Episode 2: Claimed In Front Of All
1123 Words
The moment he said it—
“She is mine.”
—everything changed.
A suffocating silence swallowed the entire clearing.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Because standing before me wasn’t just any Alpha.
It was Kael Draven—the Alpha King.
And he had just claimed me.
My heart slammed violently against my ribs, confusion and fear crashing into each other inside me.
Mine?
The word echoed in my head, louder than the pain of my broken bond, louder than the whispers that had once defined me.
This didn’t make sense.
Nothing about this made sense.
I was no one.
Nothing.
So why was the most powerful Alpha in existence looking at me like I belonged to him?
“Your Majesty…” one of the elders finally spoke, his voice shaking slightly. “There must be some misunderstanding—”
“There isn’t.”
Kael didn’t even look at him.
His eyes never left mine.
Cold.
Intense.
Unyielding.
I felt pinned in place under that gaze, like prey caught in the sight of a predator—but somehow… I couldn’t look away.
“But she—” Rowan stepped forward suddenly, his voice tight with disbelief. “She’s nothing. She doesn’t even have a proper wolf. You can’t possibly—”
The temperature dropped.
Instantly.
Dangerously.
Kael turned his head—slowly—and looked at Rowan.
That was all it took.
Rowan froze.
I watched as the confidence drained from his face, replaced by something I had never seen before.
Fear.
Real, undeniable fear.
“You rejected her,” Kael said calmly.
Too calmly.
“And now… you question my choice?”
Rowan swallowed hard, his jaw tightening, but he didn’t back down completely.
“I’m just saying—she’s weak. She’ll be a liability to you.”
The words hit me like a slap.
Weak.
Liability.
Even now… even after everything… that’s all I was to him.
Something in my chest twisted painfully.
But before I could react—
Kael took a step forward.
The ground beneath us seemed to tremble with it.
“Careful,” he said softly.
Softly—but it carried a threat so sharp it sliced through the air.
Rowan instinctively stepped back.
“You don’t get to define her worth,” Kael continued. “Not anymore.”
My breath caught.
Not anymore.
The words settled deep inside me, stirring something unfamiliar.
Something fragile… but growing.
For the first time tonight, someone wasn’t looking at me like I was worthless.
And it was the last person I expected.
“This is absurd,” Selene’s voice cut in, sharp and venomous.
I turned slightly, noticing her for the first time—standing just behind Kael, her expression twisted with barely concealed fury.
Her eyes burned into me like I had personally offended her just by existing.
“You can’t just walk in here and claim some… nobody,” she continued, her lips curling in disgust. “She’s beneath you.”
Kael didn’t even acknowledge her.
He simply stepped closer to me.
Too close.
I sucked in a breath as his presence wrapped around me completely—dark, overwhelming, powerful.
“You’re trembling,” he said quietly.
I hadn’t realized I was.
“I…” My voice faltered. “I don’t understand.”
Of course I didn’t.
Nothing about this night made sense anymore.
His gaze softened—just slightly.
Barely noticeable.
But enough to make my heart skip.
“You don’t need to understand,” he said. “You just need to come with me.”
Come with him?
Panic flared instantly.
“I can’t just leave—this is my pack, I—”
“This pack rejected you.”
The words hit harder than Rowan’s rejection.
Because they were true.
Painfully, undeniably true.
I looked around.
At the faces that had laughed at me.
Mocked me.
Turned their backs on me.
Not one of them stepped forward.
Not one of them defended me.
Even now.
Even after everything.
I was alone.
My chest tightened.
And for the first time… leaving didn’t feel impossible.
It felt inevitable.
“I…” I hesitated, my thoughts spiraling.
What was I supposed to do?
Stay here… where I was nothing?
Or go with him… into the unknown?
A dangerous unknown.
Because Kael Draven wasn’t just powerful.
He was feared.
Feared for a reason.
“Lira.”
My name.
On his lips.
Low. Controlled. Certain.
It sent a strange shiver through me.
“Choose,” he said.
But something told me…
This wasn’t really a choice.
Before I could respond—
A sharp pain suddenly shot through my chest.
I gasped, clutching at myself as my knees nearly gave out again.
What—?
It wasn’t like the rejection pain.
This was different.
Hotter.
Stronger.
Like something inside me was… waking up.
“Interesting,” Kael murmured.
My vision blurred as the sensation spread through my body, pulsing under my skin.
“What’s happening to me?” I whispered, panic rising.
No one answered.
But I felt it.
That same energy from before.
The one that had stirred when I found my mate.
Only now…
It was stronger.
Darker.
Alive.
Kael’s hand suddenly closed around my wrist.
Firm.
Steady.
The moment he touched me—the pain shifted.
Not gone.
But controlled.
Contained.
My breath hitched.
“What… are you doing?” I asked shakily.
His thumb brushed lightly against my pulse.
And for a split second—
Everything went quiet.
“You’re unstable,” he said. “You won’t survive here.”
A chill ran down my spine.
Won’t survive?
What did that mean?
Before I could ask—
He turned to the crowd.
“She’s leaving.”
It wasn’t a request.
It was a command.
And no one dared to challenge it.
Not even Rowan.
I glanced at him one last time.
He was watching me.
But there was no regret in his eyes.
No hesitation.
Just distance.
Like I had already become irrelevant.
Something inside me hardened.
Fine.
If I meant nothing to him…
Then I wouldn’t look back.
Kael’s grip on my wrist tightened slightly.
“Come,” he said.
And this time…
I didn’t resist.
As he led me away from the only home I had ever known, I felt it again—that strange pull, deep inside me.
Stronger now.
Awake.
Waiting.
And as we crossed the edge of the clearing, leaving everything behind…
Kael leaned slightly closer to me.
His voice dropped, low enough that only I could hear it.
“You have no idea what you are, do you?”
My heart skipped.
I swallowed hard.
“No…”
A pause.
Then—
“That’s going to be a problem.”
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD