Chapter 11 No Choice

• My breath catches in my throat, his words hang in the air, heavy with unspoken grief and something else, something far more dangerous... Hope?
• "I'm not her," I say quickly.
• "I know." Top replies, his voice almost a whisper. "But that doesn't change the fact that you carry her face. Every feature is exact... the resemblance is uncanny."
• "Then... what do you plan to do with me? If you will not let me go or kill me..." I ask warily, my pulse racing.
• Top chuckles quietly, adjusting his jacket slightly.
• "I never said I would not kill you." Top points out. "But I will say your survival is now dependent on you... and how well you behave."
• My heart sinks to the pit of my stomach at that.
• "What is your name?" Top asks, his tone leaving no room to deny him.
• "Kyra..." I murmur quietly.
• "You are intriguing to the supreme, Kyra... nothing intrigues him, and so you are a person of interest to me. It would be unfortunate...if I have to kill you and I never let go of anything that is of interest to me." Top makes clear.
• My stomach twists, a nagging feeling tells me I will not favor what Top has in mind.
• "First, I will allow you the time to get acquainted with your new... lodgings." Top begins. "Afterwards, we will have another chat."
• He gestures to Tracker. "Have the guards take her to the holding cells... gently. But make no mistakes, she is not allowed to leave until I say so, double the watch if you must... I have a feeling we've got a runner here."
• Tracker moves to obey but I immediately begin to protest. "You can't keep me here like some price!" I snarl, the silver chains clink as I struggle.
• Top's gaze darkens, "I can do whatever I want, Kyra. You'd do well to remember that."
• Before I can respond, Tracker stuffs a cloth into my mouth, grumbling beneath his breath as he pulls me along with him out of the hall.
• Top's gaze is on me until the moment the door closes after which, Tracker drags me through the hall, and not at all gently as Top instructed.
• My mind races, I've traded one prison for another. But this one feels infinitely more dangerous. Alpha Mikos is brutal but the Lycans are something else entirely...
• Top himself is quietly terrifying, but the Alpha Supreme, I cannot imagine I want to ever face him.
• But now, I am their captive.
• Tracker soon hands me over to a group of unfamiliar guards who take me the rest of the way down to a dimly lit basement with rows of white walled, windowless cells.
• And now, I sit in one of such cells, curled in on myself as I struggle to breathe. The four walls of the cell appear to be closing in on me with each passing moment and I shut my eyes tightly.
• "It's all in your head, Kyra...all in your head." I repeat constantly.
• I do not know how long goes by, no daylight reaches my cell and I am unable to keep track of the passing of time in my condition, all I can do is struggle to keep breathing as it feels to me like the oxygen grows sparse with each breath.
• Again, I know it is all in my head but there is nothing I can do. The very cell itself is mental torture, with nothing but white all around me, not even a speck of dust to at least let me know I am still sane.
• I remain in my curled up position, leaned against the wall and my knees drawn up to my chest until after what feels like months fly by, the doors to the cell are opened.
• Perking up, my hope deflates to find Top gazing down at me, his arms crossed over his chest.
• "Are you willing to listen now or do you need another 24 hours here?" Top asks me.
• '24 hours? It has only been one day?' I think in shock, knowing I was close to withering away after what felt like months.
• "I... just tell me what you want from me." I whisper quietly.
• Top grins and he crouches down, nodding his head in approval.
• "The Supreme suffers from a peculiar condition... some type of mania that takes hold of him at night. At such hours, he recognises no one... violent and fierce to everyone around him." Top begins.
• "We have tried all options but we are yet to find a cure or anything different since it began. Until yesterday... the Supreme's mania was triggered immediately, when he saw your face." Top continued.
• "Is that a good thing?" I ask in confusion.
• "Not necessarily. But it is something different... something other than the stagnancy for the past years. If the mania was triggered at a different time other than the normal time it shows up, it means you affect him somehow...no one else has been able to achieve that."
• "If you can cause an adverse effect... perhaps you can cause a positive one too." Top reasons.
• "All of that is just your speculation." I argue.
• "You look exactly like the Luna supreme and caused a difference that has never happened, is that also a coincidence?" Top asks, his tone serious.
• "I do not believe in coincidences." He continues. "So here is the bargain, you will go to the Supreme at night, during his mania. You will make him get used to being around people at such hours again, slowly help him acclimatize and perhaps overcome the mania." Top said, his gaze is serious.
• "And how am I supposed to achieve that?" I ask in bafflement.
• "Easy. Use your advantage...that face of yours." Top replies simply.
• "I want you to become the Luna supreme...as close to her as you can. If nothing else, I want you to make the supreme believe that you are his mate. Become his woman... share his bed, do whatever you have to."
• "The moment you have his claim, is the moment your life is saved...or you can choose to spend the rest of your life here in the holding cell, the choice is yours." Top says, shrugging casually though the look in his eyes made one thing clear,
• A choice? I do not truly have one.