Chapter 16 The Failed Escape
Lila's legs trembled. The wolfsbane made her weak, her wolf subdued to the point of silence. Without her wolf's strength, she was just human. Just a small woman facing an Alpha King whose wolf was barely contained beneath his skin.
"Adrian, please. Let me leave." She tried to keep her voice steady. "This is the only way either of us survives."
"No." The word came out hard as stone. "You're not leaving. Not tonight. Not ever."
"You can't keep me here forever."
"Watch me." He moved closer, backing her against the tower wall. "Did you really think I wouldn't prepare for this? That I wouldn't know you'd eventually try to run?"
Fear trickled through her. Something in his eyes looked wrong, looked too controlled, like he was holding himself back by sheer force of will.
"I'm not your prisoner."
"Aren't you?" His smile held no warmth. "Confined to the west wing by council decree. Guards watching every exit. Your movements restricted. Sounds like a prisoner to me."
"That's different. That was a political decision."
"And this is a personal one." Adrian grabbed her wrist, not hard enough to hurt but firm enough to keep her in place. "Come with me. There's something you need to see."
He pulled her across the courtyard toward the stables. Lila stumbled trying to keep up, the wolfsbane making her clumsy. Adrian adjusted his pace slightly but didn't slow down, his grip on her wrist unwavering.
The stables were dark and quiet, horses sleeping in their stalls. Adrian led her through to the far side where the building overlooked the palace perimeter. He positioned her at a window and pointed into the darkness.
"Look."
Lila peered into the night. At first she saw nothing. Then shapes materialized in the shadows. Guards. Positioned at regular intervals around the entire palace grounds. Not the usual patrol. These were stationary positions, men stationed specifically to watch for movement.
"Twenty guards." Adrian's voice came from behind her. "Posted at every possible exit from the palace. They have orders to detain anyone trying to leave without proper authorization between midnight and dawn."
Horror crept through her. "When did you do this?"
"Two weeks ago. When I felt your determination crystallizing into actual plans." His breath was warm against her ear. "Did you think I'd just let you walk away? That I wouldn't take precautions?"
"You're keeping me prisoner." The accusation came out weak.
"I'm keeping you safe." Adrian turned her to face him. "From yourself. From reckless decisions. From running into dangers you're too naive to anticipate."
"I'm not naive."
"You drank wolfsbane to suppress the bond without considering what it does to your strength. You planned to climb down bedsheets without checking if they'd hold your full weight. You intended to travel alone through territories controlled by rogues and bandits." His voice hardened. "That's the definition of naive."
"I'd rather die trying to escape than waste away in that tower."
"You're not dying. You're adjusting."
"Adjusting?" Anger flooded through her, burning away some of the wolfsbane's lethargy. "I'm suffocating. I'm disappearing. I'm losing myself piece by piece every day. That's not adjusting, that's dying slowly."
"Then I'll die slowly with you." Adrian's control cracked slightly. "Because I can't let you go. My wolf won't allow it. My heart won't allow it. Every instinct I have screams to keep you close, keep you safe, keep you mine."
"I'm not yours." But even as she said it, the bond pulsed weakly between them, calling her a liar.
"You are." His hands came up to frame her face. "You've been mine since the moment the mate bond snapped into place at that ceremony. The Moon Goddess chose you for me, marked you as mine, and no amount of running or hiding or wolfsbane will change that."
"The Moon Goddess made a mistake."
"The Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes." His thumbs brushed across her cheekbones. "She made you for me. My mate. My salvation. The only good thing in a life built entirely on duty and sacrifice."
"I'm not your salvation. I'm your destruction." Tears burned in her eyes. "Can't you see that? Keeping me here destroys your marriage, threatens your heir's legitimacy, fractures the council's faith in your judgment. I'm poison, Adrian. The longer I stay, the more damage I do."
"I don't care."
"You have to care. You're a king."
"I'm a wolf." His eyes flashed gold. "And my wolf has decided to keep you. Nothing else matters. Not the kingdom. Not the council. Not even Celeste and the baby. You're mine, and I'm keeping you safe whether you like it or not."
