"." My voice was flat, final, and full of conviction. "You know I’m the one you’re punishing."
Dawn’s lips curved into a slow, predatory smile—the kind that showed a flash of perfect white canines and made the small hairs on my arms stand on end. It wasn’t a smile of mirth or warmth; it was the satisfied smirk of a wolf who had cornered his prey.
"You’re very full of yourself, little doe," he murmured, his voice laced with mocking affection. He stood then, and the simple act of him rising from the chair seed to diminish the entire room. He was a colossal figure, all corded muscle and controlled, lethally coiled power, easily eclipsing the heavy leather chair he’d just vacated. The movent was slow, deliberate, a warning in itself. He walked with the heavy, silent grace of a hunter, and with every step he took toward , the air thickened.
The scent of him—pine, earth, and pure, dominant Alpha musk—was now overwhelming, wrapping around like a suffocating blanket. It was a potent mix of territorial claim and raw, untad masculinity that was both terrifying and, against every sensible instinct, deeply captivating. My heart hamred a desperate rhythm against my ribs, a frantic, trapped bird trying to escape the confines of my chest. My wolf, that sudden, wild surge of power that had propelled here, had completely retreated, whimpering deep in my psyche, an Oga cowed by the presence of a supre Alpha. All that was left was Bambi: terrified, furious, and hopelessly outmatched.
"You think the great Alpha Dawn has nothing better to do with his ti than orchestrate a fra-up to inconvenience a scullery maid?" he continued, his tone dangerously soft, like a velvet rope concealing a steel garrote. He stopped directly in front of , forcing to tilt my head back just to et his eyes. The difference in our size was absurd, insulting. He was a mountain; I was a pebble. "You overestimate your importance, little doe."
"Don’t lie to !" The words tasted like bile. I refused to let my voice shake. "Gideon is the only friend I have left. He is disabled. He is an Oga. He couldn’t kill a fly, let alone two elite rogue wolves. And you know it. This is about . It is always about . You want to bend, to break, to crawl at your feet, and when I won’t, you take away the only person who... who protects ." A hot, salty tear finally escaped, trailing a burning path down my cheek. I quickly swiped it away with the back of my hand, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing fully weep.
Dawn’s expression remained utterly unreadable. He reached out a hand, and I flinched back instinctively, a move that seed to only deepen that faint, dark amusent in his eyes. Instead of touching , he used a single, powerful finger to tilt my chin up, forcing to hold his gaze. His skin was warm and rough, a brief, startling jolt of contact that sent a fresh wave of panic through .
"He protects you?" Dawn repeated, his voice dropping to a gravelly purr that vibrated the small bones in my jaw. "Interesting choice of words, Bambi. Does a disabled, subservient Oga truly have the power to protect you from the Alpha of this Pack? I highly doubt it." He dropped his hand, and the sudden loss of contact was almost as jarring as the touch itself.
He didn’t move away, though. He remained inches from , his towering presence making it impossible to breathe anything but his scent. "He is under arrest, Bambi. Pack Law is absolute. He will be questioned, held in the cells until the truth of the situation can be ascertained."
"The truth?" I scoffed, my anger montarily overriding my fear. "The truth is you had him arrested! It was an order! Sable said so! You wanted to hurt , and you found the easiest target."
Dawn took a step back, finally creating a sliver of space between us, but his eyes never left mine. They were two chips of polished obsidian, holding a secret knowledge and a terrifying coldness. He walked slowly back to the mahogany table where his drink sat, picking it up and examining the amber liquid with an almost clinical detachnt.
"I am the Alpha," he stated simply, his voice returning to its normal, commanding baritone. "My word is law, and my decisions are final. If I ordered the arrest, it was for the good of the Pack, and for the maintenance of order. Do you question my judgnt, little doe?"
"Yes! I do!" The word ripped out of before I could stop it. I was shaking, consud by a reckless, suicidal courage. "I question your judgnt, your Pack Law, and your cruelty! Let him go, Dawn. Right now. I’ll do anything. I’ll do whatever you want."
