Chapter 11 011
~LYKA~
I stared at the man standing before me, my grip tightening around the knife as conflicting emotions twisted violently in my chest. Suspicion warred with fragile hope, and I hated how badly I wanted to believe him.
Why would Aiden send someone like this to me? Why would he trust a man who had been lurking in my room like a creep?
“Why should I believe that Aiden sent a pervert like you?” I asked coldly, my voice sharp and unyielding.
The man sighed, clearly realizing that words alone wouldn’t convince me. Slowly, carefully....almost reverently....he reached into his inner pocket and brought out a small locket.
My breath hitched.
The world seemed to blur as my eyes locked onto it.
That necklace.
The delicate chain was slightly worn, its silver surface dulled with time, but I would recognize it anywhere. My chest tightened painfully as memories surged forward....memories of a time when I was still my father’s daughter, still a princess, still protected.
I had given that necklace to Aiden the day he was officially assigned as my bodyguard.
Before everything fell apart.
Before blood, betrayal, and loss changed everything.
My vision shimmered with unshed tears as my fingers trembled.
“…Aiden,” I whispered.
The man nodded solemnly. “He told me to show you this if you doubted me.”
I inhaled deeply, forcing myself not to break. Not now.
“So,” I said after a moment, lifting my chin, “you’re telling me Aiden already has a plan to get us out of here?”
He nodded vigorously. “Yes.”
Despite myself, a small spark of disbelief flickered inside me.
I still didn’t understand how he had managed to get into my room without being noticed. And even more troubling....why he was risking his life for us. He wasn’t from this pack. He had no obligation.
So why?
“What are you?” I asked again, my tone sharper this time.
He stiffened, clearly not expecting that question....again.
“Why do you keep asking that?” he chuckled nervously. “I thought we’d already passed that phase.”
I rolled my eyes, unimpressed. “You thought wrong.”
You could call me stiff. Paranoid. Difficult.
I didn’t care.
After everything I had been through in the past few months, trust no longer came easily. Pain had taught me that doubting people was safer than believing them.
“Are you answering,” I pressed, “or not?”
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Aiden is my comrade,” he finally said. “He’s the only one who shared his meatballs with me in that stinky cell. So… yeah. It’s only right that I help him.”
I hissed softly, unimpressed. “That’s your reason?”
“Yes.”
“If you were imprisoned too,” I said slowly, “then how are you free while he’s still locked up?”
“I was released,” he replied. “I started working as a guard in this pack afterward. But I still owe Aiden. Kindness like that doesn’t fade.”
Is he… proud of that?
I shook my head slightly. “Then tell me....what did Aiden ask me to do to escape from this room?”
He straightened immediately. “When a maid knocks on your door, that’s your signal. Come out immediately. That’s when everything starts.”
I nodded slowly as he explained the rest....how I would walk down the hallway, how my pack members would already be rescued by then, how we’d all regroup and disappear before the Alpha realized what was happening.
The plan was detailed. Calculated. Clean.
Too clean.
“This plan,” I said quietly, “whose idea was it?”
“Aiden’s.”
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Of course.
“What else....” I began, but my words died in my throat.
A cold, husky voice cut through the air.
“Why is the door locked?”
My blood ran cold.
My legs trembled as fear surged violently through me.
“If he finds you here,” I whispered urgently, “we’re both dead.”
A loud knock thundered against the door.
Panic exploded.
Without hesitation, I shoved the man back toward the closet he had emerged from earlier and slammed it shut just as I rushed to the door, unlocking it seconds before it could be kicked in.
“What is it?” I asked, forcing a nervous smile.
The Alpha stepped in without invitation.
Before I could react, he closed the distance between us in two strides and slammed my body against his, the impact knocking the air from my lungs.
I gasped.
“Who was here?” he demanded, his voice low and dangerous. “Whose disgusting scent is this?”
My eyes widened.
“What....no one!” I stammered. “There’s no way anyone could come in here and....”
“Wrong,” he cut in sharply, jerking me aside. “I asked whose scent this is.”
My heart pounded violently as realization struck.
I had fallen right into his trap.
“What are you doing in my room?” I blurted, rushing toward him as he moved closer to the closet.
He smirked. Slow. Calculated.
As if he knew exactly what I was trying to protect.
“The first time I saw you in the ring,” he said calmly, circling the room, “I was prepared to reject you.”
Elysia snarled in my head, fury rolling through her, but I felt strangely numb.
“Then why didn’t you?” I asked quietly, stepping in front of the closet, praying my desperation wasn’t obvious.
“I changed my mind,” he continued. “You intrigue me. You make me want to sharpen my archery skills… for a very long time.”
What kind of twisted metaphor was that?
Before I could respond, he yanked me aside roughly. I cried out as pain tore through my shoulder.
His hand landed on the closet door.
“No....don’t!” I panicked, blocking him.
He raised a brow, his gaze turning glacial.
“I’m going to take this as rebellion,” he said slowly, “and evidence that you’re hiding a spy.”
He shoved me again.
This time, I felt fabric tear.
“Ahhh!” I screamed.
The air hit my skin.
My bathrobe slid to the floor.
I froze.
Horrified.
Exposed.
I looked down.
Bare.
Then I looked up.
He was staring. Not casually. Not briefly.
Keenly.
“You pervert!” I yelled, rage and humiliation crashing together as I struggled to cover myself.
At that moment, murder felt like a perfectly reasonable option.
Why....why can’t I have peace in this place?