Claimed by The Alpha King

When Wolves Whisper

Amara

I woke with sweat clinging to my skin and the ghost of a growl still echoing in my throat.

The dream had been a familiar one.

Daniel’s voice—cold and final—reverberating in my skull.

“I don’t want you. You’re an omega. A burden.”

And I had stood there, naked and small, my chest heaving as the bond snapped like brittle glass.

Again.

Again.

Again.

“You need to stop letting him haunt you,” came the voice in my head. Fierce. Female. Ancient.

Nyra.

My wolf.

She’d been quiet for years, ever since Daniel’s rejection. Not silent—just still. Watching. Waiting. But since Lucian had arrived, since the bond stirred again, she had started speaking more often.

Louder now. Sharper.

“He’s dead to us,” she growled. “Why keep reliving what we survived?”

I rubbed my hands over my face and sat up in bed, the sheets twisted around my legs. “Because survival doesn’t mean I’m not still bleeding.”

Nyra huffed. “Then stop pretending you’re not. Or let me take control. I’ll rip out his tongue the next time he comes near us.”

Despite myself, I cracked a smile. “You’re bloodthirsty.”

“I’m protective,” she corrected. “You’ve spent too long letting everyone think you’re weak. Lucian doesn’t.”

My chest tightened.

“I’m not talking about him,” I muttered.

But I was.

And she knew it.

She was part of me, after all.

I got dressed quickly, tying my hair into a low braid, and left the clinic before sunrise. The air was cold and damp, dew clinging to my boots as I walked toward the eastern tree line. The border. The place that always felt like a threshold between the known and the wild.

I didn’t know why I went there.

Maybe to clear my head.

Maybe because something inside me was stirring too loud to ignore.

“Something’s watching us,” Nyra whispered.

I stopped.

My eyes scanned the trees. Nothing moved, but the hair on my arms stood on end. The wind shifted, carrying the faintest trace of something foreign—unclean. Not rogue… but close.

My breath hitched.

Then a voice.

“You shouldn’t be out here alone.”

I turned sharply.

Lucian stood behind me, half-shadowed by the trees, his arms crossed over his chest, his gaze unreadable.

“Following me now?” I asked.

He didn’t smile. “No. Watching the border. You just happen to walk toward trouble.”

“You think I can’t handle myself?”

“I think you’ve been trying to for too long.”

Nyra stirred again, rumbling. “His wolf’s here.”

And I felt it—that other presence. Bigger than mine. Steady. Hot like flame pressed just out of reach.

Lucian stepped closer, his eyes locked on mine. “Ronan says your wolf is pacing.”

“She doesn’t like being watched.”

“Ronan says she’s lying.”

My breath caught.

He was inside my space now, his scent flooding me. Warm, dark, dominant.

Nyra pushed forward, bristling. “He’s testing us.”

“I know,” I whispered back.

Lucian didn’t touch me. Didn’t need to.

The pressure of him standing there, holding back all that power—for me—was enough to make my heart beat faster.

“Something’s coming,” I said softly.

“I know.”

“Are you ready?”

He nodded once.

“I was born ready. But I’m not the one they want.”

He didn’t say it, but we both knew.

They wanted me.

And if they tried, he’d burn the forest down to stop them.

Lucian

She was fire wrapped in ice, and I wanted to burn.

I stood at the border long after she walked away, her scent still hanging in the air like a brand on my skin. She didn’t say much. She never did when her guard was up—but her eyes said more than she knew.

She was scared.

Not of me. Not really.

But of what I made her feel.

Good, Ronan growled in the back of my mind. Fear makes wolves sharper. She’s still listening. That means we still have a chance.

“She’s not prey,” I muttered aloud.

Ronan huffed. I didn’t say she was. But she’s running. Let her run. We’ll catch her when she’s ready to stop.

I started walking back toward the packhouse, mind already working.

Marcus was playing a long game. So was Daniel. But they didn’t understand that I’d already played this war before they ever drew their first map. I wasn’t just fighting for territory or titles this time.

I was fighting for her.

And that meant I needed to move pieces they couldn’t see yet.

At the edge of the training grounds, I found Idris watching a group of warriors spar.

“Has Daniel made contact again?” I asked.

“Briefly. He’s starting to probe for what we know—without looking like he’s doing it.”

“Good. Let him think we’re falling for it.”

Idris turned to me, sharp-eyed. “And the rogue activity?”

“Too quiet. That’s what bothers me.”

Ronan’s voice cut in, low and hard. The storm’s waiting for the perfect opening. It always is.

I nodded slightly. “We need to mark territory around the clinic. Not to claim her. To protect her. If they’re coming for her, I want them to feel my presence before they see it.”

Idris didn’t question it.

By sundown, I’d passed by the clinic three times. Left faint but deliberate traces of my scent in a protective circle. The air would carry it—just enough to trigger instincts in anyone who dared come near.

“Overbearing,” Ronan said with a low growl of satisfaction. But effective. She’ll feel it too.

“She’ll hate it,” I said.

But she’ll be safe.

And that mattered more.

Later that evening, Marcus summoned me to his war room again. He was all pleasantries and wine, offering false intelligence like it was fine-aged truth. Daniel sat in the corner, quiet, letting Marcus speak for them both.

But I was watching him.

The subtle tension in his jaw.

The twitch in his hand.

Ronan stirred. He’s hiding something tonight. Deeper than usual.

“Interesting that the rogues have pulled back,” I said aloud. “Almost as if they’re waiting for something.”

Marcus blinked. “Maybe they’re testing us. Watching for weakness.”

I smiled. “Or maybe they already found it.”

