Chapter 1 The scorn of the Parkhouse

Magdalena had been standing outside those oak doors for a full minute, trying to summon the nerve to open them.

She knew what waited behind the wood. Lady Kara's companions were famous for their vicious tongues and sharper eyes, and they loved nothing more than tearing down the slave who served them. To them, Lena's existence was a personal insult to their noble status.

She swallowed the lump of fear in her throat, shifted the heavy silver tray in her arms, and pushed the doors open.

The laughter inside died the moment her worn leather shoes touched the plush carpet.

Head bowed, she crossed the chamber with careful steps. Honeyed figs, spiced almonds, and goblets of dark, glistening wine rattled faintly on the tray. The ladies reclined on velvet cushions, silk gowns spilling across the floor, and their stares crawled over her with open envy and contempt, dissecting every detail.

"How ridiculous," Lady Valeria murmured, tracing the rim of her gold-lined cup. "A face like that on a servant."

Lena kept her gaze on the floor. Her knuckles whitened around the tray.

"Exactly," Selena said, waving a bored hand. "You could almost mistake her for a noblewoman. If you ignored the rags, of course."

"What a waste." Valeria sighed, lips curling into a mock pout. "That face deserves emeralds, not coarse linen."

Lena reached the low table and began to pour. Years of silent service kept her hands steady, even as her bones trembled. She felt their eyes on her skin like claws, searching for a single mistake, any excuse to strike.

"Perhaps we should fix that," Valeria said softly.

"How?" Selena yawned. "A few months in the kitchens would dull that shine. Beauty is wasted on creatures like her."

Lena set down the last goblet and turned to leave. One step. Then another. The doors were so close.

They crashed open against the walls with a deafening crack.

"What is that filthy thing doing in my sight?"

Kara Voss did not simply walk into the chamber. She commanded the air inside it. Silk rustled like dry autumn leaves as the noblewomen scrambled to make way for the future Luna of the Crimson Moon Pack.

Lena dropped to the floor and pressed her forehead to the stone. She knew the rules. Meeting the eyes of a high-ranking werewolf was a death sentence for a human servant. The tray lay abandoned a few inches away, a fig rolling slowly to a stop beside her trembling fingers.

"She was delivering the refreshments, Lady Kara," Valeria purred, her voice syrupy with false sweetness. "But she seemed far more interested in staring at your wedding portrait. One might think she fancies herself wearing the gown tomorrow."

Kara's heels clicked slowly across the floor, each step a ticking countdown to an execution. She stopped in front of Lena, the hem of her gold-embroidered gown brushing against faded linen.

"Look at me, slave."

Lena hesitated, one heartbeat too long.

Kara fisted her fingers in Lena's long hair and wrenched her head back. Pain exploded across her scalp. She choked on a gasp, neck straining, and was forced to stare up into Kara's beautiful, murderous face.

"When I tell you to look at me, you look," Kara hissed, tightening her grip until strands tore free. "Do you think because Ethan's eyes lingered on you at the feast last week, you are suddenly above your station? You are a stray. A pathetic, bloodless human."

"I never thought that, my Lady." Tears of pain welled in Lena's eyes. "Please."

"She lies," Selena drawled from her cushions, smirking. "Before you came in, she told us the Alpha only marries you out of duty. That she is the one who truly holds his heart. She mocked your beauty."

Lena had not spoken a word to any of them. "I would never dare," she choked out.

Kara raised one hand, and the room went still.

"Have you slept with the Alpha?"

Lena's knees hit the stone again as Kara released her. The cold bit through her thin gown. "My lady, I would never dare."

"Would you tell me the truth if you had?" Kara's voice turned to ice. "I have time. Speak, or I will carve it out of you."

Lena's heart slammed against her ribs. She and Alpha Ethan had shared secret moments, stolen touches that ended the very day he announced his wedding. She had never given him her body. She would not surrender herself without a true vow. But admitting even that fragment of truth would destroy her, and Kara would never believe the rest.

Kara's eyes hardened into flint. "You made your choice." She flicked two fingers at the guards at the threshold. "Strip her."

The world tilted.

Rough hands seized Lena's arms and hauled her up. "No. Wait." Panic flooded her veins, and she fought with every ounce of her human strength, but the guards held her fast.

Kara stepped closer, a slow smile spreading across her face. "Six strokes of the leather cane. One for every night you have dreamed of what is mine."

