Chapter 9 Chapter 9
The room they put me in was nothing like the dungeons. It was warm, clean, and suffocating in its comfort. The sheets smelled of lavender, and the clothes laid out on the bed were soft, too soft. Like silk over a scar. The walls were painted in calming hues, the curtains fluttered in the breeze like they belonged to someone cherished. Not me. I hadn't belonged to anywhere. I was a rogue.
'We aren't rogues' my wolf said softly. It was the first time she was speaking to me since we were taking.
I sat by the window, staring at the endless expanse of forest that mocked me from beyond the safety of the walls. Trees whispered with the wind, the scent of moss and earth teasing me like freedom just out of reach. I could smell the guards outside the door three of them, posted like I was a threat.
Their conversations were hushed, but not so quiet I couldn't hear.
"She doesn't look like a threat"
"He's letting her stay in the guest wing?" They made it sound like the west wing was an important place in the pack and I shouldn't be here.
"I think the alpha is up to something but I'm not sure what it is. Maybe he would keep the rogue as a slave"
I curled my fingers into my palms until my nails bit through skin. The rogue. That's all I was to them. It's not their fault they think I'm a rogue. I chose the lie and I'm going to live with it.
What was I to the alpha?
'He's our mate. I can feel it' my wolf said but I shook my head. We can't have a mate and definitely not another alpha. It doesn't even look like he's interested in us and I pray it remains that way.
I clenched my fists tighter, remembering the look in his eyes, the phantom touch of his thumb against my lip still burned on my skin like a brand. I hated it. Hated him for doing this to me. Hated myself more for the way my body had responded.
It was the bond. It had to be. That unnatural, cursed thing that tied wolves to each other regardless of will. The stupid bond that I didn't want to feel but I couldn't help myself.
There was no other explanation for the way my wolf stirred beneath my skin when he was near. How my instincts screamed to submit, to lower my gaze, to bare my neck and fall to my knees. But I wouldn't.
I had survived too much to be undone by instinct now. Still, it haunted me.
His scent invaded my dreams, twisted them into something dark and breathless. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw his face, those cold storm-gray eyes watching me like he was peeling away every layer of armor I'd ever built. His voice slithered through my thoughts, low and rough and maddeningly patient.
He hadn't touched me beyond that moment in the study and yet, I felt him everywhere. In my chest. Beneath my skin. Inside the ache I couldn't name. I wouldn't let him break me. I wouldn't let him get to me
But the bond... it didn't care what I wanted. I could feel it, a tether tightening around my ribs, fraying but unyielding, tugging at my soul whenever he was near, like some cruel joke from the Moon Goddess herself. I didn't want this. I didn't want him. I didn't want any man.
I refused to accept him as anything but my captor. That's what he's going to be to me for a while until I can find a way to leave here.
The door creaked open, and one of the women from the pack entered cautiously. She didn't look me in the eye, but her posture screamed discomfort, like she couldn't stand to be in the same room as me for more than a heartbeat.
"The Alpha requests your presence," she said softly, as if I were a bomb waiting to go off. My stomach twisted.
Another interrogation? Another test?
I rose slowly, spine stiff, face carefully blank. I wouldn't let him see the chaos he caused inside me. Let him think me unaffected. That's how I wanted to appear to everyone. This time, they didn't take me to the study. It was outside in an open field what I assumed was the training grounds. My heart began to beat faster than usual.
The air was thick with the scent of sweat, dominance, and wolves locked in combat. Muscles strained, claws clashed, and snarls filled the air. The dirt beneath their feet was soaked in effort and blood. And every single wolf there turned to look at me when I stepped into view.
Alpha Lucian stood at the center of it all. A shadow wrapped in black, exuding dominance without trying. His very presence bent the world around him. His control was not loud, but absolute. My wolf whimpered. I gritted my teeth. Now was not the time to show any weakness.
His eyes found me immediately. Cold. Searching. But beneath that ice, something darker burned.
"Good" he said, like I had passed some silent test just by appearing.
He walked toward me, slow, deliberate, like a predator circling prey. My heart pounded, but I didn't flinch. I wouldn't. My wolf stirred.
"I thought I told you to rest" he murmured.
"You summoned me" I said flatly.
"You're learning" he said with a smirk.
The worst part was how my skin heated under his gaze. How my traitorous wolf pressed up against me, whining, she was trying to get me closer to him, to inhale his scent. No,I shoved it down. I'd spent too long trusting men before and swore not to be weak anymore to be undone by a pull I never asked for.
"I want to see what you are, rogue" he said, voice dropping low. "I want to see if there's anything worth saving"
"What?" I blinked in surprise.
He turned, grabbed a wooden practice sword from the rack, and tossed it to me. I caught it on instinct.
"You fight" he said. "Or you die" he said the last part as a matter of fact.
Gasps echoed around us. His wolves watched eagerly, like they expected a slaughter.
Fine. Let them watch. If it was a fight he wanted, I'd give him one.
I lunged, ignoring the pain in my still-healing wrists. My movements were fast, but unpolished more feral than trained. I hadn't fought like this in years. Not with rules. My battles had always been in the shadows, with teeth and desperation. For survival especially when I was sparring with the males.
He moved like a shadow fast, fluid, dangerous. He deflected my every strike, calm, patient, methodical. Never losing balance. Never giving me the upper hand. Every time I moved forward, he forced me back.
"You fight like an animal" he said, tone detached, but something wild gleamed in his eyes.
"No control. No discipline"
I snarled. I didn't need control. I needed to survive. I swung again sloppy, full of rage and that was my mistake. He struck. Fast and brutal.
The sword flew from my grip as he swept my legs out from under me. I crashed to the dirt, the wind punched from my lungs. Pain flared through my spine. He was on me in seconds.
The flat of his wooden sword pressed to my throat. Not enough to cut. Just enough to remind me of who had the power.
"You'll never survive like that" he said, voice rough with something more than just victory.
"Maybe I don't want to survive in your world" I spat at him. His jaw clenched, the muscle twitched.
"You're in my world now, rogue" he growled. "And you'll adapt. Or you'll break"
His gaze dropped to my mouth, and the air between us shifted. It was no longer about the fight. Not just. Not entirely. It was about control. Power. And something deeper. Raw. Desire. He leaned down, so close his breath brushed my skin.
And then, without a word, he pulled back and walked away, leaving me sprawled in the dirt, gasping, shaking. I could still feel him, his scent, his presence, the maddening heat he left in his wake.
I climbed to my feet slowly, aware of every whisper, every stare, every smirk from the others who'd seen me fall. But none of them mattered.
Only him. Only the stupid bond that threatened to chain me more tightly than any silver ever could. And deep down, beneath the hate and fear, something else stirred.
Need.
'Fuck' I cursed silently. I hated that, too. I hated how he made me feel. I had no one to talk to about this bond. I was confused as hell. How could I feel a bond between another male when not too long ago I was supposed to be Lorcan's mate.
What did this mean? Was he my second chance?