Chapter 21. She’s Still Here Isn’t she ?
Lia
Elder Miriam. I oversee the household and advise the Alpha on pack matters." She looked me up and down, unimpressed. "What do you want?"
I straightened my shoulders. "I want to know what my actual role is here. Because everyone keeps telling me different things. Am I a guest? A prisoner? A mate? A treaty bride? What am I supposed to do all day besides sit in this room and go insane?"
Miriam's lips thinned. "You are here to fulfill the terms of the treaty. That means you stay where you're told, you don't cause trouble, and you wait for the Alpha's instructions."
"So, a prisoner," I said flatly.
"A protected guest," she corrected. "There are wolves in this pack who would harm you if given the chance. The Alpha keeps you confined for your own safety."
"Or because he doesn't want to deal with me."
Miriam didn't deny it. Instead, she studied me with something that might have been curiosity. "You're different today."
"I'm tired," I said simply. "Tired of crying. Tired of hoping. Tired of pretending this is something it's not."
She was quiet for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Good. Hope is dangerous here. It makes you weak."
The words should have stung, but they didn't. Because she was right.
"If you want to survive," Miriam continued, her voice softer now, "stop trying to be what you think an Alpha's mate should be. Learn the pack. Learn its rules. Learn who to trust and who to avoid. And whatever you do, don't fall in love with him."
My chest tightened. "I'm not…"
"Yes, you are," she cut in. "I've seen it before. Girls like you, raised on stories and dreams. You think if you just love him hard enough, he'll change. He won't."
I swallowed hard. "Then why are you telling me this?"
Miriam's gaze flickered with something I couldn't read. "Because the last girl who sat in that room didn't listen. And she didn't survive."
The air seemed to leave the room.
"What happened to her?" I whispered.
But Miriam was already turning away. "Dinner will be brought at sundown. Don't do anything foolish."
The door closed behind her, and I was alone again.
But this time, I didn't cry.
I sat down at the desk, pulled out a piece of paper, and started writing. Not a story, not a fantasy. A list
Things I need to know:
Who was the last treaty bride?
What happened to Kai's first mate?
Why does the pack hate me so much?
Who tried to poison the food? (I saw the servant hesitate last week.)
What are the actual rules of this treaty?
Who is Elder Miriam really?
How do I get out of this room?
I stared at the list, my hand trembling slightly. Then I added one more line:
How do I survive long enough to find the answers?
I folded the paper and tucked it into my pocket.
If Kai thought I was just going to sit here and fade away, he was wrong.
I wasn't the heroine in some tragic romance anymore.
I was going to become something else.
Something he didn't expect.
That night, I didn't wait for sleep to take me. I stayed awake, listening.
The guards changed shifts at midnight. I heard their footsteps, the low murmur of conversation. One of them laughed about something. The other told him to shut up.
I pressed my ear to the door, straining to hear.
"...another council meeting tomorrow. They're pushing him again."
"About the human?"
"About getting a real Luna. They're saying the bond isn't valid if it's not sealed properly."
"She's still here, isn't she?"
"For now. But you saw how he looked at Seraphina during training. It's only a matter of time."
My stomach dropped.
Seraphina. I didn't know who that was, but the name alone told me everything I needed to know.
Another she-wolf. Someone stronger, more wolf, more worthy than me.
I pulled back from the door and sat on the edge of the bed, my heart pounding.
So that's how it would happen. Kai would eventually replace me. Maybe not officially, but in every way that mattered. And I'd just... what? Fade into the background? Become another forgotten treaty bride?
No.
I stood, pacing the room, my mind racing.
If they thought I was just going to disappear quietly, they were wrong.
I was about to sit back down when I heard it—a sound from the wall behind my bed. Not the hallway. Not the door.
The wall.
A scraping sound, like stone against stone.
I froze, my heart hammering. The sound came again, rhythmic. Deliberate.
Someone was on the other side.
And then, so faint I almost missed it, a voice whispered through the crack between the stones:
"If you want to live, stop hiding and back home