The mad alpha's pacifier

Chapter 1 I should have kept my mouth shut, but the banquet made that impossible. Purple fabric draped the hall like royalty trying too hard to prove its legitimacy. Above us, candle flames trembled within crystal chandeliers, casting shifting colors across the long banquet table lined with nobles. Everything sparkled. Everything gleamed. Yet nothing felt alive. The nobles sat in expensive clothing embroidered with status and pride. The women wore flawless makeup, their faces smooth and distant like porcelain masks that had forgotten how to smile. Beneath the polished appearances, however, lingered something bitter. Something rotten. The atmosphere was suffocating—a beggar’s funeral disguised as a celebration. Wine glasses sat half-filled. Platters of food crowded the table so heavily that servants struggled to make room for them all. “Why are we celebrating a harvest that brought no abundance?” I whispered. “Be quiet and eat,” my father muttered. “We are not here to question anything.” I stared at the feast before us. “What exactly am I supposed to eat?” A trace of bitterness slipped into my voice before I could stop it. This isn't a banquet. It's a performance. Our attention should be focused on calming the Alpha King's anger, yet here we are pretending everything is fine. Holding a feast. The laughter around the hall died instantly. Conversations faltered and disappeared. Somewhere, a musician struck the wrong notes, and even the music seemed too frightened to continue. Silence spread through the room like spilled ink. Slowly, I raised my head. Every eye in the hall was fixed on me. I had thought I was whispering, but the frustration burning inside me had made my voice louder than I realized. Loud enough for everyone to hear. “Pah! Pah! Pah! What a speech, Allysia.” Rose Thornhill rose from her seat beside the village chief at the elevated end of the table. As she approached, her wide hips swayed with each measured step. “I've always known you as a quiet girl,” she continued. “Calm. Reserved. But not this brave.” She stopped in front of me, studying my face as though I were some strange creature that had wandered into the hall. “But perhaps I've been seeing you all wrong.” Her smile was warm enough to fool anyone foolish enough to trust it. “You know, I've been struggling with a problem all evening,” she said. “Then you spoke.” She stepped behind me. Her presence settled over my shoulders like a shadow with weight. “And suddenly,” she whispered, running her fingers slowly through my hair, “the solution appeared.” I fought the urge to flinch. “You are quite remarkable, Allysia,” she murmured. “Beautiful. Intelligent. And brave enough to say what everyone else is too afraid to voice.” A chill ran down my spine, but I kept my expression calm. From the corner of my eye, I glanced at my father. He gave a small shake of his head, silently warning me not to argue. But it was already too late. The moment Rose stood from her seat, my fate had been decided. Everyone in the hall knew it. They were familiar with her methods. “You wouldn't mind going to the capital to defend our little town, would you?” she whispered near my ear. My eyes widened. I'm being sacrificed. “Rose, let's sit down and discuss another solution—” my father began. Rose cut him off immediately. “I'm doing this for the good of the town, Jack.” She turned toward him with a bright smile. “We're protecting ourselves from the Alpha King's wrath.” Then she faced the crowd. “After all, it's better for one person to suffer than for an entire village to suffer, isn't it?” Her smile widened. “Or does anyone disagree?” No one spoke. My father wanted to protest, but Rose never gave him the opportunity. “You don't need to say anything, Jack,” she said smoothly. “This was the council's unanimous decision.” By midnight, my future had been sealed. I had been neatly gift-wrapped and selected as the Alpha King's newest plaything. I was to be delivered to him the following morning. If the rumors were true, the Alpha King suffered from a strange condition known as FRA—a sickness of the mind that sent him into violent rages every week. The stories were terrifying. The last three girls sent from neighboring towns had reportedly been beaten to death before surviving a month inside his palace. By then, everyone had already said their silent goodbyes to me. To prevent my escape, they locked me inside a small holding cell in the village square and left me there to await dawn. “Who's there?!” I jerked awake at the sound of shouting outside my cell. Before I could understand what was happening, a series of heavy thuds echoed through the night, as though sacks of grain were being dropped onto the ground. Then silence. Complete silence. The stillness unsettled me more than the noise had. My gaze swept across the cell, searching for anything I could use as a weapon. There was nothing. Then I noticed a shadow beyond the iron bars. Moonlight spilled across the floor, outlining the silhouette of a massive wolf. The creature stood motionless, staring at me. A moment later, it lunged forward. The iron gate exploded inward with a deafening crash. The beast stepped into the cell. Its white fur gleamed beneath the moonlight. Blood stained its muzzle. I looked at it and smiled sadly. “I won't go with you, Dad,” I said quietly. “I belong to the Alpha King now.”