The door clicked shut, and for a long time, I just stood there staring at the wood. My skin was still prickling from where his fingers had touched my chin.

"How dare he!" I hissed at the empty room.

I turned and caught my reflection in the massive, gold-framed mirror. I looked like a ghost. My hair was matted, my face was pale, and the bruises on my neck-the ones left by the rogues and the months of Piper’s cruelty-stood out like ugly stains. This man, Alpha Reynolds, had the audacity to give me rules? To tell me I belonged to him?

He was the man who had ordered my father’s head to be taken! He was the reason I had been eating scraps off the floor for a year!

"I will never be yours," I whispered to the mirror. My voice was shaking, but my eyes were burning with a hatred that felt like the only thing keeping me alive.

I walked over to the bed and sat on the edge. The mattress was so soft it felt like it was trying to swallow me whole. It was a trap. Everything in this palace was a trap designed to make me forget that I was a prisoner. I looked at the walk in closet. It was filled with silks and fine wools, none of which belonged to me.

Suddenly, the door swung open without a knock.

I jumped to my feet, clutching the towel tighter around my body. A woman with a sharp face and her hair pulled back into a tight, painful-looking bun walked in. She was followed by two younger maids who were carrying a tray and a heavy garment bag.

"So, this is the little stray the King brought home," the older woman said. Her voice was like sandpaper. She didn't bow. She didn't even smile. She just looked at me with pure disgust.

"Who are you?" I demanded, trying to find the voice of the Beta's daughter I used to be.

"I am Mrs. Gable, the head housekeeper. And you," she stepped closer, sniffing the air as if I smelled like trash, "are a mess. The Alpha King expects you downstairs in an hour. He is hosting a private meeting with the Delta warriors, and he wants you there."

"I’m not going anywhere," I snapped. "I’m not a circus animal for him to put on display!"

Mrs. Gable laughed, a cold, dry sound. "You think you have a choice? Look at yourself! You are covered in the filth of the Hillstone Pack. If you show up looking like a beggar, it reflects poorly on our King. Girls, get her ready. Scrub her until she’s red if you have to."

"Don't you touch me!" I screamed as the two maids approached.

One of them grabbed my arm, and I instinctively shoved her back. She stumbled, her eyes widening in shock.

"How dare you!" Mrs. Gable stepped forward and slapped me across the face.

The sting was immediate. My head snapped to the side, and the copper taste of blood filled my mouth. I froze. The room went silent.

"You are a guest by the King's mercy only," Mrs. Gable hissed, her face inches from mine. "But to us, you are the daughter of a traitor. Don't think for a second that those fancy silk sheets change who you are. Now, get in that tub before I have the guards hold you down."

I felt the tears prickling my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Not in front of them. I climbed into the bathtub, the hot water stinging the open cuts on my back. The maids were rough. They scrubbed my skin with harsh sponges, pulling at the tangles in my hair as if they were trying to rip it out. They didn't speak to me. They talked over me, whispering about how "the King must have lost his mind" and how "she won't last a week."

When they were done, they practically poured me into a dress. It was a deep, blood-red silk that clung to every curve I had. It was beautiful, and I hated it. It felt like wearing the blood of my enemies.

"Move," Mrs. Gable ordered, pointing toward the door.

I walked down the grand staircase, my legs feeling like lead. The palace was buzzing with activity. Guards in polished black armor stood at every corner. As I reached the bottom, I saw a group of men standing near the entrance to the grand dining hall. They were laughing and talking loudly, the scent of Alpha and Beta pheromones filling the air.

My heart stopped.

There, standing in the center of the group, was Jude.

He was wearing his Delta uniform, looking proud and powerful. He was leaning in, whispering something to a beautiful woman who was giggling at his words.

"Jude?" The name left my lips before I could stop it.

The group turned. Jude’s laughter died instantly. His face went through a dozen emotions in three seconds-shock, fear, and then a strange, twisted kind of guilt.

"Louisa?" he gasped. He stepped toward me, his eyes roaming over my red dress. "What are you doing here? How did you get out of the cells?"

"The King brought her here, you idiot," a voice boomed from behind me.

