The Alpha's Forbidden Vow novel Chapter 57

POV: Selene

The inside of the kennels was a chaotic symphony of sound and smell.

The air was thick with the scent of raw meat, straw, and the sharp, acrid tang of animal fear.

A dozen enclosures lined the long, concrete corridor, each housing a young wolf pup, anywhere from six months to a year old. They were in the most volatile stage of their lives, their bodies growing, their shifting still uncontrolled, their instincts a raw, violent storm.

They snarled and paced as I walked past, their eyes, yellow and suspicious, tracking my every move. They could smell that I was a shifter, but I was not part of their makeshift pack. I was an intruder. An outsider.

I worked slowly, methodically, my movements calm and deliberate. I cleaned the enclosures of the smaller, less aggressive pups first, my heart pounding a steady, nervous rhythm against my ribs.

Finally, only one enclosure was left.

The one the guard had warned me about.

Inside, a large, sable-furred pup, nearly the size of a full-grown wolf, was huddled in the corner. Its leg was crudely bandaged, and the scent of infection and pain coming from it was a palpable thing.

It was not growling like the others. It was watching me with an unnerving, intelligent stillness, its lips pulled back in a silent, constant snarl.

The water trough inside its cage was empty.

I knew I had to go in.

My hand trembled as I unlatched the heavy gate.

The moment the gate creaked open, the pup was on its feet.

It let out a vicious, rabid snarl, its body tensing, coiling like a spring. Its pain had made it wildly, unpredictably aggressive.

“It’s okay,” I whispered, my voice soft. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

It didn’t care. With a deafening roar of fury, it launched itself, not at the water trough, but directly at me.

It had broken free.

Time seemed to slow down.

I saw its claws extended, its yellow fangs bared, its eyes blazing with a feral madness.

There was no time to run, no time to scream.

My life didn’t flash before my eyes. Only Leo’s face.

It whimpered, a soft, pathetic sound, and limped toward me.

It collapsed at my feet, laying its massive head on my worn-out boots.

Then, with a soft, trusting sigh, it began to lick my hand.

I stared down at the now-docile beast, my heart hammering against my ribs, my entire body trembling with the aftershock of the power that had just surged through me.

I had no idea what I had just done.

My hand instinctively went to my neck, my fingers closing around the crescent moon pendant.

It felt warm against my skin.

High above, in the rafters of the kennel, a pack warrior, cloaked in a scent-masking balm and tasked by Zane with my protection, stared down at the scene, his eyes wide with disbelief.

He had seen the impossible.

And he knew he had to report it to his Alpha immediately.