Chapter 1 Taken from Hom

Selena

The house was too quiet.

I sat on the rug, my tiny fingers tracing circles on the cold marble floor. My doll the one with the missing eye and frayed dress lay forgotten beside me. Something felt wrong.

The door creaked open. A man stepped inside. He always visited my father, always with a smile. But today there was no smile. Just the heavy sound of his boots.

My heart thudded in my chest.

"Where's my father?" My voice was small, almost swallowed by the silence.

The man crouched, fingers brushing my hair. The touch was gentle, but it didn't ease the fear curling inside me.

"Selena..." His voice cracked.

I swallowed. "Where is he?"

His eyes darkened. "Your father is watching over you from above."

A chill ran down my spine.

I knew those words. My father had once told me the same when I asked about my mother. She's watching us from above, Selena. But no matter how hard I searched the skies, I never saw her. Not once.

Tears blurred my vision. "He's lying to me too?" The words slipped out, broken. My father always came back. He never broke his promises. He couldn't be gone.

Alpha Kingsley pulled me into his arms. "I promised your father I would protect you. No one will ever hurt you, Selena. Not while I'm here."

I clenched my fists. "When is my father coming back?"

Silence.

His arms only tightened.

I didn't want comfort. I wanted answers.

Finally, he pulled back, his gaze steady. "For now, you'll stay with me. You won't be alone. I have a son four years older than you. He'll be your playmate."

Playmate. The word twisted my stomach.

"I don't want to leave," I muttered. "This is my home."

His expression softened, but the decision had been made. "It isn't safe here. We'll visit every weekend. But you belong with me now."

Not safe.

I understood. My father wasn't coming back. Just like my mother never did.

Numbness spread through me as Alpha Kingsley carried me outside. The gates to my real home groaned shut behind us.

From the car window, I pressed my fingers to the glass, watching until the mansion until everything I loved disappeared into the distance.

And then it was gone.

♦♦♦

The car rolled to a stop in front of a massive estate. Its walls soared high, jagged tops crowned with iron spikes. Guards stood at the gates like statues, eyes cold and unreadable.

"Welcome to your new home, Selena," Alpha Kingsley said as he carried me inside.

Home? No. It felt like a fortress. A cage.

The air inside was colder. The ceilings stretched endlessly. Everything smelled of polished wood and smoke. Nothing of my father. Nothing of safety.

Footsteps echoed.

At the top of the grand staircase stood a boy. Dark-haired, about nine, with piercing gray eyes that locked onto me like a predator.

I shrank back under his gaze.

"Who is she?" His voice cut like steel.

"She's your new sister," Alpha Kingsley said firmly. "She's Beta Luca's daughter."

The boy's jaw tightened. His eyes flickered with something sharp and unkind.

"She's not welcome here."

The words sliced through me.

I bit my lip, gripping my dress to stop my hands from trembling. My heart hammered, but I refused to cry.

Because I knew, in that moment, my life in this house would never be easy.

Never.