EMERY
Griffin's eyes didn't move away from mine, he didn't even blink, and he didn't even breathe like a normal person. He just stood there, powerful, calm, and terrifying as if I were nothing but a stain on his clean floor.
His aura pressed down on me like a weight I couldn't escape. My entire body trembled not just from fear, but from whatever strange energy pulsed off of him. It wasn't just dominance, it was something ancient. Something inhuman, and I could feel it crawling along my skin.
I swallowed hard, trying to find my voice.
"I-I didn't.."I started, but my throat betrayed me. The words came out weak. This was not me… this wasn't the Emery who used to argue with his boss at work even though he was the pain in my ass. This Emery was different… no… I sounded like Elias, like the way the story had described him.
Griffin's eyes narrowed at the sound of my voice. He stepped forward, towering above me, and my heart slammed against my rib cage.
"You dare speak when spoken to," he said coldly.
The word hit me like a slap.
I bit down on my tongue to stop myself from speaking again, not because I wanted to obey, but because I had no idea what would happen if I didn't. I had read the book, I knew this man didn't tolerate disobedience, and I was too damn stunned to test him now.
The ropes were suddenly untied from behind me. Someone had ordered it, but I didn't know who. My arms dropped, sore and heavy. Two guards yanked me to my feet and held me in place, even though my legs could barely support me.
Griffin stared at me in silence for another long moment, then turned to the crowd without looking back.
"He will not be killed," he said out loud. Gasps echoed through the hall, followed by murmurs.
"This isn't right, according to the rules. He is meant to be whipped and killed for stealing what belongs to the you," Elias's stepfather spoke up, and I scoffed. He must really hate Elias to want him dead.
"I created those rules, and I have the right to bend the rules," Griffin responded, his voice stern and solid.
"But Alpha-"
"No buts. Elias is mine now, and I will do what I please with him," he answered, and my mouth went dry.
'Wait, what!? The fuck.'
Mine? What the fuck.
That wasn't in the book. I didn't remember this part. In the story, Griffin had locked Elias up, tortured and ignored him for weeks, but this? This wasn't how it went.
He turned to face me again, and a smirk appeared on his lips.
"You will answer to me and me alone from henceforth. If you speak out of turn again, you will beg for death and still not receive it. Understood?" he asked.
I wanted to scream that I wasn't Elias, and that this was all a mistake. I wanted to tell him that I was Emery, a guy from another world, and I had no idea how I ended up here, but the fear in me was louder than the truth. So, I nodded slowly.
Griffin studied me, his jaw clenched, and his dark eyes seemed to search through me like he could sense I didn't belong. Like he already knew something was off.
"Take him to the East Wing," he said to the guards, "he doesn't leave until I say so."
Before I could say anything or protest, the guards dragged me away. My feet scraped against the floor as I was led through sleek metal hallways. Everything looked so different, not like the wild werewolf pack I had imagined while reading the book.
This world was different. It was advanced, clean and cold.
They shoved me into a small, bare room, but far from a prison cell. A bed sat in the corner, white and neatly made. There was a sink, a table, and a small chair, but still, it felt like a cage.
The door shut behind me with a loud bang, and I was alone.
I stumbled towards the bed and sat down, breathing hard, my hands still shaking from everything, and my mind racing hard.
I was here, and it has finally stuck in that I was on the damn book, and Griffin Lancaster had just claimed me like I was so,e kind of object.
I ran my fingers through my hair and stared at the wall.
"How?" was the only question I had. How did this happen? Was it the book, or was it the warning on the first page?
"Once you open, you get drawn into the world that leaves you craving for more…"
This wasn't just a story anymore; it was real, and I was living it now, or rather, trapped inside it, playing the role of a broken omega who was hated, cursed, and now owned by the most feared aloha in the land.
I closed my eyes and leaned back against the wall.
"Think, Emery… just think"
There has to be a reason for this, a fucking way out. Unless I wasn't meant to escape, or unless I was brought here to do something.
My thoughts drifted back to the end of the book. The original Elias had to run away, had to leave the pack and disconnected everything that had to do with the pack and Griffin forever.
He had to stay alone and miserable because someone had betrayed him and had made him lose everything. Griffin had never realised the truth about him until it was too late, and it was a tragedy because Elias never gave him a second chance.
Maybe that was why I was here, to change it and to fix it, but how could I do that when everyone saw me as an enemy? When even Griffin looked at me like I was nothing.
A soft knock broke through my thoughts, and I jumped to my feet as the door opened.
A young man stepped in, tall, slim, with brown hair and silver eyes. He wore the same uniform as the guards, but something about him felt less threatening.
"You are lucky," he said, "he doesn't usually spare people, especially someone like you."
"Who are you?" I asked, my brows furrowed.
He tilted his head and smiled swiftly. "Name's Jack. I am… well, let's just say I keep people like you alive."
His words left me completely confused, but a lot of things were still unexplained, like what was happening, why wasn't I punished or flogged? Why did he claim me? Why was the book changing? What the heck was going on?
I needed answers, and probably, maybe, Jack would be able to answer some of my questions.
"Why did he spare me?" I asked.
Jack walked over to the table and set down a tray of food. "I don't know, maybe he saw something in you, or maybe he just wants to make you suffer longer."
I scoffed, but it didn't help. Everything he had just said made me shiver even more.
"Do you believe I stole the ring?" I asked quietly. Instead of replying right away, he glanced at me, his expression unreadable.
"I believe what I am told, but also know that Alpha Griffin doesn't do anything without a reason, and if he didn't kill you today, it's because he has plans for you," he said before shoving the folk in my hand, "eat up, you will need your strength for whatever plans he has for you." and with that he was gone leaving me alone to my thoughts.
My mind reflecting on what Jack had just said, if Griffin had plans for me, I needed to figure them out fast. I wouldn't be passive like Elias was in the book. I had knowledge, and I was at an advantage because I knew things the characters didn't, especially things that had not happened yet.
Maybe that's why I was here. To change Elias's fate.
To survive.
To make him not look weak in front of everyone and to prove to Griffin that he wasn't the weak, worthless person he once was.
I was here to change everything, and Griffin Lancaster would wish he had never claimed me.