Bound To The Broken Alpha: Read Chapters 1-5

“I thought betrayal would come from my enemies, not the person I trusted most…”

Amy’s POV

“Tomorrow, you’ll marry Alpha Daniel Carter.”

The words cut straight through me. No warning. No buildup. Just a bomb dropped in the middle of Mrs. Smith’s study.

I blinked at her, certain I’d misheard. My chest felt too tight to breathe.

She sat there like she always did—perfect posture, hands folded, shadows from the desk lamp carving her cheekbones sharper than knives. She wasn’t just my foster mother. She was the Beta’s widow. And when she spoke, the whole pack listened.

The pack house around us was silent. Too silent. My foster siblings were asleep upstairs, wolves tucked safe under their skins. Only the wolf-bone clock on the wall ticked, each sound like it was counting down to my execution.

Eve stirred inside me, restless. “Trouble,” she whispered, her ears pinned back.

I swallowed hard. My voice barely worked. “Marry… Alpha Daniel Carter?” Saying his name out loud made the room tilt.

“Yes.” Her eyes didn’t soften, not even for a second. “Clara refuses. So you will step in. This isn’t a request, Amy. It’s decided.”

I froze where I stood. For a moment, I thought I had misheard her. Eve went still under my skin.

I stared at her, trying to make sense of her words. Alpha Daniel Carter. The heir of the richest northern pack. His family controlled the city’s council and half its territory, with more enemies than allies. But after the rogue attack two moons ago, Daniel had been in a coma—his wolf silenced, his body still, bound under the Moon Goddess’s curse. Everyone whispered he would never wake again.

And yet, they still wanted a Luna for him. A wife to carry the title, to stabilise their name, to keep their empire from crumbling by birthing an heir.

The plan was for Clara—my foster sister—to take that role. But Clara refused. Of course she did. She had always been good at escaping responsibility when it suited her. She always had her way and for some reason, Mrs. Smith always let her.

As usual, I was the scapegoat for whatever Clara refused to do, and now Mrs. Smith wanted me to replace her. Eve’s tail lashed once inside me.

“They throw you at a cursed Alpha as if you’re a scrap.”

I almost laughed, but the sound died before it could escape. Me? Marry a man who couldn’t even look at me, let alone speak? But the seriousness in Mrs. Smith’s tone told me she wasn’t giving me an option.

I wanted to protest. I wanted to argue. But I didn’t. Not after the news that had broken earlier that day.

Mark Wilson.

The man I had loved and sacrificed everything for. The man I believed in when no one else did. The man I thought I would spend my life with.

That morning, every pack channel had carried the same announcement. Mark was holding his mating ceremony with Clara Hayes.

Clara. His ex, my foster sister. The one who had abandoned him when he lost everything. The one who now returned, weak and fragile with an illness she refused to name.

The image of them standing together at the council steps was burned into my mind. Mark had stood tall, his arm around Clara as if she were his greatest treasure. He had smiled when he said he wanted to comfort her, that it was his duty.

His words were for the public, but the details were what destroyed me.

The silver band he once promised would mark our mating bond was now fitted for Clara’s hand.

The Luna cloak I had spent months sewing with my own hands—stitched late at night by candlelight, every seam perfect—was altered to fit her size.

And the crest. The moonstone bloodline crest my parents had left me before they died—the only thing I had of them. Mark had promised to return it to me on my birthday. Instead, he had clasped it around Clara’s neck. She said she liked it, and he gave it away as if it had no meaning.

I remembered the winter night rogues attacked the border. Mark had staggered home with a broken sword, his life hanging by a thread. The council threatened to strip him of his position if he didn’t replace it by dawn. I pawned my mother’s locket—the last thing I had of her—to buy him another blade. He kissed me then, whispering I was his salvation. Now that same mouth kissed Clara like I was nothing.

Another memory seared my chest: standing in front of the council elders, taking lashes for his mistake. My back had burned for weeks, but Mark had smiled that night at the feast, his reputation spotless. He never once thanked me.

When I confronted him, he didn’t deny any of it.

“Mark,” I whispered, clutching his sleeve, “you promised me. You swore we would be mates.”

He peeled my hand away as though my touch disgusted him. His eyes, once warm, were frozen and void of any kind emotions.

“You’re being selfish, Amy,” he said, voice flat. “Clara doesn’t have much time left. If you loved me, you’d understand. You’d let me give her this comfort.”