The silence that followed was heavy, complete. The only sound was the crackle of the fire in the stone hearth. I watched as the corners of his mouth twitched, and he took another long, slow sip of his drink. He turned from the table, his eyes now blazing with a dark, intense fire that sent a violent tremor through my stomach.
"Anything?" he echoed, the single word hanging in the air, charged with unspoken, dangerous possibilities.
My breath hitched. I knew I had walked into a trap, a deal with the devil that I would regret for the rest of my short life, but I didn’t care. Not if it ant saving Gideon. "Anything," I repeated, the word barely a whisper. "Set him free. Now. And I will... I will pay the price."
Dawn tossed back the rest of his liquor, the movent sharp and decisive, and slamd the heavy glass onto the table. The sound cracked through the quiet room like a gunshot. He walked toward again, his face a mask of predatory resolve.
"The price is you, Bambi," he said, his voice deep and final. "You will pay by doing exactly what I tell you, when I tell you. You will cease this foolish notion of escape. You will stop talking to Celeste. You will stop involving yourself with my personal life. And most importantly, you will not question my authority again. You will belong to , in service to , in whatever capacity I deem necessary."
He was demanding my complete surrender, my total submission—the kind of absolute subservience no Oga had ever given an Alpha, let alone one he hadn’t claid. He was asking for my life, my soul, my very will.
I t his eyes, saw the ruthless expectation there, and didn’t hesitate. "Agreed. Just... let him go."
Dawn stared at for another long, assessing mont, his gaze peeling back every layer of my composure, searching for a lie or a weakness. Finally, he gave a curt nod.
"The charges are dropped. He is to be released from the holding cell and returned to the Oga quarters imdiately," he commanded, his voice suddenly sharp and projected, as if speaking to an unseen soldier outside the room. His Alpha voice, the voice of pure authority, was an almost physical force.
I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Relief, so intense it was dizzying, washed over . He had done it. Gideon was safe.
But Dawn wasn’t finished. His eyes, now less severe but far more demanding, held mine captive. "Now that we have settled the matter of your protector, let us discuss your own future, little doe."
"My future?" I asked, confused, the relief montarily clouded by a new dread.
"Indeed. You cannot be running around the Pack grounds, hearing your ’wolf,’ and making a mockery of Pack Order. Ogas do not have wolves, Bambi. They are ant to be quiet, submissive, and invisible. Your recent behavior is... unacceptable. It is a danger to yourself and to the stability of my Pack." He walked over to his large, rustic desk, pulling open a heavy oak drawer and retrieving a single, heavy key.
"What is that?" I whispered.
He held the key up, its dull bronze catching the firelight. "This is the key to a small cabin on the far edge of my private territory. It is secluded, guarded only by the deep woods, and completely out of the way of the main Pack traffic. Effective imdiately, you are relieved of your duties in the kitchens and you will be moved there. You will live there, alone. It will be your new... residence."
The words struck like a physical blow. Isolation. Banishnt. It wasn’t a reward; it was a more comfortable cage.
"Why?" I stamred. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because," he said, walking back toward , the key swinging gently from his fingers, "you will be close enough for to keep an eye on you, and far enough away that your... peculiarities... will not cause any more trouble with the Pack. You have a wolf, little doe. A strange, silent, powerful wolf that should not exist in an Oga. I need to know why. I need to understand what you are. And I need to control it."
He stopped right in front of again, the key now hovering between us. "You are a mystery, Bambi. And a mystery, left alone, turns into a threat. I am taking away your ability to run, your opportunity to communicate with the likes of that silly she-wolf, Celeste, and your ans to seek out mythical ’witches.’ You are mine now, under my direct observation. Every mont of every day."
He curled his massive hand around the key, closing it into a fist. "You will pack your scant belongings. One of my guards will escort you to your new ho. From this mont on, you report to no one but ."
My mind raced. He was neutralizing . Taking out of the ga. He had solved the problem of Bambi by removing Bambi from the board. No access to Sable. No chance to find Calandra. No way to escape.
Reviews
All reviews (0)