Chapter 3:
Kade leads me into the Great Hall—a medieval nightmare of stone and blood-scented air. Hundreds of heads turn in unison. The silence is deafening, thick with the predatory judgment of the Shadowfang pack.
"This is Elena," Kade's voice booms, vibrating through the floorboards. "She is my mate. She is Shadowfang."
"She's an Omega, Kade," a woman standing at the front table sneers. She has a wolf's skull tattooed across her throat and eyes like flint. "We're at war with Blackthorn, and you bring us a breeder?"
The room erupts in mocking laughter. I feel the familiar sting of humiliation, the same shame I felt in the auction cage. But then, something inside me—something buried beneath twenty-three years of hiding—stirs.
For the first time in my life, I feel my wolf.
She isn't a victim. She isn't a submissive prize. She is a silver ghost with fangs and rage, and she is done being caged.
I pull my wrist out of Kade's grip. I take a step toward the edge of the platform, looking Zara straight in the eyes.
"I might be an Omega," I say, my voice carrying further than I expected. "But I've survived twenty-three years in a world that wanted me dead. I've hidden from Alphas ten times more dangerous than you while you were hiding behind Kade's skirt. So if you want to find out what I am, come up here and show me how a 'real' wolf handles a rabbit."
The silence returns, but this time, it's thick with shock. Zara's eyes flash amber. She takes one step toward the platform, her muscles coiling.
I don't back down. I don't flinch.
My eyes flash. I don't know what color they turn, but I see Zara's expression change from fury to something else.
Uncertainty.
The air around me shimmers with an energy I don't understand. Several wolves in the front row actually step back, their instincts sensing something my mind hasn't realized yet.
Kade's hand lands on my shoulder, heavy and possessive. "Enough."
But he isn't talking to Zara. He's talking to me. Because whatever he just saw in my eyes? It wasn't human. And it sure as hell wasn't submissive.
Kade is standing behind me, and I can practically feel the heat of his pride. It radiates off him like a physical weight against my back. He leads me to the head of the table, forcing me to sit in the seat of honor beside him.
After the meal, Kade catches me in a secluded alcove near the training grounds. He pins me against the stone wall, his hands on either side of my head.
"That was a dangerous game, Elena," he whispers, his body pressing into mine. I can feel the hard line of his thighs, the heat of his chest. "But if you want to be Shadowfang, you learn to fight today. Or you die."
"I'll teach you," Kade says. His fingers hook under my chin. "And I'll start by teaching you the first rule: Never let your enemy see how much you want them."
He leans down and nips sharply at the sensitive cord of my neck. I gasp, my knees going weak. My hands instinctively fly to his chest, clutching his shirt.
He pulls back with a dark smirk. "Ten minutes. The training grounds. Don't be late, little rabbit."
I lean against the cold stone, my skin burning where he bit me, my core throbbing with a need I refuse to name. I'm not just fighting the pack. I'm fighting him.
And worst of all? I'm fighting the way my body is already learning to crave his teeth on my skin.