My wolf whimpered inside me. My throat burned as I choked out, “What about me? After everything I’ve done for you?”

He said nothing. The silence was worse than a blade.

That was when it finally sank in—his love had never been unconditional. It always came with terms. And those terms had never once included me.

So when Mrs. Smith demanded I marry Alpha Daniel Carter, I didn’t nod right away. This wasn’t obedience anymore; it was her last attempt to make me feel small, disposable. My knees gave out under me, the folder slipping from my hands as I whispered, “No… you can’t. You can’t throw me at a cursed Alpha like I’m nothing.”

Mrs. Smith didn’t blink. “I already have.”

The silence pressed until my lungs burned. My pride cracked, my chest caved. I bit down on a sob until I tasted blood, then forced the word out like poison.

“As you wish”

The next day, I was taken to the Carter estate. Their fortress rose high above the city, carved from precious stone and glass, glowing faintly with protective runes. Guards in wolf-armor lined the gates, eyes following me as the car pulled in. The walls carried the weight of both power and fear.

Inside, the halls smelled of polished marble and moon-oil candles. Servants moved quietly, heads bowed, as though speaking too loud might wake the Alpha heir himself. The air hummed with dominance, even in his absence.

When I entered Daniel’s room, the air changed. He was still on the large bed, his body pale but strong. Machines hummed softly beside him, monitoring his vitals.

Silver markings glowed faintly on his skin, the last attempts of the healers. To anyone else, he looked gone, trapped in a place he might never return from.

But I felt something else, because the moment I stepped closer, an unseen force pressed against my chest. My hand trembled when I reached for his. His skin was warm, too warm for someone supposed to be a ghost of himself.

For a brief second, claws flickered at the tips of his fingers before retracting. My breath hitched. Eve stiffened.

“His wolf isn’t gone,” she whispered. “Something’s holding him back.”

I tightened my grip on his hand, leaning closer. My pulse raced, but not from fear. From certainty. His wolf was alive, and it was responding to me.

I pulled back quickly, pretending nothing had happened, but the Carters noticed. His mother’s eyes narrowed when she saw how long I held his hand. His uncle leaned close to Mrs. Smith later, whispering words I couldn’t catch. Their gazes followed me everywhere; it was suffocating.

That night, I couldn’t sleep. I wandered the halls of the estate, careful to stay quiet. The doors were tall, the ceilings high, and every shadow felt alive with eyes. The smell of iron and incense clung to my clothes. Eve paced inside me, restless.

It was near the end of the hall that I heard voices, low and urgent, coming from the study. I moved closer, keeping to the wall. The door was slightly open, just enough for me to hear.

“…she’s the only one who can stir his wolf,” a man hissed. “Wake him first. Then decide if she lives—or if she’s more useful dead.”

Amy’s POV

“She’ll do,” Daniel’s uncle, the pack Beta said. “Her bloodline is the key. It’s old, rare. If we bind her to Daniel, his wolf will rise.”

“And if it kills her?” his mother asked, her voice cold.

“Then so be it. The Carters lineage will continue. That’s what matters.”

I pressed a hand to my mouth, forcing myself to stay silent. My heart pounded so loud I was sure they would hear it. Eve pressed close inside me, tensed.

“They don’t see a Luna, they see a vessel,” she whispered.

They didn’t just want me as a stand-in bride. They wanted me as a sacrifice.

All my life, I had wondered why I was different. Why my blood never matched anyone else’s when tested by the healers, why elders sometimes stared too long during moon gatherings. I never understood. And now, I knew they did. They believed binding me to Daniel would wake him, even if it cost me my life.

I should have run. I should have gone to the Council, told them what I heard.

But I didn’t. Instead, I stayed.

Because when I looked at Daniel again, I felt something deep, something calming. He wasn’t just a man in a coma. He was an Alpha still fighting beneath the curse. His wolf was clawing to return, and somehow, I was the only one who could hear his call.

And maybe, just maybe, if I could bring him back, I could finally prove I wasn’t disposable. Not to Mark. Not to Mrs. Smith. Not to anyone.

I returned home and the memories came rushing back. I had known for weeks that Mark was slipping away from me, but the way he ran every time Clara called made it unbearable. She had returned to the pack a month ago, sick and frail, and from the moment she stepped foot inside our territory, he chose her over me.

That night, her name flashed across his phone again. I sat in the living room, waiting, hoping maybe this time he would ignore it. He didn’t.