The guards forced Lena down onto the unforgiving stone. Fabric tore with a harsh rip, and cold air stung her bare back.

A collective gasp rose from the room.

Every eye had fixed on the nape of Lena's neck, where a crystal-shaped mark shimmered, half blood red, half brilliant silver.

"She bears the mark," someone whispered.

Kara's frown deepened. "You are a she-wolf?"

Lena lifted her head, defiant even through her fear. "I am human."

"Another lie," Valeria snapped, rising to her feet. "That is the Mark of Restraint. Only wolves carry it. It locks their beast away."

"But the wolf-born never end up scrubbing floors," a third woman murmured. "Who would chain a she-wolf and leave her to serve?"

No one had an answer. Lena had none either. The mark was her birthmark. No one had ever told her what it meant.

"No wonder her skin is so perfect," Selena said with a curl of her lip.

"Enough." Kara's bark silenced them. "Even if she carries wolf blood, that mark binds her. She cannot shift. She is nothing more than a pretty, dangerous human." She gestured to the guards. "Continue. She will confess her connection to the Alpha before the sun sets."

The cane fell.

The first stroke landed like white-hot iron, tearing across her back. Lena drove her nails into her palms. Do not scream. Do not give them that.

The second cut deeper. The third burned worse. The fourth felt endless.

Her vision bled to gray. She bit the inside of her cheek until she tasted copper.

The fifth stroke dragged a broken sound from her throat.

The sixth—

"Wait."

The guards stopped mid-swing.

Kara stepped forward and pulled a silver knife from a guard's belt, a mocking smirk playing on her lips. "I know exactly what to do with that face of yours."

"No, Kara. Please." Lena's voice cracked, her pride shattering. "Not my face."

Soft, vicious laughter rippled through the chamber.

Kara tilted her head, savoring it. "I love hearing you beg, Lena. You never did before. But now, just to save your pretty face?" She turned the knife, letting the blade catch the light. "That only makes me want to ruin it more." She snapped her fingers. "Hold her down."

"No!"

The guards slammed Lena flat against the stone and pinned her limbs. Kara advanced, the silver blade lowering.

Then the double doors slammed open again.

"Enough."

The deep voice sliced through the room. The guards went rigid and released her at once. Even Kara hesitated, her smirk faltering.

Lena gasped for air and lifted her head, vision swimming. A powerful, suffocating presence had filled the chamber.

"The Beta," someone whispered in panic.

Silk rustled as the noblewomen bowed low. Lena kept her eyes down, her breathing ragged.

The Beta's voice came warm and sweet as she approached her daughter. "My darling." She laid a comforting hand on Kara's trembling shoulder. "Your wedding to the Alpha is tomorrow. Should you not be at the market, choosing your gown?"

At the mention of the wedding, Kara's face softened. Her grip on the knife loosened, and for a moment she looked almost vulnerable.

Then her gaze slid back to Lena, and the warmth curdled into malice. "She ruined my day," Kara hissed, pointing the blade down. "How dare that worthless human upset me like this?"

Lena closed her eyes and braced herself.

The Beta laughed softly, a low purr. "Leave her to me." Her eyes gleamed. "By nightfall, she will be nothing but a memory. You will never have to look at her again."

Lena's stomach dropped into a bottomless void. She clutched the torn fabric of her dress, the weight of those words pressing down on her chest.

She understood exactly what it meant. Elimination.

Kara huffed and tossed the knife aside, the metal clattering against stone. "Make sure of it." She spun on her heel and swept out, her friends trailing behind in a wave of mocking laughter.

Silence settled over the chamber.

Slow, deliberate footsteps approached Lena's prone body, and a dark shadow fell over her. The Beta crouched and tilted Lena's chin up with one sharp finger.

Her gaze did not linger on the blood-smeared face. It dropped to the glimmering mark on Lena's neck, and for the span of a breath, something flickered across her features. Surprise. Then calculation.

"Hmm." She studied Lena with cold interest. "It is fortunate your face remains untouched, slave. Such a pretty thing. For now."

A slow, merciless smile curved her lips as she rose to her full height.

"Prepare her to meet Alpha Ethan."

Author’s Note:

Magdalena is the heroine, and Lena is her nickname. However, she is forced to live under another woman’s identity. In her own chapters, she will always be called Lena because that is her real identity. When other characters call her Kara or Luna, it is because they believe she is someone else. Some characters are also fooled by the deception.

Please pay attention to the names as you read. They are important to the story.