The kitchen at 4 AM is supposed to be mine. My sanctuary. My one pocket of peace before the pack wakes up and remembers I exist.

I’m elbow-deep in dishwater, scrubbing yesterday’s pots, when every hair on my body stands up. My body registers his presence before my eyes do, and the plate slips from my grip.

Porcelain shatters against tile, the sound obscene in the quiet.

“Jumpy.” Alpha Paul’s voice comes from directly behind me. “Guilty conscience?”

I spin and he’s there—fills the doorway, his massive frame blocking any hope of escape. He watches me with those pale blue eyes, unblinking, patient as a predator who knows his prey has nowhere to run.

“I didn’t hear you come in.” My voice comes out breathless, betraying.

I crouch to gather the broken pieces, desperate for something to do with my trembling hands.

“Wolves who announce themselves don’t live long.”

He moves closer, each step deliberate and unhurried. I rise too quickly, backing against the sink as his presence overwhelms my senses. Then his gaze drops to my throat, and I watch his entire demeanor shift.

“Turn your head.”

“What?”

“Turn. Your. Head.”

The Alpha command in his voice bypasses my brain entirely. My body obeys before I can think to resist, exposing the column of my throat.

His fingers ghost over the bruises Sarah left. Five perfect marks from her grip, purple-yellow against my skin.

“These are fresh.” His voice has gone eerily calm.

“It’s nothing,” I whisper. “I should clean up this mess before anyone…”

“Don’t lie to me, little wolf.” His voice drops low, intimate. “I can smell the fear rolling off you, and it’s not fear of me.”

His hand comes up to tilt my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. The gentle pressure of his fingers contrasts with the dangerous intensity in his expression.

“Paul, darling?” Sarah’s voice floats down the hallway, sweet and searching. “Are you awake already?”

His expression shifts into something calculating, something that makes my stomach tighten with unease. He releases my chin slowly, letting his fingers trail along my jaw before stepping back.

“Interesting timing,” he murmurs, eyes never leaving mine. “Your cousin seems to have a sixth sense for interrupting us.”

Sarah appears in the doorway and freezes. Takes in my and Alpha Paul’s proximity, my back against the counter, the lack of space between us.

Then he’s gone, leaving Sarah and me alone in the kitchen.

She must have followed him down, watched through the crack in the door as he cornered me against the sink. She waits until his footsteps fade before striking. Her hand cracks across my face hard enough to split my lip.

“You pathetic little bitch.” She grabs my hair, yanking my head back. “Throwing yourself at him like a dog in heat.”

“I didn’t—”

“I saw everything through the door. Him touching you. You practically spreading your legs.” She releases me with a shove. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to stay away from him, or I tell Father you’ve been fucking a human.”

My blood turns to ice. “What?”

“That friend you visit in town. Rick? Very masculine name.” Her smile is pure poison. “I’m sure Father would love to hear how his disgraced daughter is contaminating the bloodline with human cock.”

“Ricky is female, and she’s just a friend…”

“Who’s going to believe that? Who’s going to believe you? The barely tolerated wolfless outcast, who killed her own mother? The pack slut defending herself against accusations of bestiality?”

Her words hit me right into the gut.

I still remember the day my mom died. Still remember the day my Father—the Alpha of the pack—named orphaned Sarah his daughter and turned me, his real daughter, into a worthless slave and punching bag.

Nobody believed me back then. Nobody will believe me now.

She leans closer so can’t see anything but her.

“One word from me, and Father won’t just beat you. He’ll make an example of you. The kind that leaves scars inside and out.”

The floor seems to shift beneath my feet. A human lover—it’s a lie but the accusation itself would bring more than a beating.

“I understand,” I whisper, because there is nothing else to say.

“Good dog.” She pats my cheek where she hit me. “Clean up this mess. You’ve got blood on the floor.”

***

By evening, I could barely breathe.

The day was endless, passed in its usual rhythm. Chores. Anxiety. Beatings. Worsened anxiety. Sarah’s smug looks. Alpha Paul’s eyes following me everywhere, promising things that will get me killed. Fear.

Mom’s body, still and broken on the dining room floor. Eyes blank and hollow, dessert fork still in her graceful fingers.

Everyone’s screams. Father’s voice: “Murderer!”

The first beating. Twelve years old and screaming, bleeding.

His expression doesn’t change. “How?”

“Poison. In the cake I made her when I was twelve.” My voice breaks. “I wanted to make her something special. Her favorite. They found the bottle hidden in my room later. The poison killed her and… and the baby in her belly. My brother.”

“You were a kid.”

“Old enough to want to remain the only Alpha’s heir.” The practiced words taste like ash. “That’s what Father said. That I murdered them to keep my position.”

Paul’s jaw tightens, but he doesn’t speak again.

“They made me a slave as punishment, said I was too dangerous to be treated as family.” I stare at my hands, unable to meet his eyes. “A man like you shouldn’t be comforting someone like me.”

“Men like me?” His hand comes up to cup my face, thumb tracing my cheekbone. “What exactly do you think you know about men like me?”

“You’re the Alpha of Blood Ridge. The most feared and powerful Alpha in the region. Even your appetites are… legendary.”

Heat floods my face at the last part as he lets out a laugh, dark and amused.

“My appetites. Is that what they call it?” His thumb drops to my pulse point, feeling it race. “Tell me, little wolf, what have you heard about my appetites?”

“That you’re… insatiable. Violent. That no woman survives…” I cut myself off, mortified.

“Partially true.” He leans closer, breath hot against my ear. “I am insatiable. I do have needs that would break most she-wolves. But violent?” His nose traces my jaw. “Only when asked very, very nicely.”

My thighs clench involuntarily, and his soft laugh tells me he noticed.

“Do you remember our first meeting?” Something dark and hungry stirs in his expression. “Do you remember how you looked at me?”

Heat floods my cheeks. “I was shocked, I didn’t mean to—”

“Your scent told me everything.” His thumb traces my lower lip, feather-light. “Fear, yes. But underneath it? Arousal so thick I could taste it on my tongue.”

I want to disappear.

I want to die.

I want him to keep touching me exactly like this.

“You’re fascinating, little wolf.” He releases me slowly. “And I protect what fascinates me.”