Chapter 4

Elena's POV

It's morning, and I was at my father’s house. Everyone was preparing to go to their respective roles. I was preparing to go to the pack house for my cooking role for the pack. I would be preparing dinner that day, but I needed to arrive in time to set things ready and get other servants’ assistance.

Then suddenly, the door bursted open.

Even now, I hear it. The violent crack of wood against the wall.

Four young, body-fitted men stormed in one after the other. My father rushed out. I knew it was because of the noise caused by the sudden jerk of the door.

Seeing the men who had caused the chaos, he rushed toward them, one leg already raised before he even reached the first. I read his face. I saw it clearly. He was furious. As our pack’s gamma, they had crossed their boundaries.

“Whap!”

Before the men could move further after spotting me and stepping forward, one received a fast, snapping kick from father. It sent him flying, spiraling downward, his head crashing against the floor behind a chair.

The remaining three shifted back, fear finally finding them.

Then they prostrated. “We are sorry. We are sorry…” They chorused repeatedly.

“Where are your manners? And what have you come here for?” he bellowed.

The fallen wolf dragged himself to join the others in prostration.

“We are sent from Alpha to bring Elena, as said by Beta Harla,” the injured wolf said with a choking voice.

My ears had risen at the mention of my name. Even now, I feel it, that sharp, cold awareness. My hair stood on end.

“No, father. I won’t follow them.”

“Wait, Elena. Let me deal with these fools first,” father said.

“Now, all of you…” he paused, bowing his head briefly. “If you didn’t have to report back to the pack house, I know what I would do. You would be on your way to rotting in punishment.”

He turned away from them while they were still lying flat on the floor.

Then he faced me, calming himself. I remember the shift, the restraint. “You know what, Elena, you must not disobey the order from Alpha Varlok. That won’t be a nice way to go about it,” he said, almost like a whisper.

“If he suspects you, let him continue with his proceedings. If you are sure you were not in the forest that day, the truth will reveal itself,” father concluded.

But I knew the truth.

I had lied.

I was in the forest that day. I saw him.

And in that moment, I understood the trap closing in. Disobey him, I risk disaster. Go with them, I walk into hell.

Then something inside me collapsed.

I remember it vividly. I folded inward, tears welling out of my eyes, as if my body could no longer hold the weight of what was coming.

“The men were still lying down? Let’s allow them take their luna-to-be and let fresh air in,” Camela muttered, already striding toward father’s room so he would hear.

I had no alternative then. I had no choice but to follow, clinging to a thin, desperate prayer that the moon goddess might still twist fate in my favor. Even now, recalling it, my chest tightens.

Mila moved briskly past me, slammed into my side, and sent me staggering. I remember the sharp jolt, the humiliation burning hotter than the pain. She dropped into one of the chairs, turning her back to me as if I were nothing.

“Now you can all rise and take her along. You are delaying much already, alpha couldn't tarry longer,” Camela echoed, her hands slicing through the air in command.

The men sprang up.

A sturdy hand clamped around my arm almost instantly. Unyielding, merciless. I did not even dare to struggle; something inside me had already begun to fracture.

My body weakened, betraying me. I could only move when they shoved me forward, their force dragging me along like I had already surrendered.

We rushed out toward a car waiting in front. They shoved me inside, three men crowding beside me, boxing me in.

Panic surged through me as we drove toward the pack house. Even now, I can still feel it clawing up my throat, the suffocating dread of not knowing what my fate would become.

Varlok’s POV

When Halar left, I had intended to wait. I did not expect him to take long to return with the culprit. That certainty had been firm then. Now, I remember how misplaced it felt.

It was early morning; servants were already sweeping through the house, scrubbing, restoring order. I issued a sharp order for the upstairs room to be cleaned first and quickly. There were pack documents waiting, matters that could not be delayed.

Balancing my emotional unrest with the crushing weight of leadership had never been easy. It demanded discipline, demanded that I silence distractions and force clarity into existence. Even now, I still live inside that struggle.

I went straight upstairs. I revisited pack agreements, statements of allegiance, our mission. Every line demanding scrutiny. I examined records of last year’s war against the outsider pack, dissecting every failure, every gap. We do not pray for war, but we prepare for it as if it is inevitable.

Then the sharp jarring of the door downstairs dragged my awareness back.

And then, I saw her. Elena.

But I'm used to seeing her with Golden, the prince. I left the thought and surged forward.

She was struggling within a young delta’s grip. I moved closer, measured, and deliberate.

“Release her,” I whispered.

I began circling her. Her eyes squeezed shut, her body trembling. I recognized the fear, but I dismissed it. It did not matter then… or at least, I told myself it didn’t.

She was not marked yet. That fact echoed in my mind. Loud, insistent. She did not belong to anyone.

I circled her for another reason too. To feel it again. That heat I had felt in the forest that day. But there was nothing. Nothing.

The absence unsettled me. Her unmarked state had given me confidence before, but now doubt crept in, insidious and unwelcome. If the mating heat was truly gone, then I would have to wait, two more months, when another mating heat circle would be reached, to confirm anything.

I stopped, the decision forming cold and final, “Lock her up for now.”

Then I turned and headed back upstairs. Behind me, I heard the deltas struggling with her, shoving her roughly like she was some common thief. I halted. Irritation flared.

“Stop shoveling her around. Show some respect around me.”

They bowed quickly, releasing her and guiding her properly this time.

I returned to my work, back to the endless demands of the pack.

“Varlok.” The voice came low, controlled. My mother. Of course.

On the last stair, she spoke again. “Who is she?”

“She’s a suspect. I believe she ran from the forest that day.”

“So you plan to make her luna? Why not take her as your mate immediately?” she pressed.

“No, mother.” My voice hardened. “She needs to prove she’s the one I sensed in the forest. That is what matters. For now, I only want deltas to guard her from running away and everyone to ensure she stays alive—and well.”

“But if you have nothing to do with her, don’t delay her even for a minute,” she insisted. “She has duties. And the mating run is in two days, you can choose from the other unmated she-wolves then.”

“No, mother,” I cut in. “I may not choose anyone.”

I knew what she wanted. Since Ruse’s death, she had pushed relentlessly. Another mate, another union. She was wrong. I simply had not found the connection again. Now the connection is lurking around and I must identify it.

“Varlok…” She paused, realizing I was done.

“Look after the girl for me, mother” I concluded, already stepping toward the dining hall.

When I strode into the hall, I saw it was already filled. Elders gathered, alongside those my mother had chosen to honor with the pack house’s finest meals.