Chapter 3 The Castle of Shadows

Lana's POV

He carried me for miles without getting tired. The forest changed around us, getting older, darker. This was the territory other wolves whispered about. Where the Blood Alpha ruled without mercy.

"You can put me down," I said for the fifth time.

"No."

"I can walk."

"You're shaking."

He was right. I couldn't stop trembling.This morning I was supposed to die. Now the most dangerous Alpha in existence was carrying me through his territory, claiming I belonged to him.

"What's your name?" I asked. Everyone called him the Blood Alpha, but that couldn't be his real name.

"Kian."

"Kian," I repeated. It didn't sound as scary as Blood Alpha. "Why did you really save me?"

He looked down at me, those silver eyes unreadable. "I told you. You're mine."

"But what does that mean?"

"You'll understand soon."

The trees opened into a clearing, and I gasped. A castle rose from the darkness, all black stone and sharp towers. It looked ancient, like something from the old stories about the first wolves.

"You live in a castle?"

"Would you prefer a cave?"

I couldn't tell if he was joking. His face stayed serious.

Guards appeared as we approached. Huge wolves with scars and eyes that glowed different colors.

"Alpha," they said, bowing their heads. Their eyes widened when they saw me.

"Spread the word," Kian commanded. "Anyone who touches her dies."

The guards nodded and disappeared back into the shadows.

The castle doors opened without anyone touching them. Inside was nothing like I expected. Warm. Fires burned in hearths. Soft rugs covered stone floors. It was dark but beautiful, like a night sky full of stars.

"Sera," Kian called.

A woman appeared so fast I jumped. She had white hair despite looking young, and her eyes were completely black.

"Alpha." She looked at me with surprise. "Is this…?"

"Yes. She needs food, clothes, and a room prepared."

"The room?"

"Next to mine."

Sera's eyebrows rose, but she nodded. "Of course."

Kian finally set me down, but kept one hand on my arm like he thought I might run. Where would I even go?

"Sera will help you. Eat. Rest. Tomorrow, we will talk."

"Wait." I grabbed his sleeve when he turned to leave. "Those sounds from my old pack. What happened?"

His smile was sharp. "They learned that actions have consequences."

"Did you kill them?"

"Not all of them. Some lessons require survivors to spread the word."

He should have scared me. This man who killed three rogues without blinking. But when he looked at me, his eyes went soft.

"You're safe here, Lana. No one will hurt you again."

Then he was gone, leaving me with Sera.

"Come," she said gently. "You look ready to fall over."

She led me through hallways lit by strange blue flames that gave off no heat. Paintings covered the walls, showing battles and wolves I didn't recognize.

"How long have you been here?" I asked.

"Since the Alpha saved me ten years ago." She glanced at me. "He has a habit of collecting broken things."

"I'm not broken."

"Aren't you?" Just curious. "A wolf without a wolf. Thrown away by your pack. If that's not broken, what is?"

We stopped at a door carved with moons and stars.

"This is your room."

The room was bigger than the entire basement I'd slept in at the pack house. A huge bed with black silk sheets. A fireplace; already burning. Windows looking out over the dark forest.

"This can't be for me."

"The Alpha ordered it." Sera walked to a wardrobe and pulled out clothes. "These should fit. The bathroom is through that door. I'll have food sent up."

"Why is everyone just accepting this? A markless omega shows up and suddenly I have a room next to the Alpha?"

Sera studied me. "You really don't know, do you?"

"Know what?"

"The Alpha has been searching for something. Six years he's been conquering territories, looking. Then tonight he finally found it."

"Found what?"

"You, apparently." She headed for the door. "Rest. Tomorrow will be complicated."

She left before I could ask what that meant.

The bathroom had a tub big enough to swim in. I filled it with hot water, amazed I didn't have to heat it bucket by bucket like at the pack house.

When I took off my torn shirt, I twisted to look at my back in the mirror. There, just above my hip, was something I'd never noticed. A mark so faint it looked like a shadow. A black moon with something covering it.

Kian was right. I wasn't markless.

But why had no one ever seen it? Why could he?

The hot water felt like heaven on my sore muscles. I scrubbed off the dirt and fear-sweat from the worst night of my life. Or was it the best? I was alive when I should be dead.

When I got out, food waited on a table by the fire. Real food. Meat and bread that wasn't stale, vegetables that weren't rotting. I ate until my stomach hurt, then crawled into the bed.

It was so soft I could have cried. After years of sleeping on a thin mattress on a cold floor, this felt unreal.

I must have dozed off, because suddenly I was awake and someone was screaming.

I ran to the window. Down in the courtyard, wolves circled something. No, someone.

Jace.

He was bloodied, clothes torn, dragged in chains. Even from here, I could see his terror.

Kian stood in the center, still in human form but radiating danger.

"You chained her like an animal," Kian's voice carried clearly. "So you'll die like one."

"Please," Jace begged. "She's nothing. Just an omega…"

Kian's hand wrapped around his throat. "She's mine. And you tried to feed her to rogues."

"My father ordered it!"

"Your father is dead." Kian said it so casually, like mentioning the weather. "Your entire Alpha family is dead. Your pack belongs to me now."

My legs went weak. He'd killed Alpha Luca. Taken over my old pack. Because of me?

"But you," Kian continued to Jace, "You hurt her personally. Made her life miserable for years." His grip tightened. "So your death will be personal too."

I couldn't watch. But I couldn't look away either.

Kian shifted partially, just his hand becoming clawed. Then he started carving something into Jace's chest. Jace screamed until his voice broke.

"A message," Kian said when he finished. "For anyone who thinks they can touch what's mine."

He dropped Jace, who wasn't moving anymore.

Then Kian looked up, straight at my window. Our eyes met across the distance. He'd known I was watching.

He didn't look sorry.

A knock at my door made me jump.

"Lana?" It was Sera. "The Alpha requests you join him for breakfast tomorrow. Nine sharp."

"Okay," I managed to say.

I went back to bed but couldn't sleep. The Blood Alpha had killed an Alpha family like it was nothing.

And tomorrow, I had to face him over breakfast like this was normal.

I touched my back where the mark hid. What was I?

And what did Kian really want with me?