Under the Alpha’s Protection
529 Words
The pack didn’t leave after the warning.
They stayed.
Watching.
Judging.
I felt their eyes on me even when no one spoke, their distrust hanging thick in the air like smoke. Ronan led me through the clearing, his hand resting lightly at the small of my back—not possessive, but protective.
And everyone noticed.
“She doesn’t belong here,” someone muttered.
Ronan stopped walking.
The temperature dropped instantly.
“She belongs with me,” he said, his voice calm but edged with steel. “And that makes her my responsibility.”
A low growl rippled through the crowd.
The same sharp-eyed woman from before stepped forward again. “Protection comes with rules, Alpha.”
Ronan met her gaze. “Then speak them.”
“She will stay within pack territory,” the woman said. “She will not wander alone. And she will be guarded at all times.”
I stiffened. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
Several wolves scoffed.
Ronan turned to me, his voice softer. “Just for now.”
I exhaled slowly and nodded. “Fine.”
The woman continued, “If the bond deepens—”
“It won’t happen without her consent,” Ronan cut in.
Silence.
Then a few surprised murmurs.
I looked at him sharply. He didn’t look away.
“That is my word,” he added. “As Alpha.”
Something shifted in the air.
Reluctantly, the woman inclined her head. “Then she is under Alpha protection.”
The words echoed louder than I expected.
Under Alpha protection.
Ronan guided me away from the crowd toward a smaller stone cabin near the edge of the grounds. The moment the door closed behind us, the tension I’d been holding shattered.
I sank onto a chair. “They hate me.”
“They fear what you represent,” Ronan corrected. “Change.”
I laughed weakly. “That makes me feel so much better.”
He crouched in front of me, his gaze steady. “You were brave tonight.”
“I was terrified.”
“Both can be true,” he said.
I hesitated before asking the question burning in my chest. “If this gets worse… will you still protect me?”
His answer was instant.
“With my life.”
The bond surged, warm and fierce, wrapping around my heart like a promise. I felt it then—clearer than ever.
Ronan wasn’t just guarding me from his world.
He was standing between me and every danger it held.
A howl echoed in the distance—long, warning, and not from within the pack.
Ronan’s head snapped up, his body going tense.
“That wasn’t ours,” he said.
Fear crawled up my spine. “Rogues?”
“Yes.”
He stood and extended his hand to me. “Stay close to me, Elara. From this moment on, you don’t face this world alone.”
I took his hand.
And as his fingers closed around mine, one undeniable truth settled deep inside me—
Being under the Alpha’s protection might be the only thing keeping me alive.
And the one thing that could destroy us both.
- Writer