I turned to see Alpha Reynolds walking down the hall. He looked terrifyingly handsome in a black suit that made his eyes look like molten gold. He walked straight to me and placed a heavy, possessive hand on my waist.

I tried to flinch away, but his grip was like iron.

"Jude Blackmore," Reynolds said, his voice dropping to a dangerous octave. "I believe you know my mate."

The entire hallway went dead silent. You could have heard a pin drop on the marble floor. Jude looked like he was about to faint. His mouth hung open, and he looked at me as if I were a ghost.

"Mate?" Jude stammered. "No... that’s impossible. She’s... she was my mate. But she’s wolfless! She can’t be your mate!"

I felt a surge of pure, unadulterated rage. "I was your mate, Jude! And you watched while Piper treated me like a dog! You watched while they beat me! You did nothing!"

"Louisa, I... I had to," Jude whispered, looking around nervously. "The pack... the laws..."

"The laws?" Reynolds stepped forward, pulling me flush against his side. The power radiating off him was so intense that Jude actually took a step back. "The law says that if a man fails to protect his mate, he forfeits his right to her life. You rejected her, didn't you, Delta?"

Jude swallowed hard. "She asked for it! She wanted it!"

"And you were happy to give it so you could crawl into Piper Gilbert’s bed," I spat, my voice cracking with emotion. "You are a coward, Jude. You always were."

Reynold’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Jude. "It seems my mate has a history with you. That’s unfortunate for you. Because now, every time I look at her bruises, I’m going to think of your face."

"Alpha King, please," Jude pleaded, his voice trembling. "I didn't know she was yours! I would have never-"

"Silence!" Reynolds roared. The sound vibrated in my chest. "You will serve us tonight at dinner. You will stand behind Louisa's chair, and you will witness exactly what you threw away. If you drop so much as a fork, I will have your head on a platter."

"Please..." Jude whispered, his face pale as death.

"Go!" Reynolds commanded.

Jude scurried away toward the dining hall, looking like a whipped dog. I stood there, my breathing heavy, my heart racing so fast I thought I might pass out.

I turned to Reynolds, ready to scream at him for using me to play his power games, but the words died in my throat. He was looking down at me, and for a split second, the coldness in his eyes was gone. There was a flicker of something else-something hot and hungry.

"You look beautiful in red, Louisa," he murmured, his thumb brushing against the skin of my waist. "It matches your fire."

"Don't touch me," I whispered, though my body was betraying me, leaning into his warmth. "I hate you. I hate you more than I hate him."

"Good," he said, a dark smirk playing on his lips. "Hate is a very passionate emotion. I can work with hate."

He began to lead me toward the dining hall, but I stopped him.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked, looking him in the eye. "Why involve Jude? Why show me off?"

Reynolds leaned down, his breath warm against my ear. "Because everyone needs to know that the little maid they stepped on is now the Queen of this palace. And because I want Piper Gilbert to find out that everything she stole from you is about to be taken back with interest."

I shivered. He was a monster, a beautiful, deadly monster. And as we walked into the dining hall where Jude stood waiting with trembling hands, I realized that my revenge had finally begun. But at what cost?

As we sat down, a guard entered and bowed deeply.

"Your majesty, a message from the Hillstone Pack. Beta Gilbert and his daughter, Piper, are requesting an audience. They claim you have stolen property that belongs to them."

I gripped the tablecloth so hard my knuckles turned white.

"Stolen property?" Reynolds laughed, a sound that chilled me to the bone. "Tell them to come. Tell them I have something I want to show them."

He lo

The air in the grand dining hall was thick enough to choke on. The scent of expensive wine and roasted meat usually would have made my mouth water, but today, it smelled like copper and ash. Every time I shifted in my seat, the silk of the red dress hissed against the chair, a constant reminder that I was being wrapped in the Alpha King’s colors like a prize he had won at an auction. This was not a dinner. It was a battlefield, and I was the trophy perched right at the center of the crossfire.

Behind me, I could hear Jude’s shaky breathing. He stood like a statue, his hands clasped behind his back in the formal stance of a serving guard, but I could smell his fear. It was a sour, metallic scent that clung to him like a second skin. To think, I once thought this man was my world. I once cried myself to sleep because he wouldn't look at me, praying to the Moon Goddess to make him see me again. Now, he was nothing more than a servant in a uniform he didn't deserve, forced to witness my elevation while he withered in the shadows.

