Chapter 4

My heart leaped so hard it felt like it would burst out of my chest. For one wild second, I almost forgot everything. I almost dropped my shovel and ran straight to him, throwing my arms around the only family I had left in this nightmare world.

But his eyes widened in warning stopped me cold. He lifted one dirty finger to his lips, the gesture quick and sharp. "Don’t speak. Don’t move."

The message hit me like a slap. Guards were everywhere, whips ready, noses sniffing the air for any sign of trouble. One wrong move and we’d both be dead.

Still, just knowing he was here sent a tiny spark of happiness flickering through the darkness inside me. My brother was alive. We weren’t completely alone. That small warmth gave me strength I didn’t know I still had. I lowered my eyes fast, pretending to focus on the hard dirt under my shovel, but my pulse raced with desperate hope.

We worked side by side in silence, like hours, but every few minutes, I risked a quick glance his way.

Soon, the guards started yelling. “Mine shift change! You lot, move!”

A group of slaves, including Orion, was herded away toward the dark mouth of the mines. I watched helplessly as my brother was shoved forward with the others. Our eyes met one last time. He gave me the tiniest nod, "Stay strong" and then he was gone.

I bit my lip hard to keep myself from crying out and kept digging, the happiness from moments ago already fading back into cold fear.

Finally, sunset came and we left the field totally broken. Back to the cell, we were finally given water and food which could pass as crumbs.

Days blurred past. Each one worse than the previous. Pennol still hadn’t returned. Every time the cell door opened, my eyes would flicked to it, hoping to see her walk in or thrown in. But she never appeared. My stomach twisted, wondering if she was alive.

On the evening of the third day, the guards dragged her back in.

She looked drained. Her face looked fresher than the first time I saw her, but pale. Whip marks crisscrossed her arms and back, almost dried off. She could barely walk straight.

Once the door shut, I hurried to her, helped her to our blanket and she collapsed into it with a weak groan.

“Pennol!” I whispered, my eyes scanning her in terror. “Goddess, what happened to you?”

She winced but managed a tired smile. “I’m back alive. That’s what matters.”

I helped her sit up as best I could, letting her lean against me. “What did they make you do?”

Pennol let out a shaky breath, her voice so low I had to strain to hear. “It was a gamma this time. He wanted me to satisfy him. You know, warm his bed, please him however he demanded.”

My stomach turned. “You were forced?”

She shook her head slowly. “Not exactly. I chose it. A lot of the girls here do. When you get called to serve the ranked wolves, you get a real bed for the night. Warm food and good bath. No sleeping on hard floor with twenty other bodies."

"Really?" I muttered, mind spinning in confusion.

"Some of us even pray the one who takes us keeps us longer. A few girls have been kept as favorites. They now have better clothes, less field work, privileges most slaves only dream about.” Pennol added.

The words sank in slowly. Choosing to be used just for decent meal and a soft place to sleep? That was the life we were fighting for now? I felt sick, but I understood the desperation in her eyes. Survival had its own ugly rules here.

“Do they treat high-ranked wolves turned slaves any differently?” I asked again, my voice barely above a whisper.

Pennol smiled sadly. “They treat them worse,” she revealed. “The day you came in, a princess from a newly captured pack was taken. What was that name they kept calling her?” She tilted her head, thinking. “Cassandra… yeah, that was it.”

Shivers raced down my spine like ice water. Rhea, my best friend, the beta's daughter.

“I don’t know why she revealed her identity,” Pennol said, a flash of fury in her tired eyes. “She should’ve kept quiet. Or did she really think they’d give her some special princess treatment here?”

My brows shot up before I could stop them. So Rhea had done it on purpose. She’d taken my name and my title voluntarily.

“They asked and she just said it was her?” I pressed, needing to hear it again.

Pennol nodded slowly. “They came once, shouting for Princess Cassandra. She shot straight up and claimed it. Such a fool.” She sighed in pity and exhaustion.

“What if she lied?” I asked, my mind racing. “Maybe she thought she’d be treated better if they believed she was royalty?”