“Mark,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm, “can’t it wait until morning?”

He barely glanced at me. “She says she’s coughing blood, Amy. I have to go.”

Eve growled low, the sound rolling through my ribs.

“He is always picking her. Never us.”

“Do you hear yourself?” My hands shook in my lap. “Every time she calls, you leave. What about me?”

He grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. “Don’t start this tonight.”

And just like that, he was gone. No goodbye. No reassurance. Just the sound of the door closing behind him.

I remembered the nights at his hospital bed after rogues nearly tore him apart, my palms blistered from grinding herbs the healers had already given up on. I whispered prayers until my voice was raw, but when his eyes finally opened, he didn’t thank me—his first word was Clara’s name.

Now he was gone again, and I was left staring at the space he’d abandoned. My chest felt carved out, my ribs too weak to hold what was left of my heart. I pressed my face into my hands, but the sobs broke free anyway, shaking me until my whole body ached. Inside me, my wolf gave a broken howl, the sound so hollow it rattled through my bones.

I had sacrificed everything for him—my time, my pride, even risked my standing in the pack when he was accused of negligence after his accident. I fought for him when no one else would. Yet, all it took was Clara’s weak voice through the phone, and he left me behind.

That was the moment I decided I was done.

The next morning, with swollen eyes and trembling hands, I forced myself to gather everything that tied me to him. At first, I couldn’t do it. My fingers shook as I held the bracelet he once tied around my wrist during the Spring Moon Festival, his wolf howling beside mine while the pack blessed us. I wanted to throw it back in his face, but my wolf whimpered as if tearing it away would kill her too.

Still, I ripped it in two. The beads scattered across the floor, clicking against the wood like tiny bones. A sacred token of unity—shattered, like us.

One by one, I sold the rest. The jewelry he had given me, the car he bought when he said I deserved “a princess life,” even the gowns I wore at pack banquets by his side. Each sale felt like slicing a piece of myself away.

By the end of the day, I had twenty million dollars in my account. Enough to start fresh. Enough to walk away without looking back. But not without scars.

I would ensure I marry Daniel Carter in a month. Specifically on Mark’s birthday.

It wasn’t just revenge. It was a clean break.

At Mark’s villa, I packed the last of my belongings. The rooms were too quiet, the air heavy with memories I didn’t want anymore. The bed we shared, the closet we filled together, the pictures on the wall.

When Mark would return home that night, the villa would be dark. He once told me he hated the dark, and for years, I left the lights on for him no matter how late he returned. But not this time.

I wasn’t there when he walked in, and I never would be again.

The villa was dark when I left it, but my phone wouldn’t stop buzzing in my pocket. My hands shook as I pulled it out, afraid of what I’d see.

A new message from Mandy, the housemaid, flashed on my screen.

“Miss Amy, please… can you come back? The Alpha is so angry. He smashed the vase, shouting, and now he’s on the phone telling someone to find you. I’m scared… I don’t know what he’ll do”.

The words blurred as my eyes filled with tears. I bit down on my lip so hard I tasted blood, but it didn’t steady me. My wolf pressed against my ribs, whining, terrified. Mandy was right to be scared. Mark wasn’t grieving. He wasn’t broken. He was furious. And fury meant danger—not just for me, but for anyone near him.

I typed back with shaking hands:

“Don’t be afraid, Mandy. He will not hurt you”:

Then another notification appeared. A voicemail. My chest seized as I pressed play.

“Amy. Where are you?” His voice was sharp, stern. Then he pause, breath jagged like he was holding back a roar. “Answer me.” Then colder, final, each syllable a blade: “You don’t get to leave like this.”

The message ended, but my body didn’t stop shaking. My knees buckled, and I pressed myself against the wall of the hotel hallway, gasping for air like I’d run miles. I could still hear his voice circling in my skull, heavy and inescapable.

He wasn’t begging. He wasn’t broken. He was hunting me.

The next morning, I handed in my resignation. I didn’t want his name over me anymore. I didn’t want to be tied to his company, his power, or his shadow. I had dreams of my own, ones I buried for him.

Since I was a child, I wanted to be a healer—not just the kind who stitched wounds in a clinic, but one who understood both medicine and the ways of the pack. To study anatomy under bright hospital lights and still know which roots calmed a wolf’s fever, which runes steadied a shifting heart. It wasn’t glamorous compared to the life he wanted for me, but it was mine. And now, I finally had the chance to chase it.