"You aren't eating, Louisa," Reynolds said. His voice was smooth, like velvet over tempered steel. He sat at the head of the table, cutting into a piece of steak with a precision that was terrifying. He didn't even look up as he spoke, yet his focus was entirely on me. "The chef prepared this specifically for your palate. It is a delicacy from the Northern territories. Is it not to your liking?"

I looked down at the plate, where the food sat untouched. "I’m not hungry, your majesty. It’s hard to swallow when the air is filled with the stench of cowards and the ghosts of my past."

I heard Jude flinch behind me. The sound of his leather boots scuffing against the marble was music to my ears.

Reynolds finally looked up. A slow, dangerous smirk spread across his face, one that didn't reach his predatory eyes. He put down his silver knife and leaned back, his golden gaze tracking the way my pulse jumped in my throat. "Vicious. I like that. Perhaps the Hillstone Pack didn't break you as much as they thought. Most girls in your position would be trembling, yet you sit there sharpening your tongue like a blade."

"They didn't break me," I snapped, my eyes flashing with a heat I didn't know I possessed. "They just gave me more reasons to want to see them burn. If you brought me here to be a quiet little doll, you chose the wrong woman."

"Good," Reynolds murmured, his voice dropping an octave. "Because the guests have arrived, and I would hate for you to be anything less than your most formidable self."

The massive oak doors at the end of the hall swung open with a violent bang. The sound echoed off the high, vaulted ceilings, making the crystal chandeliers rattle and chime. I didn't have to turn around to know who it was. The scent of cheap, flowery perfume—the kind that tried too hard to mask the smell of a rotten soul—and the heavy, arrogant musk of a Beta told me everything I needed to know.

Piper Gilbert marched into the room as if she owned every stone of the palace. She was dressed in a shimmering silver gown that was far too tight, her blonde hair curled into perfect, artificial ringlets. Her face was painted with the smug expression of a woman who had never been told 'no' in her life. Behind her was her father, Beta Gilbert, a man with a protruding belly and eyes that were always searching for something to steal or someone to exploit.

Piper stopped dead in her tracks the moment her eyes landed on me.

The smug smile slid off her face, replaced by a look of such pure, unadulterated shock that I almost laughed. She looked at my red dress, which hugged my curves in ways her stiff gown never could. She looked at the jewels around my neck, and finally, she looked at Reynolds' hand, which was now resting casually on the table near mine, his large fingers tapping a rhythmic beat.

"Louisa?" Piper gasped, her voice high and shrill, cracking at the edges. "What is this? Why is she sitting at your table, Alpha King? This... this girl is a thief! She’s a runaway slave from our pack! She belongs in the pits, not in a palace!"

"Careful, Piper," I said, my voice surprisingly steady. I picked up my wine glass, swirling the dark red liquid and watching it coat the sides. "The Alpha King doesn't like it when people scream in his dining hall. It’s so... unrefined. But then again, you always did struggle with basic manners when you weren't busy bullying those smaller than you."

Piper’s face turned a shade of purple that was almost impressive. "You! You little rat! How dare you speak to me that way? Do you know who I am? I am the daughter of the Hillstone Beta! I am your superior!"

"I know exactly who you are," I replied, setting the glass down with a sharp, echoing clack against the wood. "You’re the girl who stole my clothes, my bed, and my father’s legacy because you were too untalented to earn anything of your own. And yet, here you are, standing on someone else’s floor, begging for an audience like a common beggar."

"Alpha Reynolds!" Beta Gilbert stepped forward, his face red and sweating. "This girl is a criminal! Her father was a traitor, a man who plotted against the crown, and she was sentenced to serve the pack to pay for his blood-debts. She belongs to Hillstone. She is our property by law. We demand you hand her over immediately before this becomes a diplomatic incident!"

The temperature in the room seemed to drop twenty degrees. The fire in the hearth continued to roar, but a supernatural chill began to seep from the Alpha King.

