Chained to the Alpha

CHAPTER 1. Run or Die Run. Lyra. Run. The voice in my head is a scream. My feet hit the dirt. I do not feel the rocks. I do not feel the thorns. I only feel the pulse in my neck. It is too fast. It is the sound of a trapped animal. Behind me. The woods are alive. I hear the snapping of branches. I hear the heavy. rhythmic thud of paws. They are gaining. They are always gaining. Keep moving. I tell myself. Do not look back. I leap over a fallen log. My hip clips the wood. I stumble. I catch myself with one hand. The dirt is cold. It gets under my nails. I scramble up. My breath is a ragged blade in my chest. I can hear them laughing now. Not the wolves. The men. The Red Fang guards stay in their skins when they want to play. They want me to feel the humanness of my fear. They want to hear my gasps. There. To the left. A guard shouts. I veer right. I dive through a thicket of brambles. They tear at my tunic. They tear at my skin. I do not stop. Red light filters through the trees. The Blood Moon. It is a curse. It turns the world the color of a fresh kill. It makes my skin itch. It makes my wolf howl in her cage. She wants to come out. She wants to fight. No. I whisper. If I shift. I am dead. A rogue wolf in mid-shift is an easy target. They would tear my throat out before I could growl. I have to stay small. I have to stay human. I reach a small ravine. I do not think. I jump. The air leaves my lungs as I hit the other side. I roll. My shoulder hits a stone. Pain flares. It is bright and hot. I ignore it. I crawl into the shadows of a rocky overhang. I press my back against the cold stone. I hold my breath. My heart is a drum. It is so loud. I am sure they can hear it. I close my eyes. I count the seconds. One. Two. Three. The heavy thud of boots stops ten feet away. She was just here. A man says. His voice is deep. Gritty. Like gravel. I smell her. Another one replies. Rogue. Smells like old leaves and desperation. I bite my lip. I bite it until I taste blood. I do not move. I do not blink. A shadow passes over my hiding spot. I see the edge of a heavy black boot. These are not common guards. These are the Alpha’s personal hunters. The Red Fang elite. Check the ridge. The first one orders. She cannot have gone far. The footsteps recede. I wait. I count to a hundred. My muscles are cramping. My leg is shaking. I need to move. I need to get to the border. If I can cross the river. I might have a chance. The Red Fang territory ends at the water. I slide out from the rocks. I move like a ghost. I stay low. I use the shadows. Every snap of a twig sounds like a gunshot. I reach the edge of a clearing. The river is there. I can see the silver reflection of the moon on the water. It is so close. I take one step. Then another. A hand grips my hair. I scream. It is a raw. ugly sound. I am yanked backward. My head snaps back. I look up. I see a face full of scars. It is the guard from before. He is smiling. He has yellow teeth. Found you. Little rabbit. He says. I swing my fist. I hit him in the jaw. It is a solid strike. His head snaps to the side. He grunts. He does not let go. He twists my hair. I fall to my knees. The pain is blinding. Let me go. I snap. I claw at his arm. His skin is like leather. The guard laughs. He signals to the woods. Three more men step out. They are tall. They are wide. They look like predators. They do not look at me like a person. They look at me like meat. The Alpha is going to love this. One of them says. A rogue on the night of the hunt. That is a special kind of stupid. They drag me. I fight. I kick. I bite the hand of the man who grabs my arm. He bellows. He backhands me. My head rings. The world tilts. My vision goes fuzzy. They do not stop. They drag me through the dirt. My heels dig furrows in the ground. I see the trees passing by. I see the red moon watching. Please. I rasp. Shut up. The scarred one says. We reach a wider clearing. It is filled with light. Torches are shoved into the ground. They flicker. They hiss. There are other people here. Women. They are lined up. They are shaking. Some are crying. They are the unmated females of the pack. They were caught in the woods. Now they wait for the judgment. The guards throw me into the dirt. I land hard. My face is in the dust. I pull myself up. I wipe the blood from my mouth. I look around. In the center of the clearing stands a man. He is taller than the rest. He is broader. His skin is tanned. Covered in white scars. He wears black trousers. No shirt. He holds a massive iron axe. The blade is stained. He is not looking at the women. He is looking at a map held by his Beta. Kael Draven. The name is a cold weight in my chest. I know that face. I saw it in the fire ten years ago. He was younger then. But his eyes were the same. Silver. Cold. Dead. He is the man who finished my