Claimed By The Rival Alpha

Chapter 51: Chapter 51

Selena

"How did you do it?" Niamh’s eyes were so wide they looked ready to fall out of her head.

She stood in the middle of our chamber with both hands on her hips, staring at me as though I’d suddenly become some legendary negotiator capable of bending impossible people to my will.

"Seriously," she insisted. "How did you convince the headmaid to return everyone’s wages?"

I folded the blanket I’d just finished arranging before looking up at her. "I just... got lucky while speaking with her."

It wasn’t exactly a lie. Luck had played a role. A very complicated, very frustrating, very Kael-shaped kind of luck.

Niamh frowned. "That’s it?"

I nodded casually. "That’s it." I said but she didn’t look convinced and neither did Sally.

Unlike Niamh, Sally wasn’t asking questions. She simply leaned against the wall with folded arms, silently studying me. The longer she looked, the more uncomfortable I became.

Ever since she’d caught me coming from Alpha Kael’s chambers direction, she’d developed an annoying habit of watching every word I spoke.

I forced a smile.

"Anyway," I said, changing the subject before either of them could ask more questions, "I need you to inform everyone about a meeting this evening."

Niamh blinked before asking, "Evening? Not midnight?"

"No." I said and she looked genuinely confused.

"But midnight is safer."

"It’ll be fine." I said encouragingly.

She scratched her cheek. "Is something changing?"

"Not really." I simply couldn’t risk another midnight meeting anymore.

Between Alpha Kael’s strange ability to somehow appear wherever I was and my newly arranged training schedule, the evening felt much safer or perhaps less dangerous. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

Niamh eventually shrugged. "If you say so, I’ll pass the message."

"Everyone," I reminded her and she nodded before leaving the chamber.

The door had barely closed when Sally straightened from the wall.

"I want to—" Then the door swung open again interrupting her as Marqee walked in.

She didn’t greet either of us, she didn’t even spare us a glance. She simply crossed the room, changed into fresh clothes and began arranging her bedding as though we didn’t exist.

Silence swallowed the room then Sally sighed quietly while I looked at Marqee’s back.

Ever since the revolution meetings had begun, she’d become increasingly distant.Every smile between us had disappeared.

Every conversation ended before it began. I missed my friend.

Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to fix whatever had broken between us.

Sally looked from Marqee to me as neither of us spoke. Finally, I decided it wasn’t the time to speak to her.

"I’ll be back," I muttered as neither woman answered.

The castle corridors buzzed with servants carrying baskets, folded laundry and crates of vegetables.

Life continued despite the tension surrounding the possible vampire invasion.

I walked quietly, my thoughts occupied with the revolution.

"Well, if it isn’t the Alpha’s favourite headache." The mocking voice of Jett pulled me from my thoughts.

He stood beside a pillar with his arms crossed. Ash wasn’t with him today.

Jett smirked and continued. "Still pretending you’re going to save the werewolf race?"

I sighed. "I don’t remember asking for your opinion."

"You never do." He turned to leave then I remembered.

"Wait." I quickly said and he stopped without turning.

I walked until I stood beside him. "The condition, You said you’d join my group if I got Grengy released, right?"

His grin returned. "So you remember."

"I do and I think I can accomplish it."

He laughed. "You?" he scoffed. "Do you even know who decides who leaves the dungeon?"

I folded my arms and went to the point again. "So getting Grengy out is still your condition?"

"It is."

"And if I succeed, you’re joining right?" I asked to be sure I wasn’t being played.

"I’ll join." He reluctantly said.

"A promise?" I asked again.

"A promise." His grin widened. "I’d love to see how you pull that off."

I smiled back. "Watch me."

Without waiting for another response, I walked away while his chuckle followed me down the corridor.

The kitchens smelled of fresh bread and roasted meat as servants hurried everywhere.

No one paid much attention to me as I picked up a bowl of stew, a loaf of bread and a cup of water before leaving quickly.

The dungeon was colder than I remembered. The Stone walls trapped every sound. Moisture dripped steadily from somewhere in the darkness.

The guard stationed outside narrowed his eyes when he saw me. "What do you want?"

"I brought food for Grengy." freeweɓnovel.cøm

He studied me for a long moment before shrugging. "Don’t stay long."

I thanked him and walked deeper inside. The familiar iron bars eventually appeared and Grengy sat on the floor with his back against the wall.

He looked... Different. His face had grown thinner, his beard had begun growing unevenly and dark circles rested beneath his eyes.

