After My Alpha Sold Me to Another Pack

The cage smelled like rust and old death. I couldn't tell if the blood crusted on the bars was mine or belonged to whoever had been here before me. My wrists were raw from the chains, silver-laced and burning. Every bump in the road sent fresh agony through my body.

They'd drugged me before loading me into the caravan. Something that made my thoughts swim and my limbs heavy as stone. I couldn't fight. Couldn't speak. Could barely breathe through the gag they'd shoved in my mouth.

Through the canvas covering the cage, I caught glimpses of other caravans. Banners from different packs. The Summit. Greyson was taking me to the Summit.

A warrior's voice drifted back from the front. "Alpha says we're trading her to Blackthorn. Heard he likes breaking rogues."

Laughter. Cold and casual.

"Better her than us dealing with her."

I closed my eyes. Blackthorn. I knew that name. Everyone did. Alpha Silas Blackthorn ran a pack on the northern border, and the stories about what he did to rogues made even hardened warriors go quiet.

This was it, then. Greyson wasn't even going to take my eyes himself. He was going to trade me away like garbage, let someone else finish what he'd started.

The caravan stopped. Voices outside. The canvas was ripped back, and harsh sunlight stabbed into my eyes. Hands grabbed the cage, dragging it off the wagon. I hit the ground hard, my shoulder slamming into the bars.

They left me there. In the dirt. Behind the Blood River encampment, hidden from view like something shameful.

I could hear the Summit in the distance. Alphas greeting each other. The formality of it all. Once, I would have been at Greyson's side for something like this. Once, I would have mattered.

The drug was wearing off. Slowly. My thoughts were clearing, but my body still wouldn't obey. I tried to shift, tried to call for Luna, but there was nothing. Just silence where my wolf used to be.

Time passed. I didn't know how much. The sun moved across the sky. My throat was so dry it felt like sandpaper.

Then I smelled it.

Vanilla. Rich and warm, cutting through the stench of my own blood and fear. It wrapped around me like a blanket, like safety, like something I'd forgotten existed.

Footsteps. Fast and purposeful.

The tent flap tore open.

A man stood there, backlit by the setting sun. Tall. Broad-shouldered. His eyes were wild, glowing with his wolf just beneath the surface. He stared at me like I was the only thing in the world that mattered.

"Moon Goddess," he breathed.

He moved toward the cage, and I flinched. Couldn't help it. Every instinct screamed that men who looked at me like that brought pain.

But he stopped. His hands were shaking.

"I've been looking for you," he said, his voice rough. "Years. I've been looking for years."

I didn't understand. Couldn't process what he was saying.

He gripped the cage door. The metal groaned. His eyes met mine, and something in my chest pulled tight. Recognition. Not of his face, but of something deeper. Something that felt like coming home.

"Hold on," he said.

Then he threw his head back and roared.

The sound shook the earth. It wasn't a command. It was a challenge. A declaration. Every wolf in the Summit would have heard it, would have felt it in their bones.

He shifted. One moment, a man. The next, a massive black wolf, bigger than any I'd ever seen. His fur was midnight dark, his eyes burning gold.

He tore the cage door off its hinges like it was paper.

Shouts outside. Running footsteps. Greyson's voice, sharp with fury. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The black wolf stood over me, his body a wall between me and the tent entrance. A growl rumbled from his chest, so deep I felt it in my ribs.

Greyson burst in, Beta Kane at his heels. His face was twisted with rage. "Reynolds. Step away from my property."

The black wolf's growl turned into a snarl. He didn't move.

Other Alphas were gathering outside now. I could hear them. Smell them. The whole Summit was watching.

The black wolf shifted back. He stood there, naked and unashamed, his body still positioned between me and Greyson. When he spoke, his voice carried the weight of absolute authority.

"Mine."

One word. But it changed everything.