pack. He is the man who killed my father. My heart stops. I try to look away. I try to hide behind the other women. What is this. Kael asks. His voice is a low rumble. It vibrates in the air. A rogue. Alpha. The scarred guard says. He bows his head. Caught her near the river. She has a hell of a bite. Kael turns. He moves with a grace that is terrifying. He is a predator in a human skin. He walks toward me. The other women shrink away. They create a path. I am left alone in the dirt. Kael stops three feet away. He towers over me. I can feel the heat radiating off him. He smells like cedar and ozone. He smells like power. Look at me. He says. I keep my eyes on his boots. They are covered in dried mud. I will not look at him. I will not give him the satisfaction. I said look at me. His voice drops an octave. It is a command. My wolf stirs. She wants to obey. I fight her down. Kael reaches out. He doesn't wait for me to move. He hooks his fingers under my chin. He tilts my head up. His grip is firm. It is not gentle. The moment his skin touches mine. the world explodes. It is a physical shock. It is a bolt of lightning that starts at my jaw and races down my spine. My breath hitches. My vision clears. All I see is him. I see the silver of his eyes. I see the way his pupils dilate. I see the sudden tension in his neck. The mate bond. It snaps into place like a trap. It is a violent. screaming thing. It tells me that this man is mine. It tells me that I belong to him. My soul recognizes his soul. It is a lie. It has to be a lie. Kael freezes. His hand trembles. Just a fraction. But I feel it. His eyes search mine. He sees the recognition. He sees the horror. He looks down at my shoulder. My tunic is torn. He sees the jagged scar on my collarbone. The mark of his own pack's teeth from the night of the m******e. The silence in the clearing is absolute. The guards are watching. The women are watching. No one breathes. You. Kael whispers. He lets go of my chin. He steps back as if I am made of fire. His face twists. It is not love. It is not joy. It is pure. unadulterated loathing. He looks at me like I am a disease. He looks at me like I am a ghost come to haunt him. He found his mate. Someone whispers. Kael turns on the speaker. He bared his teeth. A low growl escapes his throat. The person cowers. Kael looks back at me. His hands are fisted at his sides. I see the muscles in his arms bulging. He is fighting his own wolf. He is fighting the urge to claim me. I am not your mate. I rasp. My voice is thin. Kael laughs. It is a dark. hollow sound. You think I want this. You think I want a rogue. A piece of filth from a dead pack. He walks toward me again. He leans down. His face is inches from mine. I can see the flecks of gray in his silver eyes. I do not believe in fate. He says. And I do not believe in you. He looks at the scarred guard. Chain her. Kael orders. The guard hesitates. Alpha. She is your mate. I said chain her. Kael roars. The power in his voice knocks the man back. Take her to the fortress. Throw her in the black cells. The guards move. They grab my arms. They are not gentle anymore. They are afraid of Kael’s rage. They pull me up. They snap iron cuffs around my wrists. The cold metal bites into my skin. Kael turns his back on me. He picks up his axe. You have until the next Blood Moon. He says over his shoulder. One month. If you are still alive then. I will decide what to do with you. He walks away. He doesn't look back. The guards shove me. I stumble. I am led out of the clearing. I am led toward the dark towers of the Red Fang fortress. The mate bond pulls at me. It wants me to run to him. It wants me to beg. I bite my tongue. I hold onto my hate. It is the only thing I have left. I am chained to the Alpha. But I am not his. I look up at the red moon. It looks like an eye. It looks like it is laughing at me. I have thirty days. Thirty days in the house of the man who destroyed my life. I will not break. I tell myself. I will not break. The fortress gates loom ahead. They are iron and wood. They look like teeth. They open with a heavy groan. We walk inside. The air changes. It is colder here. It smells like wet stone and old iron. Welcome home. The guard mocks. He pushes me down a flight of stone stairs. I fall. I hit the steps with my knees. I hit them with my chest. I do not make a sound. I am a rogue. I am a survivor. CHAPTER 2. Cold Stone The dungeon floor is a sheet of ice. I hit the ground with a dull thud. The impact sends a jolt through my spine. I lie there. I do not move. I breathe in the dust. It smells like wet minerals and old copper. The guard above me chuckles. He is a shadow against the dim light of the hallway. He reaches down. He grabs the chain between my wrists. He yanks me up. “Get up”. Rogue. He says. I scramble to my feet. My knees are raw. They