Chapter 12: Begging The Monster

###Sincerely

I stared at the food the maid had laid out, then at the closed door.

Every survival instinct screamed at me to run.

Unfortunately, I had absolutely nowhere to go.

The sound of the dining hall door closing behind Alpha Ryker still echoed in my ears like a death knell.

Mooncrest?

I couldn’t go back. I wouldn’t.

For one long moment I sat frozen, heart hammering. Then a soft, desperate voice stirred inside me—my wolf, weak but determined.

Don’t.

I swallowed hard. If we go back… we won’t survive this time.

“I know,” I whispered.

Images flooded me: Miranda tossing my food in the trash, Father’s empty gaze, Bianca’s triumphant smile beside Roland while the entire pack laughed at me, the storage closet, the endless hunger, the soul-crushing loneliness.

A fragile spark of determination ignited beneath the fear.

If Ryker wanted me dead, he could’ve left me on that rainy road. Or finished me after I stumbled into his basement.

Instead, he’d carried me, fed me, called a physician.

He wasn’t kind.

But maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t the complete monster the stories painted.

This was my only chance.

I pushed my chair back so hard it scraped loudly against the marble. “I have to try.”

I hurried after him.

By the time I reached the grand staircase, he was already halfway up, one powerful hand resting casually on the railing.

“Alpha!” My voice cracked through the vast hall.

He didn’t stop.

“Alpha, please!”

His footsteps halted.

Slowly, he turned. Those piercing gray eyes locked onto me, unreadable and intense.

I rushed forward, nearly slipping on the polished floor, and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Courage failing, I did the only thing I could think of.

I dropped to my knees.

“Please…” My voice trembled. “Don’t send me back.”

Silence.

“I’ll die there. Not tomorrow, maybe not even next month, but eventually. I won’t survive.”

The truth cracked something deep inside me.

“I have nowhere to go back to in Mooncrest. My stepmother barely lets me eat. I slept in a storage closet. My father stopped seeing me years ago. My stepsister has everything, and I… I don’t want what she has. I just don’t want to go back there.”

Tears burned my eyes.

For several agonizing seconds, Ryker said nothing. The silence pressed down like a weight.

Finally, his deep voice cut through it. “If returning to Mooncrest isn’t an option, I’ll have Kane arrange accommodation at a women’s shelter outside Blackstone. It's temporary, until you can support yourself.”

A shelter in another pack?

Another place where I’d be the unwanted charity case. Another place full of pityful, mocking stares.

“No.” The word slipped out before I could stop it.

One dark eyebrow rose. “No?”

“I don’t want charity.” I lifted my chin, even as my hands shook. “I’ll work. I can cook, clean, wash clothes, scrub floors, whatever you need. I won’t be any trouble. I’ll earn every meal. I don’t need special treatment. I just… I need somewhere to stay… and be safe.”

His expression didn’t soften. If anything, it grew colder.

“Why Blackstone?”

I blinked. “What?”

He descended the stairs until we stood only a few feet apart. The air between us felt charged, heavy with power and something I couldn’t name.

“There are dozens of neighboring packs. So tell me—why here?”

“I…” The answer stuck in my throat. Because fate threw me onto your road? Because you caught me when I fell?

He studied me like I was a puzzle he wanted to solve… or a threat he needed to eliminate.

“You were rejected by Roland yesterday,” he said, voice low and precise. “Today you’re begging to stay in the territory of his greatest rival. Can you understand why that raises questions?”

Understanding hit me like a slap.

He thought I was a spy?

“No!” I shook my head violently, curls whipping across my face. “I’m not! He rejected me in front of the entire pack. Chose my stepsister on the spot. I mean nothing to him. I swear on the Moon Goddess, I have no reason to help Roland. I wouldn’t even know how. I’ve spent my whole life cleaning floors, not attending meetings or seeing secrets.”

He watched me silently.

“I believe you believe that,” he said finally. “But belief isn’t proof.”

He stepped around me.

“I won’t gamble my pack’s safety.”

My shoulders crumpled. “So… you’re still sending me away?”

“Yes.” He continued toward a set of large double doors. A guard opened them instantly.

Without looking back, Ryker added, “It has been decided. You’ll leave after lunch.”