3

Alpha Nathan’s POV.

When we finally reached the lake house, the night was heavy, quiet, and unsettling. The kind of silence that presses on your chest until it feels hard to breathe.

The limo rolled to a stop on the gravel drive, and for a brief moment, everything was completely still.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I caught it—movement. Something small shifted near the bushes by the water. My instincts sharpened instantly, every nerve in my body alert.

I pushed open the car door and stepped into the cold night air. The sharp wind struck my face, carrying the smell of pine and damp earth.

My Beta, Ethan, was already at my side, his eyes scanning the dark. I lifted my hand and pointed toward the trees. “Ethan,” I said quietly but firmly, “look there. Something’s moving. Do you see it?”

He didn’t hesitate. He stepped in front of me, his stance protective, his posture tense. “Stay behind me, Alpha. I’ll handle it.” His voice was steady, but I didn’t miss the way his muscles tightened as he crept forward.

A moment later, he froze. His shoulders stiffened, and he turned slowly toward me with a look that unsettled me. It wasn’t fear exactly—it was confusion, something deeper, something that made my stomach twist.

My brows furrowed. “What is it? Speak, Ethan, don’t make me guess.”

He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing, and motioned for me to step closer. “You need to see this with your own eyes. It’s… not at all what I thought.”

I followed him carefully, brushing past the branches, and then I stopped dead in my tracks. The sight before me made my breath catch painfully in my throat.

There, crouched low to the ground, was a figure. At first, I thought it was some mangy animal or a wolf stuck between forms. But then I realized—it was a young woman.

Her body was so thin her ribs showed through her tattered shirt. Her hands clawed at the ground, ripping up clumps of grass, shoving them into her mouth with desperation. She chewed like a starving animal, tears and dirt streaking her face.

Her clothes were nothing but rags, filthy and torn. Her hair was matted, sticking in knots around her face, and she smelled of mud, sweat, and hopelessness. It looked like she hadn’t bathed in weeks, maybe months.

The sight burned me inside. I was Alpha. My duty was to protect every soul in my lands. If she had been one of my people, then I had failed her.

Miserably. And even if she wasn’t, even if she came from somewhere else, the fact that a she-wolf had been reduced to this—hungry, abandoned, desperate—shoved shame deep into my chest.

I stepped forward slowly, cautiously, and reached out. My hand landed gently on her trembling shoulder. The instant I touched her, she gasped, her whole body jerking violently like she thought I was striking her.

When she lifted her head, I forgot how to breathe.

Her eyes. One was a golden yellow, the other a piercing ice-blue. The mismatched colors glimmered faintly in the moonlight, strange and haunting. The sight hit me like a shockwave. The words slipped out of me harsher than I intended. “What in the hell are you?”

Then, as my gaze dropped, realization struck—I saw the curve of her chest beneath the rags. My heart skipped a beat. “Damn it,” I muttered under my breath. “You’re a she-wolf? Do you belong to a pack? What are you?”

The way she flinched at my words made my stomach churn with regret. Her face crumpled, and tears leaked down her cheeks. That look—the look of someone who had been insulted her entire life—stabbed straight into me like a blade.

I caught myself, closing my eyes briefly, then softening my tone. I rubbed my chin as guilt washed over me. “I’m sorry,” I said quietly. “I didn’t mean it like that. You just… caught me off guard.”

She didn’t answer. She just sobbed, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably. I reached for her arms and gently pulled her up onto her feet. She was so light, fragile as glass, like if I breathed wrong she might shatter in my hands.

“Calm down,” I murmured, patting her head awkwardly. “Breathe. Stop crying. Just tell me one thing—are you hungry?”

She nodded quickly, head bowed so low I could barely see her face. She refused to meet my eyes, clearly terrified that her strange mismatched gaze would scare me again. But it didn’t. It fascinated me.

I cleared my throat, my tone firmer now. “I want to hear your voice. Answer me out loud. Are you hungry?”

Her lips trembled, and finally, a whisper escaped. “Yes… I’m starving.”

I almost laughed bitterly, though nothing about this was funny. She didn’t need to say it. It was obvious to anyone with eyes—she had been eating grass like a wild animal.

“Alright,” I said immediately. “You’ll come with me. You can eat at my house.”

Her head lifted slowly, and those mismatched eyes flickered toward me. For a moment she glared, as if testing me, waiting to see if I was mocking her. Then, just as quickly, she turned her face away again.

I tried to ease her nerves, forcing a small smirk. “Relax. I don’t plan on eating you. You can leave whenever you want. Nobody’s keeping you prisoner.”

