CHAPTER 3
990 Words
The royal palace was too quiet.
Too clean. Too cold.
Amelia stood at the edge of the balcony outside her new chambers, staring into the snow covered forest below. It stretched for miles, endless and silver under the morning sun. Beautiful. Untouchable. Just like everything here.
She hugged her arms to her chest. The soft velvet gown they’d given her fit too well. It clung to her like it belonged but it didn’t. Nothing did. Not the thick rugs. Not the warm bed. Not even the steaming breakfast tray untouched on the table behind her.
She didn’t belong here.
Not in this palace.
Not beside a king.
Not in his life.
She hadn’t spoken to Ryder since they arrived three days ago. Not properly. He’d brought her to the palace, handed her off to a silent servant named Ava, and vanished into the throne wing.
And every day since, she waited.
For a knock. A word. A sign.
Nothing.
Only silence.
That evening, Ada returned with folded clothes and a bowed head.
“His Majesty requests your presence in the South Wing,” she said. Her voice was flat, but her hands trembled.
Amelia wiped her damp palms on her dress. “Did he say why?”
Ava didn’t answer. Just held out a black cloak.
The South Wing was warmer.
Lit by firelight and gold. Portraits lined the walls past kings and queens with silver crowns and unreadable expressions. Amelia kept her eyes forward.
Her stomach knotted as they reached the double doors.
She expected a throne room.
But it wasn’t.
It was a library.
Dim, massive, and hushed with the scent of old pages and pine.
And there he was Alpha Ryder very standing by the far hearth, a book in one hand, a glass of something dark in the other. He was dressed down. No armor. No crown. Just a black shirt, rolled at the sleeves, and shadows beneath his eyes.
He looked tired.
Worn.
Human.
He glanced up when she entered. “You’re late.”
Her jaw clenched. “I wasn’t told there was a time.”
He smirked faintly. “Fair.”
She hovered by the door. “Why did you call me here?”
He closed the book. “Because I need to understand something.”
He crossed the room slowly, each step measured, quiet as a predator.
She didn’t move. Not even when he stopped an arm’s length away.
“Why did you run from me?” he asked.
Her breath caught. “You mean the first time, or the second?”
“Both.”
She looked down. “Because I was afraid.”
“Of me?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
He nodded, like he’d expected that. Then, softer: “And now?”
Amelia looked up.
And for a second, she hated how much he affected her. Not just his power. But the calm in his voice. The storm in his eyes. The way he saw her and didn’t flinch.
“I don’t know what I feel,” she admitted. “You confuse me.”
“That’s fair too.”
They stood in silence, fire crackling behind him.
Then Ryder turned, set the glass down, and said, “You’re not here as a prisoner, Amelia. You’re free to go anytime.”
She blinked. “What?”
“I didn’t drag you here. I offered you safety. You said yes.”
“I said yes because you threatened my Alpha.”
“I threatened your abuser,” he corrected. “Don’t twist it.”
Her chest tightened.
“Why me?” she asked. “Why not find someone else? Someone stronger. Someone... more fitting?”
“Because when I looked at you,” he said, voice low and certain, “I felt peace for the first time in ten years. And pain.”
She swallowed.
“What happened to your first mate?” she asked before she could stop herself.
His jaw twitched. “She betrayed me. Chose power over the bond. She’s dead now.”
Amelia flinched. “Did you kill her?”
“No.”
The word hit like a stone. Final. Unbending.
“She made her choices,” he added. “And I made mine.”
She looked into the fire. “So now you’ve got another omega. A second chance. Is that what I am to you?”
He stepped closer. “You’re not a replacement.”
“But you don’t love me.”
“I barely know you.”
“So then what is this?” she asked. “Why keep me here? Why look at me like I’m yours when you don’t even”
“Because I will know you,” he interrupted. “Because I’ve had enough of betrayal and lies and wolves pretending they’re better than others. And when the bond snapped into place, I knew. Whether you like it or not, you’re mine.”
Her hands shook. Not from fear. From the weight of it all.
“I didn’t ask for this,” she whispered.
“Neither did I.”
That night, she didn’t sleep in the guest chamber.
She slept in her own room but this time, it felt less like a cage.
The velvet wasn’t so tight. The walls didn’t close in.
And for the first time, she wondered:
Could she grow here?
Could she become more than just an omega?
Could she become a queen?
In the morning, a scroll arrived from the Silverbird Pack.
Jayden was requesting an audience.
Amelia’s blood went cold.
Ryder read it silently, then looked up at her.
“He’s coming in three days,” he said.
“Why?”
Ryder’s eyes darkened. “He wants what he threw away.”
She stared at him. “What are you going to do?”
A long pause.
Then, with a voice like steel:
“I’m going to make him regret ever touching what’s mine.”
- Writer