Reynolds didn't move. He didn't even blink. He just stared at Beta Gilbert with a look of bored indifference that was more terrifying than a roar of rage. "Property?" Reynolds asked softly. The word felt like a death sentence hanging in the air. "You come into my home, at my table, and you speak of my mate as property? You have a great deal of courage, Gilbert. Or perhaps you are simply a fool."

"Mate?" Piper shrieked, her hands flying to her throat. "No! That’s a lie! She’s wolfless! She’s a defect! The Moon Goddess would never pair a King with a broken, pathetic maid! She must have used some kind of trickery. Some... some rogue magic or witch-craft to cloud your judgment!"

At the mention of magic, Reynolds stood up. He didn't jump or rush; he rose slowly, like a predator emerging from the tall grass. The sheer power radiating off him forced the Gilberts to take a collective step back, their heels clicking rapidly on the floor. Even the guards in the room straightened their backs, sensing the Alpha’s rising temper.

"She is mine," Reynolds said, his voice vibrating through the floorboards and into the soles of my feet. "And if you ever use the word 'property' or 'servant' in her presence again, I will strip the skin from your backs and hang it from the palace gates as a warning to anyone else who forgets their place. Do I make myself clear, or do you require a physical demonstration of my authority?"

"But... but the contract!" Beta Gilbert stammered, his bravado crumbling like dry parchment. "The auction! The deal was made with the rogues! We have the paperwork!"

"The deal was made with a man who is now dead," Reynolds said, stepping around the table with predatory grace. He walked toward them, his shadows seemingly stretching out to swallow their light. "I killed him. Do you wish to join him, Gilbert? Or perhaps you’d like to explain why you’ve been feeding the Council false reports about the Hillstone borders to cover up your own embezzlement of pack funds?"

Beta Gilbert turned a ghostly shade of white. "I... I don't know what you’re talking about. Those are lies! Slander!"

"I think you do," Reynolds whispered, leaning into the Beta’s personal space. "But we’ll discuss your treason in a more private setting later. For now, you will sit. You will eat. And you will apologize to my mate for the insults you have leveled against her tonight."

Piper looked like she wanted to spit in my face. "I will never apologize to her! I would rather die!"

Reynolds turned his gaze to her, his eyes glowing a fierce, golden yellow. "Then you will leave this palace in chains, Piper. The choice is yours. But I promise you, the dungeons are much colder than this dining hall, and the rats there are not as picky as I am."

Piper’s eyes filled with tears of pure rage. She looked at her father, but he was too busy trembling and wiping sweat from his brow to help her. Finally, she turned her head toward me, her teeth clenched so tight I thought they might actually shatter in her mouth.

"I’m... I’m sorry, Louisa," she hissed. It was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard in my life.

"I’m sorry, what was that?" I asked, leaning back in my chair and crossing my legs, enjoying the way Jude was shaking behind me. "I couldn't hear you over the sound of your pride breaking. Speak up, Piper. Surely the daughter of a Beta has a stronger voice than that."

"I am sorry!" she yelled, her voice cracking with the weight of her humiliation.

"Better," I said, a cold, satisfied smile touching my lips. "Now, Jude, be a good Delta and pour my former friend a glass of wine. She looks like she’s about to have a heart attack, and we wouldn't want her blood staining the King's carpet."

Jude stumbled forward, his hands trembling so much the bottle rattled against the rim of Piper’s glass. Piper looked up at Jude, her eyes wide with a sense of betrayal that matched my own from months ago.

"Jude? What are you doing?" she whispered, her voice trembling. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Jude didn't look at her. He couldn't. He looked like a man walking to his own execution. "I’m serving the King’s mate, Piper. Please... just sit down and be quiet."

The dinner that followed was a nightmare for them, and a masterpiece for me. I watched as Piper was forced to sit and watch the man she thought she had stolen from me serve me like a common footman. I watched as her father tried to navigate Reynolds' sharp, pointed questions about the pack’s finances, each word from the Alpha King acting like a noose tightening around the Beta's neck.

But as the night wore on, a strange, hollow feeling began to grow in my gut. Every time Reynolds defended me, every time he touched my hand or called me his mate, a part of me wanted to believe him. A part of me wanted to forget that he was the one who had started all of this by killing my father.

