RAPED BY THE ALPHA

The wooden door to Elowen's bedroom crashed open. The brass knob slammed against the plaster wall with a deafening crack, leaving a spiderweb of fractures. Krovos stalked into the room. His chest heaved with ragged breaths. Before Elowen could register his sudden intrusion, he lunged forward. He snatched the canvas backpack from her trembling fingers and hurled it across the floorboards. The bag hit the far corner with a heavy thud, spilling her few belongings.

"You are not going anywhere, Elowen." Krovos locked his jaw, his dark eyes brimming with obsession.

"Leave me alone! Why can’t you just leave me alone?!" Elowen screamed. Her frustration boiled over, overriding her fear. She raised her fists and struck his chest over and over, desperate to push his massive frame away.

Krovos caught her wrists with effortless speed. He shoved her backward until her spine collided with the tall wooden cabinet. She gasped as the impact jarred her bones. Krovos clamped his large hand around both of her wrists, pinning her arms high above her head against the solid wood.

"I will never leave you alone. I promised you that, didn’t I?" A cruel, mocking smile stretched across his mouth.

"Why do you want to keep me?! You hate me, and I hate you! You are insane! No wonder Calista left you!" Elowen spat the words into his face. She kicked at his shins, thrashing against his grip.

Her insult struck a nerve. Krovos stepped into her space, pressing his heavy, muscular frame flush against hers. He trapped her thrashing legs with his own knees. Elowen froze in place. Through the thin fabric of her dress, she felt the rigid, unmistakable shape of his erect penis pressing hard into her lower stomach. He was aroused by their fight. Hot bile rose in her throat.

"Because I love to see you miserable. Do you want to know what craziness is?" Krovos lowered his head. His rough tongue dragged a wet trail up the sensitive skin of her neck. "I promised you I would break you once you came of age."

He grabbed her by the waist, spun her around, and threw her face-first onto the mattress. Elowen scrambled onto her hands and knees. She crawled toward the open doorway, desperate to escape into the hall. Krovos wrapped his hand around her ankle and yanked her backward.

"No! I don’t want this! Help me!" Elowen shrieked at the top of her lungs.

Krovos flipped her onto her back. He grabbed the collar of her cotton dress and ripped the fabric straight down the middle. The ruined garment fell away, exposing her bare breasts and vagina to the cold air. Elowen thrashed, clawing at his arms and face. Krovos struck her across the cheek with the back of his hand. The blow snapped her head to the side and left a loud ringing in her ears. He unbuckled his pants and pulled out his erect penis. He gripped her thighs, forcing her legs wide apart, and shoved his penis deep into her dry, tight vagina in one brutal thrust. Elowen let out a bloodcurdling scream. The tearing pain ripped through her pelvis. Krovos ignored her cries. He pounded into her with ruthless, mechanical thrusts, his heavy body crushing her deep into the mattress springs.

Outside her open door, pack members walked the hallways. They heard her piercing cries for help. They heard the frantic squeaking of the bed frame and the wet slapping of flesh. No one intervened. No one wanted to cross the future Alpha of the Ebonlith Clan. For three agonizing hours, Krovos used her body, tearing her open again and again, until her screams reduced to raw, silent sobs.

***

1 year later.

***

The morning sun filtered through the heavy drapes of the Alpha’s quarters. Krovos sat on the edge of the sprawling mattress. He held a damp cloth in his hand, reaching out to wipe a smear of fresh blood from Elowen’s swollen bottom lip. He had bitten her too hard during their sex last night. Elowen lay naked beneath the tangled sheets. She stared at the ceiling with dead, hollow eyes. Her spirit was gone. She was an empty shell, broken just as he had promised.

"Red looks good on you." Krovos brushed his knuckles down her pale cheek.

Elowen gave a faint flinch but remained motionless.

Krovos gripped her chin between his thumb and index finger. He forced her face up to meet his gaze.

"Get me my breakfast in my room. I want to eat something before the ceremony. Answer me when I speak to you."

"Yes, alpha." Her voice was a flat, raspy whisper.

"Good." Krovos leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her bloody lip, his tongue tracing the fresh split in her skin.

He released her jaw, stood up, and walked out the door to prepare for his big day. Elowen remained on the bed, feeling nothing but cold, creeping numbness.

The Ebonlith Clan's main hall buzzed with nervous, muted energy. Elaborate banners bearing the clan crest hung from the towering stone pillars. Today was initiation day. Alpha Vulturnus would step down, handing the Alpha title to his twenty-four-year-old son, Krovos. Forty-two Alphas from forty-two different packs across the continent occupied the grand wooden pews. At the very front of the hall, elevated on a carved stone dais above the rest, sat the werewolf Overlord.

Overlord Voktor was only twenty-nine years old, yet he cast a suffocating shadow over the entire room. He claimed the royal throne five years ago through a river of blood. He slaughtered three of his own brothers who dared to challenge his ascension. He purged the royal court, hunting down his father’s loyalists and snapping their necks with his bare hands. During the first two years of his reign, the royal palace smelled of burned flesh every single week. Voktor tossed anyone who breathed wrong in his presence straight into the fire.

The continent dubbed him the Raging Overlord. Rumors whispered that his sheer cruelty was the reason the Moon Goddess cursed him. He had no destined mate. The people believed it was his karma.

Voktor lounged in the high-backed velvet chair, flanked by his elite royal warriors. He possessed striking, electric blue eyes. No one in the hall dared to look into those eyes for more than a second. His oppressive aura choked the air out of the room, forcing the visiting Alphas to keep their heads bowed and their voices hushed. The usual celebratory cheers were replaced by a tense, rigid silence.

The ceremony proceeded without a hitch. Alpha Vulturnus stood at the podium, reciting the ancient oaths. His booming voice echoed off the vaulted ceiling. Krovos knelt on the dais before him, his chest puffed out with pride.

Elowen stood in the far shadows near the servant entrance. She wore the drab, oversized grey uniform designated for omegas. Her brown hair was tied in a tight, unassuming knot at the top of her head. She held a silver tray of ceremonial wine, blending into the stone background like a ghost.

Overlord Voktor rose to his feet to deliver the final blessing. His heavy boots thudded against the wooden floorboards. He stepped up to the edge of the dais and opened his mouth to speak the formal decree to legitimize Krovos’s rule.

The words died in his throat. Voktor stopped talking. His electric blue eyes swept past the kneeling Krovos, past the aging Vulturnus, and cut straight through the dimly lit hall. His gaze locked onto the shadows. He stared directly at Elowen.

The silence in the hall stretched into something dangerous. Hundreds of werewolves held their breath, waiting for the Overlord to finish his speech. Voktor ignored them all. His piercing stare remained fixed on the broken omega standing against the wall. Elowen felt the sudden, crushing weight of his attention. She lifted her chin. Her dead, hollow eyes met the terrifying electric blue gaze of the Raging Overlord. Neither of them blinked.