The Alpha's Human Maid

The night hurled itself alive with the sound of wolves howling.

It was not a song of victory.

It was grief-raw, echoing, unending.

Blood soaked into the forest floor where the strongest warriors of the Night Walker Pack had fallen. The air reeked of iron and smoke, of broken bodies and shattered oaths. Fires smoldered where claws and steel had clashed, and the moon above watched in cold silence as the pack mourned its dead.

Among them lay two humans.

Hazel Whitney's parents.

Though human-born, they had never been weak. They had trained beside wolves, fought beside them, bled beside them. They were warriors in every sense that mattered-respected, trusted, and feared by enemies who learned too late not to underestimate them.

They had been more than allies to Alpha Zane.

They had been his closest friends.

And on that cursed night, they died saving his life-and the life of his Luna.

Alpha Zane stood over their bodies long after the others had been carried away. His shoulders, broad and unyielding, trembled beneath the weight of a debt that could never be repaid. The moonlight caught the grief in his eyes, a grief too deep for words.

"They gave everything," he murmured, his voice hoarse. "For us."

From the ruins of that night, one fragile thing remained.

Hazel.

She was small when he brought her to the palace-too quiet, too still, with eyes that had already seen more death than a child ever should. She did not cry. She did not scream. She simply clutched the edge of Alpha Zane's cloak as though it were the last solid thing left in the world.

From that moment, she became part of the Night Walker Palace.

Hazel was given a room in the east wing, where sunlight crept in gently through tall windows. She shared it with Alessia-Alpha Zane's only daughter, Asher's younger sister. Alessia had welcomed her without hesitation, as if Hazel had always belonged there.

They slept side by side, whispered secrets beneath heavy blankets, and learned to exist again in a world that had nearly swallowed Hazel whole. Alessia's laughter became the first sound that ever coaxed a faint smile from her lips.

And Asher-young, sharp-eyed, already carrying the quiet authority of an Alpha's heir-made sure Hazel never felt like an outsider.

He showed her the palace corridors, the training grounds from a distance, the safest corners of the gardens. He spoke to her gently, without pity, as though she were not something broken that needed careful handling.

For a time, the palace felt like home.

For a time, Hazel believed the worst was over.