Episode 4
1021 Words
Author’s POV
The dungeons always smelled of iron and regret.
Drogo had grown used to both.
He walked down the stone corridor, boots echoing softly in the silence. The guards stepped aside as he passed, heads bowed, eyes avoiding his. They all knew better than to question why their Alpha was visiting the prisoner himself.
He told himself it was just to make sure the girl was still alive. The king wanted proof. That was all.
Nothing more.
But Gai, his wolf, was restless.
You lie to yourself, the beast rumbled in his mind.
You’ve been thinking about her since the night she was brought here.
Drogo’s jaw clenched. Be silent.
You felt it too, Gai growled. Her scent, her eyes. She’s not just anyone….
“Enough,” Drogo hissed under his breath. His voice echoed off the walls, startling a nearby guard.
The guard froze. “Alpha?”
Drogo didn’t answer. He kept walking until he reached the last cell, the one wrapped in shadows and silver light.
She was there.
The girl from the Vale bloodline.
Cyn.
Her wrists were still chained, her hair tangled and damp, but her back was straight. Defiant. She didn’t look at him when he entered. She stared at the floor, breathing shallowly, as though trying to shrink into the darkness.
Yet even in her fear, there was something unbroken in her.
Drogo stopped a few feet away from the bars. “Look at me.”
No response.
“Cyn Vale.” His tone deepened. “You were commanded to answer when spoken to.”
Her head lifted slightly, just enough for him to see her eyes, violet, glowing faintly under the dim torchlight. Eyes that belonged to someone who had seen everything burn.
“Why?” she asked, her voice raw and trembling. “Why did you kill them?”
The question hit him harder than he expected.
He didn’t move, didn’t blink. “Your father betrayed the king.”
Her lips quivered, but her gaze didn’t fall. “He believed in justice. He believed wolves should not rule through fear. That’s not betrayal.”
“You speak of things you don’t understand,” Drogo said, but the words felt weak in his mouth.
“Then tell me,” she said bitterly. “Make me understand why you slaughtered my family in their sleep.”
Her voice cracked on the last word, and for a moment, Drogo felt something twist in his chest, something old and sharp.
He turned away. “You wouldn’t believe me.”
She gave a small, bitter laugh. “I stopped believing anything the night you painted our home in blood.”
Her trembling had returned. He could hear her heartbeat, it was fast, uneven, full of fear.
Gai stirred again inside him, growling low.
She’s afraid of us.
Good, Drogo answered in his mind. She should be.
No, Gai snapped. Not her. It’s wrong. Her fear smells… wrong.
Drogo gritted his teeth. You forget what she is, the daughter of traitors. The king’s word is law.
Law, Gai snarled, isn’t true.
Drogo shut his eyes for a brief moment. You forget your place, beast.
The cell was quiet again, save for the sound of Cyn’s breathing. When he opened his eyes, she was staring at him, not with anger this time, but with confusion.
He had taken a step closer without realizing it.
The air between them shifted. His wolf pushed against the surface of his control, claws scraping his mind, begging to be let out.
She’s mine, Gai growled suddenly. I know her soul.
Drogo froze. Silence.
You know it too.
“Stop,” Drogo muttered, the word slipping from his lips before he could catch it.
Cyn frowned. “Stop what?”
He turned away sharply, gripping the iron bars until they creaked. “Nothing that concerns you.”
“Then why are you here?” she whispered.
He didn’t have an answer that made sense. He could say duty, loyalty, the king’s orders, but the truth was none of those.
Instead, he said, “To remind you of your place. You live because I allow it. Do not mistake that for mercy.”
Her breath hitched, and he could smell the fear rolling off her again, cold and sharp. But beneath it, there was something else. A flicker of anger.
“You may have taken everything,” she said softly, “but you won’t take my soul.”
Drogo’s hand tightened on the bars. For a moment, he almost admired her. The fire she carried despite her brokenness.
Then he forced his expression back to stone. “You have no soul left to lose.”
He turned to leave, but her voice stopped him.
“Tell me one thing,” she said. “Did they scream when you killed them?”
He froze. The memory hit him before he could block it, the flicker of light, the fire, the scent of blood. And her brother’s eyes.
He left without another word.
***
When Drogo reached the upper floor, Kael was waiting by the stairway.
“Alpha,” Kael said with a slight bow. “The king sent word. He wishes to know if the Vale bloodline is completely… endless.”
Drogo met his gaze. “Tell him it is handled.”
Kael tilted his head. “Handled, or finished?”
Drogo’s tone darkened. “Handled.”
Kael’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Very well.”
He turned and walked away, but Drogo could feel the suspicion trailing behind him like a shadow.
**
That night, alone in his chambers, Drogo stared out at the moon.
Gai’s voice came again, low and rough. You can lie to everyone else. But not to me.
Drogo closed his eyes. “She’s a prisoner.”
She’s your mate.
The words hit like lightning. He gripped the window frame, every muscle tensed.
“No,” he whispered. “That’s impossible.”
But deep down, he knew Gai was right.
Some bonds couldn’t be denied.
And this one was a cursed, dangerous bond that was going to destroy them both.
- Writer
