Chapter 3
1279 Words
I wanted to be angry, but my wolf was rejoicing, as if it had found its century mate.
The dungeon was worse than any memory I held. It wasn’t just dark; it swallowed sound. Even an ant crawl would have sounded like thunder.
I sat against the cold wall, hunger ripping out my ribs. They hadn’t fed us since we arrived.
“Leave them.”
Alpha Khalion’s voice cut through the dark. It was calm, the kind of calm that made men obey.
A slice of light shifted at the dungeon mouth. “Turn on the light,” he ordered. When the torches flared, the space revealed itself in all cruelty.
Water pooled along one side, black and still. Something moved beneath the surface, and my breath paused for a moment. A scaled back slid like a shadow. Whatever lived there had teeth the size of my palm. It was not the kind of creature that forgave trespassers.
Restless, I paced. My bare feet slapped the stone. I fell to my knees at the gate, the iron cold against my hands. Alpha Khalion watched without blinking.
He walked to the side, tugged a rope. A trapdoor opened with a groan.
I let the thought come, wild and stupid: Maybe he won’t feed me to it. Maybe he’ll just watch.
He returned to the gate and said, “Come here.”
Fear took the rest of my courage away, but I rose. My voice trembled when I answered. “Yes, my Lord.”
“Listen closely.” He spoke like a man reading terms rather than offering mercy. “I’ll tell you the conditions for your release. Accept them, you live. Refuse, and the animals will celebrate.”
It sounded less like a bargain and more like a promise of pain.
I stared at him, unsure if I heard correctly.
“My… my Lord?”
Alpha Khalion moved closer to the gate. His eyes glowed faintly, like fire hiding in a storm breeze.
“You will serve me. Personally,” he said slowly, each word landing like a threat. “You will speak to no one else in this pack. Not a warrior, not a maid, not even Sion. Only me.”
My mouth fell open, but words refused to come out.
He bent his head but kept a straight face. “Do you understand what I just said?”
“I…”
He raised one finger, silencing me. “You will answer only when I ask. You will be where I tell you to be, when I tell you. If I hear a single word that wasn’t meant for me, I’ll throw you back here and feed you to what sleeps beneath that water.”
My body stiffened. The creature behind me moved, its scales brushing against the pool’s surface like a warning.
“Yes, my Lord,” I managed to whisper.
Just when I thought he was done, he dropped what will destroy me before his next punishment.
“You owe no one any explanation. No matter what the situation is, you must never explain to anyone that this is why you are doing this.”
I bowed. “Yes my Lord.”
He turned away, his cloak dragging across the stones. “Good. Then clean yourself up. Tomorrow at dawn, you will begin your service.”
The gate slammed shut behind him.
For a long while, I just knelt there. My wolf was still howling, wild and eager, but my human side wanted to scream.
Personal servant.
That won’t be all bad. At least I won’t have to serve that witch; Sion.
Though, this will just make me the most hated person in the pack, the cursed girl who thinks she is above everyone else.
I rested my forehead on my knees. “Why me?” I murmured in silence.
The water rippled again, almost as if something was laughing in the dark.
The sound of the horn woke me up the next morning, deep, ancient, and heavy enough to shake my bones.
I hadn’t slept all night. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the glowing eyes of the crocodile behind the dungeon, and the Alpha’s voice echoing in my head repeatedly.
You will serve me. Personally.
When the guards opened the dungeon gate, I moved back, because it came as a shock.
“Get up, cursed girl,” one of them barked. “The Alpha wants you alive today.”
They poured a bucket of cold water over me and threw an old dress at my feet. They couldn’t let me wash up properly.
It wasn’t like the other maids’ clothing, mine had no color, no symbol of the pack. I looked like something dragged in from a forgotten war.
The castle halls were alive now, filled with murmurs, whispers, and footsteps.
As I walked behind the guards, I could feel eyes on me. The maids stopped working to stare. The warriors smirked.
“That’s her,” one of them whispered. “The cursed new girl who caught the Alpha’s attention.”
“She doesn’t even belong here,” another added. “I hate to see her face. I feel like she is waiting for the right time to strike. She doesn’t look genuine.”
Their words burned through me like poison.
The guards pushed open the great door to the Alpha’s chamber.
The air inside was different and thicker, filled with power and scent.
Alpha Khalion stood by the window, shirtless, his back covered in old scars. Sword marks, showing what made him a strong king.
I wasn’t surprised, because I expected even more from him, because that’s part of what makes a king a true king.
“Leave us,” he said without turning.
The guards bowed and left, closing the door behind them.
For a long moment, I said nothing. My wolf was restless again, pacing inside me.
“Come here,” he said finally.
I obeyed, keeping my eyes on the floor.
He turned around, studying me with that same calm danger in his gaze.
“You will start your duties now,” he said. “When I speak, you listen. When I move, you move. You do not ask why. My words are your existence.”
“Yes, my Lord,” I answered softly.
He walked past me, his scent brushing against my skin, strong wood, smoke, and something wild.
He murmured, almost to himself. “Let’s see if your curse can serve better than it destroys.”
I didn’t understand what he meant, but as his words kept my thoughts busy, my wolf shivered again, not out of fear this time… but something else.
Something that seemed out of my emotional control.
I stepped out to gather the things I would need for my new duties.
Sion had already shown us where everything lay during training.
As I made my way back to the Alpha’s chamber, a sudden force struck me from behind. I stumbled, the basin slipped from my grasp, and water splashed across the stone floor.
I turned and saw two maidens standing behind me, I looked at them from their feet to their head. Their eyes burning with contempt.
Before I could speak, one of them sneered.
“You cursed creature. You’ve bewitched the Alpha into choosing you as his personal servant, a place I’ve trained half my life for.”
Her words pierced with venom as she kicked me hard in the ribs.
Pain striked through me, but I didn’t cry out.
If only they knew what it meant to be in my position.
If only they knew the curse that came with it.
- Writer
