Chapter 1

ELARA

A violent shiver wracked my body- the first thing I noticed as I regained consciousness. Trying to sit upright proved an agonising struggle, but with immense effort, I finally flattened my back against the cold, unforgiving wall. My arms wrapped tightly around my torso as my lids slid shut, and my teeth chattered in rapid spasms. I was running a fever.

"H-help...me..." I pushed into a kneeling position, muscles straining as I crawled those final feet to the cell gate. I grasped the rusted bars, yanking and rattling the unyielding locks with what little strength remained.

The guard stationed nearby didn't so much as spare me a glance. "Shut your mouth, you filthy mutt!" A growl of pure disdain sliced through the air.

"I-I'm burning up..." My throat felt scorched, voice little more than a rasp as I fought to project it. "Please...I need water..."

Perhaps a flicker of concern would grace his heart. Perhaps, against all odds, a shred of basic human decency still lingered in this forsaken place.

I should have known better.

"Stop that noise, you pathetic bitch!" In a blur of movement, he was suddenly before the cell, thrusting the barrel of his rifle through the bars and struck me- hard. White-hot agony exploded across my skull as I crumpled backwards, the metallic taste of blood flooding my mouth. Blackness crept along the edges of my vision, the guard's next words fading into the void. "Didn't you hear me?!"

I was going to die here, alone in this wretched pit. The realisation hit with a strange sense of calm acceptance as the darkness finally claimed me.

"...Ple..."

"Remind me again- who gave you permission to strike her?"

An authoritative voice, razor-sharp and laced with quiet menace, sliced through the haze enveloping me. At first, the words held no meaning, mere vibrations assaulting my senses as I struggled to regain coherence. But gradually, awareness returned...along with a new realisation.

The surface beneath me was soft- a stark contrast to the hard, unforgiving stones I'd grown numb to these past three weeks. My life hadn't always been this unending nightmare. Not long ago, I was a powerful Alpha Queen with undisputed rule over the Northern, Eastern, Western, and Southern clans. For generations, my family's bloodline reigned supreme, our dominance unquestioned by even the most brazen challengers.

Until the Rebellion tore it all apart.

"She wouldn't stop disturbing the peace, General." The timid reply was immediately recognizable as the guard from my cell, his voice laced with trepidation.

"Then pray to whatever deities you hold sacred that she wakes," the General's tone could have curdled fresh milk, "because if not, the Alpha will have your hide."

With immense effort, I cracked my eyelids open- only to slam them shut again with a strangled cry as searing agony tore through my skull. Clearly, I hadn't imagined that rifle butt to the head.

"I th-think she's awake..."

Bracing myself, I attempted to open my eyes once more, blinking past the haze of pain to take in my new surroundings. No, not the dank, lightless cell I'd become accustomed to, but an actual room. A lavish bedchamber, by the looks of it- one befitting royalty.

Our gazes met and held, the guard's eyes widening almost comically as I studied him in turn. What game were these bastards playing, dragging me from that pit only to imprison me elsewhere? Though I supposed beggars could hardly be choosers...

The General's footfalls were a series of dull, thunderous thuds reverberating off the stone floors as he approached. Even lying down, I could make out his towering silhouette- a hulking, broad-shouldered figure carved from thick slabs of barbarian muscle. When my eyes finally found his, the intensity of that stare very nearly stole what little breath remained in my lungs. Penetrating and ruthless, yet mysterious and evil.

"Inform the Alpha that she's awake," he barked without preamble, dark eyes roving over me in an assessing sweep. "Then summon the witch. I want this bitch's mind laid bare- her intentions and thoughts on our incoming King. We can't afford to let her harbor any ill will."

"Yes, General."

The guard scurried away like a pup, clearly anxious to remove himself from the General's imposing presence. An audible huff of exhaled breath followed his exit as if the mere thought of me posing a threat was vaguely amusing to the man looming over me.

"Now that you're awake, Queen..." The mocking emphasis on that once-revered title was abundantly clear, his tone dripping with undisguised disdain. "It's high time you did the proper thing, don't you think so?"

The proper thing...

My gaze sharpened, holding his stare without flinching as flashes of memory- of smoke and anguished screams and the sickly-sweet stench of burning flesh- assaulted me. They'd stopped at nothing to achieve their twisted version of 'proper.' First, the invasion that saw my ancestral home besieged and my pack slaughtered- the children and males butchered like cattle, the women raped and executed or sold to the highest bidder. All while I suffered the agonizing effects of wolfbane overdose, bound and captured as the ultimate war prize

All for one purpose: to force me to renounce my birthright and hand over my crown to the mastermind behind this bloody coup. According to him, a woman was unfit to lead in a man's world.

Yet as I lay there, battered and defeated in spirit but not quite broken, I knew with every fiber of my being that I would never give in. Not while my heart still beats.

"Go...to hell..." I rasped, punctuating the venom-laced words with a globe of spittle arcing through the air to splatter across his cheek.

For a moment, there was nothing but deafening silence and the rapid staccato of my own panicked breaths. Then, in a blur of movement so fast my battered mind could scarcely process it, his hand connected with the side of my face- an explosive backhanded strike that whipped my head to the side with sickening force.

White-hot agony blossomed along my jaw, fresh blood flooding my mouth as I tasted the unmistakable metallic tang of ruptured flesh. The General rose to his full, towering height, removing a kerchief from some unseen pocket to dab at the fleck of spittle marring his cheek.

"I see you still haven't learned your lesson." His tone was laced with darkness, sending an involuntary shudder of dread rippling through me as I struggled not to cry out.

With my face still turned to the side, I could just make out his looming silhouette in my peripheral vision as he leaned over the bed. His massive hand clamped around my throat with bruising force, forcefully turning my head until our gazes met once more- his own burning with fury, mine defiant despite the agony searing through me with every rattling breath.

"You have no idea the trouble I was trying to spare you from." The words emerged as a guttural rasp, hot and moist against my skin as he pulled me closer until our faces were mere inches apart. The reek of stale sweat and tobacco smoke made my eyes water but I refused to blink.

"The Alpha is so desperate for your crown that by the time he's finished with you..." His grip tightened fractionally, cutting off what little air reached my lungs until dark spots danced at the edges of my vision. "You'll be begging him on your knees to relieve you of the burden. Stupid, arrogant bitch!"

"G-General..."