The clock beside her bed didn't buzz, chime, or beep.
At exactly 7.00 am, a low-sounding bell echoed softly from the bass clock. She blinked awake, sitting upright on the wide bed, her breath catching as the dream she'd been in, something about eyes in the trees, slipped away.
She stretched, then paddled toward the bathroom and turned on the shower. Steam curled through the air like the breath of something alive. The water was hot, scented faintly of something cedar and a smell she couldn't name- almost like the forest. Wonderful.
After scrubbing away the grogginess, she stepped out, wrapped herself in a towel, and opened the wardrobe. Dresses and shoes were neatly arranged.
"No way these are my size," she muttered. But when she slipped it on, it molded to her body like it knew her. Not too tight, not too loose. Perfect.
She stepped into the hallway, hoping to find the main hall or anyone who could give her instructions. Instead, she wandered.
The deeper she walked, the stranger the tower became. The air grew warmer. The silence stretched longer. Then, it happened.
She heard a faint hum in the walls. A kind of low, invisible vibration that brushed against her arms and neck. Her skin prickled. It was like stepping into a room right after a lightning strike.
She turned quickly, intending to retrace her steps, but froze. Someone was standing behind her. She sucked in a breath.
He was younger than she expected, with sharp cheekbones and dark brown hair tousled like he didn't bother with brushes. He wore black slacks and a navy shirt, an chain glinting at his throat.
"I didn't mean to startle you," he said smoothly, his hands in his pockets. His voice was casual, but something in it hummed, like a purr beneath the surface.
"I was just- uh- looking for the main hall," she said quickly, stepping back. "Got turned around."
"You're a way off, dear," he offered a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "The servant quarters are in the South wing," he said, tilting his head slightly. "That is where the new ones are."
"The new ones?"
He turned as if to leave, then paused. "Word of advice, don't wander alone," he said without looking back. "This place has corners that like to remember people."
Tasha finally spotted the wide archway the man had vaguely described- a tall, open frame lined with designs. The main hall. Relief washed over her as she stepped closer, her heels echoing on the marble floor.
And then, a hand grabbed her arm. Hard.
She barely had time to scream before the room blurred. She was dragged fast, silent and brutal into one of the side doors, thrown inside a darkened room, the door slamming shut behind them. Her back hit the bed, a heavy body pressed hers down before she could rise.
"Get off me!"
Her scream cracked through the room as her hands clawed at his arms, his face shadowed but visible in flashes of light from the hallway. Cold, cruel eyes and a twisted smile. With one brutal force, her dressed ripped open, the fabric splitting from neckline to her chest. She gasped. Terrified. But he was stronger. Far too strong.
"Please, don't-"
Panic took over her limbs. She stilled, trembled and her body surrendered. And then, a roar.
The man above her was rippled away, yanked by an invisible force so fast that his body crashed into the far wall and slid down, stunned. The heavy silence that followed crackled with low, furious growls. She scrambled to the edge of the bed, clutching what was left of her torn dress around her chest.
Two men now filled the room.
The second was taller, broader, built like a weapon in a tailored black shirt that hugged his shoulders. His face was still, his eyes blazed gold.
The attacker wheezed where he lay on the floor. "I'm sorry, I didn't know she was-"
The tall man moved forward, slow and menacing. "Know your place, Fred. Take your horny brain somewhere else."
His voice was cold steel. Measured, but vibrating with barely restrained power. Tasha pressed herself against the bedframe, trying to disappear. Her heart thudded in her ears.
Then the golden-eyed man turned toward her. He walked toward her and stopped just a breath away. His gaze pinned her in place. He leaned in, eyes locked into hers and breathed her in.
Slow and deep.
Her pulse faltered as his nose touched hers. Her lips parted, dry and trembling. She didn't understand why she wasn't running. Then he turned to the attacker.
"Leave. Now."
The man scrambled to his feet, still limping. "My mistake."
He was gone.
The man crossed the room, lifted her into his arms as if she weighed nothing, and carried her through the hall.
She didn't resist. She couldn't.
There was something magnetic in his arms. Something primal. Something terrifying safe.
When they entered the main hall, the silence that followed was instant. Servant bowed low as he entered. The silver-haired woman at the far end of the room stilled, her voice dying mid-command as her gaze locked into Tasha.
