Chapter 4 The Alpha's Prisone

• Lyra's pov
• I woke up in an unfamiliar room.
• My first instinct was to reach for my dagger. My hand slapped against empty air. The sheath was gone. The blade was gone. Everything I'd carried into that chamber was gone.
• I sat up so fast the room spun. My head throbbed. My chest ached—a deep, hollow pain that had nothing to do with injury and everything to do with the word that still echoed in my skull.
• Mate.
• Rowan had called me his mate.
• I pressed my palms against my eyes and tried to breathe. The room was warm. Soft. A fire crackled in the hearth. Silk sheets pooled around my waist. This wasn't a cell. This wasn't a dungeon. This was a bedroom. A beautiful, comfortable bedroom that smelled like pine and something else. Something that made my wolf stir.
• I shoved the feeling down.
• I threw myself out of bed and crossed to the door. Locked. I rattled the handle. Nothing. I pounded my fist against the wood. The sound was swallowed by the thick oak. No one answered.
• I turned to the window. Too high. Three stories at least. Even if I shifted, the fall would break my legs. I'd be trapped. Helpless.
• Helpless.
• I'd never been helpless. Not since I was seven years old, curled beneath a fallen oak, watching my world burn. Darius had found me. Darius had saved me. Darius had made me strong.
• And now I was here. Captured. Defeated. By the very man I'd been sent to kill.
• Why didn't he kill me?
• The question burned in my chest like acid. I'd tried to murder him in his sleep. I'd raised my dagger over his heart. Any Alpha with half a brain would have snapped my neck and thrown my body to the wolves.
• But Rowan had just looked at me. Looked at me like I was the answer to a question he'd been asking his whole life. And then he'd said that word.
• Mate.
• I shook my head. No. It wasn't possible. The Moon Goddess wouldn't be so cruel. She wouldn't bind me to the man who destroyed my family. She wouldn't—
• The lock clicked.
• I spun around, my body tensing for a fight. The door swung open.
• Rowan stepped inside.
• He was alone. No guards. No weapons. Just him, carrying a tray of food like he was delivering breakfast to an honored guest instead of the assassin who'd tried to kill him.
• "Good morning," he said.
• I didn't respond.
• He set the tray on a small table by the window. Fresh bread. Fruit. Meat. Steam rose from a cup of tea. My stomach betrayed me with a low growl. I hadn't eaten in three days.
• "Sit," Rowan said. "Eat."
• "I'm not hungry."
• "You're lying."
• I glared at him. "If you're going to kill me, stop wasting time."
• Rowan turned to face me. His expression was calm. Patient. Infuriating. "If I wanted you dead," he said quietly, "you wouldn't have woken up."
• I had no response to that. Because he was right. He could have killed me in that chamber. He could have killed me a hundred times since. Instead, he'd brought me breakfast.
• "Why?" I demanded. "Why are you doing this?"
• "Because you're my mate."
• "I'm not your anything."
• Rowan studied me for a long moment. His eyes were dark. Deep. Like pools of water I could drown in if I wasn't careful. "Who sent you?" he asked.
• "I'm not telling you."
• "Was it Kael?"
• I stiffened. He saw it. His jaw tightened.
• "I thought so." Rowan crossed his arms. "What did he tell you about me?"
• I said nothing.
• "Why did you want me dead?"
• The question hung between us. I could feel the weight of it pressing against my chest. I could feel the lie rising in my throat, the same lie I'd been telling myself for years.
• "Because your family murdered mine," I said.
• Rowan went still. For a moment, he didn't move. Didn't blink. Then his expression shifted. Something genuine flickered in his eyes. Shock. Real shock.
• "You're wrong," he said.
• I laughed. It came out bitter and broken. "You're a liar. They all are. My parents. My pack. Fifteen years ago, your family ordered the attack. They burned everything. Everyone. And I've been hunting the ones responsible ever since. That's what I do. That's what I was made for."
• Rowan's hands dropped to his sides. His voice was soft. "Lyra, I was fifteen when your pack was destroyed. I wasn't Alpha. My father was. And he never attacked anyone. He spent his life building alliances. He believed in peace."
• "Liar."
• "I'm not lying."
• "Everyone lies!" I was shaking now. "Darius lied. Kael lied. You're lying too. You're all the same. You wear masks of kindness and then you burn everything you touch."
• Rowan didn't argue. He just stood there, watching me fall apart. And somehow, that was worse. I wanted him to fight. I wanted him to scream. I wanted him to show me his true face.
• But he just looked at me with those dark eyes and said, "I'll prove it to you."
• "Get out."
• "Lyra—"
• "I said get out!"
• He left. The door closed behind him. The lock clicked.
• I sank to the floor and pressed my hands against my face. My heart was racing. My hands were shaking. Everything inside me was screaming that he was wrong, that he had to be wrong, because if he was right—
• I couldn't finish the thought.
• ---
• The day passed slowly.
• Servants came and went. They brought food. Fresh clothes. A basin of warm water. They didn't speak to me. They didn't glare at me. They just bowed their heads and performed their duties like I was someone important.
• It didn't make sense.
• I'd come here to kill their Alpha. I'd held a blade to his throat. And they were treating me with respect. With kindness. Like I was a guest instead of an enemy.
• A healer came to check my injuries. Her hands were gentle. Her voice was soft. She didn't flinch when I stared at her. She didn't cower when I bared my teeth.
• "You're safe here," she said. "No one will hurt you."
• I wanted to scream. I wanted to tell her that I didn't want to be safe. I wanted to be free. I wanted to go home.
• Home.
• I thought of Kael. Of the compound. Of his steady presence and his quiet smile. He was coming for me. He had to be coming for me. He loved me. He'd always loved me. He wouldn't leave me here.
• That hope was the only thing keeping me sane.
• ---
• Late that night, I couldn't sleep.
• The fire had burned down to embers. The room was dark. I lay in the massive bed, staring at the ceiling, replaying every word Rowan had said.
• "Your family murdered mine."
• "You're wrong."
• It couldn't be true. It had to be a lie. But the look on his face when I said it—that genuine shock—I couldn't shake it.
• I heard voices outside my door. Two guards. Their whispers were low. I slipped out of bed and crept closer, pressing my ear to the wood.
• "—does she know?" one asked.
• "No."
• My heart stopped.
• "Shh. Keep your voice down."
• "She has the right to know. If what we found is true—"
• "That's exactly why the Alpha ordered us not to tell her. Not until he confirms everything. He doesn't want to give her false hope."
• I pressed myself closer. My pulse pounded in my ears.
• False hope? What false hope? What were they talking about?
• One of the guards sighed. "What if she finds out anyway?"
• "She won't. Not until the Alpha is ready."
• The other guard was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "Imagine being lied to your whole life. Thinking your parents' murderer was someone else. And then discovering the truth."
• My blood turned to ice.
• "I don't have to imagine," the guard replied. "I just have to keep my mouth shut."
• They walked away. Their footsteps faded.
• I stood frozen, my hand pressed against the door, my breathing shallow and ragged.
• What did they mean?
• What really happened to my parents?
• The question burned through me like wildfire. I had to know. I had to—
• The door was locked. The guards were gone. And I was alone with the truth I'd spent fifteen years running from.
• It was waiting for me.
• And I was terrified of what I'd find.