THE FATED ALPHA'S CAPTIVE

CHAPTER 12

LYRA

Tap. Tap. Tap.

I sat by the window, my finger rhythmically tapping against the cold glass. My eyes followed the lone rabbit out in the wasteland of snow, willing it to look up at me. It had become my only companion in this solitude—my only friend in the four days I had spent locked in this room.

The door would open only three times a day, always Elera, delivering my meals. She was the only one who visited, and I hated the way her eyes would linger on me—her silent judgment.

refused every meal the first day after Ronan declared me a traitor to everyone, receiving a look of condemnation from Elera and a

“You are going to get in trouble.”

The second day when I refused breakfast,she handed me a note.

“Every meal you refuse is another day in your room. Choose wisely.”

I knew it was from Ronan. Without hesitation, I flushed it down the toilet, but then I refused lunch too.

Elera returned with another piece of paper.

“I can only assume my pet wants me to hand-feed her. Refuse your meal again, and I'm coming right up.”

Pet?

That one word stung. It irritated me to the point where I couldn't refuse the next meal. I ate—out of spite, yes, but also because I didn’t want to see just how far Ronan’s power stretched.

Hours passed in the room, heavy with nothingness. I washed the single piece of clothing I had left in the bathroom sink, scrubbing it with a bar of soap. I showered far too many times out of sheer boredom, even with the small, petty satisfaction that I might be pushing up Ronan’s water bill—That if he pays one or if this place is even a place at all

Soon enough, I realized that solitude was the worst kind of torture. The constant isolation. The spiraling thoughts. I couldn’t stop wondering about my real parents—who they were, what they might have done to cross Ronan, how they’d become traitors.

And now, I am suffering because of it.

Each day, the walls seemed to close in a little tighter. I tapped the glass again, eyes tracking the rabbit as it nibbled at the snow. It twitched its nose at me, a brief acknowledgment of my presence.

“Guess it’s just you and me, buddy,” I whispered.

Just as I said it, an eagle swooped from the sky, its claws extended. It grabbed the rabbit in a flash, and in one violent motion, it was gone, leaving nothing behind but an empty patch of snow.

---

I woke to darkness, only to find a man in black standing at my bedside.

A gasp of terror seized my lungs, and I scrambled back against the headboard. My eyes struggled to focus in the moonlit room, and then, as the figure shifted slightly, an exhale of relief escaped me. It was Logan.

"God," I snapped, my voice shaky. "What is wrong with you?"

I blinked rapidly, trying to shake off the lingering haze of sleep. As the fog cleared, realization hit me all at once—it really was Logan.

I hadn’t seen him in days, it felt like an eternity. Hell, I hadn’t seen anyone else besides Elera. I can hardly count her presence as a company

Logan raised an eyebrow, unfazed by my outburst. He moved toward the door, flipping the light switch on. The harsh brightness of the overhead light stung my eyes, but despite the jarring awakening, despite the lingering fear, there was a surprising relief that washed over me just at the sight of him.

He was back.

Logan didn’t say anything at first, just stood there in the doorway, his expression as unreadable as always. He closed the door behind him with a soft click, and the silence seemed to settle in heavier this time.

“Still not eating?” he finally asked, his eyes flicking to the bowl of cookies sitting on the table.

I had taken two pieces and half of one to convince Elera I was eating before she left last night, but I wasn't about to admit that.

I rolled my eyes, pushing myself up from the headboard and running a hand through my messy hair. “Given my situation, I don’t think eating is my biggest concern right now.”

Logan arched an eyebrow, a hint of skepticism in his gaze. “What situation?”

I let out a dry scoff, my words tumbling out faster than I could stop them. “I’ve just been branded a traitor. Everyone thinks I’ve hurt their family, ruined their pack, whatever. I’m not safe. I could be poisoned by anyone—the chef, anyone. I don’t know who to trust around here.”

Logan flicked his gaze back to the bowl of cookies, his voice steady but calm. “Shouldn’t you be dead by now, then? Given you’ve already eaten out of it?”

My eyes snapped back to the bowl, and I bit my lower lip. The half-eaten cookie really did sell me out, didn’t it?

Logan exhaled sharply. “Listen, Lyra. No one is going to hurt you.”

I shook my head, doubt clouding my mind. “I doubt that. Ronan made it clear that they could. He said it to them the other day…” My voice faltered, the words echoing in my head. “She will not be spared your scorn, your anger. She will bear the weight of what her family did to us.” It sent a chill through me.

Logan took a small step forward. “He might have said that, but no one else will. That was just to break you. No one except him can touch you. And he won’t.”

I crossed my arms, biting back a bitter laugh. “Right,” I muttered. “And now you’re talking to me? That’s new.”

Logan shrugged, the faintest flicker of discomfort passing through his eye as though he regretted even talking to me. “It’s only fair after you've been locked in here for four days.”

I raised an eyebrow, the sarcasm in my voice hard to hide. “Oh, how considerate.”

He didn’t respond right away, and for a moment, the tension between us thickened. But then I let out a frustrated breath, the thought pushing its way out before I could stop it. “But you know what else isn’t fair?”

Logan’s gaze flickered back to me, his brow quirked in silent question.

“Me not knowing anything about this place,” I said, the words coming out more forcefully than I intended. “I don’t know what the hell this place is, or who Ronan is. Hell, I don’t even know who the rest of these people are. I keep hearing things about packs, alphas, all that stuff that I’ve only ever read about in books. And then there’s you, there's your supposed alpha, who can read my mind—how does that even work? It’s all so damn strange.” I paused, letting my frustration build before I exhaled sharply. “If I’m going to be locked up here like some prisoner, then I at least deserve to know who I’m dealing with.”

I shook my head, exasperated, and threw myself back against the headboard with a heavy sigh.

“I deserve that much,don't I?”

Logan hesitated for a long moment, his eyes flickering with something unreadable. He ran a hand through his brown hair. For a split second, I wondered if I had pushed too far, said too much. But then his gaze locked onto mine, and there was an intensity in his eyes, a weight that seemed to pull at me.

"I’m going to tell you everything you need to know," he said, his voice steady but carrying a warning undertone. "But brace yourself for the truth.”