h4Chapter 58: Chapter 58/h4

    The air inside the psycho Alpha’s office always felt wrong. Heavy. Suffocating. It was a ce that seemed to hold its own kind of darkness like the walls themselves had soaked up too many secrets, too many screams, too much of the Alpha’s fury. I stood by the table, my hands trembling as I carefully ced the porcin teacups onto the silver tray. Aunt Elizabeth, his father’s only sister and one of the few people who dared confront him, sat across from three of the Elders. Their wrinkled faces were tight with unease, their eyes darting nervously toward the heavy oak door that stood like a barrier between them and freedom. The atmosphere was tense, each breath weighted with fear, and I knew why. They hade for her the girl in the dungeon. The one whose broken cries haunted me every night. The one who had already lost the use of her legs because of him.

    "Zachary," Aunt Elizabeth’s voice was calm but firm, though I could hear the quiver beneath her practiced tone. "You’ve kept that girl locked away for too long. The pack is beginning to whisper. The council is uneasy. For the good of everyone, release her."

    I froze, my hand halfway to pouring tea into her cup.

    The Alpha sat behind his desk, his head restingzily against the back of his leather chair. He hadn’t spoken yet, only stared at them with that sharp, predatory smile that sent chills crawling over my skin. His fingers tapped the armrest, steady, deliberate, like the ticking of a clock counting down to something terrible. One of the Elders cleared his throat, his voice tight. "Yes, Alpha. Mercy in this matter would be—"

    "Mercy?"

    The word sliced the room like a knife. The Alpha sat forward suddenly, and I nearly spilled the tea in my hands. His eyes those cold, pale eyes that seemed to pierce through bone narrowed as his lips curved into something too sharp to be called a smile.

    "Mercy is for the weak. Is that what you think I am?"

    "No, Alpha," the Elders said quickly, nearly tripping over their own words.

    But Aunt Elizabeth didn’t cower. She held his gaze, her hands resting firmly on the table before her. "You are not weak. But cruelty will tear your pack apart. That girl whatever she did does not deserve to rot until death in the dungeon."

    Silence fell. A silence so thick I could hear my own heartbeat mming against my chest. I tried to keep my hands steady as I filled the cups, but I could feel him watching me too. Finally, the Alpha leaned back, exhaling a sharpugh that didn’t sound likeughter at all. "Release her?" he repeated softly. "Is that what you all came for? To beg?"

    The Elders exchanged nervous nces. Aunt Elizabeth didn’t flinch.

    "Yes," she said firmly. "To beg if that’s what it takes."

    Something shifted in the Alpha’s face then. Thezy amusement slipped away, and what reced it made my skin crawl. His jaw tightened, his eyes darkened, and for a heartbeat, the entire room seemed to shrink around him.

    "Stand," he ordered.

    The Elders hesitated but obeyed, rising shakily from their chairs. I wished I could vanish. Wished I could sink into the floor with my tray and escape the storm I knew wasing. But I was stuck, trapped between them, the weight of his gaze holding me in ce.

    The Alpha rose slowly, his height towering over everyone else in the room. His movements were deliberate, dangerous, like a predator circling prey.

    "You daree into my office," he began, voice low, vibrating with restrained fury, "to tell me what to do? To plead for something that belongs to me?"

    Elizabeth’s voice was steady, but her face had gone pale. "She does not belong to you, Zachary. She is a child."

    Heughed again, louder this time, and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

    "Everything in this pack belongs to me," he said, stepping closer, his presence filling every corner of the room. "Their breath, their blood, their lives. Mine."

    No one spoke. No one dared.

    Then he tilted his head, his gaze sweeping over them with mockery and menace.

    "I will give you all one chance," he said softly, but the softness was worse than any shout. "When I begin to count, you will disappear from my sight. If you are still standing here by the time I reach three..."

    He paused, his lips curling into a slow, cruel smile. "...I will strangle you with my own hands. One by one."

    A cold shiver raced down my spine. The Elders gasped softly, exchanging terrified looks. Aunt Elizabeth’s jaw clenched, but even herposure wavered.

    "One."

    The word dropped like a stone into the silence.

    The Elders bolted. Their chairs toppled over, ttering against the floor. I stumbled back as they shoved past each other in their desperation to reach the door. Their robes tangled, their limbs clumsy. They fell against the table, knocking over the tea tray—I barely managed to keep hold of it before it shattered.

    "Two."

    His voice was lower now, slower, like a predator savoring the chase.

    The Elders reached the door, practically crawling over one another in their frantic scramble to get out. One of them tripped and fell, and the others didn’t stop to help him they shoved him aside, their only thought of escape.