She didn’t speak. Her hands fidgeted nervously with her fingers, twisting and untwisting them, but I could tell she was silently agreeing.

A heavy sigh left me, my chest tightening. I couldn’t stop staring at her—how broken she looked, how fragile she seemed. And after everything I had just lost—my unborn child, my hope of a family—seeing her like this cracked something inside me wide open.

I reached out again and took her hand carefully, not wanting to frighten her further. “Come on,” I said gently. “You’re coming with us now.”

Her body stiffened instantly, her whole frame jerking in fear. That reaction told me everything. This wasn’t just hunger. This girl had been abused before. Badly.

I gestured to Ethan, my voice low. “Tell her who I am.”

Ethan straightened immediately, bowing his head with respect. His tone was formal, steady. “This is Alpha Nathan, leader of our pack. And I am his Beta. It is our sworn duty to protect and care for those within our lands.”

The girl—this broken she-wolf—collapsed to her knees the moment she heard his words.

Her voice cracked as she pleaded, tears streaming down her face. “Alpha, please save me. They abused me. They treated me like a slave. Tonight they tried to rape me. My own mother hates me because my father was a bear shifter. I have nowhere to go. Please… please help me.”

Her words tore through me like claws. I bent down, pulling her gently back onto her feet, cupping her cheeks in my hands. “Enough. You’re under my protection from this moment on. No one will ever touch you again.”

I snapped my fingers at Ethan. “Tell the driver to move now. Then come back in the morning with new clothes for her.”

Ethan bowed his head silently and left us.

I led her gently inside the lake house. The place was empty, but the servants always kept it clean, stocked with food and clothes for me. I flicked on the lights, and she froze at the doorway, her body pressed against the frame like she was afraid to enter.

“Come in,” I told her softly, closing the door behind us. “Please. Treat this place like your home.”

Her voice was so faint I almost missed it. “I have no home.”

My chest tightened again. Without hesitation, I blurted, “Then this is your home now.” The words surprised even me, but I meant them. I had more land and more houses than I could ever use. She had nothing.

She blinked, stunned, then quickly lowered her head again.

I took her hand gently and led her toward the kitchen. “Sit here,” I said firmly. “I’ll make you food. Then, when you’ve eaten, we’ll talk.”

She nodded mutely and sank onto the couch, her eyes locked on her lap, her body stiff as stone.

I worked quickly in the kitchen, throwing together a large meal of meat, enough for two full plates.

I set them in front of her. “Eat,” I ordered softly. “Eat it all. And if you want more, go to the fridge or the pantry. Everything in this house is yours. No one will stop you.”

She didn’t hesitate. She devoured the food like a starving pig not a wolf, her hands shaking, her mouth messy, her eyes wide with desperation.

The sight made my stomach twist—not in disgust, but in a mix of pity and sorrow that was hard to carry. I turned away and walked to the bedroom, checking if the bed was clean.

The house itself was simple: one big living room, a master bedroom with a bathroom, and an open kitchen. That was it. I frowned, thinking. She needed a real bed tonight. I could take the couch.

When I returned half an hour later, the room was silent. No chewing, no sound. I scanned the space, then saw her standing in the kitchen—washing the dishes she had just used.

I raised my hand sharply. “No. Leave it.”

She flinched, eyes down. “I’m sorry, Alpha. You already gave me food and shelter. Please… let me repay you. Let me be your maid.”

My jaw tightened. I crossed my arms. “I said leave the dishes.”

Her hands shook so violently the plate slipped and shattered on the floor. She bent down quickly to clean the shards, but I stepped forward and placed my hand on her head. “Enough. Get up.” My voice came out louder than I intended, almost a yell.

She scrambled upright, trembling, and I pointed toward the bedroom. “Go inside. Take a shower. Use any of my clothes to sleep in. Go. Now.”

She obeyed instantly, disappearing into the room.

When she came out again, I went completely still. My heart slammed in my chest, my breath caught. For the first time in a long time, I was speechless.

She was no longer the broken, filthy girl I had found eating grass. Clean now, her skin glowing faintly under the soft lights, her hair damp and loose around her face, she looked like someone else entirely.

She wore one of my shirts, and it hung loosely on her slim frame, but somehow it made her look even more beautiful. Her mismatched eyes peeked up at me timidly, and my whole body reacted in ways I wasn’t ready to admit.

My eyes widened, my pulse raced, my tongue tangled in my mouth. Words failed me completely.

What the hell just happened? Who was she—really? Because standing there in front of me, Isabella looked like the most breathtaking creature I had ever seen in my life.