Thirty Three : A Dangerous Bargain
Mara's POV
The chains burned cold against my skin as the guards shoved me into a side chamber.
They didn’t speak to me, only muttered to each other when they thought I couldn’t hear. I kept my head bowed, listening.
“She’s cursed,” one said under his breath, voice low but sharp. “I’ll swear it at the trial. I saw her eyes flash.”
“Argh,” the other answered quickly. “And the way she fought in the courtyard… no servant moves like that. The council won’t need much to brand her a witch.”
My stomach tightened. So it was already decided. The trial wasn’t justice. It was a stage, and I was at the show.
I sat still, though my wolf clawed inside me, demanding I rip the chains apart. My hands trembled slightly, but I curled them into fists.
When they left me alone, I leaned against the wall, trying to steady my breathing. I could end this charade with a single word, my true name. Mara Silverfang.
The sound alone would shake them. They’d know I wasn’t a rogue girl scavenging scraps. I was heir to a bloodline they had tried to erase.
But saying it would mean death before I even finished the word. I closed my eyes.
The fear wasn’t for myself. It was for what would be lost if I fell before proving the truth. My father’s name. My pack’s memory. Their massacre was buried under lies.
The door opened suddenly. A servant entered with a tray of food, setting it on the table without looking at me.
My chains rattled when I reached for it. I wasn’t hungry, but my body demanded strength.
I picked at the bread, my thoughts circling the same impossible choice, silence or revelation, life or death, when the air shifted. A prickle ran down my neck.
I lifted the cloth covering the bowl and froze.
A folded scrap of parchment sat tucked beneath it.
I glanced at the door. The servant was already gone. The guards outside hadn’t noticed.
My heart thudded hard as I unfolded the note with shaking fingers.
Meet me at the north wall. I know the truth about Silverfang.
My wolf went still inside me, then growled low. This was no accident. Someone in this house knew.
The paper shook in my hand. It could be a trap. It likely was.
But it could also be the first thread of truth I had been clawing for since the night my pack burned.
I folded the note quickly and tucked it into my sleeve just as the door opened again.
This time, it wasn’t a guard.
Ronald stepped inside.
The chains around my wrists seemed heavier at once. I forced myself to look at him.
His eyes were sharp, unreadable, but his wolf pressed against mine with a force I couldn’t ignore.
“Eat,” he said flatly.
“I’m not hungry,” I answered.
His gaze didn’t leave mine. “Eat.”
My jaw clenched, but I broke a piece of bread and chewed slowly.
The silence between us burned more than the chains. His wolf pushed, mine bristled, and neither of us gave ground.
When I finally set the bread down, I asked, “Does it satisfy you to see me chained?”
Something flickered in his eyes, but his voice stayed cold. “It satisfies the council. For now.”
“For now,” I echoed, bitterness cutting the words.
He leaned closer, his shadow falling over me, his voice low enough the guards outside couldn’t hear. “Do not test me tonight, Mara.
You’ve already given them too many reasons to want your blood.”
My throat tightened, but I forced a smirk. “So you admit you want to keep it in me.”
For the first time, his lips twitched, almost a snarl, almost something else.
He straightened and turned without another word, leaving me with the note burning against my skin.
At dinner that night, they unchained me enough to sit at the servant’s table. Whispers hissed around me. “Witch.” “Cursed.” “She bewitched the Alpha.” I kept my head down, hands still bound at the wrists, pretending the words slid past me, though each one scraped raw.
But I felt him.
Ronald sat at the head of the hall, the envoy at his side, Lucas near him. His eyes didn’t leave me. Not once.
Every time I shifted, every time I reached for the smallest scrap of food, his gaze followed.
My wolf snarled at me to look back, to answer the bond’s pull, but I refused. The air between us was charged, heavy with everything unspoken.
When the meal ended and the hall emptied, I kept my face blank as the guards escorted me back to my chamber. Inside, once the door shut, I finally allowed myself a single shaky breath.
The note was still in my sleeve. The words burned in my mind.
Meet me at the north wall. I know the truth about Silverfang.
At dawn, before I could decide what to do, boots thundered in the corridor. The door burst open.
Two guards stepped inside, chains in hand.
“On your feet,” one ordered.
“What is this?” I asked, though my wolf already knew.
“The Alpha commands it,” the other answered, gripping my arm. “You’re to be brought before him.”
The cold weight of the chains closed around my wrists again.
And for the first time, I realized there would be no waiting, no more time to choose. The council’s game had already begun, and I was the piece they were ready to move.