Chapter 20. The Alpha Is Busy
Lia
I woke up with my face pressed into a tear-soaked pillow, my throat raw from crying myself to sleep. Again.
For a moment, I just lay there, staring at the stone ceiling, feeling the weight of everything pressing down on my chest. The humiliation in the courtyard, Kai’s cold dismissal. The smirking faces of warriors who saw me as nothing more than a joke.
A guest. Not one of you.
The words still burned.
But something was different this morning. The tears that usually…didn’t. I waited for the families tightnez in my chest, the breakdown that had become routine, but it never came. Instead, I felt... hollow.
No, not hollow. Empty of something specific. Empty of hope, maybe. Or delusion.
I sat up slowly, my reflection catching in the small mirror across the room. My hair was a mess, my eyes puffy and red-rimmed, my lips cracked. I looked like a ghost of the girl who'd walked into that forest clearing weeks ago, starry-eyed and foolish.
That girl had believed in fairy tales.
That girl was an idiot.
I stood, my legs shaky but holding, and walked to the mirror. I stared at myself for a long time, really looked. The mark on my neck had faded from angry red to a dull scar, a permanent reminder of a bond that didn't exist.
"No more," I whispered to my reflection. "No more crying. No more trying. No more hoping he'll suddenly see you as anything other than what he's already told you that you are."
My voice sounded strange, steadier than I expected.
I splashed cold water on my face from the basin, the shock of it clearing my head. Then I pulled my hair back into a tight braid, something practical, not pretty. I changed out of the soft pastel dress I'd worn yesterday, the one that was supposed to make me look like a Luna, and pulled on the plainest thing I had: dark pants and a simple gray tunic.
If I wasn't going to be treated like a Luna, I wouldn't dress like one either.
When the breakfast tray arrived, brought by the same silent servant who never met my eyes, I actually ate. Not because I was trying to stay strong for Kai, or because I thought he'd care, but because I was hungry. And if I was going to survive this place, I needed my strength.
The servant lingered at the door, surprised I was awake and dressed.
"What's your name?" I asked.
She blinked, startled. "I... I'm not supposed to…"
"I'm not asking you to betray state secrets," I said, my tone sharper than I intended. "I just want to know your name."
She hesitated, then whispered, "Cara."
"Cara," I repeated. "Thank you for bringing the food."
She looked at me like I'd grown a second head, then quickly backed out of the room.
I sat at the small table and ate methodically, chewing each bite, thinking. Planning.
If Kai wasn't going to treat me like a mate, fine. If the pack wasn't going to accept me, fine. But I wasn't going to stay locked in this room like some fragile doll waiting to shatter.
I was going to figure out what the hell was actually going on in this place.
After breakfast, I tried the door. Locked, as always. But this time, instead of accepting it, I knocked. Hard.
A guard opened it, his face already set in that same bored expression they all wore when dealing with me.
"I need to speak with Alpha Kai," I said.
"The Alpha is busy."
"Then I'll wait."
The guard's eyebrow twitched. "You're not allowed to leave your quarters without permission."
"Permission from who? Kai? The council? Or are you just making up rules as you go?" I crossed my arms. "Because last I checked, I'm the Alpha's mate. Marked and bound. Doesn't that give me some rights in this pack?"
The guard's jaw tightened. "You're a treaty bride. That's not the same thing."
"Then get someone who can actually answer my questions," I snapped. "Because I'm not spending another day locked in here like a prisoner."
For a moment, he just stared at me, clearly not used to me pushing back. Then he muttered something under his breath and slammed the door.
I waited.
Ten minutes later, the door opened again. Not Kai, of course not. But an older woman I hadn't seen before. She was tall, with silver-streaked hair pulled into a severe bun, and eyes that looked like they'd seen too much.
"You wanted to speak to someone?" she asked, her voice clipped.
"Who are you?"