The Slave Who Could Tame The Alpha

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 9

Liana pov

Guards pushed through the crowd, barking orders and shoving servants out of the way.

Two men stepped forward with a coarse cloth to cover Flora’s body. The bloody linen dragged over her face, hiding her wide, staring eyes, but it did nothing to erase the image burned into my mind. They hauled her away like trash, leaving only a dark, wet stain on the dirt courtyard.

I couldn't move. My feet felt glued to the courtyard, my heart hammering against my ribs. A girl who was alive and crying at my feet just a few hours ago was now dead. Just like that.

"Back to work, all of you! There's nothing to see!" Madam Mira’s sharp voice echoed across the yard, breaking the spell.

The crowd dispersed quickly, everyone scattering back to their posts, terrified of drawing any unwanted attention.

I forced my legs to move, picking up my rag and bucket from where I had left them in the corridor.

My hands trembled as I dipped the rag into the water. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Flora’s lifeless face staring up at the grey morning sky. How could this happen? The palace was supposed to be protected.

Nothing made sense anymore, the strange voice in my head, my missing wolf, and now a maid brutally killed right outside the stable doors.

Who did it? Why is everyone so calm? Isn’t any investigation going to be done to find the perpetrator?

I scrubbed the wooden wall blindly, my mind floating completely away from the task. The physical ache in my chest was gone thanks to the medicine Lord Vance gave me, but a cold, uneasy feeling lingered deep in my gut. I was so lost in my thoughts that I barely noticed the sudden silence in the halls, followed by a rush of hushed excitement.

Fast footsteps echoed down the stone corridor. Several maids were running past me, their skirts rustling loudly as they hurried toward the southern archway.

"Hurry up, or we won't get a good spot!" someone squeaked.

I blinked, snapping back to reality as the last of the maids rushed by. Dropping my rag into the bucket, I wiped my hands on my apron and followed them out to see what was happening.

The main training grounds were packed. Servants, guards, and lower nobility lined the high balconies. Down below, weapons glinted in the sunlight, and the heavy thud of wooden shields clashing against steel filled the air.

It was the Hunter Trial.

I had heard about it in hushed rumours around the quarters. Once a year, the pack gathered to select new hunters, the elite warriors who guarded the borders and executed the Alpha's orders. Candidates proved their strength, speed, and combat skills in brutal trials before the royal family.

Giggles and hushed whispers broke out around me as the maids leaned over the railing, pressing their hands to their cheeks.

"Look at Alpha Ryker..." one of the girls sighed, her voice practically dripping with adoration. "He's so powerful. Just look at him."

My gaze drifted briefly toward the raised royal platform at the head of the arena. Alpha Ryker sat on a high carved wooden chair, his posture rigid and commanding.

Even sitting still, he radiated an overwhelming pressure that made the air feel thin. His dark eyes were cold, calculating every movement in the arena below. He was in his military uniform, and his jaw was set in a tight, unreadable line.

He was terrifying, magnificent, and entirely out of reach, a storm wrapped in human flesh.

The girls around me couldn't take their eyes off him, whispering about his strength and praying he might glance their way. But I barely looked at him. My eyes shifted right past the Alpha, landing on the figure sitting just beside him.

Lord Vance.

Unlike his brother, Vance leaned back comfortably in his seat, watching the fights with a soft, relaxed expression.

The sunlight caught his fair hair, making it look almost golden. He wore a simple, elegant shirt, devoid of the harsh leather and steel his brother favoured. He looked gentle and safe.

I stood near the back of the crowd, leaning against a cold stone pillar, staring at him in quiet admiration. He was the only person in this vast, terrifying palace who had shown me an ounce of kindness without expecting anything in return. He had knelt in the dirt for me. He had spoken up for me when I was helpless on the floor.

A quiet warmth bloomed in my chest as I watched him turn to say something to a guard beside him, a small, polite smile gracing his features. For a brief moment, the horror of Flora's death and the cruel taunts of Casidy faded into the background.

Watching him felt like a quiet anchor in the middle of a storm.

The crowd erupted into loud cheers as two warriors collided in the centre of the sand below, but the sound felt distant to my ears. I stayed rooted to my spot near the pillar, completely absorbed in my own world.

Suddenly, a cold, bony hand gripped my wrist.

I jumped, gasping softly as I was yanked back a few inches behind the shade of the stone pillar. My heart leapt into my throat, thinking Madam Mira had caught me slacking.

I turned quickly, ready to apologise, but it wasn't Madam Mira.

Standing before me was an old woman. She was extraordinarily short, barely reaching my chest, draped in a heavy, threadbare cloak despite the warm sun.

She had deep carved wrinkles lined up on her pale face, and her hair was a messy nest of silver strands poking out from her hood. But her eyes were startlingly bright, a sharp, piercing grey that seemed to look right through my flesh and blood, straight into my soul.

I had never seen her around the palace before.

"Ex-excuse me..." I stammered, trying to gently pull my wrist back from her surprisingly firm grip.

"Do you need help, ma'am?"

The old woman didn't answer right away. She leaned in closer, her nostrils flaring slightly as if she were catching my scent. Her grip tightened on my arm, her long, yellowed fingernails digging lightly through the fabric of my sleeve.

Her gaze flicked up to the royal platform where Alpha Ryker and Lord Vance sat, then snapped back to my face with an intense, terrifying urgency.

"Listen to me, child," her voice came out as a raspy, papery whisper.

"What?" I asked, my brow furrowing in confusion and rising fear. "What are you talking about?"

She leaned in right up to my ear, her cold breath chilling the side of my neck as her grey eyes locked onto mine with absolute, desperate seriousness.

"Don't let them find out who you are."