2. Elisabed

2

Elisabed

The air between us was heavy as I followed August down the narrow, winding path that led to the house my family was staying in.

They had accompanied me on the two-day journey from Raol’s territory into neutral territory, but it was more likely they were doing it to escape the backlash from my attack than to offer me any support. They weren’t allowed to attend the trial, and I wouldn’t have wanted my sister to see it, anyway.

“Where is your family staying?” August’s low voice broke the silence.

I cleared my throat, the words feeling stiff. I had no idea how to act around one of the men who had, in a twisted way, saved my life. “Near the western edge.”

He nodded but didn’t offer any further commentary. I kept my gaze on the path ahead, the faint glow of the house coming into view through the trees.

The door to the small, weathered home creaked as I pushed it open. My heart thudded as I stepped over the threshold, leaving August outside. This wasn’t just a goodbye, as the alpha seemed to believe.

I needed to talk to my father.

“Who’s there?” My father’s sharp voice called out from the back room, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps.

“It’s me,” I said, my voice steady despite the knot tightening in my chest at the thought of seeing my little sister for the last time.

“What happened? What was the sentence?” my father asked, appearing in the room and looking at me with narrowed eyes. My mother trailed after him, her face drawn with tension, and my little sister peeked out from behind her, looking relieved.

There was a good chance I wasn’t going to return from the trial alive, and they’d all known that as well as I had.

I set my jaw, refusing to flinch under his gaze. “The council has decided I’m leaving with three of its alphas.”

The room fell silent. My father’s expression twisted into a sneer, and I braced myself for the explosion. It came in the familiar form of a slap, fast and sharp and nothing I wasn’t used to. Tears formed in my eyes from the sting, but not a single one dared to drop. The power behind the slap had forced my head to turn, but I righted it and stared my father straight on.

“You’ve turned your back on us—on your pack!” His voice rose, shaking the walls of the small house. “You’ve shamed this family, and now you think you can just walk away?”

“I did what needed to be done,” I said, my voice tight, not showing an ounce of my pain.

“You did nothing but bring ruin upon us!” he yelled, spit flying from his mouth with the force of his words.

My gaze flicked to my mother, who said nothing, and then to my sister. She was trembling, clutching the edge of my mother’s apron. Her innocence, her fragility—that was why I’d done it. This scene was only making her feel worse.

“Shut up and listen to me,” I snarled. I was done letting the coward talk. “I did it for her .” I nodded toward my sister. “Raol wanted her, and you—” My voice cracked. He could physically hurt me all he wanted, but it was this betrayal that hurt the most. “You would have let him have her.”

My father’s face went pale for a moment, but his anger quickly surged again. He raised his hand again, screaming, “Don’t you dare accuse me of such a thing!”

“You’re angry with me ?” I asked, stepping closer, my voice trembling with rage. “This never would’ve happened if you’d done your job properly and protected us like you were supposed to. You’re nothing but a joke of a father. And you better care for her—keep her away from Raol when I’m gone—or I swear to you, I’ll find my way back and fucking kill you . And this time, I’ll finish the job.”

The room fell into a stunned silence.

This was why I came back. He needed to understand what was at stake—needed to know what a fucking piece of shit our alpha was. God help him if he doesn’t protect her.

My father’s face paled. His mouth opened and closed as though he wanted to argue but couldn’t find the words, his hand trembling in the air. My mother froze, clutching my sister to her side as if my anger had physically pushed them back.

I held his gaze, daring him to strike me again, but he didn’t move.

Our little standoff was broken when the door opened behind me. I turned to see August standing there, his sharp green eyes scanning the scene.

His gaze landed on the red mark blooming on my cheek, and his expression darkened. “Who touched you?” he asked, his voice cold enough to freeze the room. I thought I heard worry in his voice for a moment, but I must have imagined it. I was his property now, and no one liked damaged property. Raol always liked to remind me of that.

I didn’t answer. I may be his omega by law now, but this was between me and my family. He stepped inside anyway, his commanding presence filling the space. His eyes locked on my father. “I asked a question,” he stated threateningly.

No one spoke. My father’s lips pressed into a thin line, and his shoulders slumped slightly under the weight of August’s glare. His previously raised hand was clenched into a fist at his side.

“Let me make something very clear,” August said, his voice low but laced with steel. “She belongs to me now. If anyone lays a hand on her again, I will chop off their fingers one at a time and flay their remaining limbs until they’re screaming for mercy.” He let the words hang in the air, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

I drew a sharp breath. I hadn’t expected the violence behind his words. My father said nothing, but the flicker of fear in his eyes was answer enough.

Shame he didn’t have the same look on his face when I threatened him.

August turned back to me, his hand brushing against my arm before settling firmly on it. “We’re leaving.”

I waved at my sister, whose face was marred with endless tears, before stepping out of the house. I hope she understood I didn’t want to leave. I knew my parents wouldn’t let me get near her again, not now, not after what I did. I mouthed my last goodbye at her, and the door shut in my face with a finality that sent a shiver down my spine.

***

The walk to the alphas’ house was quieter than I expected. August moved beside me, his steps measured and deliberate. I kept my pace slower, my legs trembling from the waning adrenaline rush after the confrontation with my father. My cheek stung, a bitter reminder of what I was leaving behind, but the ache in my chest felt far worse.

I’d thought I knew what sadness felt like. I’d been wrong.

