Prologue
Elodie
"What is your name?" the alpha asks me; his voice is gravelly and deep. He also has an accent I have never heard before, meaning he isn’t from the two other packs in the alliance. I’ve served enough meals to recognize their accent. Where are these alphas from?
"Elodie," I reply to his question straight away, not leaving a single breath between the end of his question and my answer.
"Come close to me, Elodie," he demands. My whole body shakes from both fear and a nervous kind of desire as I step away from the wall. Each step towards the alpha is filled with equal parts dread and curiosity because I want to know why he wants me close. I pause a few feet away from him, and he stares down at me. "Closer." The one word is a complete demand, and I move without question until I am stood right in front of him, feeling his breath moving the hair on the top of my head.
"What is your name?" I ask him, regretting it when I arch my head so I can look into his eyes. Alpha Bishop's heart is right by my head, blood dripping from it onto the floor and hitting my hand that I move closer to my body. I block it all out, the blood dripping, the other alphas who I can feel staring at me, and the awful sounds from the rest of my pack who must be getting killed outside.
"Alpha," he replies the single word like it is all I am allowed to know.
"Just Alpha?" I question and gasp as he suddenly wraps a beefy hand around my neck, holding tightly but not enough to really hurt me as he leans his face down to inches in front of mine.
"You call me Alpha. You do as I ask—without question—or I will dispose of you," he warns me, and I don’t doubt for a second that he would kill me.
"Yes, Alpha," I gasp, his hand tightening ever so slightly before he lets go though keeps his face close to mine. Our lips inches away.
"Now kiss me as your pack dies outside, and the blood of your former alpha drips down your pretty little dress," he demands, and I do as I am told without a second thought. My lips press against his cold ones, and he pulls back before the kiss can really be counted as anything.
Chapter 1
Elodie
“Watch it,” someone shouts at me before they bump into me from behind, and I fall face flat onto the ground. In the wet mud of all places. Great. I roll over to see one of my pack mates standing over me, smirking as I wipe the wet mud off my cheek. I don’t actually remember this one’s name, but I’m certain he knows who I am. Everyone does, and lying in the dirt is kind of ironic considering that’s what they all think of me.
“Elodie, what are you doing on the floor?” Lucy shouts, and I cringe as everyone runs away from me, including the wolf that pushed me after kicking my arm so I fall further into the mud. I pull myself up only to see Lucy stomping over to me, her hands on her hips and a frustrated look on her cold face as she gets to me. Lucy is the alpha’s mother and a very old wolf shifter at that. I don’t know why she keeps me alive when I know her son would kill me in an instant if he had his way. Or worse. The whole pack treat me like a human because I might as well be one, as I’m the only wolf ever known not able to shift into a wolf. I have little supernatural strength, or speed, or anything like most wolf shifters do. It’s frustrating as hell, but I know saying one word would get me killed.
“I have told you time and time again not to walk this way to get to the kitchens. The pack do not want to see you walking around, and you are only asking for trouble,” she says, her voice ringing with disappointment as she gets to me and roughly grabs my arm. She starts dragging me around the main house and the pack kitchens just behind it.
“I tried to go the other way, but one of the betas was waiting for me,” I try to explain, but she ignores me.
“A beta wouldn’t look twice at you. I have no idea why you are so scared of them,” she tuts at me. I just ignore her, knowing damn well I have every reason to be scared of the beta twins and the way they follow me. I turned eighteen yesterday, and without a mate or any chance of getting one, I’m fair game to anyone in this pack. The alpha said as much to me when I asked to leave the pack on my sixteenth birthday. I shiver at the memories. That did not go well. I was lucky to be able to walk out the pack house the next day.
“Now get in those kitchens and start washing up. I will be back to check on you later,” Lucy says and shoves me through the kitchen door. I do as I’m told and start getting to work on the dozens of dishes that are piled high, knowing being whipped by Lucy isn’t worth it. I just finish the dishes when Lucy comes into the kitchen with a paper list in her hand.
“The alpha has very important company tonight, and he wants you to serve them. I have made a list of acceptable food,” she states, and my heart pounds in my chest. If the alpha wants me there, that isn’t good. The last time I was in the alpha’s house, I left covered in blood and bruises, and I was lucky to leave with my life at all. I didn’t have any dignity left, that’s for sure. Lucy doesn’t seem to notice or care about me freaking out as she slams the menu in front of me and goes to walk away. Only she stops and looks back to run her eyes over me, before sighing loudly.
“You cannot wear that grey dress to serve the alpha and his guests. It makes you look like an outcast when you are not one,” she states. Outcasts are wolves without a pack—and something Lucy and the Alpha Bishop have always reminded me I could be. I think living out in the dark woods doesn’t actually seem like such a bad idea at times. At least I wouldn’t have to deal with being a slave.
“I might as well be,” I mutter under my breath, but Lucy doesn’t call me on it as she carries on her rant.
“I have a purple dress you may borrow for tonight, one I once wore. I will leave it in your room,” she muses, nodding her head like she is pleased with herself and walking out the room without another word. I look down at the complicated list of ingredients for the meal then groan in frustration. This is going to take me hours to find these things, and I have no idea if I can even pull off this kind of complicated, fancy food. I know I don’t have a choice as I start getting the things needed out of the cold storage. I cook this meal, or I might as well try running from my pack to be an outcast. The alpha warned me what would happen if I cross his path a second time…and none of it would be pretty.
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