Still holding her, the man set her down gently at the top of the staircase. She gripped her torn dress, struggling to meet his eyes but he was already walking away.
All the servants fled.
The silver-haired woman approached slowly, her jaw tight, full of something beyond anger. "Be gone before nightfall girl."
Her breath caught. "I didn't mean-"
But she walked away, leaving her alone in the hall to find her way back.
Tasha's leg trembled as she climbed the stairs back to her room. Her torn dress flapped with each step, and her skin still hummed where his arms had held her. She didn't know his name. Only that he was powerful enough to silence a room with his presence and terrifying enough to make her attacker beg.
When she opened the door, someone was already there. A young girl kneel by the dresser, folding her clothes. She was small, with soft, mousy features, and her brown hair was tied into a braid so tight it tugged at her temples.
"What are you doing?" Tasha asked, stepping forward.
The girl's hands didn't stop moving. "Arranging the room,"
"I know how to."
"I was told to make sure you didn't take anything that doesn't belong to you."
Tasha blinked. "What? They think that low of me? What's with this place and their strange lives anyway?"
The girl still didn't look at her. "That's not what they're worried about."
"Who do they think they are?"
Then, for the first time, the girl lifted her head and looked Tasha in the eyes. "This isn't a Penthouse, It's a den."
The girl leaned in, barely breathing. "The woman with the silver hair? They call her Madam Else. She's the head of the servants here when the tower was built. Some say she doesn't age. Some say she's not human."
Tasha's heart pounded.
"And the man who carried you..." the girl swallowed hard, eyes darting to the door. "That was Kael Maddox. He's the true owner of this place. The eldest. He doesn't speak much. You shouldn't have met his eyes."
Tasha felt her breath catch. "I didn't let him. He saved me."
"No," the girl said, voice shaking. "He scented you."
She snatched her bag full of cookies and sweets, stuffed her charger and lip balm into it and bolted from the room. Her breath came in panic bursts.
Is this some sort of dog house?
She didn't care where the exit was. She just had to find it.
The fading sun bled across the sky like bruised fire. Tasha heels were soaked with mud and her breathing came in frantic, choking bursts as she ran. She's been stumbling through trees and winding roads for what felt like hours. Her phone was off, and the deeper she went, the more the forest rose around her like it had teeth. The tower had vanished behind her.
But the terror hadn't.
No people. No passing cars. Just silence, thick and pulsing with dread.
"I'm going to die," she whispered hoarsely. "They're gonna find my body in a ditch and headline it with something like 'Girl Found Mauled in the Woods.'
Hell no!
She gritted her teeth, pushed forward, she wasn't just scared now, she was pissed.
She heard a howl. Long, deep.
She turned left and broke into a sprint, branches whipping at her arms. The howls were behind, chasing her. She stumbled onto an open patch of road again, lungs burning, only to freeze.
A shadow stood in her path. A wolf. Taller than any beast, his head high, fur thick and dark as midnight oil. His massive paws barely made a sound.
And then, he lunged.
I am going to die.
Tasha screamed and ran. Fast, but not enough. The beast leapt and slammed into her, knocking her into the grass, pinning her with a terrifying force. His claws tore at her dress, slicing fabric and scraping skin. His breath was hot against her neck as he growled low, his teeth dangerously close to her throat. She struggled, cried out, kicked, her mind spiraling.
But then, she looked into his eyes.
The wolf's body shuddered, It's bones cracked, fur retracting, shifting and transforming.
Tasha whimpered beneath him as fur turned to skin, claws to fingers, and the wolf gave way to the man who had saved her once.
Kael.
He crouched over her, bare-chested, his breathing fast and shallow. His skin glistened with sweat, and the mark of the beast still flickered in his golden irises. He took her face gently in his hands, and leaned in, his lips trembling.
"Mate." His voice was barely a breath, but it vibrated through her bones.
Then he bit her. Hard.
His fangs sank into the curve of her neck and she cried out. Her body ached against him as she moaned, heat flooded through her body. She felt him mark her, felt the blood trail down her shoulder. She held her breath and then his mouth was on hers, fangs still wet with her blood as he tasted her.
Tasha clung to him, confused and overwhelmed and then a sharp jolt of pain in her leg pulled her mind back.
Kael's head lifted, eyes wide, nostrils flaring. She felt his warmth, his scent, the beat of something wild beneath his skin.
And then the world went black.