When I arrived at the Mark-Wilson Group offices, the air shifted. People stared over the rims of their screens, whispering low, their wolves scenting the tension clinging to me. News traveled fast in a pack. They knew something had happened, though none of them dared ask.

The company’s glass floors gleamed under the lights, every inch humming with power. This was Mark’s world—high-rise meetings, council contracts, the empire he built from the ground up with Wilson money at his back. And for years, I had been part of it, his shadow in the boardroom, the one who smoothed every snarl before it could reach him.

Now I was packing the last of my files into a single box. My badge, my pens, the notes I kept in neat stacks—all of it felt meaningless.

Bella, one of the junior secretaries, stopped me near the elevators. Her voice was careful, almost timid.

“Amy… please wait.”

Her eyes darted to the glass doors behind me, her face pale.

Amy’s POV

Her hands twisted nervously around the folder she carried. “Amy, please,” she said softly, “just this once. Deliver this file to Alpha Wilson’s office. If it’s late, I’ll be in trouble.”

I hesitated. The last thing I wanted was to see him. But Bella had always been kind to me, and a strong voice inside me said this would be the last time I ever stepped into that office—his office, the seat of both a company and a pack.

“Fine,” I said, taking the file. “But just this once.”

The corridors hadn’t changed, but each step felt like walking through ghosts I wanted to forget. The scent of power lingered in the air—sharp, heavy, impossible to scrub away—like dominance had seeped into the very stone. By the time I reached his office, the door stood ajar, a sliver of darkness waiting for me.

I froze. Clara’s voice slipped through the crack, soft and fragile.

“Mark, I feel so weak,” she whispered.

I peeked inside. She was draped across his lap, her arms around his neck, her head resting against his chest. Her lips brushed dangerously close to his.

And Mark—he didn’t push her away.

My stomach lurched. The folder nearly slipped from my hands as my fingers went numb. Heat rushed to my face, then drained so fast my knees buckled. Eve let out a broken snarl inside me, clawing at my ribs, but my throat refused to release the scream building there.

I remembered skipping meals so he wouldn’t go hungry, lying to healers that his wounds were minor just so his pride wouldn’t take another blow. I stayed awake for nights on end, watching over him when fevers threatened to break him, and I silenced my wolf each time she cried at how little he gave back.

All the while, I told myself love meant sacrifice. But staring at him now, with Clara in his arms, I finally understood—I had only been bleeding myself dry for nothing.

And there he was, letting her cling to him like I had never existed.

“Clara,” he murmured, his voice low, “don’t strain yourself.”

Her face tilted up, lips parting as though to kiss him. My hands clenched around the file until the edges cut into my skin. I should have barged in. I should have shouted. But I couldn’t move. My body shook too violently, my wolf howling in my chest.

Then, something unexpected happened. For the first time in weeks, my wolf stirred. It wasn’t a faint hum—it was sharp, sudden, and undeniable. My chest tightened, and a strange pull ran through me. Not toward Mark. Not toward the man I once thought was my mate. But toward something else entirely.

“He’s not yours,” my wolf whispered, her voice curling hot against my bones.

“He never was. The bond belongs elsewhere.”

“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. Bonds were once in a lifetime. That’s what the elders taught. That’s what I built my life around. And yet, the pull was there—steady, insistent—dragging me away from Mark. Away from the pain. Toward Alpha Daniel Carter.

Tears blurred my vision as I staggered back from the door, choking on the truth. I didn’t understand how. I didn’t understand why. But my wolf was certain.

I pressed a hand to my chest, steadying my breath. My life had just changed again.

I wasn’t just walking away from Mark. I was walking toward something far more dangerous, far more powerful.

I stepped further back from the door. My first thought was to leave before anyone saw me. But as I turned, I nearly ran straight into Brian, his Beta and assistant. He stopped short when he saw me. His eyes flicked toward the office, then back to me, and pity crossed his face.

“Amy,” he said quickly, his voice low, “wait.” He hurried after me as I walked away.

“There’s nothing to wait for,” I said.

“You’re misunderstanding. Mark still cares about you. You don’t know how many times he…”

“Brian.” I stopped, turning to face him. My voice was steady even though my hands were trembling. “I don’t want that kind of love. Not anymore.” I held out the envelope. “My resignation is in this file. You can give it to him.”