That wiped the smirk off his face.

I stood.

“Thank you for the information, Alpha Marcus. I’ll consider it.”

Then I turned to Daniel.

“And you. I’m sure your loyalties won’t shift again between now and morning.”

His face didn’t move. But something flickered in his eyes.

Caught. Ronan growled. He’s going to try something soon. You feel it?

“Yeah,” I murmured under my breath. “I do.”

And when he did—when Daniel made his move—I’d be waiting.

Not just as the Alpha King.

But as the wolf who’d tear through anyone who dared to touch what’s mine.

Amara

I knew something was off the second I stepped behind the clinic.

Lena was training with Idris, her face flushed, braid swinging as she moved through a knife form he was demonstrating. She didn’t notice me at first—not until he reached for her wrist to adjust her grip and she laughed.

It wasn’t the sound that caught me off guard. It was the way she laughed.

Unburdened.

Unbothered.

And… a little breathless.

Nyra stirred in my chest. Good. She needs someone steady. Idris smells like stone—grounded. Loyal.

I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or a territorial warning.

“She likes him,” I muttered.

Nyra responded with a low, satisfied growl. Let her. She’s earned something soft.

I wasn’t sure when my wolf had gotten so damn perceptive—or so sassy—but she wasn’t wrong.

Still, watching them made something tight coil in my chest. Not jealousy. Just… loneliness. Lena could fall without fear. I wasn’t sure I could fall at all.

“You could,” Nyra said gently. If you stopped pretending you don’t want to.

I turned to head back inside—

And nearly collided with Daniel.

He was too close.

Too sudden.

I stumbled back before I could stop myself, already hating that I looked startled.

“Easy,” he said, hands raised. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You didn’t,” I lied.

His smile was soft, familiar. The kind of smile he used to wear before I knew better.

“I was hoping to talk to you,” he said. “Just for a minute.”

“No,” Nyra snapped. He smells wrong. Off. Like blood on silk.

“What do you want?” I asked, crossing my arms.

He glanced toward Lena and Idris, then back at me. “You don’t have to be afraid of him, you know. Or Lucian.”

I blinked. “I’m not afraid of either of them.”

“I mean… you don’t have to pretend to care about Lucian to stay safe,” he said, lowering his voice. “I can help you, Amara. Still. I know you.”

Nyra surged forward, fangs bared. Bite him. Right now. Draw blood. He’s trying to control us again.

I stiffened, keeping my voice level. “You don’t know me anymore.”

His smile faltered. Just a flicker.

Then it came back.

“I don’t blame you for hating me. But you were mine once. I felt the bond.”

“And then you cut it,” I snapped. “You don’t get to speak like it still exists.”

His jaw twitched.

Then he leaned in, voice dropping low and dark. “Lucian will leave. They always do. When he does, don’t come crawling back.”

Nyra let out a deep, visceral snarl in my head. We should have ended him then. We still can.

I didn’t respond.

I just turned and walked away, not letting him see my hands shaking.

Not letting him see that his words had found the cracks I kept buried.

Inside, Lena caught up to me quickly, eyes sharp.

“What did he want?”

I didn’t answer.

I didn’t have to.

She looked at me, then toward where Daniel had stood.

Her lips pulled into a hard line. “You need to tell Lucian.”

Nyra rumbled. Or let me tell Ronan. He’ll make sure Daniel never speaks again.

“No,” I said aloud.

But my voice sounded weak.

Even to me.

Lucian

The rogue was caught just after sunset.

Tried to sneak through the border under a scent cloak—sloppy work. One of the elite guards took him down before he made it halfway to the training grounds. I arrived ten minutes later, still brushing dirt from my palms after reinforcing scent markers near the clinic.

The rogue was bloodied but breathing. Eyes swollen. Lip split. Not a fighter—just a courier.

Good.

Couriers talked.

He was shackled to a post in the old barn that served as a temporary holding area. I stood before him, arms crossed, letting the silence draw out until he started to squirm.

Idris watched from the shadows. No one else spoke.

Finally, the rogue spat on the ground. “You’re too late, King.”

“Too late for what?” I asked calmly.

He grinned, one tooth missing. “Your pack’s already crawling with shadows.”

Ronan growled inside me. He knows. Ask him who let him in.

“Who gave you access to Red River’s borders?” I asked.

The rogue looked smug. “Your new Beta best friend.”

Daniel.

Not surprising.

But it was what he said next that sent something ice-cold sliding down my spine.

“They said we could have her once you were out of the picture. As payment.”

I went still.

“What did you say?”

The rogue licked blood from his lip. “The omega. The healer. Amara.”

The air in the room shifted.

Cracked.

Ronan roared. His rage nearly knocked me to my knees. His voice was thunder in my skull.

They named her. They planned to take her. They want to mark what’s ours.

I stared at the rogue, heart pounding, hands clenched so tight they trembled.

And for the first time in years, I let my wolf rise.

Not shift—rise.

My eyes burned gold. My aura pulsed so heavy the rogue choked on it.

“She is not yours to promise,” I said, voice like breaking stone.

“She’s already marked,” the rogue sneered.

That did it.

I lunged forward, my claws breaking through skin before I could stop them. I didn’t kill him—not yet. But he’d wear the scars of this night for the rest of his miserable life.

Behind me, Idris finally spoke. “What now?”

I turned, blood dripping from my hand, Ronan snarling inside me like a beast uncaged.

“Now,” I said, “we burn the nest.”

And Marcus?

He’d made the mistake of thinking she was leverage.

But Amara wasn’t a bargaining chip.

She was the fuse.

And I was the explosion waiting at the end of it.