Every step carried me farther from the only life I’d ever known, the only person I’d ever cared for, yet closer to something I couldn’t quite define. My gaze darted to August when I thought he wasn’t looking. He radiated authority in a way that felt magnetic. His presence wasn’t loud or overbearing, but it commanded attention nonetheless.

“Are you always this silent?” I finally asked, the words slipping out before I could stop them.

His green eyes flicked toward me, sharp and assessing. “Are you always this defiant?”

My lips pressed into a thin line, and I looked away. I don’t know why I spoke, knowing he was a part of the council. They all were. They may have saved my life, but I couldn’t assume it was out of the goodness of their hearts.

The air between us grew heavier, and I didn’t dare breach the silence again.

The neutral territory that housed the council stretched around us, vast and unwelcoming. Even the land itself seemed to reflect the growing fractures between the packs.

It had been decades since the council pact was created to end the violence between wolf packs. It had forced the strongest alphas to bond, ensuring none of them would attack the other. Together, they could keep all the smaller packs in line.

It may have ended the violence back then, but it wasn’t doing anything to stop the growing instability now.

From what I understood, we were headed to the alphas’ neutral territory home—a temporary dwelling that accommodated them while council was in session. They shared it, but other council members had their own, so there were three other homes nearby. I supposed these alphas preferred living together than living separately.

As August led me toward one of the homes, my stomach twisted into a knot. This wasn’t a safe haven; it was a gilded cage.

“You’re quiet now,” he remarked, his tone cutting through my spiraling thoughts.

“I was thinking,” I muttered, glancing up at the massive house in front of us.

By all accounts, it was a beautiful building. Tall, imposing, and slightly Gothic in style while still remaining modern, it stood out from the landscape around it, even more so than the other council houses. It was all sharp edges and dark stone, the kind of place that didn’t welcome visitors, and I gulped as we approached.

“And what were you thinking?” August asked.

“That this doesn’t feel like salvation,” I answered.

August stopped walking, turning to face me fully. “You’re alive, aren’t you?” His voice was low, almost cruel. “That’s more than most omegas who defy their alphas can say.”

His words hit their mark, and I looked away, swallowing the lump in my throat. I hated how much sense they made. It didn’t take much for an omega to be “sent away” or sold at auction to humans and wolves alike. Most humans may fear and hunt us, but a few were corrupted by their own sense of power over omegas.

My fate could have easily been chains and a wooden carriage carting me away. Raol only brought me before the council to humiliate me before I died. If he had known the alphas would take me instead, he would have killed me himself.

When we stepped inside the stone fortress, the atmosphere shifted. The air was warmer and thick with the scent of alphas. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it was overwhelming—like being wrapped in something too tight to breathe.

Two figures emerged from deeper in the house. I shifted between my feet as I looked up at their familiar faces—the only faces that mattered in my world anymore.

Finnley was the first to speak. “Well, look who’s here,” he drawled, his grin sharp enough to draw blood. “Our little rebellion in the flesh. Welcome to our home.”

I stiffened under his gaze, unsure whether he was mocking me or simply enjoying my discomfort. Probably both. “Finnley,” I said, greeting him.

His grin widened. “Call me Finn,” he said.

“Finn,” I stated mechanically.

Marshall followed behind, his presence quieter but imposing. His dark eyes met mine briefly before flicking to August. “She’s hurt. Who did it?”

“It’s handled,” August said evenly, stepping aside to give them a better view of me.

“Handled isn’t enough,” Marshall stepped closer, his voice quiet but intense. “She’s ours now. We can’t have anyone thinking they can touch what belongs to us.”

Finn leaned against the mantle. “Don’t worry, Omega. You’ll find we’re not as forgiving as your last alpha.”

“Charming,” I muttered under my breath, though the words barely had any bite. My exhaustion was catching up to me. It was hard to muster up my strength now that it was just my life on the line, not my sister’s.

“Tell me,” Finn continued, “Did your family put up a fight when they handed you over?”

My cheeks burned. “They didn’t hand me over. I had no choice.”

“No choice?” His grin widened, the scar over his lip tugging his smile into something feral. “I think you’ve had plenty of choices. You’re just terrible at picking the safe ones.”

I opened my mouth to retaliate, but Marshall spoke before I could. “She’s here now,” he said. “That’s all that matters.” His gaze was fixed on me, and I felt pinned beneath it.

Was he this intense all the time?

My thoughts churned as they spoke, the reality of my situation settling like a stone in my gut. These men weren’t just alphas—they were council alphas who dictated how the rest of us lived. They had the power to crush me, yet they’d claimed me instead.

But why ?

Finn had said something about guiding me in the right direction and using me for the council, but it made no sense. What could I ever provide to them?

I glanced at each of them in turn. August, with his calculated indifference. Finn, with his unpredictable wildness. Marshall, with his unreadable coldness.

I was an omega with a defective wolf. I couldn’t shift when my alpha commanded it, and I refused to submit as an omega. I worked at our pack’s store because Raol couldn’t find any use for me. I attacked my alpha, not just with a punch for self-defense, but with a knife to the throat.

So what did they see in me?

I shook myself from my thoughts. Marshall looked at me disapprovingly, and August stared straight ahead, but Finn gave me a cheeky grin.

“Welcome to your new home,” he said. “We’re all going to have so much fun .”

I glanced around the massive, unfamiliar space, my heart sinking. This wasn’t home—not even close. But there was no going back now.