it.
But everyone felt it.
Something about her was changing.
Something powerful.
And the pack could sense it, even if they didn’t understand it.
Isolde herself noticed the difference as she moved through the palace kitchens, carefully stacking wooden bowls onto a tray. The room was warm from the large hearth fires, yet she felt strangely cold, as if a breeze followed her wherever she went.
Or perhaps it wasn’t cold at all.
Perhaps it was something else.
Energy hummed faintly beneath her skin, subtle but undeniable. It pulsed in time with her heartbeat, like a distant drum calling from far away.
Her wolf stirred again.
Not violently.
Not loudly.
But enough that she noticed.
She paused near the kitchen doorway, gripping the tray slightly tighter.
That feeling again.
It had been happening more often now. A strange warmth would rise inside her chest, spreading slowly through her veins before fading away again.
She didn’t know what it meant.
She only knew it made her feel… awake.
Alive.
And that terrified her.
Because nothing good had ever come from standing out in the Blackwood pack.
Isolde quickly forced the thought away and carried the tray down the corridor toward the servants’ wing.
But she wasn’t alone.
Across the hall, Valen watched her.
He had been watching her far more often lately.
At first, it had been curiosity. The strange rumors surrounding her had caught his attention.
Now it was something else entirely.
Something darker.
His golden eyes followed every step she took, studying the way she moved. The quiet grace in her movements. The way she held herself straighter lately, despite everything she had endured.
Something about her had changed.
And it infuriated him.
She was supposed to be broken.
Weak.
Nothing more than the pack’s punching bag.
Yet the girl walking down the hallway now carried herself like someone who refused to bend.
Valen clenched his jaw.
His wolf growled inside him, restless and agitated.
He didn’t like the way other wolves had started looking at her either. Those lingering glances. Those quiet whispers.
It made something ugly twist inside his chest.
Possessiveness.
Obsession.
He pushed away from the wall and stepped into the hallway.
“Isolde.”
His voice cut through the quiet corridor like a blade.
She froze.
Slowly, she turned around.
Her eyes met his, and for a moment neither of them spoke.
Valen expected to see fear.
He always did.
But today there was something else in her gaze.
Something steady.
It irritated him immediately.
“You walk these halls like you belong here,” he said coldly.
Isolde lowered her eyes slightly, though she refused to shrink away.
“I’m only doing my duties,” she replied quietly.
Valen stepped closer.
Too close.
He could smell her scent now—soft, warm, carrying something strangely intoxicating beneath it.
His wolf reacted instantly.
The creature stirred violently inside him, pulling toward her in a way that made his pulse spike.
Valen hated it.
He hated that reaction.
Hated that she could affect him at all.
“You forget your place,” he said, his voice dropping into a dangerous murmur.
Isolde’s hands tightened slightly around the tray she carried.
“I haven’t forgotten anything,” she said softly.
The quiet strength in her voice only made his temper flare.
Before he could respond, another voice interrupted from the staircase above.
“How fascinating.”
Valen looked up sharply.
Cassiana stood at the top of the marble steps, leaning lazily against the railing as she watched the scene unfold.
Her dark hair cascaded over one shoulder, and her sharp eyes gleamed with amusement.
She descended the stairs slowly, her boots echoing against the stone floor.
When she reached the bottom, she circled them both like a predator studying its prey.
“So this is the famous Gamma girl everyone has been whispering about,” she said, her gaze settling on Isolde.
Isolde lowered her eyes again.
Cassiana tilted her head slightly.
Interesting.
Even standing in silence, the girl radiated something unusual.
It was faint.
But Cassiana could feel it.
Power.
Raw and sleeping.
A slow smile spread across her lips.
How delightful.
She glanced toward Valen, noting the tension in his shoulders and the way his gaze refused to leave the girl.
Yes.
This would be very useful.
“Tell me, Valen,” Cassiana said lightly, “why is the future Alpha wasting his time arguing with a servant?”
Valen’s jaw tightened.
“She’s not just a servant,” he muttered.
Cassiana’s eyes flickered with interest.
Oh?
Now that was revealing.
She looked back at Isolde thoughtfully.
The girl truly had no idea what she was stirring.
Poor thing.
Cassiana turned away after a moment, already bored with the confrontation.
“Be careful, Valen,” she said casually as she walked away.
“Obsession is a dangerous weakness.”
Valen watched her go with narrowed eyes.
Then his gaze returned to Isolde.
For a moment neither of them moved.
Then he stepped back.
“Go,” he said curtly.
Isolde didn’t need to be told twice.
She hurried down the corridor, her heart pounding wildly in her chest.
But even as she walked away, she could feel it.
That strange pull again.
The energy beneath her skin.
The quiet stirring of something ancient and powerful.
Something that had waited her entire life.
And somewhere deep in the forest beyond the pack lands…
Something else had begun to stir as well.
Something that would soon cross her path.
And when it did…
Nothing in the wolf world would ever be the same again.
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