The admission hung between them, terrifying in its honesty. Adrian had crossed some line in his mind, had decided his mate mattered more than everything else. His obsession with keeping her had grown beyond reason, beyond sanity.
"You're not thinking clearly." Lila tried to push him away but her weakened state made it impossible. "The bond is driving you mad. You're not yourself."
"I'm more myself than I've ever been." His voice dropped to a growl. "I spent my whole life being what others needed. The perfect weapon for my father. The dutiful king for the council. The proper husband for Celeste. But with you?" He leaned closer. "With you, I'm just a wolf who found his mate. And that wolf will burn the world before letting you go."
"Adrian, please." Desperation made her voice shake. "You're scaring me."
Something flickered in his eyes. Human awareness breaking through wolf instinct. He stepped back, releasing her, running both hands through his hair.
"I'm sorry." The words came out rough. "I didn't mean to frighten you. But I can't. I can't let you disappear into the night like you never mattered. Like the bond doesn't exist. Like I wouldn't spend the rest of my life hunting for you."
"So what do you want? To keep me locked in that tower forever? To visit through windows when you can spare time from your real life? To watch me fade away while you pretend everything is fine?"
"I want time." He met her eyes. "Time to find a real solution. Time to figure out how to keep you without destroying everything else. Time to make this work somehow."
"It won't work. It can't work."
"Then we fail together." Adrian's jaw set with determination. "But we fail while you're here, where I can feel you through the bond, where I know you're safe. Not scattered across southern kingdoms where anything could happen to you."
Lila sagged against the stable wall. The wolfsbane made her so tired, and fighting Adrian felt like battling a mountain. He wouldn't budge. Wouldn't compromise. Wouldn't let her go no matter what logic she presented.
"So I'm your prisoner." She stated it flatly.
Adrian's eyes flashed gold again, his wolf rising to the surface. "You're my MATE. And I'm keeping you safe whether you like it or not."
The possessiveness in his voice sent chills through her. This wasn't the controlled king who'd married her sister. This wasn't the careful man who'd followed every rule. This was a wolf who'd decided what belonged to him and refused to release it.
"What happens now?" Her voice came out small.
"Now you go back to your tower. I'll have someone remove the bedsheets." His tone brooked no argument. "Tomorrow, bars will be installed on your windows. Not prison bars. Decorative iron that happens to prevent anyone climbing in or out."
"You're actually caging me."
"I'm protecting you from your own reckless impulses." He moved toward her again. "And from anyone else who might get ideas about helping you escape."
"Maya would never."
"Maya loves you. Love makes people do stupid things." His smile held no warmth. "Like drinking wolfsbane and climbing down bedsheets in the middle of the night."
He was right. Maya would help if Lila asked. And now Adrian knew it, which meant Maya would be watched too. Everyone Lila cared about would suffer because she couldn't accept her cage gracefully.
"I hate you." The words came out broken.
"I know." Adrian's expression softened slightly. "But hate is still feeling. Hate means you're alive. And alive is better than the hollow ghost you were becoming."
He escorted her back to the tower, walked her up the interior stairs she wasn't allowed to use, stood in her doorway like a jailer making sure his prisoner was secured.
"The bedsheets will be removed by dawn. The window bars installed within two days." His voice had returned to cold kingly efficiency. "Maya will continue bringing your meals. But she'll be searched now. No more smuggling supplies or wolfsbane."
"You've thought of everything."
"I've had weeks to plan for this." He paused in the doorway. "Don't try to escape again, Lila. There's nowhere you can go that I won't follow. No distance far enough to break the bond. No hideaway secure enough to keep me out." His eyes glowed gold. "You're mine. And I protect what's mine."
He left, closing the door behind him. Lila heard a key turn in the lock. Actually locking her in now. Making her prison official.
She collapsed on her bed as the wolfsbane wore off and the bond came roaring back to life. Through it, she felt Adrian's grim satisfaction mixed with desperate relief. He'd caught her. Stopped her. Secured her more thoroughly than before.
And she was trapped. Truly trapped now. With bars coming for her windows and locks on her doors and guards watching every exit. Adrian had become her jailer, and the mate bond had become her chain.