sting with every step. The iron around my wrists is heavy. It pulls at my shoulders. It makes me feel small. We walk deeper into the dark. The walls are narrow. They are made of black stone that seems to swallow the torchlight. I hear the sound of dripping water. It is slow. Steady. Like a ticking clock. Where are you taking me. I ask. My voice is a dry rasp. To the black cells. The guard replies. The Alpha wants you where the sun never reaches. He pushes me again. I stumble into a heavy iron door. It is solid. It has a small slot at the eye level. The guard pulls a ring of keys from his belt. They jingle. The sound is too loud in the silence. He shoves a key into the lock. It turns with a heavy. metallic groan. He kicks the door open. Inside is a box. It is ten feet wide. Ten feet long. There is a straw pallet in the corner. There is a bucket. That is all. The air is stale. It feels like it hasn't moved in years. The guard grabs my arm. He shoves me inside. Welcome to your new life. He says. He slams the door. The sound is like a thunderclap. The lock clicks. I am alone. I stand in the center of the cell. I do not move. I listen to his footsteps recede. They grow fainter. Then there is nothing. Only the silence. Only the dark. I sink to the floor. I wrap my arms around my legs. I press my forehead against my knees. The mate bond is a screaming thing in my blood. It pulls toward the surface. It wants the man who just threw me in a cage. It wants the Alpha. It tells me he is the only safety I have. It is a lie. He is the danger. He is the one who took everything. I close my eyes. I see his face. I see the silver of his eyes. I see the way he looked at me. Not with love. With a promise of pain. He hates me. He hates that the universe chose a rogue to be his equal. I hate him more. I hate that my body recognizes him. I hate that my wolf is pacing at the back of my mind. She is whimpering. She wants her mate. Shut up. I whisper to her. He is not our mate. He is a monster. I crawl to the straw pallet. It is thin. It smells like mold. I lie down. I pull the thin. ragged blanket over my shoulders. I am shaking. It is not just the cold. It is the realization. I am in the heart of the Red Fang territory. I am in the hands of Kael Draven. I do not sleep. I watch the shadows on the ceiling. I count the drips of water. I wait for the dawn. But the dawn does not come to the black cells. The only way I know time is passing is the hunger in my stomach. It starts as a dull ache. It grows into a sharp pain. Hours pass. Maybe a day. I do not know. The door opens. The light from the hallway is blinding. I squint. I hold up a hand to shield my eyes. A silhouette stands in the doorway. It is not the guard. This person is shorter. Thinner. A woman steps into the cell. She is wearing a fine dress of deep blue silk. Her hair is blonde. Braided tight against her head. She looks like a queen. She looks down at me. So. She says. This is the little rogue. I sit up. I push my hair out of my face. Who are you. The woman laughs. It is a sharp. unpleasant sound. I am Sila. I am the one who was supposed to be Luna before you showed up. She walks around me. She looks at my chains. She looks at my bruised face. She doesn't see a person. She sees an obstacle. She sees a pest. You do not look like much. Sila says. You look like a stray. I am a rogue. I say. I am not a pet. Sila leans down. She is close enough that I can smell her perfume. It is floral. Sickly sweet. It hides the smell of the wolf underneath. The Alpha does not want you. She whispers. He told the council you are a mistake. He told them he will break the bond before the next moon. I know. I reply. He told me the same thing. Sila reaches out. She grabs a lock of my hair. She tugs it. Not hard. But enough to make me wince. Do not get comfortable. Rogue. She says. You will not survive the month. I will make sure of it. She lets go. She turns on her heel and walks out. The door slams again. The silence returns. But it is different now. It is heavy with a new threat. Sila wants me dead. And Kael wants me broken. I am caught between two predators. I lie back down. I try to think. I try to find a way out. The walls are thick stone. The door is iron. There are no windows. There is no escape. I am a prisoner of fate. I am a prisoner of blood. The hunger gets worse. My throat is dry. I need water. I crawl to the door. I bang my fist against the metal. Hey. I shout. Water. No one answers. I bang again. My hand hurts. I keep going. I will not die quietly in a hole. I will not make it easy for them. Water. I scream. Footsteps. Heavy. Fast. They are not the guard's steps. They are louder. They carry a weight that makes the stone vibrate. The lock turns. The door swings open with such force it hits the wall. Kael Draven stands there. He is wearing a black shirt now. The