Chapter 6
1368words
The scent instantly soothed his inner wolf, drawing a satisfied rumble from deep in his chest.
His eyes snapped open.
He lay in his own bed beneath heavy furs. Sunlight streamed through the windows, illuminating Ella's small form curled in a chair beside him, exhausted in sleep.
Memory crashed back—the Rogue's ambush, Silver Venom's burning agony, blinding rage, and her.
The golden light from her hands.
He examined his chest. Unmarked skin where a fatal wound should be—as if the attack had been merely a nightmare.
But he knew better.
He had survived.
Saved by the Omega he'd dismissed as worthless.
Karen's expression darkened with complexity. His Alpha pride now seemed a cruel joke.
He'd seen her as weakness incarnate, a shame to be hidden away. Now he knew this fragile creature was his only defense against Silver Venom.
The Primal Omega legends were true.
"OURS," his wolf growled, not in rage but with fierce possessiveness. "Precious. Hide her. Protect her."
Karen sat up, the movement startling Ella awake.
Her eyes flew open. Seeing him awake, she instinctively shrank back, fear and wariness flooding her gaze.
His possessive command had echoed through her dreams all night.
Karen said nothing. He simply studied her, golden eyes fathomless, like a collector reassessing a priceless artifact.
He rose from the bed, bare-chested, and Ella's fingers dug into the chair arms.
Ignoring her, he yanked the bell pull to summon a servant.
Minutes later, a timid knock sounded.
"My lord?" A servant peered nervously around the door. Seeing Karen standing unharmed, the man nearly collapsed in shock.
"Breakfast," Karen ordered, his voice rough but commanding. "Bring it here."
"Y-yes, my lord! At once!"
"And," Karen added, "bring two portions."
The servant froze, understanding dawning as he glanced fearfully at Ella.
"She dines with me," Karen stated flatly.
The servant fled as if chased.
This command shocked the fortress more than a public execution. The Alpha had never shared meals in his private chambers—with anyone.
Ella remained frozen, unable to fathom this new game.
Suddenly, rapid footsteps approached and the door burst open.
"Karen!"
Seraphina stormed in. Seeing Karen standing whole and healthy, relief flashed across her face.
That relief curdled instantly when she spotted Ella. Jealousy twisted her features into an ugly mask.
"You're healed!" She launched herself toward Karen, arms outstretched. "I knew those Rogues couldn't truly harm you! You must have—"
"Back off."
Karen stepped aside coldly, avoiding her touch.
Seraphina stumbled forward, catching herself awkwardly.
"Can't you smell it, Seraphina?" Karen's voice dropped dangerously low as he moved to shield Ella completely. The protective stance couldn't be more obvious.
"Smell what?" Seraphina's eyes glistened with unshed tears.
"Silver," Karen said flatly. "Last night I was poisoned with Silver Venom."
The blood drained from Seraphina's face. She understood the implications perfectly. "Her?" she whispered, staring at Ella with trembling rage. "Impossible! She's nothing! She must have used dark magic!"
"I saved his life!" Ella shot back, peering around Karen's broad shoulder.
"Shut your mouth, you filthy—"
Blind with jealousy and fear, Seraphina whipped out her dagger—not silver but deadly all the same. "I'll gut you, you Alpha-bewitching freak!"
She lunged for Ella.
Ella squeezed her eyes shut.
The expected pain never came.
Only a sickening crack and the wet pop of dislocating bone.
Karen had moved.
Faster than sight, he seized Seraphina's knife hand, wrenching it backward while his foot slammed into her knee.
Seraphina's scream pierced the air as her knife clattered to the floor. She collapsed in a humiliating heap, her wrist still locked in Karen's iron grip.
"I warned you."
Karen's voice rumbled like distant thunder, his Alpha dominance flooding the room until furniture rattled against the floor. His golden eyes promised death.
"Twice now," he said with deadly calm, "you've tried to damage what's mine."
"Karen… I… I was only protecting you!" Seraphina sobbed, tears streaming down her face.
"Protecting me?" Karen's laugh held no humor. "You attacked your Luna—that's treason. Did you think I wouldn't discover how the Rogues knew exactly where to find me last night?"
The blood drained instantly from Seraphina's face.
"No... I didn't..."
"Take her away," Karen released her hand as if he had touched something filthy. "Strip her of her Beta title. Throw her in the dungeon to await trial."
"No! Karen! You can't do this to me! I love you!!" Seraphina screamed frantically, but two guards who came running at the sound immediately dragged her away.
The room finally fell quiet.
Only Ella and Karen remained.
Ella leaned against the wall, trembling as she looked at this man. He had just mercilessly dismissed his most capable warrior, simply because she had attacked her.
Karen walked toward her, step by step.
Ella was so scared she wanted to flee, but her legs wouldn't obey her.
He stopped in front of her, his overwhelming presence making it impossible for her to breathe. The scent of blizzard and black pine on him was now mixed with a strong, distinctly masculine desire.
He raised his hand, his rough fingertips brushing against her cheek. Ella shuddered violently.
"Are you afraid of me?" he asked.
Ella bit her lip, not daring to answer.
"You shouldn't fear me." He whispered, his face drawing closer, nose tip almost touching her neck, greedily inhaling her scent there.
The wild wolf inside him was roaring, urging him to mark her, possess her, make everyone smell the Alpha scent on her.
His control was being easily dismantled by this Omega.
He craved her.
But he hated this craving. He hated this "weakness" of needing her to survive.
"You saved me." He lifted her chin with his fingers, forcing her to look at him, "As a reward, I promise, as long as you obey, no one in the fortress will dare to touch a hair on your head."
In his golden eyes was naked possessiveness, but notably absent was love.
"But remember this," he leaned to her ear, his voice hoarse and dangerous, "from today on, you are no longer a prisoner of the West Tower."
Ella's heart had just risen with a glimmer of hope.
"You will move into my room. You cannot leave my sight for a mile, and you are not allowed to speak to anyone without my permission."
Hope shattered instantly.
Ella looked at him in shock. This wasn't freedom; this was even more complete imprisonment.
"You are no longer my shame, Ella." Karen's lips almost brushed against her ear, his scorching breath making her tremble. "You are my most precious possession."
…………
Late that night, Karen's deputy, a Beta named Cael, silently entered the Alpha's office. Karen was standing by the window, his expression inscrutable.
"Alpha," Cael knelt on one knee, "Seraphina has been interrogated."
Karen didn't turn around, only coldly grunted in acknowledgment.
"She confessed to everything," Cael reported. "She deliberately leaked your patrol route for that evening through a Rogue informant. But..."
Cael hesitated for a moment, then continued: "Seraphina insists that she didn't know Rogue would use silver-coated weapons. Her original plan was merely to use Rogue to create a moderate disturbance, so that the Omega... so that Luna would be injured or humiliated in the chaos, thereby proving she wasn't worthy to remain by your side. She never intended for things to spiral out of control to this extent."
Karen remained silent for a long time, so long that Cael thought he might explode in rage over this foolish betrayal.
However, Karen only let out an extremely soft, mockingly contemptuous snort.
"Jealousy," he uttered the word in a low voice, as if stating an obvious, boring truth he had long seen through.
He waved his hand: "Deal with her according to our rules. I don't want to hear her name again."
"Yes." Cael accepted the order and quietly withdrew.
The office once again fell into deathly silence. Karen's golden eyes turned to the deep darkness outside the window, the possessiveness in his eyes, born of jealousy and almost consuming him, was ten thousand times more maddening than Seraphina's behavior.