    Even Elizabeth, who hade in so calm, so strong, abandoned her dignity in that moment. Her skirts caught beneath her feet as she ran, stumbling against the others, her face drained of all color.

    They tumbled out the door in a chaotic heap, their shouts echoing down the hallway.

    But I wasn’t so lucky. In the panic, I had tried to run too, slipping toward the door with the others, but before I could escape, a hand like iron mped around my arm and yanked me back. I gasped, the tray slipping from my grip and crashing to the floor. Tea spilled across the rug, cups shattered into porcin shards.

    "Three," the Alpha whispered into my ear.

    My body went rigid as his grip tightened on me, his breath hot against my skin.

    I didn’t move. I couldn’t. Every instinct screamed at me to flee, but I was trapped, caught in the ws of a monster. The door mmed shut, sealing me inside with him. He turned me slowly, his hand still locked around my arm, forcing me to look up into his pale, merciless eyes.

    "They ran like rats," he murmured, amusement flickering across his lips. "Even Elizabeth. Do you see, little one? Even those who im to have courage... are nothing but cowards when faced with me."

    My throat tightened. My voice shook when I finally managed to speak. "P-please I didn’t mean to

    He silenced me with a single look. His hand slid from my arm to my chin, gripping hard enough to make my jaw ache.

    "But you-His tone softened, almost yful, but his eyes burned with something cruel. "You tried to run too. Didn’t you?"

    I shook my head frantically, but the lie was written all over my face, and he knew it. His smile widened.

    "Perhaps I should count again," he whispered, his thumb brushing my trembling lips. "This time just for you."

    My knees buckled. My heart pounded so hard I thought it might burst. I could feel his madness radiating from him, the dangerous delight he found in my terror. And I realized then he wasn’t bluffing. If I didn’t move, if I didn’t answer right, if I breathed wrong, he would kill me.

    "One."

    The room spun. My vision blurred with tears.

    "Two."

    I wanted to scream, to beg, to vanish, but my voice caught in my throat. His lips brushed against my ear, and his whisper was colder than death.

    "Three."

    The word slid into my ear like the hiss of a serpent. For one suspended heartbeat, the world seemed to stop. My body froze, my breath caught, my entire existence hanging by a fragile thread he held between his cruel fingers.

    Then his hand snapped tighter around my throat. I choked, my nails wing uselessly at his wrist as he lifted me effortlessly off the ground. My toes dangled above the rug, scraping at nothing, my lungs burning as panic swallowed me whole.

    He wasn’t bluffing. He wasn’t testing me. He was enjoying this.

    "Do you feel it?" The psycho whispered, his voice smooth, amused, almost gentle if not for the crushing grip that stole the air from me. "The silence of your body when it knows it is about to break?"

    Tears spilled from my eyes as I gasped against the pressure, my throat screaming for relief. My vision darkened at the edges, spots blooming before my eyes.

    I thought of the girl in the dungeon, her broken legs, her hollow cries and realized I might soon join her in the shadows beneath this packhouse. Or worse, never leave this office at all.

    "Pathetic," he hissed, finally dropping me.

    I crumpled to the floor, coughing violently, air rushing back into my starving lungs. My chest ached, my throat burned, but I didn’t dare stay down. Instinct pushed me onto trembling hands and knees, my body bent low as though bowing before him. Anything , anything at all to make him forget the idea of killing me. He crouched beside me, his shadow swallowing me whole. He reached out, running his fingers through my hair almost tenderly, and my stomach twisted with dread. His touch was never tenderness. It was the caress of a wolf ying with its prey.

    "You almost ran with them," he murmured. "Like the Elders. Like my aunt. Tell me, little one... do you think I would not notice?"

    My lips trembled. Words stumbled out of me without thought. "I—I only wanted to serve the tea, Alpha. I didn’t mean—"

    He yanked my hair back sharply, forcing my head up so I met his pale, gleaming eyes.

    "Lies," he snarled softly. "Your heart beats like a rabbit’s. You long to escape every chance you get."

    I whimpered, the sound breaking against my will. His grip on my hair tightened, dragging me closer until his lips were nearly against mine, though the cruelty in his gaze kept me frozen in ce.

    "Do you know why I let the Elders live?" he asked suddenly.

    I shook my head, the motion painful with his hold in my hair.

    "Because they are cowards. Cowards break more easily. They will whisper in the halls, spread my shadow through the pack, let fear rot their bones. That serves me better than their corpses."

    He smiled, but it was sharp, terrifying.

    "And you, Ellie..." He released my hair only to grip my chin again, forcing me to hold his gaze. "Do you know why I let you live?"

