Chapter 4 The Awakening

Zoey's POV

"Being a pet is bad enough, but being a pet that everyone wants to kick is a special kind of hell."

Alpha Klaus had a meeting and I was to stand next to him.

I stood two paces behind, my neck itching under the silk collar. Alpha Silas of the Stone-Claw pack sat across from him, nursing a glass of ale and staring at me like I was a piece of meat left out in the sun.

"So, Klaus," Silas drawled, his eyes roaming over my collar.

"The rumors are true. You really brought home a wolfless runt from the Dust pack? I thought you had taste."

Klaus didn't look at me. He swirled his drink, his expression like ice.

"She has her uses, Silas. She’s quiet. She’s obedient. She doesn't bark like the mutts in your territory."

Silas laughed.

"She looks like she’d break if I sneezed on her. But she’s got a pretty face. A very pretty face."

He leaned forward, dropping his voice.

"Tell you what. I’ve got a shipment of silver-steel coming in next month. I’ll give you the whole lot for a single night with her. I want to see if a royal ghost feels any different from a common girl."

The air around Klaus went dead. I felt the temperature drop ten degrees.

"What did you just say?" Klaus’s voice was a whisper that made my hair stand on end.

Silas didn't see the danger. He just grinned.

"Come on, Klaus. She’s just a pet. A useless piece of meat. You can’t tell me you’re attached to a girl who doesn't even have a wolf. Give her to me for the night. I’ll bring her back mostly in one piece."

"You want her?" Klaus asked. He stood up slowly, his height casting a shadow over Silas.

"You want to touch what belongs to me?"

"I'm just saying, for the right price—"

Klaus didn't let him finish. He moved like a blur, grabbing Silas by the throat and slamming him onto the stone table. The wood splintered with a deafening crack.

"She is mine!" Klaus roared, his voice vibrating in my very marrow. His eyes turned predatory.

"If you ever look at her again, I will tear your tongue out. If you speak her name, I will burn your pack to the ground and salt the earth!"

"Klaus! Stop!" Jace, the Beta, rushed forward. "He’s an Alpha! You’ll start a war over a servant! Let him go!"

Klaus snarled, his fangs fully extended, spit flying from his lips. He looked like a demon. Finally, he shoved Silas away. Silas scrambled to his feet, clutching his throat, his face pale with terror.

"Get out," Klaus hissed. "Now, before I change my mind about letting you live."

Silas didn't wait. He fled toward the gates. Klaus stood there, his chest heaving, his hands trembling. He turned his burning gaze to me.

"Go to the room," he commanded.

"Klaus, I didn't do anything—"

"I said go to the room!" he bellowed. "Now!"

I ran. I didn't stop until I was behind the heavy oak doors of his bedroom. I sat on the floor, my heart hammering.

Hours passed. When the door finally opened, Klaus wasn't alone. He walked in with a beautiful, high-ranking she-wolf named Janet. She was barely dressed and was draped over his arm like a cloak.

"Klaus, baby," Janet purred, her hands sliding over his chest.

"You’ve been so tense. Let me help you forget that little mouse in the corner."

I froze. "Alpha Klaus, don't you need your privacy?”

Klaus looked at me with cold, cruel eyes.

"Stay there and watch, pet. Maybe you’ll learn how a real woman treats her Alpha. Maybe you'll see what I'm missing because of you."

He sat on the bed, pulling Janet onto his lap. "Show me, Janet," he said, his voice loud and performative.

"Show me what a wolf’s touch feels like."

Janet giggled, her hands moving to his belt.

"I’ll show you everything, Alpha. I’ll make you forget she even exists. I'm not some broken ghost."

I felt a hot, searing jealousy bubbling in my stomach.

"Stop it," I whispered. "Klaus, please."

"Don't look away, Zoey," Klaus commanded, his eyes locked on mine even as Janet kissed his neck.

"See what I have to do to fix what you broke? See how much I don't want you?"

But as Janet leaned in to bite his shoulder, Klaus’s body went rigid. He let out a strangled, agonized roar. He shoved Janet off him so hard she hit the floor.

"Get off me!" he screamed.

"Klaus? What’s wrong?" Janet cried, looking terrified.

"I was just—"

"You smell like trash!" Klaus roared, clawing at his own chest as if he were on fire.

"You smell like rotting meat! Get out! Everyone out! Now!"

"But Alpha—"

"OUT!"

Janet scrambled out of the room, sobbing. Klaus fell onto the bed, his body convulsing. I watched in horror as his bones began to shift and crack. This wasn't a normal shift. It was violent. His nails grew into long, black claws, shredding the expensive silk sheets.

"Klaus?" I stepped forward, my voice shaking. "What's happening to you?"

"Stay back!" he groaned, his voice a deep, guttural growl.

"I can't... I can't touch them. I can only smell you. It’s everywhere. It's in my lungs, my blood, my soul. You’re ruining me, Zoey. You’re destroying my wolf!”

"I'm not doing anything!" I cried, tears blurring my vision.

"I'm just standing here! How is this my fault?"

"Because you're a poison!" he snarled, his eyes wide and wild.

"You're a drug I can't quit and a mate I can't have. My wolf is screaming for you, and he's killing me because I won't give in!"

He curled into a ball, his claws digging into the mattress. The room went silent, save for his ragged breathing and the sound of the wind outside. I stood there, watching the most powerful man I knew break apart.

And then, I felt it.

It started as a spark in the center of my chest. A warmth I had never felt before began to spread through my veins. My heart beat once, twice—hard and loud.

Grrrr...

My eyes widened. The sound didn't come from Klaus. It came from inside me. It was a faint, ghostly growl, vibrating in the back of my mind.

"Did you hear that?" I whispered, clutching my chest.

Klaus looked up, his obsidian eyes narrowing. "Hear what?"

I didn't answer. I couldn't. Because for the first time in twenty years, a voice that wasn't mine spoke in the silence of my head.

“Finally,” the voice whispered.

My wolf had woken us up.