Chapter 11
839 Words
“They wanted to break me in front of the pack, but they forgot something dangerous—wolves bite when cornered.”
The courtyard was louder than usual.
Pack members lined the stone walls, their murmurs echoing across the open space. Some watched with boredom, others with cruel anticipation. Public punishment days always drew a crowd.
And today… I was the entertainment.
I knelt in the center of the courtyard, wrists bound behind my back with thick iron chains meant to suppress wolf strength. The cold metal bit into my skin, making my fingers numb.
Across from me stood Kael.
My twin brother.
My tormentor.
He looked proud.
“Today,” Kael announced loudly, his voice carrying across the courtyard, “our Gamma sister will be reminded of her place.”
Laughter rippled through the crowd.
My stomach twisted, but I forced my face to remain blank.
Survive.
That had always been my rule.
Survive today so I could breathe tomorrow.
Kael began circling me slowly, like a wolf inspecting weak prey.
“You see,” he continued, “Isolde has begun to forget something important.”
His boot struck my shoulder suddenly, sending me crashing sideways onto the stone.
Pain exploded through my ribs.
“She thinks endurance makes her strong.”
Another kick.
I tasted blood.
“But endurance,” Kael sneered, grabbing my hair and forcing my head up so the whole pack could see my face, “only makes a slave last longer.”
More laughter.
My wolf stirred violently beneath my skin.
It hated this.
It hated the humiliation.
The chains rattled as my muscles tensed.
Kael noticed immediately.
His smile widened.
“Ah,” he said softly so only I could hear, “there you are.”
He shoved me to the ground again.
“Look at her!” he called to the pack. “The weak Gamma thinks she has claws.”
My wolf growled.
A low, dangerous vibration inside my chest.
Several wolves in the crowd stiffened.
They heard it.
Kael heard it.
And for the first time in years…
His eyes flickered with something new.
Unease.
He raised his hand to strike me again—
“Enough.”
The single word cut through the courtyard like a blade.
Silence fell instantly.
I didn’t need to look to know who had spoken.
Valen.
The Alpha heir stood on the raised stone platform overlooking the courtyard, golden eyes locked on me.
Or rather—
On the chains around my wrists.
His jaw tightened slightly.
Kael straightened. “Alpha, this is simply discipline.”
Valen descended the steps slowly, each movement controlled and predatory.
Every wolf in the courtyard lowered their gaze as he passed.
Except me.
I couldn’t.
My wolf refused.
It pulsed beneath my skin, reacting to him with a strange mixture of fear and recognition.
Valen stopped in front of me.
Close enough that I could see the faint scar beneath his eye.
Close enough that his scent wrapped around me like smoke.
He looked down at me.
Bruised.
Bleeding.
Chained.
Something dark flashed in his gaze.
“Did I give permission,” Valen asked quietly, “for you to destroy my pack members?”
Kael hesitated.
Just for a second.
“She’s a Gamma,” he replied stiffly.
Valen’s golden eyes sharpened.
“And?”
The word carried a dangerous weight.
Kael’s jaw tightened.
I watched the silent power struggle between them, my heart pounding.
Finally Kael stepped back.
“She forgot her place.”
Valen crouched in front of me.
My breath caught.
He reached out slowly—
And lifted my chin with two fingers.
The courtyard went completely still.
No Alpha heir touched a Gamma like this.
Especially not one being punished.
His eyes studied my face.
My bruises.
The blood on my lip.
Then his voice dropped low enough that only I could hear.
“Why do you endure this?”
The question startled me.
Because no one had ever asked.
I swallowed.
“Because I must.”
His gaze darkened.
My wolf stirred again.
This time not in anger.
But awareness.
Dangerous awareness.
Valen stood abruptly.
The moment shattered.
“Release her,” he ordered.
Gasps erupted from the crowd.
Kael stared at him. “Alpha—”
Valen didn’t even look at him.
“I said,” he repeated calmly, “release her.”
The chains around my wrists were unlocked seconds later.
Blood rushed back into my hands painfully.
I expected Kael to retaliate immediately.
Instead he only watched me.
Cold.
Calculating.
Valen turned away as if the matter no longer interested him.
But as he passed me—
He murmured one quiet sentence.
“So much fire in a wolf meant to crawl.”
Then he walked away.
Leaving the courtyard buzzing with whispers.
I slowly rose to my feet.
My body trembled.
Not from pain.
But from something far more dangerous.
Because for the first time…
The pack had seen it.
The wolf inside me.
And worse—
So had Valen.
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