REJECTED BY FATE, CURSED BY PROPHECY

shadows over the wooden buildings. Nyxara moved with her usual silent grace, carrying the basket of freshly baked bread to the storeroom. Her s

r at least, that was what he would have told anyone else-but his gaze had found her almost immediately. The Alpha observe

g of a current beneath calm water. Nyxara's movements, ordinary to the untrained eye, carried the grace of someone who had survived more than

nts moved past them, their chatter fading like distant echoes. But Rhyven's focus never wavered. He had se

, deliberate, carrying across the

had heard of Rhyven, the Alpha who ruled neighboring territories with an iron will. B

almost polite, but underneath was the weight of her de

t to the main hall," he said, nodding toward the large door at the center of the cour

y, deliberately slow, deliberately measured. Not too fast. Not too obe

ritory. Every now and then, his eyes flicked to her hands, to the way her shoulders squared as she carrie

ll, he spoke again. "Se

girl she may be, but she was no coward. Rhyven observed every microgesture, every twitch, every inhale. The

to himself. But she heard, and her heart skipped-n

trying to act indifferent. "I have to

ng across the hall. "Do you know why I'm watching?" His vo

is, unflinching. "No. I am a servant girl. I exis

, but something sharp and curious. She had a fire in her he could not name. She had

he said. "T

d. "Show you w

Fetch water from the northern spring. Arrange the stored goods in the hall. Each action, each choice, tell

d. And in that moment, something shifted between them. No words could des

ce that refused to bend completely. Rhyven noticed how she handled a heavy crate with one hand, how her shadow see

he pack's compound. Rhyven approached her as she arranged the final ba

iny, under a thousand eyes watching. But not you. You move like a ghost, calm, unshaken... untouch

of defiance in her silver eyes. "Then perhaps you should learn your lesson,

bly acknowledging the challenge. He did not speak again, only watched her

his pulse had quickened, that something about her had unsettled him in ways no Alpha had eve

ething: the Alpha was watching, testing, analyzing-but he was not yet here to harm

carrying her tasks done, a quiet voice

s. You are not ordinary. And he... he do

the fading figure, thinking: Who is she? What is she?

ve, and both of them - the Alpha and the servant girl - were u