Claimed By The Rival Alpha

Chapter 71: Chapter 71

Selena

I had lost count of how many times I had paced across Alpha Kael’s study.

The muffled sounds of the ball seeped through the thick stone walls, taunting me. Music drifted faintly from the ballroom below, followed by the occasional burst of laughter and applause. The celebration continued while I remained trapped in the Alpha’s chamber like a criminal.

Beta Bastian had called it protection but I called it imprisonment!

With a frustrated sigh, I rattled the locked door again before giving up. It hadn’t magically unlocked in the last few minutes, and I doubted it would now.

"If you think I’ll sit here all night..." I muttered. "You clearly don’t know me."

My eyes wandered around the room... since escaping through the door wasn’t an option, curiosity got the better of me.

Alpha Kael’s study looked exactly like the man himself. Everything was meticulously arranged. Shelves towered with books organized by size and subject.

Maps covered one wall, each marked with careful notes and colored pins. Several ledgers sat stacked neatly on his desk beside sealed letters bearing the crests of different noble houses.

I walked over and sat in his chair. "So this is where you spend all your time."

I picked up the first ledger and it contained... Trade agreements, grain supplies, livestock records, bridge repairs, and tax reports.

I smiled faintly. "So that’s why you’re always buried in paperwork."

I carefully replaced it and reached for another. It contained military reports, border patrol schedules, messenger logs but none of it helped me understand what I truly wanted to know.

Then my hand brushed against a thinner leather folder tucked beneath the others.

Unlike everything else, it carried no noble seal, only a small silver moon stamped into the cover.

A strange feeling settled in my stomach and slowly, I opened it.

The first page made my blood run cold on seeing a list of female names and each followed by age, family, village then another column showing transfers.

I frowned. Transferred?

I hurried to the next page and saw many more names then Realization struck me so suddenly I almost dropped the folder.

These weren’t ordinary records. These were the names of the she-wolves sold to the vampires that year.

"No..." I whispered as I flipped through page after page.

Some girls were barely older than me. Others were younger and beside every name were neat remarks of it being Confirmed, received or Escorted.

Everything was written so casually it made my stomach churn. As if they weren’t daughters. As if they weren’t wolves.

Another folded parchment slipped from the folder and I unfolded it carefully to reveal a detailed map.

Routes stretched from every pack in the realm toward designated ports marked with dark ink.

I leaned closer and there were notes beneath the map... each pack possessed one designated tribute port.

Although the ports were situated within werewolf territory, they were controlled entirely by vampires. The laborers working there were werewolves, but every operation ultimately answered to vampire officials.

Special reinforced carriages transported the selected she-wolves.

Guard rotations, the escort numbers, the arrival schedules, the transfer procedures, the inspection checkpoints... Every possible detail had been planned.

My breathing slowed as I studied the diagrams and discovered there was no obvious escape route.

The carriages were designed to prevent escape... the roads were heavily guarded and fresh escorts replaced exhausted ones at each checkpoint.

Even if someone somehow fled the carriage... The surrounding lands were open enough for riders to hunt them down.

"They planned everything perfectly..." I whispered.

There was no chance at all! No girl had ever escaped because the system had been built to make escape impossible.

Heat surged through my chest as my wolf stirred violently inside me while the images of countless frightened girls filled my mind.

Families forced to surrender their daughters, children torn away and lives being destroyed.

Something inside me snapped. I can’t be here hiding safely inside Alpha Kael’s chamber!

"No." I slammed the folder shut. "I won’t stay here."

I hurried toward the door before remembering it was locked.

There had to be another way. I searched the room until my eyes landed on the large window overlooking the courtyard.

I hurried over and pushed the shutters open as cool night air rushed against my face.

I leaned out carefully then discovered it was high... far too high to jump but the castle wall wasn’t smooth due to decorative stone ledges stretched beneath the window.

A narrow drainage pipe ran along one side. If I lowered myself carefully... one step then another onto the ledge... I studied the route several times.

"I can do this." Climbing onto the windowsill, I turned sideways and pushed my shoulders through the opening.

One arm then the other and half my body slipped outside.

"So far..." I inhaled deeply and pushed harder.

"My waist?" I sucked in my stomach and tried again but I still wasn’t able to go through the window.

"Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me." I twisted and the wooden frame dug painfully into my hips.

Determined, I pushed harder but Instead of freeing myself... I became even more firmly stuck.

I groaned in pain. "Fuck!!!"

I tried backing up but that didn’t work either. I was trapped! Half inside and half outside.

"This is humiliating." I wriggled desperately but the window refused to let me go.

Then the chamber door suddenly opened and I froze in shock. "Moon Goddess... Please don’t let it be Beta Bastian." I murmured to my own hearing.

I turned my head as much as I could and was taken aback by who I saw.

