Forbidden Desires: Alpha's Human Slave

CHAPTER ONE: THE ALPHA’S SECRET Cassandra had learned long ago how to move without being noticed. In the Alpha King’s pack house, invisibility was survival. She glided across the polished floors with a tray in her hands, head bowed, breaths shallow, praying that today would be quiet. It never was. “Careful, human,” a guard snarled as she passed. His shoulder clipped hers on purpose, sending her stumbling. The silver goblets rattled, but she steadied them before they fell. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. He smirked. “Useless little slave.” Cassandra swallowed the ache in her throat and kept walking. At nineteen, she had spent five years in these walls, scrubbing floors, washing linens, serving meals, enduring insults. She was small, delicate-looking, with warm brown skin and thick curls she kept braided to avoid unwanted attention, but her spirit… that was the problem. She refused to break. And that made the whole pack resent her. Except him. Alpha Jason. He came down the stairs just as she reached the dining hall. His presence always shifted the air, like gravity thickened around him. Tall, broad-shouldered, with intelligent eyes the color of storm clouds, he wore power with effortless elegance. A newly graduated medical prodigy, future Alpha, beloved son of the King and Queen. And impossibly, dangerously kind to her. When his gaze found hers, her breath caught. “Cass,” he said softly. Only he called her that. “Alpha Jason,” she whispered, bowing. He stepped closer. Too close. Close enough for her to smell the crisp scent of pine and something warm and wild beneath it, his wolf. “You’re shaking.” His voice lowered, intimate. “Who upset you?” Her heart thudded. “No one, Alpha. I’m fine.” A muscle jumped in his jaw. “You don’t have to lie to me.” “I’m not...” He touched her hand. A brush of his fingers. Barely anything. But the tray trembled. Heat raced up her arm. She jerked back instinctively, eyes wide, terrified someone had seen. The King and Queen watched everything. They were already suspicious of Jason’s sudden sympathy toward a human servant. But Jason didn’t care. His gaze held hers, full of something she didn’t yet understand, and didn’t dare name. “You should rest after your shift,” he murmured. “You look tired.” Her throat tightened. No one cared if she was tired. “Thank you,” she whispered. His lips curved, too soft for a future Alpha. Then he walked away… but glanced back once. ***** That night, Cassandra couldn’t sleep. She lay on her thin mattress in the servants’ quarters, staring at the ceiling. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Jason’s face. His concern. His touch. The way her body had reacted, like something ancient and instinctual responded to him. But she couldn’t allow herself hope. Not about him. Not about anything. She was a human. Lower than a wolf pup. A slave with no family, no rights, no future. And he was the Alpha Prince. Impossible. Yet when her window tapped softly at midnight, her heart knew exactly who it was. Cassandra sat up, trembling. “Jason?” His voice whispered through the crack. “Let me in.” Her pulse hammered. This was madness. If anyone caught him here... But she unlatched the window anyway. Jason climbed in quietly, landing with a grace no human could match. His gray eyes took in the tiny room that was bare, cold, lifeless. Anger flickered across his face. “They treat you like this?” he murmured. “It’s fine,” she lied. He stepped closer. “Cass… can I be honest with you?” She nodded, breath unsteady. Jason sank onto the edge of her mattress, close enough that their knees brushed. “I can’t stop thinking about you.” Her lungs froze. “You’re kind,” he continued, voice hoarse. “Strong. Braver than anyone gives you credit for. And every time you walk into a room, my wolf...” He swallowed. “He goes silent. Watching. Waiting. Wanting.” Cassandra’s heart pounded so violently she thought it might burst. “Jason,” she whispered, “you can’t… you’re the future Alpha. I’m nobody.” “You’re not nobody.” His fingers lifted her chin. “Not to me.” She should have pulled away. She didn’t. Their lips met, soft at first, hesitant, but filled with all the tension that had been building for months. Her breath hitched as warmth bloomed in her chest, spreading through her limbs. His hand slid to her waist, steady but gentle, drawing her closer. When he pulled her into his arms, Cassandra felt the world fall away. She felt safe. Desired. Seen. They kissed again, deeper, more desperate. His hands trembled against her skin as if holding her was a forbidden thrill he couldn’t resist. She melted against him, her fingers curling into his shirt, craving more. More closeness. More warmth. More of him. But when his breath shuddered against her neck, when his fingertips traced the curve of her hip, something primal surged through her body...desire, longing, need. “Cass…” he whispered, voice low with hunger. “If I stay another second, I won’t be able to stop.” She didn’t want him to stop. But he forced himself to pull back, chest rising hard. “I’m not here to take advantage,” he said softly. “But I need you to know… you matter to me. Too much.” Her eyes burned. “Why me?” “Because my wolf, Leo, has been whispering something impossible.” Cassandra’s breath snagged. “What is he saying?” Jason hesitated. Then, “He thinks you’re our mate.” The world tilted. “No,” she whispered, shaking her head. “That can’t be. I’m human. Wolves don’t...” “Sometimes the Moon Goddess chooses differently,” Jason murmured. “And everything in me feels right when I’m with you.” She stared at him, stunned. Then she whispered the truth that terrified her most: “I don’t want you to leave.” He exhaled, shaky. Relief and desire tangled together. “Then I won’t.” And he kissed her again, slow and deep, pulling her against him as if she was the one thing keeping him alive. The rest of the night passed in whispers, touches, and shared breaths, intimate but unhurried, until he finally slipped out before dawn, promising to return. ***** The next morning, the palace felt different. Everyone sensed something had shifted. The King and Queen sat at the long table, faces carved from stone as Jason entered. “We need to talk,” Queen Anastasia said coldly. Jason stiffened. “About what?” “Your… infatuation with a certain slave,” King Bon growled. Jason’s blood chilled. “How did you..?” “We see everything in our pack house,” the Queen snapped. “And we will not allow our heir to bind himself to a worthless human.” Jason’s wolf snarled inside him. "Mate!" “I love her,” he said through clenched teeth. “And Leo says she is ours.” Queen Anastasia slammed her hand on the table. “A human cannot be a Luna! You will choose a proper she-wolf or you will not inherit the throne.” Jason’s rage thickened the air. “I won’t reject her.” “You won’t have to,” King Bon said coldly. “She won’t live long enough.” Jason froze. “What did you say?” “Nothing you need to worry about,” the King said, voice silky and deadly. “Focus on your duties. We will handle the rest.” Jason lunged forward, fury blazing, but guards restrained him. “Touch her,” he snarled, “and I will...” “You will do nothing,” the Queen hissed. “Because you will never see her again.” ***** But Cassandra did not die. Instead, the beta, a greedy, sly wolf named Harlow, cornered her behind the supply house that afternoon. “You’re coming with me,” he growled. Fear stabbed her chest. “Why? What’s happening?” “Orders from above.” He dragged her toward the forest, but stopped halfway, checking his phone. A smirk spread across his face. “Lucky for you,” he said, “there’s someone willing to pay good money for a pretty little human like you. Dead girls fetch nothing.” Cassandra’s blood iced. He shoved her into the back of a van, bound her wrists, and slammed the doors. The engine roared to life. “Where are you taking me?” she cried. Harlow chuckled. “To someone who likes his toys alive.” Terror clawed her throat. And as the van sped into the darkness, Cassandra felt the last piece of her old life shatter. Then, suddenly, there was a loud bang. The van jerked violently. Tires screeched. Someone had rammed them off the road. Cassandra screamed as the world flipped, and everything went black.