Chapter 17
1131 Words
"The world believed they had broken her… but they had only been sharpening the blade."
The morning air in the Blackwood pack compound was cold enough to bite.
Mist clung to the ground of the training courtyard, curling between the stone tiles like silent ghosts. Warriors were already gathered around the arena, their voices loud and careless as they sparred and laughed.
But slowly, their attention shifted.
Because in the center of the courtyard stood a girl everyone in the pack knew.
Isolde.
Her thin dress clung to her skin from the damp morning air, and bruises from previous punishments still lingered faintly along her arms. She kept her head bowed, strands of dark hair falling forward to hide her expression.
Yet even standing there in silence, she looked strangely… unafraid.
That alone irritated Kael.
He stood across the courtyard beside their father, his arms folded over his chest as he watched her with barely concealed disgust.
“She’s starting to forget her place,” Kael muttered.
Their father’s gaze was colder.
“That is because we have been too lenient.”
Kael smirked.
The surrounding wolves had already begun forming a loose circle around the courtyard. They knew what this meant. Public punishment had become something of a spectacle in the Blackwood pack.
And Isolde had always been their favorite victim.
Kael stepped forward slowly.
The sound of his boots echoed sharply across the stone.
“Look at her,” he called out loudly to the crowd. “Standing there like she’s something important.”
Laughter rippled through the watching wolves.
Isolde kept her eyes lowered.
She had learned long ago that silence often shortened the cruelty.
But Kael hated silence.
He stopped in front of her, towering over her smaller frame.
“You’ve been drawing attention lately,” he continued, circling her slowly. “Walking around like you belong in this pack house.”
A few warriors snorted in agreement.
Isolde’s hands trembled slightly at her sides, but she kept them clenched tight to stop the shaking.
Her father stepped forward next.
“You were a disappointment from the moment you were born,” he said coldly.
The words landed harder than any strike.
“You should have been the one with strength,” he added, glancing proudly toward Kael. “Instead, you became nothing but a burden.”
Something inside Isolde’s chest twisted painfully.
For years she had endured those words.
But hearing them never hurt less.
“You exist to serve,” her father continued. “Not to be seen.”
Without warning, he shoved her.
Isolde stumbled and fell to her knees against the stone courtyard.
A sharp gasp escaped someone in the crowd, though no one stepped forward to help her.
No one ever did.
Kael began pacing slowly around her like a wolf circling prey.
“Tell them,” he said mockingly.
Isolde didn’t move.
“Tell them what you are.”
Her voice came out soft.
“I am your sister.”
The answer only made him laugh.
“No,” Kael sneered. “You are nothing.”
Before she could react, his foot slammed into her ribs.
Pain exploded through her body as she collapsed sideways against the cold stone. The impact knocked the breath from her lungs.
The crowd murmured.
Some watched eagerly.
Others looked away.
But none interfered.
Isolde forced herself to breathe through the pain. The taste of iron filled her mouth where she had bitten her lip.
Her wolf stirred again.
It had been doing that more often lately.
A restless movement beneath her skin, like something ancient shifting in its sleep.
Kael grabbed her arm and yanked her upright again.
“Look at them,” he demanded, forcing her to face the watching pack.
Isolde’s eyes slowly lifted.
Dozens of wolves stared back at her.
Some amused.
Some indifferent.
Some curious.
None kind.
Humiliation burned hot in her chest, threatening to suffocate her.
For a moment she wondered if this would be her entire life.
Endless pain.
Endless cruelty.
Endless silence.
But then something inside her changed.
Not hope.
Not forgiveness.
Something stronger.
Her fingers curled slightly as a strange warmth spread through her veins.
Her wolf stirred again—this time with more force.
A faint vibration hummed through the air around her.
So subtle that most of the pack didn’t notice.
But a few wolves shifted uneasily.
Valen was one of them.
He stood near the outer edge of the courtyard, watching the scene unfold with quiet interest.
At first it had been simple curiosity.
But when that strange energy flickered around Isolde, his wolf reacted instantly.
A low growl rumbled in his chest.
Valen stiffened.
His eyes narrowed as he studied her more closely.
Something about her felt… different.
Even kneeling in the dirt with blood on her lip, she didn’t look broken.
She looked like something waiting.
Kael raised his hand again.
“Say it,” he ordered.
Isolde’s voice trembled slightly, but not with fear.
“I belong to no one.”
The courtyard went silent.
Kael’s face twisted with fury.
The slap came hard and fast.
The crack echoed across the courtyard as Isolde’s head snapped sideways from the impact. She collapsed onto the stone again, her cheek pressed against the cold ground.
For a moment everything was quiet.
Isolde stared at the gray sky above her.
Her vision blurred.
But she still refused to cry.
And deep inside her chest…
Her wolf lifted its head.
Watching.
Waiting.
The faintest shimmer of silver light flickered briefly across her skin before fading again.
Valen saw it.
His breath caught.
His wolf surged violently against his control.
Something primal twisted inside him.
Possessiveness.
Obsession.
Rage.
The girl lying on the ground…
The one he had rejected.
The one he had humiliated before the entire pack…
Was becoming something he didn’t understand.
And the thought that someone else might see her power first—
Might claim her—
Sent a dangerous darkness spiraling through his mind.
Across the courtyard, Kael stepped away in satisfaction.
“Take her back to the servants’ quarters,” he ordered.
Two guards moved forward immediately, hauling Isolde roughly to her feet.
She didn’t resist.
But as they dragged her away, she lifted her eyes one last time.
For a brief moment…
Her gaze met Valen’s.
Something ancient stirred in the air between them.
Not a bond.
Not recognition.
But something close enough to make his pulse spike.
Valen’s jaw tightened.
And for the first time since rejecting her…
A single thought crept into his mind.
What if I made a mistake?
But by the time that thought formed—
Isolde had already disappeared down the corridor.
And the strange power sleeping inside her had only just begun to wake.
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