SIENNA'S POV I knew the Royal Pack was dangerous. But I never expected to watch a man get beaten nearly to death on my first day. I hid behind a massive oak tree, covering my mouth with my hand so tightly that I could barely breathe. Peering through the leaves, I had a clear view of the training ground. It was a massacre. A huge man with dark hair stood over a boy on the ground. The energy radiating from him was suffocating. He was the Alpha. His black shirt was soaked with sweat. But it was his eyes that frightened me. They were completely black. "You should have kept your mouth shut, Omega," the Alpha growled. His deep voice carried easily across the silent training ground. The boy on the ground was trembling. He was thin, his clothes were in tatters. Blood dripped from his split lip onto the dirt. When he looked up, I saw nothing but pure terror in his eyes. The Alpha bent down, grabbed him by the neck, and lifted him off the ground. His legs dangled helplessly. "Please," Finley choked, clawing at the Alpha's hand. "Alpha, please... not the eye. Please!" The Alpha didn't even blink. "You challenged me in front of my warriors, Finley. You know the price." I couldn't watch this. I couldn't stand there and let him murder someone right in front of me. "Stop!" The word escaped my throat before my brain could stop me. Everything went completely silent. Nobody moved. Not a single person made a sound. The Alpha froze. Slowly, he released Finley. Finley dropped to the ground, gasping and coughing. Then the Alpha turned his head towards the trees. Every warrior turned to look at me. "Did I just hear a voice?" the Alpha asked. He sounded calm, but in a terrifying way. My heart pounded against my ribs. I should have run. I should have stayed hidden. But my legs wouldn't move. I stepped out from behind the tree. My hands were trembling, but I held my head high. "You're killing him," I said. "He can barely breathe, and you-" "Who are you?" the Alpha interrupted, his dark eyes locking onto mine. The moment our eyes met, my chest hurt. It felt as though someone had punched me. A powerful pull made my bones ache, and I struggled to catch my breath. My heart skipped a beat. A strange, hot sensation rushed through my veins. What the hell? I stumbled backwards. My hand flew to my chest. My heart was beating so fast that I thought I was having a heart attack. What was happening to me? I'd heard stories about werewolves. About how they could control the air. How their eyes glowed in the dark. But I was human. I wasn't supposed to feel that dark, magnetic pull. And I certainly wasn't supposed to feel it towards a monster covered in the blood of a man he'd just beaten. I forced myself to breathe. I had to shake off the dizziness. "I'm Sienna," I said. My voice was surprisingly steady. "And if this is how you treat your own pack, your mother should have drowned you at birth." Several warriors gasped. Even Finley lifted his battered head from the ground. He looked at me as though I'd lost my mind. The Alpha simply stared at me. I couldn't read his expression. His jaw tightened. Then he smiled. It wasn't a pleasant smile. "You have quite a big mouth for a human," he murmured. He took a step towards me. The air grew heavier. "Do you know who I am?" "An arrogant bully?" I replied. I crossed my arms so he wouldn't see them trembling. "You're a coward. It takes a real coward to beat someone who can't defend himself." He stopped right in front of me. He was so close that I could smell the pine, sweat, and blood on him. He looked down at me. For a second, he didn't seem angry. He looked... possessive. "I'm Asher Wolfe," he said quietly. "The Alpha of this pack. And you, little human, have just made a terrible mistake." I swallowed hard. I refused to look away. "Killing me won't make you a good Alpha." "I'm not going to kill you," Asher said. His voice dropped to a whisper that sent chills down my spine. He leaned closer. His lips brushed my ear. "You're my mate. The Moon Goddess has a twisted sense of humour." I didn't know what to say to that. He pulled away and looked at his warriors. Two warriors rushed forward and dragged Finley away. I watched them leave. My stomach twisted. Asher looked at me again. He stared so intensely that it made me uncomfortable. "You wanted to save him so badly? Fine. Now you're mine, Sienna. You'll stay here with me. And you'll learn not to challenge me." He grabbed my wrist. His grip hurt. He dragged me towards a huge, dark castle in the distance. I looked over my shoulder. There was a trail of blood on the ground where Finley had been. I'd saved him, but at what cost? I'd just walked straight into the lion's den. And the lion wasn't going to let me go.

