The Alpha's claim

chapter 3

My New master

*****

As I stepped out from my room into the passage, Enzo and Amanda were standing there like they had been waiting just to make my morning a nightmare. Their faces were twisted into the same cruel smirks they always wore when it came to me.

“See who is heading to the NorthRidge pack today,” Amanda said, folding her arms and shaking her head slowly like my presence irritated her spirit. She grabbed a strand of my hair and yanked it roughly. “I hope this is the very last day I ever set my eyes on you.”

Her voice carried pure hate. It wasn’t just teasing or annoyance—she wanted me gone like I was some stain in her life.

I kept my head down. If there was one thing I learned in this house, it was that reacting made things worse. They fed on reactions. They wanted to see pain.

Enzo moved closer, stepping into my space with that dirty grin he always had. His eyes dragged over me from head to toe like he had the right. “You still get a nice backside, Freya,” he said, and before I could move, he slapped it with so much force I stumbled forward.

Amanda burst into loud laughter.

Heat rushed to my face. I felt humiliated, angry, and helpless all at once.

I blinked fast, refusing to cry. Crying in front of them was like pouring fuel on fire. They loved it too much.

Inside me, anger rose slowly, like something waking up. I imagined scratching that smile off Enzo’s face. I imagined him begging. I imagined him suffering.

But imagination was all I had. Reality was different. If I dared to fight, if I dared to resist, I knew how it would end.

“Move!” Enzo shouted and pushed me hard again. I tried to keep my balance, but my feet slid, and I almost fell.

One tear dropped. I wiped it quickly before it could fall again.

They’ll regret this one day.

I don’t know how.

I don’t know when.

But they will.

“Hey!” Enzo called again, reaching his hand toward me like he wanted to hit me a second time.

I turned around on instinct, fear and anger mixing together. “Don’t touch me again, Enzo,” I said. “Just leave me alone.”

My voice shook. I hated how weak it sounded. It didn’t match what I felt inside.

Enzo laughed in that wicked way of his. “Who gave you the courage to talk to me like that?” He stepped closer, his expression changing into something darker. “You think you’re something?”

His hand rose again, and panic rushed through me. I stepped back, my legs moving me without my permission.

I headed down the stairs toward where my father and Lycril stood speaking with a tall man wearing a black blazer. He wasn’t smiling. He wasn’t friendly-looking either. His eyes moved from me to Enzo like he had seen everything already.

As I reached them, Enzo grabbed me again from behind. His fingers dug into my shoulder, and his other hand slid to my waist. My stomach twisted.

“Leave me!” I struggled and pushed him with all my strength. He staggered backward, surprised that I actually fought him.

Before he could attack again, the stranger cleared his throat.

Lycril immediately smiled, her whole face changing like she had put on a mask. “Freya, this is Xavier, the Beta of the NorthRidge pack,” she said sweetly.

Xavier stepped forward. He didn’t smile back. His eyes stayed fixed on me, serious and observant. “Look up,” he said. His tone wasn’t loud, but it carried power.

I raised my eyes slowly.

His eyes were brown but sharp, like they saw through lies. He studied my face for a while—too long. I felt exposed.

He lifted my chin gently but firmly and turned my face slightly, examining it. “She doesn’t look like someone who has been well cared for,” he said, still holding my chin lightly.

His calm tone made the accusation even stronger.

Lycril gave a nervous laugh. “Oh, she knows we take very good care of her. Isn’t that right, Freya?” She nudged me hard, hard enough to hurt.

“Yes… they take good care of me, sir,” I whispered and quickly pulled my sleeve over my wrist.

But Xavier had already seen enough. He reached out and brushed my hair aside, revealing the bruises on my neck.

His expression became colder.

He didn’t shout. He didn’t ask questions. He simply lifted his hand slightly.

Two men appeared immediately from behind him and pushed Enzo to the floor before he could react.

The sound of Enzo hitting the ground echoed through the room.

I froze—not in fear, but in shock. Enzo had always been the one in control. Seeing him helpless felt unreal.

Xavier walked toward him with steady steps. “You think you can put your hands on her?”

Enzo’s confidence vanished. “Beta—Beta Xavier, please, it was a mistake,” he stuttered.

Lycril rushed forward, trembling. “He didn’t mean anything! Right, Freya? Tell him, Freya!”

I looked at Enzo. His face was pale, his hands shaking. He deserved this. But the fear in his eyes made my chest tighten slightly.

“Freya!” Lycril called again, but her voice had changed—sharp, almost desperate.

I still didn’t speak.

Xavier crouched and grabbed Enzo by the hair, pulling his head up. “A mistake?”

Enzo’s breathing turned rough. “I—I didn’t mean it.”

Xavier looked at his guards. “Strip the skin from his fingers.”

Lycril dropped to the floor immediately, sobbing. “Please, Beta! Please don’t do this!”

She reached for my father, shaking him. “Say something! Stop them!”

But my father stood there without expression, as if none of this had anything to do with him.

Enzo screamed as the guards held his hands down. His cries filled the entire house. Amanda ran to her mother, crying and holding her tightly.

I watched in silence. I wanted him to feel pain. I wanted him to understand what he had done to me. But hearing those screams… something inside me twisted.

“Beta Xavier,” I said softly, “please… stop.”

He raised his eyes to me. “They will stop when I say so.”

Enzo’s cries slowly grew weaker.

Lycril lifted her head and glared at me with pure hatred. “You cursed child! You made this happen! You bewitched my son!”

She rushed at me, her hands stretched out to scratch my face, but Xavier’s men caught her before she could reach me. She kicked and screamed as they dragged her back.

My father finally spoke. “Thank you, Beta Xavier. She is untouched. I give you my word.”

Those words hit me harder than Enzo’s hand ever had.

He sold me out. Again. Without shame.

Xavier turned to me. “Have you packed?”

“Yes, sir,” I whispered.

One of his men carried my small bag as Xavier led me out.

The house behind me looked cold and lifeless—just walls, no home. I should have felt relieved to leave, but instead, a heavy worry settled inside me.

Xavier opened the car door. I entered quietly, and he got in beside me.

The car started moving.

I watched the house fade behind us. The place that ruined me. The place I survived.

If leaving means a new life… then maybe it is worth it.

But every time I looked at Xavier, my heart tightened. His presence was strong, quiet, and unreadable. I didn’t know if I was safe with him.

What kind of world was I going into?

What would happen to me in the NorthRidge pack?

And who was Xavier—really?

The questions filled my mind as we drove through the dark night, taking me away from one nightmare… and possibly into another.