Brian’s brows drew together. As Beta, he had the authority to accept it on Mark’s behalf. But I could see the hesitation in his eyes. His loyalty was divided—his duty to his Alpha clashing with his conscience.

“I should take this to him first,” he said quietly. “Give him a chance to explain.”

“Do what you want,” I replied, handing him the folder. “But I’m not coming back.”

Brian didn’t argue again. He just took the envelope, his jaw tight, and walked back down the hall.

As I turned to leave, voices spilled into the hallway. Mark’s chair scraped hard against the floor, followed by the sharp crack of porcelain shattering.

“Brian,” his voice thundered, raw with fury, “find her.”

My stomach dropped. My vision blurred as I staggered back, pressing a hand to the wall for balance. For years, I had been the one to stir his coffee just the way he liked—two sugars, one cream, counterclockwise. A ritual steady as a heartbeat. Now it lay shattered across his desk, and with it, whatever remained of us.

But my decision had never really been about just walking away from Mark. It wasn’t just for myself.

Mrs. Smith had already received word from the Carter family. The Carters wanted to move forward with the marriage arrangement fast. The contract between our families would be signed within the month.

Unlike Mark, Daniel would never treat me like a pawn. Not like he could. Even from the distance of his coma, he mattered more. His family didn’t see me as someone to string along. They saw me as part of a strategy, someone valuable enough to secure a future alliance. It wasn’t love, not yet, but it was acknowledgment. And acknowledgment was more than I ever had from Mark.

Daniel Carter was not a man anyone could compare to Mark. He was heir to the Carter Pack, the wealthiest and most powerful pack in the country. His family’s industries stretched into every corner of werewolf society—construction, shipping, medicine, even Council seats. When the Carters moved, the region bent.

Mark Wilson, for all his arrogance, was nothing in comparison. His influence reached mid-tier packs, enough to swell his ego, but never enough to make him untouchable.

Daniel was different. Respected. Feared. Chosen by blood and prophecy both. If I could find a way to wake him from his cursed sleep, we wouldn’t just survive—we would rule.

And unlike Mark, he had never once made me feel small. Even unconscious, his presence weighed heavier than Mark’s entire empire. When I touched his hand days ago, his claws had flickered as if his wolf had recognized me. Mark never stirred like that for me, not once.

Mark thought I was bluffing. He believed I was acting out, that I would return once the anger cooled. But he didn’t understand. I wasn’t angry anymore. I was done.

I remembered standing in that office doorway, watching him bend for Clara like she was the center of his world. I remembered Brian’s pity. I remembered every time I begged for scraps of affection, and every time he tossed them at me only when it suited him.

That chapter of my life was over. I would not cling to someone who didn’t value me.

AMY

I knew all Mark wanted was trouble when I got his summon. He was too egoistic to deal with the fact that I had left him and would never be needing him again. Perhaps, it was my resignation that hit him the most. Or, was it the fact that I cut all ties to him?

He had asked to meet at the SilverFang Lounge, knowing very well that wasn’t a place I belonged. The second I stepped through the glass doors, the air shifted. Everything smelled of wolf musk layered under expensive colognes. The music wasn’t loud, just low enough to thrum under my skin. High-ranking wolves filled the room.

As usual, dominance rolled off them in waves. Dressed up in coy smiles and tailored suits.

Eve tensed inside me, her growl vibrating at the back of my skull. “This is not a casual meet, it's a trap.” She warned me.

I followed her warning with my eyes. Mark was impossible to miss. He sat at the head of a curved leather booth like it had been carved just for him. His posture screamed control, his expression was also unreadable. Clara leaned into him, her laughter sounded light and fake.

Their gaze landed on me but it didn't bother me. It wasn’t as if they could hurt me. I was a priceless jewel for the carters now, so touching me meant big trouble.

“Bold of you to show your face,” Clara’s voice rang out before I reached the booth. Sweet tone and a sharp edge. Her fingers brushed the pendant at her neck, a pendant that used to be mine. “Or was it just to steal back what I gave you? Maybe sending rogues to my street last night was your way of distracting me.”

My hands curled at my sides. “I didn’t—”

Clara cut me off, smirking. “Jealousy makes wolves do reckless things.”

Mark’s silence was louder than Clara’s words. His eyes stayed on me like he could crush me without moving a finger. The others followed his lead. The pack always followed the Alpha.

Finally, he leaned forward. His voice was low, commanding too. “Apologize.”