SIENNA'S POV Asher's grip on my wrist was leaving a bruise. He didn't just escort me to his house. He dragged me through the entire pack like a prisoner. The village was a blur. But it wasn't the buildings that surprised me. It was the silence. As Asher walked, every wolf dropped to their knees. They bowed their heads until their foreheads nearly touched the ground. But their eyes followed me. They didn't look curious. They looked at me as if I were already dead. "Keep your head up," Asher murmured beside me. "If you stumble, I won't catch you." "Let go of me," I hissed. I tried to free my wrist. "I can walk on my own." "I'm sure you can. But I don't trust you not to run." We arrived at his house. It was a massive, dark castle made of black stone. It looked more like a fortress than a home. He pushed open the heavy doors and dragged me inside. The doors slammed shut. The room was dark and smelled of pine and old wood. Asher released me. I stumbled backwards and rubbed my wrist. My chest was rising and falling rapidly. "You're insane," I breathed. "You're a psychopath." He turned to look at me. His dark eyes gleamed in the dimness. He seemed completely calm. "I'm the Alpha. And you, Sienna, are a human who just insulted me in front of my entire pack." "I insulted you because you were beating a helpless man to death!" I shouted. Anger was stronger than my fear. "What kind of leader does that?" "A strong one," Asher said. He stepped closer. I backed away until my back hit the door. "The Royal Pack isn't a sanctuary for the weak. It's a hierarchy. The strong rule, the weak serve. If I show mercy, my warriors see it as weakness. And if they see weakness..." He paused. His jaw tightened. "They'll kill me and tear this pack apart." "So you beat an Omega to make a point?" I spat. "I beat him because he challenged me," Asher growled. He slammed his hand against the door beside my head. I flinched. He leaned closer, his face inches from mine. "But you... you're a completely different problem." I could feel the heat radiating from him. That strange pull from the forest had returned. It was stronger now. It felt like electricity beneath my skin. It was terrifying. "I reject it," I whispered. My voice trembled. "Whatever this bond is, I reject it." Asher's eyes flashed with pure fury. His hand shot out. He grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him. "No," he warned. His voice was a low growl. "Never say that to me again." "Or what?" I dared. My heart pounded. "Will you beat me too?" He simply stared at me. The anger in his eyes slowly faded. It turned into something else. Something hungry. "No," he said quietly. His thumb brushed my lower lip. "I won't beat you. I'll do something much worse." He stepped away and turned his back to me. "You'll stay in the guest room on the third floor. You won't leave this house without my permission. And you'll stay away from the Omega." "Finley," I corrected him. My voice was cold. "His name is Finley." Asher glanced over his shoulder. His eyes narrowed. "The Omega is a snake, Sienna. He's been plotting his revenge against me for years. If you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from him." Revenge? The word stuck with me. The boy I'd seen on the ground didn't look like a snake. He just looked broken. But I suppose broken things are the most dangerous. "Take her to the third floor," Asher ordered into the shadows. Gage Hudson stepped out of the darkness. The red-haired warrior looked at me with a mixture of pity and warning. "This way, miss." I followed Gage up the stone staircase. I felt as though I'd just jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. Asher was a monster. But the entire pack was full of them. We reached the third floor. Gage opened the door. The room was actually quite beautiful. But it was still a prison. He checked the windows before turning to leave. "Gage," I called. He stopped at the doorway. "Does he always do that? Beat the Omegas?" Gage paused, his hand resting on the doorknob. For a second, he almost seemed human. "Finley isn't an ordinary Omega, miss," he said quietly. "He's a ticking time bomb. And the Alpha knows it." Before I could ask what he meant, Gage closed the door. Click. The sound of the lock echoed through the room. I walked towards the window and looked down at the dark village. Somewhere below, Finley was lying in a medical bed. Broken and bleeding. And I was trapped up here with the beast who had put him there. I pressed my hand against the cold glass. I wanted to save him. But what if saving him only gave him a reason to live... and a new target to destroy?

FINLEY'S POV The smell of antiseptic hit my nose. It was so strong that it made my stomach churn. I tried to open my eyes. Only one opened. My left eye was swollen shut. I was in the medical house. I tried to sit up, but a sharp, blinding pain tore through my ribs. I choked back a scream. It felt as though broken glass was shifting inside my chest. I fell back against the pillows, gasping. My hands trembled. I looked down and saw blood beneath my fingernails. My blood. The memory hit me all at once. Asher's fist. The dirt in my mouth. The sound of the crowd laughing as he ground my face into the ground. He hadn't just wanted to hurt me. He wanted to break me. "Don't move, idiot," a voice said. Dr. Carter stood beside a metal tray. He was wiping the blood from his hands. "How bad is it?" I asked. My voice sounded hoarse. "Three cracked ribs. Plenty of bruises. A split lip." Carter tossed the bloodied cloth into the bin. "And a deep cut beneath your left eye. I stitched it up. It'll leave a scar." A scar. I shakily raised a hand to my face. My fingers brushed against the thick, rough stitches. I remembered his voice. Not the eye. Please. Asher hadn't cared. He had wanted to mark me. Tears burned in my good eye. But I refused to let them fall. I wasn't going to cry over him. I wouldn't give him that satisfaction. "Where is he?" I whispered. "Gage brought you here and left," Carter said. He didn't even look at me. He simply continued cleaning his instruments as though I were another broken piece of furniture he had to fix. "The Alpha is busy. A human girl interrupted his training and insulted him. He's dealing with her." I froze. A human girl. The memory struck me. Through the haze of blood, I remembered a voice. A girl stepping out from between the trees. She called him a coward. Told him his mother should have drowned him at birth. I thought I'd imagined her. Nobody spoke to Asher Wolfe like that and lived. But she was real. "Is she dead?" I asked. "No," Carter replied, sounding slightly amused. "Though I'm surprised he didn't tear her apart. He looked ready to. But he stopped." He handed me a small bottle of clear liquid. "Rumour has it... she's his mate. He took her to his house." The world stopped. His mate. The Moon Goddess had given a mate to the monster. A pure and innocent bond handed to a tyrant. It was a cruel joke. But when the shock passed, a dark, twisted thought began to take shape in my mind. His mate. Asher Wolfe had a weakness. "Is she his fated mate?" I asked. The gears in my mind were already turning. "That's what the bond says," Carter replied. He forced me to swallow the bitter liquid. "Drink this. It'll help with the pain. Then sleep." My eyelids grew heavy. The medicine pulled me under. But my mind was wide awake. I'd spent years searching for a way to hurt Asher. I couldn't defeat him in a fight. I couldn't kill him in his sleep. His warriors guarded him like dogs. But her. His mate. She was human. She was unprotected. She was the one thing Asher would never see coming. If I could get close to her... if I could turn her against him... I wouldn't just hurt him. I'd break him. I'd destroy the great Alpha's heart, just as he had destroyed my face. I closed my eyes. Sleep, Finley, I told myself as darkness consumed me. Heal. And when you wake up, you'll become a monster worse than he could ever imagine.