He killed your father, a voice in my head whispered, sharp and cold. He is using you to get to the Gilberts. You are just a pawn in a bigger game of pack politics. Do not mistake possession for protection.

Suddenly, a wave of nausea hit me. The smell of the rich food, the heavy perfume, the suffocating tension—it was all too much. I pushed back my heavy chair, the screech of wood against marble cutting through the forced conversation like a knife.

"I need air," I said, not waiting for permission or a response.

I bolted from the room, ignoring Reynolds' call of my name. I ran through the labyrinthine hallways until I found the heavy garden doors. The cool night air hit my face, and I leaned against a stone pillar, gasping for breath as if I had just run a marathon. The moon was high, casting silver light over the manicured hedges.

"Louisa?"

I spun around, my heart hammering. It was Jude. He had followed me out, his Delta uniform looking disheveled in the moonlight.

"Get away from me, Jude," I spat, the anger bubbling up again. "Go back to your mistress. I’m sure she needs you to wipe her tears."

"Lou, please," he said, stepping closer. He looked pathetic, a shell of the man I once loved. "You have to listen to me. Reynolds... he’s dangerous. He’s not what you think. He didn't save you because he cares about justice. He saved you because of what you are."

I frowned, my heart skipping a beat in a way that had nothing to do with the mate bond. "What are you talking about? I’m the daughter of a Beta you let die."

"The blood tests... from when you were a child," Jude whispered, looking over his shoulder toward the palace. "Your father hid them for a reason. You aren't just a werewolf, Lou. Your mother... she wasn't from a pack. She was a High Witch from the Crescent Coven."

The world seemed to tilt on its axis. "A witch? That’s impossible. I don't have magic. I don't even have a wolf!"

"It’s dormant," Jude said, reaching for my hand. I pulled away as if his skin were made of fire. "Reynolds knows. That’s why he killed your father—to get to you without anyone standing in his way. He wants your power to solidify his throne and crush the other Alphas. He’s going to use you, Lou. Just like everyone else has."

"And you’re telling me this because you care?" I laughed, a bitter, broken sound that startled the birds in the trees. "You’re telling me this because you’re afraid he’s going to kill you for your failures."

"I’m telling you because we can leave!" Jude pleaded, his eyes desperate. "I have friends in the North. We can run tonight. I can protect you now!"

"You couldn't protect me when I was scrubbing floors and bleeding in the dirt, Jude. What makes you think you can protect a witch from an Alpha King?"

A low, guttural growl vibrated through the air, coming from the deep shadows of the archway behind Jude. It was a sound of pure, unadulterated territorial fury.

"He can’t," Reynolds' voice boomed.

He stepped out of the darkness, his eyes glowing a fierce, predatory gold that seemed to illuminate the garden. He looked at Jude with a gaze that promised a slow death, and then he looked at me.

"Leave us, Delta," Reynolds commanded. "Before I decide that serving dinner isn't enough of a punishment for your continued existence."

Jude didn't stay to argue. He turned and fled into the night, his cowardice once again proving to be his strongest trait.

Reynolds walked toward me, his presence overwhelming, his aura crushing the very air out of my lungs. He stopped just inches away, his heat radiating off him in waves.

"Is it true?" I asked, my voice trembling as I looked up at the man who had destroyed my life. "Am I a witch? Did you kill my father to claim my blood as a weapon?"

Reynolds reached out, his large hand cupping my cheek. For the first time, his touch didn't feel like a command. It felt like a heavy, dark confession.

"Your father died for many reasons, Louisa," he whispered, his thumb grazing my lower lip. "But your blood... that is a secret I would burn this entire kingdom to the ground to protect. Not for the power, but because of the target it puts on your back."

He leaned down, his lips brushing against mine in a ghost of a kiss that sent sparks flying through my veins.

"Now, tell me," he murmured against my mouth, his scent filling my senses until I couldn't think straight. "Do you still want to run with a coward? Or do you want to stay and find out exactly what kind of Queen you were born to be?"

I stood frozen, trapped between my hatred for the man and the terrifying power starting to wake up in my soul. The war had moved from the dining room to my very blood.