The pressure and inner force to obey hit me instantly. Alpha-command rolled through my body, crushing down on my lungs. My wolf strained against it, my knees almost buckled. Eve snapped, Stand up straight. Do not kneel for him.

I forced my chin up, even though my body trembled. “I won’t apologize for something I didn’t do.”

A ripple of laughter spread across the booth. Clara leaned forward, her smile painted in venom. “Then loosen up. Have a drink.”

A server appeared like they’d been standing by, tray in hand. Six shot glasses lined with glowing amber liquid. Wolf brew. Stronger than human alcohol, brewed to knock down warriors twice my size.

The tray set down in front of me, each glass shimmering under the lounge lights. Six. Not one.

Clara’s voice slid across the table. “To prove you belong.”

I felt my pride push against my chest. Walking away would be surrender, and surrender wasn’t survival in a place like this. My hand reached out before I could think. I lifted the first glass and swallowed.

The fire hit instantly, burning my throat raw, landing heavy in my stomach. My breath caught. I set the glass down, lifted another, and drank again.

Eve growled, “Enough. This isn’t showing strength. This is their trap to humiliate you and you’re falling right into it.”

I ignored her. One after another, I downed the shots. By the fourth, my hands shook. My vision blurred at the edges. The fifth nearly slipped from my fingers. Still, I forced it down. By the sixth, I could barely swallow, but I did.

The table blurred for a second. My head felt heavy, my legs weaker than I wanted to admit.

“Enough,” Mark snapped. His voice cut through the air like a whip. For a moment, I thought he was saving me, pulling me out of their game. But when I looked at him, there was no concern, it was just irritation, as though I had wasted his time.

I barely had time to process the thought before Clara gasped suddenly, clutching her stomach. She collapsed forward, hitting the edge of the table with a loud thud. “She poisoned me!”

The accusation ripped through the air. How could I have possibly poisoned her when I literally met them here?

Before I could react or even defend myself, Clara’s leg lashed out under the table. The kick connected with my chest. I stumbled back, hitting the sharp glass edge. Pain exploded across my head as it cracked against the corner. Warm blood ran hot down the side of my face.

The room broke into chaos.

Clara shrieked, clutching her stomach dramatically, her voice carrying across the lounge. “She tried to kill me!”

Mark was on his feet instantly. But, not for me. He caught Clara in his arms as she clung to him, her wide eyes glistening like she was the victim.

I pushed myself up as I struggled through a spinning vision. Blood dripped past my jaw. The taste of metal coated my tongue.

“Amy,” Mark snarled. His eyes were darker than I had ever seen, “Leave.”

He did not even give me the chance to defend myself, he just straight up condemned me. Once again. The laughter around the room wasn’t loud, but I heard it. Whispered, cruel, meant to sting. My body swayed, but I forced myself upright. My humiliation burned hotter than the liquor still twisting in my gut.

Eve’s voice rose in the back of my mind, steady despite the storm inside me. They think they’ve broken us. But we will rise higher than them.

I staggered toward the exit. My head throbbed as blood dripped down my temple onto my blouse. Each step felt like a struggle, but no one moved to help. They just watched. High-ranking wolves, satisfied to see me crawl.

The glass doors opened, and the cool night air slapped against my face. I braced my hand on the rail of the rooftop stairs, breathing really hard.

AMY

“Don’t collapse here,” Eve growled. “Get out. Get somewhere safe.”

I forced my body down the steps, one unsteady foot at a time. My thoughts raced, even as my vision blurred.

The Carters. Daniel Carter. His name cut through my mind like a lifeline. His wolf had responded to me before. He hadn’t judged me, hadn’t humiliated me. Even unconscious, his presence had been different. Why was I thinking so hard about him right now?

Mark would destroy me piece by piece if I stayed within his reach. Clara would never stop twisting the knife. And wolves like Clara lived for the kill when blood was already drawn.

But Daniel… Daniel was the only path left. Not out of love or choice but out of survival. Out of something deeper that I couldn’t name. Still in my thoughts, I felt my head spin as I reached the bottom of the stairs. My knees buckled. Eve snarled, trying to keep me calm from the inside.

And then I heard a howl echo across the city. ‘That wasn’t random,” Eve whispered. That was for us.

I gripped the railing, blood was dripping from my temple. My chest heaved because I was already having difficulty breathing. The last thing I remembered was the hate in hate in Mark and Clara’s eyes. Then, everything went dark.