"Sally!" Her eyes widened before she burst into laughter and behind her came Ash then Grengy followed a heartbeat later.

Ash bent over, clutching his stomach. "I knew she’d find a way to cause trouble," he laughed, "but this?"

Grengy folded his arms. "I’ve never seen anyone lose a fight with a window."

"Oh, shut up!" I snapped. "Help me!"

Sally wiped tears from her eyes. "I had to drag these two by their ears to get them here."

Ash protested. "That’s an exaggeration."

"It isn’t," Sally replied. "You both refused until I threatened to expose every prank you’ve ever pulled."

Grengy sighed dramatically. "And this is what we risked ourselves for."

"Less talking," I groaned. "More pulling."

The three of them finally grabbed my arms and waist. "One...Two... Three!"

With one hard tug, I stumbled backward into the room and I rubbed my aching hips. "I’m never speaking of this again."

Ash grinned. "Oh, we definitely are."

Sally chuckled before becoming serious. "Come on. We distracted the guard protecting the Alpha’s wing, but it won’t last forever."

We slipped into the corridor and hurried toward the servants’ passage.

The castle seemed unusually quiet as most servants were already stationed throughout the ballroom.

By the time we reached the kitchens, only a handful remained. "Where is everyone?" I asked.

One maid hurried past carrying an empty tray. "They’re all peeking into the ballroom."

We exchanged glances before following her.

At the entrance corridor, several servants stood hidden behind a pillar, carefully watching the festivities.

One whispered excitedly, "Alpha William just announced he’s giving another she-wolf to the vampires instead of his missing daughter."

"I heard his daughter is lucky," another servant muttered.

"Lucky?" I asked with creased brows.

"Of course. Imagine escaping that fate." Someone else scoffed. "The poor replacement is the unlucky one."

Another servant lowered his voice. "I think Alpha William hid his own daughter. He’s too clever to hand over his flesh and blood."

"He’s a genius." Their words faded into the background because my eyes had already found the girl standing beside my father.

My heart beat increased his pace. "No..." My voice barely came out.

It was Isadora... My childhood friend. She stood perfectly still beside my father with her hands trembling and her face had gone pale. She looked utterly broken!

Bile rose into my throat. Without thinking, I grabbed Sally’s wrist and dragged her away from the others. "We have to stop this."

She blinked as she asked. "Stop what?"

"We have to stop him from sending Isadora to the vampires."

Sally stared before laughing nervously. "Selena..."

"I’m serious."I said and her smile vanished.

"You mean... We should stop Alpha William?" She asked with wide eyes.

"Yes." I said firmly.

She began sweating as she spoke out. "You’ve definitely lost your mind."

"We’ll figure something out." I said, still not shaken by her words.

"Figure something out?" she whispered sharply. "Do you hear yourself? We’d have to go against Alpha William!"

I remained silent while Sally continued. "We don’t have the people! We don’t have the resources!"

"We’d have to kidnap her without a single Alpha or Beta noticing and even if we somehow managed that... Alpha William definitely has guards watching her."

Every concern she raised made perfect sense but I pushed every one of them aside. "It doesn’t matter."

She stared at me in astonishment. "It does, Selena!"

"No." I looked toward the ballroom again. "It doesn’t."

My eyes found Alpha Kael across the hall and I noticed his expression was tense and calculating as he kept watching everything.

Then my father called him forward. "Alpha Kael!"

The entire ballroom looked toward them. "Would you do the honours?"

My jaw clenched as a servant carried forward the royalty register.

Alpha Kael visibly hesitated and for one brief second, I thought he would refuse. Instead... he stepped forward, making rage flared inside me.

He pressed the official seal into the register beside my father and the document became complete.

Alpha William smiled broadly. "I’ll have the chosen royalty secured until the conclusion of tonight’s festivities."

He gestured toward Isadora. "Take her." Several guards immediately escorted her away.

The moment they disappeared from the ballroom... I moved.

"Selena!" Sally hissed.

I ignored her as I followed the guards through the corridors, keeping enough distance that they wouldn’t notice me.

Turn after turn and hall after hall then finally... They reached the old conservatory and my heart sank.

Of all places... It was the exact location my revolution group had chosen to secretly receive any nobles willing to join our cause.

The guards pushed Isadora inside and I watched from behind the doorway as they tied her securely to a chair before leaving.

The instant the corridor fell quiet, I slipped inside and called out her name. "Isadora."

She gasped as her frightened eyes widened. "Selena?"

I rushed to her. "It’s me."

Tears immediately filled her eyes. "I thought..."

"I know." I knelt beside her. "Don’t say anything because I’m going to get you out of here."

She stared at me in disbelief but before I could untie the ropes, a familiar voice sounded from behind me.

"Well..." Every muscle in my body stiffened. "...what do we have here?"

I slowly turned around and saw my father standing in the doorway and just behind him... stood Alpha Kael.

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