sleeves are rolled up. His forearms are covered in dark hair. His silver eyes are burning. He looks furious. He looks like he wants to kill something. Be quiet. He snaps. I need water. I say. I stand my ground. I do not look down. Kael steps into the cell. He fills the space. He makes the walls feel like they are closing in. He looks at me. He looks at my wrists. They are red. The skin is broken from the iron. He flinches. It is quick. If I weren't looking for it. I would have missed it. He hates that he feels my pain. You are a nuisance. He says. I am a prisoner. I counter. You are the one who put me here. Kael reaches behind him. He pulls a waterskin from his belt. He tosses it at my feet. It is heavy. It sloshes. I grab it. I pull the cork. I drink. I drink until I can't breathe. The water is cool. It is life. Slow down. Kael says. I ignore him. I finish half the skin before I stop. I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. I look at him. He is watching me with an expression I cannot read. It is not hate. It is not pity. It is something else. Something dangerous. Why am I here. Kael. I ask. Because you are a rogue. He says. Because you crossed my border. You know that is not why. I say. I take a step toward him. The chains clink. You know what we are. Kael's face hardens. He grabs my upper arms. He shakes me. Not hard. But his grip is like iron. We are nothing. He growls. Do you hear me. You are a ghost. You are a memory of a war I finished a decade ago. I do not want you. I do not need you. Then let me go. I say. Let me run. I will never come back. Kael stares at me. His grip tightens. His pupils are blown wide. He is smelling my scent. I know he is. I can feel his heart beating through his hands. It is fast. It is erratic. The bond is a tether. It is pulling him closer. He leans in. His forehead brushes mine. I can't. He whispers. He lets go. He moves so fast I blink. He is at the door. He doesn't look back. One month. He says. His voice is cold again. Try not to die before then. He leaves. The door closes. The lock clicks. I stand in the dark. I hold the waterskin to my chest. I can still feel the heat of his hands on my arms. I can still feel the vibration of his voice in my bones. He is fighting it. He is fighting the world. And I am caught in the middle. I sit back down on the straw. I have water now. But I have no hope. I have twenty nine days left. Twenty nine days to survive Sila. To survive the hunger. To survive the man who destroyed my life. I close my eyes. I try to sleep. But all I can see is the red moon. All I can feel is the chain. I am a rogue. I am a survivor. I will find a way. I wait for the next person to open the door. I wait for the next battle. I am ready. CHAPTER 3. The Red Mark The morning brings no light but it brings a different kind of noise. Boots crunch on the gravel outside my cell. The heavy iron bar slides back with a screech that sets my teeth on edge. I do not get up from the straw. I stay curled in a ball. My ribs ache where the guard kicked me in the woods. Every breath is a reminder that I am still trapped. "Get up. Rogue." It is the same guard from the night before. He has a tray in his hands. He kicks my foot to make me move. I sit up slowly. My joints feel like they are filled with glass. I look at the tray. It holds a heel of stale bread and a bowl of gray mash. It looks like paste. It smells like nothing. "Where is Kael?" I ask. The guard snorts. He sets the tray on the floor. "The Alpha has better things to do than watch a stray eat. He is at the border. There are sightings of Shadow Claw scouts." "Shadow Claw?" I whisper. I know that name. They are the pack to the north. They are scavengers. They wait for a pack to show weakness before they strike. If they are at the border. it means they smell blood. They smell the instability of the Red Fang. "Eat your slop and stay quiet." The guard says. He turns to leave but stops. He looks at my neck. He looks at the bare skin where a mark should be. "He still hasn't claimed you. has he?" "He never will." I say. "Then you are just a waste of space." He slams the door. I stare at the food. I am starving but the thought of eating makes my stomach turn. I force myself to swallow a piece of the bread. It is hard as a rock. I wash it down with the leftover water from Kael’s skin. I need to keep my strength. If the Shadow Claw are coming. the fortress will be a cage within a cage. I spend the hours pacing. Three steps forward. Three steps back. The chain clinks with every movement. It is a steady rhythm. It keeps me from losing my mind. I try to reach out to my wolf. She is quiet now. She is exhausted from the rejection. The bond is a dull throb in my chest. It is like a bruised muscle. It hurts to move. but I cannot ignore it. The door opens again in the afternoon. This time it