Pennol let out a soft, bitter chuckle. “These people can’t be tricked that easily.” She leaned in closer, her voice dropping even lower. “They brought in one of their healers. He mixed some herbs, did a blood trace. It lit up royal. And she really was from that pack, so the blood didn’t lie.”

It all clicked into place now. Betas carried royal blood too, just not as strong as an Alpha’s line. Rhea was royalty, but lower than me. If they ever tested us side by side, the truth would burn brighter in my veins than hers.

But why would she claim my name? Why did she choose to impersonate me? Was it because she thought she would get a better treatment just as Pennol said?

Then what if she revealed I was the real princess? Afterall we saw each other when she was being taken away? Panic gripped me tightly and right there, I silently prayed, Selene kept me safe.

Before I could ask anything else, a loud bell rang out.

“What’s that?” I asked, my voice tight.

Pennol straightened a little, though pain still twisted her face. “Summon for all slaves. The new ones are being displayed tonight. High-ranked werewolves from the master pack will come pick domestic staff."

"Goddess!" I whispered, already feeling chills running through me.

"Pray you get selected, Natalia. Working in the big house is better than this hell out here. Even if it means, gracing their beds sometimes, or serving their wives. Anything is better than the mines and fields breaking you day after day.” she whispered.

"So if I get selected, I won't see you again?" I asked, my voice breaking.

She smiled bitterly. "Yeah, but if the Goddess permits, we might see again," she assured me, noting the gloom in my voice. "No matter what, be strong out there, please,"

I hugged her tightly, tears spilling from my eyes. I only pulled from the hug when the door burst opened and guards stormed in.

"Good luck," she whispered to me.

I gave a nod and a weak smile.

The new arrivals, including me were lined up and marched out of the cell and into a large open hall. We were told to stand in a straight line, heads bowed, eyes on the floor. No talking. No looking up unless ordered.

One by one, the ranked wolves walked past us, inspecting like we were livestock at market. Rough hands lifted chins, turned faces side to side. Comments were muttered.

When it was my turn, a tall man with a cruel grip tilted my face up. I kept my eyes down. After a long pause, he grunted. “This one will do for the main house.”

Relief and dread twisted together in my gut as they pulled me out of line and led me away from the others. I was taken through winding roads that grew cleaner and grander the farther we went.

At last, a massive, magnificent building came into view. It stood tall and commanding, its grand design showing off flawless craftsmanship. Guards surrounded the entire place. Some held rifles, loaded, I knew, with silver bullets. Others walked the grounds unarmed, but I could sense the danger in them. Those were the deadliest wolves, ready to shift and attack at a moment’s notice.

I didn’t need anyone to tell me the building before me was the royal house.

My home back in Brookville had been just as grand. This was where the royals lived, the Alpha, the Luna, the Beta, and the rest of them.

We made our way into the building and they stopped me in a wide entrance hall with high ceilings and a sweeping staircase.

“Stand here. Head bowed. Wait for your master,” one guard snapped before they left me alone.

I stood perfectly still, my head bowed, my hands clenched tightly at my sides to stop them from trembling. The silence in the hall felt thick and suffocating. Who would I belong to now? A Beta? A Gamma? Someone cruel or someone worse? The thought made my stomach twist violently.

My thoughts were shut off when I heard footsteps. My pulse began to pound in my ears. I had no wolf to recognize the presence approaching and even if I did, the silver cuff wouldn't let her. But perhaps because I was royalty, I felt that sting of familiarity. Whoever was coming was royalty.

The footsteps continued, then stopped. Whoever it was had stopped right in front of me.

His presence was cold, dominant and suffocating. It wrapped around me like invisible twine, pressing down on my chest until breathing became a struggle.

Then his voice came. “Show your face.”

It was deep, cold, domineering. Not loud, yet it carried a feeling that struck straight through me, sending a sharp chill racing down my spine.

My breath hitched. Slowly and carefully, I lifted my head. And the world seemed to stop. For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.

I’d seen that face before. Not in person, but in ink. The documentary I always read back in my pack.

The same sharp features. The same cold, unfeeling eyes that seemed to look through you instead of at you. Only now, they were real and more terrifying than in picture.

Heclox Rutherford. The dreadful, evil rogue Alpha.