Beyond the window, the sky stretched endlessly. Stars glimmered in constellations she didn’t recognize, patterns that would never match any chart she’d memorized during her years as navigator. Beautiful. Alien. A stark reminder of just how far from home she really was.
She strained to commit the visible stars to memory anyway. Couldn’t help herself. The cartographer’s brain that had gotten her into this mess refused to stop working, cataloguing positions and angles and relative brightness.
If there’s a way out—when there’s a way out—knowing the terrain could mean the difference between survival and death.
The thought felt hollow.
They were prisoners. Captives of creatures who’d shot down their vessel, dragged them from a crash site, implanted devices in their heads while they were unconscious.
These wolfmen were responsible for everything.
And yet.
Elsa’s fingers found the implant behind her ear, tracing its smooth edges. The universal communicator that let her understand their language, let them issue orders she couldn’t pretend to misunderstand.
Perhaps, she thought,someone as compassionate as Healer Yarx might help.
The idea was desperate. Pathetic, even. But it was something to hold onto in the crushing weight of helplessness.
Or maybe the Alpha King would show mercy.
The thought died as quickly as it formed.
Sharp claws scraped against stone.
Elsa’s head snapped toward the archway. Her pulse kicked up, hammering against her ribs hard enough that she could feel it in her throat.
Xar entered first, his green eyes sweeping over them with clinical assessment. He nodded to the guards, who straightened further—if that was even possible.
Then another figure stepped through.
Larger. More commanding. His presence filled the chamber in a way that made the space feel smaller, the air thicker.
Black fur, dark as the void between stars. Cyan blue eyes that seemed to glow with unnatural light, predatory and piercing. He moved with deliberate precision, each step measured, controlled, radiating an authority that didn’t need to be announced.
The guards stiffened. Their ears flattened against their skulls. They tilted their heads, exposing their throats in a gesture of submission so complete it made Elsa’s stomach twist.
This wolfman didn’t just command respect.
He demanded it.
He stopped in front of the chained humans, and everyone—even Rowan—went utterly still.
“I am Prince Ryxin.” His voice was a smooth growl, resonant enough to vibrate through Elsa’s chest. “Yzefrxyl Commander and brother to the Alpha King. I am the one who shot down your vessel for trespassing into our territory.”
His lips curled into something that wasn’t quite a smile. Mocking. Daring them to react.
“And now I am burdened with your emergency vessel crashing into our Holy Land. For that, you will face the Alpha King, who will determine your fate.”
Rowan surged forward.
The movement jerked the chain taut, yanking Elsa off balance. She stumbled, her shoulder slamming into his as he shouted, voice raw with fury. “We’re sentient beings! We have a right to live!”
Xar moved faster than Elsa could process.
One moment he was standing at attention. The next, his paw connected with Rowan’s face in a brutal backhand that sent the man reeling. Blood trickled from the corner of Rowan’s mouth, stark red against pale skin.
Xar stepped closer, muzzle mere inches from Rowan’s face. His growl was low, menacing, barely restrained. “Disrespectful human.” The words dripped with contempt. “Let me do the honors and deal with him, my prince.”