By the time I regained consciousness, I wasn’t outside anymore. I was lying in a hospital bed. The sharp smell of disinfectant filled the air, mixed with faint traces of wolf scent that clung to the walls. My head ached, and when I tried to sit up, pain shot through the side of my skull.

There was a panic button fixed to the rail of my bed. I pressed it without a second thought.

In less than a minute, the door opened and a nurse hurried in. Her eyes widened when she saw me awake. “You’re conscious,” she said quickly, relief was etched in her voice. “Thank the Moon. You’ve been asleep for a while. We were worried that you weren’t healing well.”

I blinked at her, still disoriented. “How… How did I get here please?”

She shook her head gently. “You should rest. You’re healing well. That’s what matters now.” She gave me a small smile, then adjusted the drip attached to my arm. “I’ll let the others know you’re awake.”

Before I could ask more, she excused herself and stepped out of the room in a hurry. Everywhere went quiet again, but not for long. The door opened, and a woman walked in with calm steps. I recognized her instantly. Mrs. Carter. Alpha Daniel’s mother.

My stomach tightened. I pushed myself up a little straighter on the bed and forced myself to speak. “Good evening, Mrs. Carter.”

Her eyes scanned me with no warmth or sympathy at all. “Amy.” She didn’t waste time with pleasantries. She moved closer, her gaze was sharp.

I shifted under her stare, suddenly aware of how weak I looked with bandages on my head.

She crossed her arms. “Don’t mistake my visit for kindness. I’m not here because of affection or because I care about your health.” Her voice was cold, “I’m here to make one thing clear. Daniel’s safety is what matters. You are not to put him at risk. You are not to put the making ceremony and marriage at risk because of your personal troubles.”

Her words sank like stones in my chest. I clenched my fists beneath the sheets.

She narrowed her eyes. “Now, tell me. What happened to you last night?”

I held her gaze, but my mind raced. If I told her the truth, Mark and Clara’s lies would only spread further. They would twist everything. And this… this was my fight. I wanted to handle it myself.

So I shook my head slightly. “It wasn’t anything serious. It was just an accident. I can barely remember anything"

Her lips pressed into a thin line. “An accident.” She didn’t believe me, but she didn’t push. “Very well. But remember, girl—whatever games you’re playing, don’t drag Daniel or the pack’s name into them.”

With that, she turned and walked out. The air felt heavier after she left. I laid back as I tried to calm my racing. Inside me, Eve whispered, “She thinks you’re weak. But we will show them otherwise. Mark and Clara will answer for what they did.”

I closed my eyes for a while, trying to breathe evenly, but my rest didn’t last. The door was pushed open without a knock.

It was Brian. Mark’s Beta. I barely had a moment after Mrs Carter left and now, brian just waltzed in like he owned the place.

The moment I saw him, my stomach tightened again. He stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him. His posture was stiff, his eyes hard.

“You’ve caused enough trouble,” he said flatly. “Clara is shaken, and Mark is furious. Don’t make things worse.”

I swallowed, keeping my voice even. “I didn’t do anything to Clara.”

He stepped closer to the bed. “Then hear me clearly. Never harm her again. If you even think of touching her, you’ll regret it.”

Before I could react, he gripped my hand firmly. His fingers began digging into my skin and it was beginning to hurt. His strength pinned me down against the bed.

“Let go,” I said, trying to pull back.

He leaned closer. “I’m warning you, Amy. Don’t test me. Don’t test Mark.” His grip tightened even more.

Anger flared hot in my chest. “Leave me alone, you’re hurting me.” I snapped.

He didn’t. Instead, his hand pressed down harder, and I could feel the circulation of blood cutting off. His dominance pushed faintly into the air, testing, trying to make me cower.

Something inside me snapped. I lifted my leg and kicked sharply and straight into his groin.

Brian doubled over instantly, shock flashing across his face as he stumbled back a step.

I yanked my hand free and glared at him. My voice was steady, even though my body shook with the effort. “The time when you and Mark could bully me is over. Don’t ever try that again.”

He stared at me, stunned, pain was written across his face. His wolf flickered in his eyes for a second, but he didn’t move closer again.

I lay back against the pillows, still glaring at him. “Get out!” I yelled.

For a moment, he didn’t move. Then, slowly, he straightened up and adjusted his shirt, trying to regain his composure. His expression hardened again, but I saw the trace of hesitation now.