Alina
The bandages wrapped around my head felt even tighter as night settled in.
Or maybe it wasn’t the bandages at all—maybe it was my thoughts, pressing in on me, refusing to let me rest.
Ever since Evelina and Gideon arrived, Alpha Soren hadn’t once stayed the night in our shared room.
Our room. The phrase almost made me laugh now.
He had come in briefly that afternoon to take a few clothes. He didn’t look at me. He didn’t ask if the pain in my head had eased. He simply opened the wardrobe, gathered what he needed, and left like I was just another object in the corner of the room.
Five years of sleeping beside each other, and suddenly there was only emptiness beside me.
I pushed myself up slowly, wincing as a dull pain pulsed through my skull. Moonlight slipped through the curtains, spilling pale light across the floor. That was when I noticed something near the cabinet.
A phone.
It lay face down on the wooden floor, half hidden beneath the edge of the rug.
My breath caught. He must have dropped it earlier when he changed.
For a long moment, I only stared.
Then I got up and picked it up, my fingers shaking slightly. His scent still clung faintly to the case.
After a pause, I pressed the power button.
Locked, of course.
I exhaled slowly and tried his birthday. Wrong. Then I entered mine, though I wasn’t even sure why I expected anything different. Wrong again.
A humorless smile tugged at my lips.
Of course he wouldn’t use my birthday.
Then a thought slithered in quietly, uncomfortable and persistent.
Evelina.
My fingers turned cold as I grabbed my own phone and searched her. It didn’t take long to find her account—refined photos, soft smiles, comments overflowing with admiration from pack members.
I scrolled until I found an old post marking her birthday.
July 17.
My hand hesitated before I typed the numbers into his phone.
It unlocked immediately.
For a second, I forgot how to breathe.
Her birthday. He used hers. Not mine. Not anything that belonged to us. Hers.
My chest tightened painfully, but I forced myself to open his messages.
Evelina’s name sat at the top.
Of course it did.
I opened the thread.
The latest message from him read: I’ll end things with her this week. Just give me a little more time.
My vision blurred.
End things with her. With me.
Evelina replied beneath it:
I don’t understand why it’s taking so long. You said you only saw me in her because we look alike. But it’s been two years since we met again, and she’s still by your side. My patience is running out, Alpha.
Two years. They had reconnected two years ago. Two years of him standing beside me while thinking of someone else entirely.
My hands trembled as I continued reading.
Alpha Soren replied:
You know Fallendawn Pack has been harassing me—emails, letters, every day asking for that maid. They’re my rivals. I don’t know why they’re so fixated on Alina, but I can’t let them take her.
Fallendawn.
My stomach dropped.
Evelina answered again:
I understand you hate Fallendawn, but is she really worth keeping? What if she’s involved with them somehow? We don’t know everything, Alpha.
Then his reply came:
I’ll handle it this week. There’s a plan. I can’t let Fallendawn get her. I’d rather keep her out of their reach.
I stopped reading.
My head pounded violently.
Fallendawn Pack—I knew that name. Everyone did. They were Nightfall’s long-time enemies, rival alphas locked in conflict for decades over land and power.
But why would they want me?
I was nobody. Just a maid.
Why would two powerful packs fight over someone like me?
Footsteps outside snapped me back.
Panic surged through me. I quickly locked the phone, placed it back where I found it, and stepped away just as the door opened.
Alpha Soren entered, brow slightly furrowed.
“Did you see my phone?” he asked.
I forced my voice steady. I picked it up from the cabinet and handed it over. “You left it earlier.”
His fingers brushed mine briefly as he took it. For a moment, I thought he might notice how fast my heart was beating.
“Be careful,” I said quietly. “You might lose it.”
He barely looked at me. “I will.”
Then he left without another word.
I sank back onto the edge of the bed.
A plan.
They had a plan.
And I was part of it.
The realization settled heavily inside me. I wasn’t being kept because I was loved.
I was being kept because I was useful.
And whatever they were planning… it wasn’t safe.
The next day, I spent hours digging.
Old records. Archives. Pack gossip threads. Anything about Fallendawn Pack.
There was plenty about their influence, their wealth, their control over western territories—but nothing about their Alpha. No name. No face. No clear record. It was as if he didn’t officially exist.
The more I searched, the more restless I became.
Why me? What was I to them?
A knock sounded at my door.
I froze.
Soren never knocked. He walked in like everything belonged to him.
My pulse tightened.
“Who is it?” I called carefully.
“It’s me.”
Gideon.
My stomach twisted.
I shouldn’t open it—but if I didn’t, he might make a scene.
Slowly, I cracked the door open.
He stood there casually, hands in his pockets, wearing an easy smile.
“You skipped lunch,” he said, eyes dragging over me again.
“I wasn’t hungry.”
He leaned in, pressing his palm against the door and pushing it wider. “I just came to check on you… after what happened.”
The way he said “what happened” made it sound dirty.
“I’m fine,” I said quickly, trying to close the door.
But he forced his way inside.
“Gideon, leave.”
He shut the door behind him.
The room suddenly felt smaller.
“You know,” he murmured, stepping closer, “you look even better up close.”
My back hit the wall. “Stop.”
He reached out, brushing my hair aside. His touch made my skin crawl.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said softly, “if my sister doesn’t want you… maybe I should keep you instead.”
Fear shot through me.
“I’m engaged to Alpha Soren.”
He let out a small laugh. “For now.”
His hand slid down my arm, gripping too tightly.
“Let go of me.”
“Don’t pretend you don’t notice,” he whispered, stepping closer. “You’re wasted here.”
His fingers tugged at my dress.
I shoved him, but he didn’t move.
“Gideon!” I shouted.
He covered my mouth and pushed me toward the bed.
“Relax,” he murmured. “You’ll like it.”
He kissed me roughly, trying to force his touch on me. Terror flooded my body.
I bit down hard on his lip.
He swore loudly.
The door flew open.
Alpha Soren stood there.
For a moment, he just stared.
Gideon stepped back immediately.
I scrambled away, clutching my torn clothes, shaking.
Silence stretched.
“What is this?” Soren demanded.
“It’s nothing,” Gideon said lazily. “She misunderstood.”
Misunderstood.
I looked at Soren desperately, waiting—for anger, for action, for anything like the man who once protected me.
But he only stood there.
Still. Thinking.
Like he was weighing something.
The situation only stopped because he arrived—not because he intervened.
Something inside me broke.
Tears came suddenly, uncontrollable.
Soren finally spoke. “Gideon. Leave.”
Gideon smirked and walked out like nothing had happened.
The door closed.
Soren looked at me.
“Alina…”
I stepped back. “Don’t,” I whispered.
He didn’t move toward me. Didn’t comfort me. Didn’t promise anything.
And in that silence, I understood everything I needed to know.
I was alone in this pack.
Completely alone.
That same day, with what little money I had secretly saved over the years, I went to the regional pack council and filed a formal complaint against Gideon.
It was dangerous. Risky.
But I couldn’t stay silent anymore.
If they were building something behind my back…
then I would start protecting myself first.
Because no one else would.