is Vane. The Beta. He is not like Kael. He is composed. His clothes are clean. His hair is trimmed. He carries himself with a quiet authority that doesn't need a growl to back it up. He stands in the doorway and looks at me for a long time. "You look like your mother." Vane says. I freeze. I stop pacing and stare at him. "You knew her?" "I saw her during the raid." Vane says. His voice has no emotion. It is just a statement of fact. "She was a fighter. She took down three of our men before the Alpha finished her." "Your Alpha is a murderer." I snap. "My Alpha is a King." Vane corrects. He steps into the cell. He doesn't look disgusted by the smell or the dark. "He is also a man who is currently losing his grip because of you." "I didn't ask for this." I gesture to the chains. "I didn't ask to be his mate." "The moon doesn't ask for permission." Vane says. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small jar. He sets it on the straw. "For your wrists. The silver in the iron is starting to burn." I look at the jar. Then back at him. "Why are you helping me?" "Because if you die in this cell. Kael will go feral." Vane says. He moves back to the door. "An Alpha without a mate is a danger. An Alpha whose mate died in his own dungeon is a catastrophe. I care about this pack. even if I don't care about you." He leaves before I can say anything else. I pick up the jar. It is a cool salve. I rub it into the raw skin around my wrists. The relief is instant. The stinging stops. I lean my head against the wall and close my eyes. Vane’s words haunt me. If I die. Kael goes feral. It is a biological fact of our kind. The bond is a tether. If it snaps through death. the surviving mate often loses their mind to the grief of the wolf. Kael would burn the world down. He would turn the Red Fang into a graveyard. I must have drifted off because a sharp pain in my shoulder wakes me. I bolt upright. The cell isn't empty. Sila is back. She is standing over me. She has a small. silver dagger in her hand. The blade is glowing faintly in the dark. Silver. It is the only thing that can truly hurt us. It stops our healing. It poisons the blood. "You are a persistent little thing." Sila whispers. She lunges. I roll to the side. The dagger slices through the straw. I scramble to my feet. but the chains trip me. I fall back against the stone. Sila is on me in a second. She pins my shoulders down. She is a high-ranking wolf. She is stronger than me. "Kael told me to stay away from you." Sila says. Her eyes are glowing yellow. Her wolf is at the surface. "He thinks he can control me. But I know what is best for the pack. You are a distraction. You are a weakness." She presses the tip of the dagger against my collarbone. Right over the old scar. The silver burns. I can feel my skin sizzling. I bite my tongue to keep from screaming. I won't give her the satisfaction. "Stop." I gasp. "Why?" Sila smiles. It is a jagged. horrible look. "If I kill you now. he will be sad for a week. Then he will find a real Luna. He will find me." "He will kill you." I say. "Vane said it. If I die. he goes feral." Sila pauses. The dagger wavers. "Vane is a coward. Kael is stronger than a bond." "Try it." I challenge. I look her straight in the eyes. "Kill me and see how long you survive his rage." Sila snarls. She raises the knife to strike. The door to the cell is ripped off its hinges. It flies across the room and hits the opposite wall with a deafening crack. Kael is there. He isn't a man anymore. He is something between human and beast. His muscles are twice their normal size. His teeth are elongated. His claws are out. The air in the cell turns thick with the scent of an enraged Alpha. "Sila." His voice is not human. It is a vibration that shakes the floor. Sila drops the knife. She scrambles back. hitting the wall. "Kael. I was just... she was trying to escape!" Kael doesn't speak. He moves faster than I can track. He grabs Sila by the throat and lifts her off the ground. Her feet dangle. She claws at his arm. but his skin is like granite. He slams her against the ceiling. then drops her. She hits the floor with a wet thud. "Get out." Kael growls. "Kael. please—" "Get out before I tear your heart out and feed it to the crows." Sila doesn't wait. She crawls out of the cell. her face pale. her breath coming in ragged sobs. She vanishes into the hallway. Kael stands in the center of the room. His chest is heaving. He is covered in mud and blood from the border. He looks at me. He sees the blood on my shoulder where the silver touched me. His eyes turn completely black. He drops to his knees in front of me. "Did she touch you anywhere else?" He asks. His voice is still rough. but the killing edge is gone. "I am fine." I say. I try to pull away. but I am trapped against the wall. Kael reaches out. He doesn't grab me this time.