    I couldn’t answer. My throat was raw, my voice gone.

    He leaned closer, his whisper brushing against my ear. "Because your fear tastes sweet. Because I enjoy watching you tremble. Because you are mine, whether you crawl, whether you cry, whether you beg. Do you understand?"

    I nodded frantically, tears sliding down my cheeks.

    "Good."

    He shoved me back, and I hit the floor hard, my elbow striking the rug-covered wood. Pain shot up my arm, but I bit back a cry.

    He stood, towering over me, and turned his gaze toward the shattered tray and spilled tea. For a terrifying moment, I thought he might punish me for the mess.

    Instead, heughed. A cold, hollowugh that made the room feel even smaller.

    "Clean it," he ordered, his voice snapping like a whip. "On your knees. Now."

    I scrambled forward, my palms pressing against the sharp edges of porcin as I tried to gather the broken pieces. One shard cut into my skin, blood welling instantly, but I didn’t dare pause. I worked faster, my vision blurred by tears, my hands shaking so badly I nearly dropped the fragments.

    He watched me, silent, his presence like a wolf circling just out of sight.

    When I finally gathered thest broken cup, clutching the shards in my bleeding hands, I looked up timidly.

    His eyes glinted with cruel amusement.

    "Open your hand," hemanded.

    My chest tightened. I obeyed, slowly uncurling my palm. The shards fell, ttering back onto the tray, but one jagged piece stuck to my skin, digging deeper into the cut. Blood dripped onto the rug.

    The Alpha crouched again, reaching for my injured hand. For a moment, I thought he might bandage it or at least wipe the blood. But no. He pressed his thumb against the cut, hard enough to make me cry out.

    "Pain keeps you loyal," he murmured, watching the blood smear across my skin. "And loyalty keeps you alive."

    My sobs came in quiet gasps, but I didn’t pull away. I couldn’t.

    Then he released me suddenly, standing tall once more.

    "Leave the mess," he said coldly. "You’ll return to clean itter. For now...e with me."

    My heart lurched. Where?

    He didn’t exin. He simply grabbed my wrist and yanked me to my feet, dragging me toward the door with terrifying strength. My legs stumbled, barely keeping up, my body still shaking from the near-strangtion. The halls outside were empty, the Elders long gone, their footsteps still echoing in my memory. The Alpha led me down the corridor, past the main hall, past the stairwell, his pace brisk and merciless.

    I knew where he was taking me before we even reached the stairs. The dungeon.

    "No," I whispered, my voice breaking. "Please, Alpha, not there—"

    He didn’t slow. His grip tightened, cutting off my words. The steps spiraled downward, each one colder than thest. The scent of damp stone and iron chains thickened in the air, suffocating me as much as his grip had minutes ago. My chest heaved, terror wing up my throat. When we reached the bottom, the torchlight flickered weakly against the stone walls, shadows stretching like skeletal fingers. The cries of the girl had fallen silent tonight, but the silence was worse. Too still. Too waiting.

    The Alpha released me only when we reached her cell. The girly curled in the corner, her face pale, her body frail, her broken legs twisted unnaturally. Her eyes fluttered open at the sound of our approach, and when she saw me, a faint, desperate light flickered there.

    But when her gaze shifted to him, that light vanished.

    "Stand," he ordered me.

    I obeyed, trembling, my back pressed against the iron bars.

    He unlocked the cell and stepped inside, looming over the girl. She whimpered softly, dragging herself back with her arms, but there was nowhere to go.

    "You see, Ellie," the Alpha said, his voice echoing in the dungeon, "mercy is weakness. The Elders don’t understand that. But you will. You will learn."

    His hand shot down, gripping the girl’s hair and yanking her upright. She screamed, the sound piercing, shattering the silence.

    I pped my hands over my ears, but it didn’t block it out. Nothing could.

    "Watch," he ordered me without turning.

    I shook my head, sobbing. "Please... don’t—"

    "Watch!" he roared, the sound thunderous in the confined space. I froze, my eyes wide, forced to witness as he dragged the girl’s face inches from his own.

    "Do you want to live?" he asked her softly.

    She whimpered, nodding frantically through her tears.

    "Then beg," he whispered. "Beg for my mercy."

    Her voice cracked, words spilling out in broken sobs. "Please, Alpha... please spare me... please..."

    He smiled coldly, then shoved her to the floor. Her head struck the stone, her cry echoing.

    Then he turned back to me, his eyes burning with cruel satisfaction.

    "Do you see, Ellie?" he asked, his voice low, deadly. "They all beg. And I decide who lives."

    My legs gave out, and I sank to the floor outside the cell, my body shaking violently.

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