He looked exhausted.

He slowly lifted his head and the moment he recognized me, he immediately stood.

"No." His voice cracked. "Stay away from me."

I stopped several steps from the bars. "I brought food."

"I don’t want it."

"I wasn’t asking."

"I said no." His fear caught me completely off guard. It wasn’t mere hatred, it wasn’t anger but rather, it was fear.

Guilt squeezed painfully inside my chest. I quietly placed the tray beside the bars before lowering myself onto the cold stone floor.

For a while... Neither of us spoke then finally I sighed. "You know..." My voice echoed softly through the corridor. "I’ve never been the reason someone suffered before."

He remained silent as I continued. "I grew up surrounded by people who loved me."

My fingers traced invisible circles across the floor. "My father protected me."

"My teachers praised me, the people at home spoiled me." I laughed bitterly. "I suppose it made me entitled."

Grengy’s eyes slowly shifted toward me while I continued: "When I first came here..." I smiled faintly. "I thought everyone would eventually like me."

Another bitter laugh escaped. "I was very wrong." He still said nothing. "So seeing you here..." I swallowed. "It hurts."

He looked away. "I never wanted to ruin anyone’s life because my own life is already falling apart."

His gaze returned to me as I added. "I’m far away from home. I can’t return because if I do..." I looked toward the ceiling. "I might end up somewhere I never want to be or worse, I might die."

The words sounded frighteningly true once spoken aloud. "So the last thing I wanted..." I whispered. "...was making enemies."

Grengy stared at me for several seconds then his shoulders slowly relaxed as he asked, "Where are you from?"

I hesitated. "A very far away village."

He frowned. "I’ve never heard you mention it."

"It doesn’t matter."

He kept studying me then eventually he sighed. "I hated you,I blamed you but I shouldn’t have."

I looked at him as he continued quietly. "I was angry and I convinced myself everything was your fault."

His voice grew lower. "When they threw me in here... I had nothing except my anger."

He laughed weakly. "But anger gets tiring. I had plenty of time to think." His eyes met mine. "I shouldn’t have attacked you so I’m sorry."

The sincerity in his voice surprised me but I smiled regardless before saying, "I forgive you."

He stared for another moment before looking toward the food. "You really brought that for me?"

"I did." I said and slowly, he approached the bars. This time he accepted the tray and the moment he smelled the stew, his hands trembled.

"You should eat." I said and he didn’t need another invitation.

Within seconds he tore into the bread, barely chewing before reaching for the stew.

He looked absolutely starved. I pretended not to notice the speed at which he ate.

Instead I smiled. "I’ll get you out soon... I promise."

He paused. "What?" He asked in shock.

"I’ll find a way." Before either of us could continue, we were cut short.

"Time’s up!" The guard’s voice echoed through the dungeon as he approached with heavy footsteps.

"You." He pointed toward me. "Out."

I stood immediately. "Can I ask you something first?"

He sighed dramatically. "What now?"

"I’d like to speak with the captain about Grengy’s imprisonment."

The guard burst into laughter. "You? Why?"

"Because he’s here because of me."

The guard folded his arms. "So?"

"I don’t think he deserves to remain imprisoned." I stepped closer to him as I added. "He isn’t a threat to me anymore so he should be freed."

The guard laughed even harder. "Who do you think you are?"

"I—" I started.

"No." He cut me off. "He may not be a threat to you anymore But what about everyone else?"

"He served this castle faithfully before,he worked hard, and he made just one mistake." I started counting them out.

The guard’s expression remained unmoved as he said. "The captain decides."

"Can I at least speak with him, please?"

"No." He snapped.

I clenched my fists. "There has to be a way."

"There isn’t." He pointed toward the exit. "Leave."

I glanced back once as Grengy had already returned to eating. At least he wasn’t hungry anymore and that was one small victory.

As I climbed the dungeon stairs, determination settled firmly inside me. One refusal wouldn’t stop me and neither would ten.

"I will keep trying somehow until Grengy is freed."

—

Later that evening, the sun had sunk and I and Sally were already getting ready to head to the storeroom for the meeting.

I had barely rounded what I’m doing when a castle guard stepped directly into the room.

For a split second I thought I’d done something wrong again. Instead, he bowed respectfully. "Selena... Tracker Kieren requests your presence."

My heart immediately sank upon realizing it was my new trainer.

I closed my eyes for a brief second, Alpha Kael’s arrangement had officially begun.

And I already knew it was going to become another complication in an already impossible schedule.