Bound By The Alpha’s Curse

Chapter13

CHAPTER 13

LUCIAN

I stiffened as the realization hit me. The pressure of my palm against her throat was too much, and I could feel the life in her fluttering before it went still. I let go immediately, my hand jerking back as if the skin of her neck had burned me. Mira didn’t catch herself. She slumped against the stone wall and slid down to the damp floor, her head lalling to the side. She had passed out.

I stood there staring at her, my own breathing ragged and my heart hammering against my ribs. I had wanted to punish her, to remind her that I was the one who held the power in this pack, but seeing her lying in the dirt made my stomach turn. I was conflicted. Part of me wanted to leave her there in the dark, but another part of me knew she hadn't actually done anything wrong except win a fight I had agreed to.

“Guard,” I barked, my voice sounding rough in the empty hallway.

The man who had locked her in appeared, his eyes darting from me to the unconscious woman on the floor. He didn't say a word, but his hand was shaking slightly as he jammed the key into the lock and swung the heavy iron door open.

She was lighter than she looked. I pulled her into my arms, her head resting against my shoulder, and I could feel the faint, steady rhythm of her heart against my chest. I didn't take her back to the medical wing. I didn't want the pack seeing her like this. I turned and walked toward the upper levels, taking the private stairs that led directly to my quarters. I hated the way she was making me feel. It was a strange, unwanted heat in my chest, and it was digging up emotions I thought I had buried years ago when I first took the crown.

I reached my room and kicked the door shut behind me. I walked over to the large bed and laid her down on the silk sheets, her dark hair splaying out against the pillows. She looked small against the expensive fabric, and I found myself staring at the bruises on her neck—the marks I had put there.

The door to my room burst open before I could look away. I didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. The cloying scent of expensive perfume hit me a second before Sienna’s voice sounded.

“What the hell is this, Lucian?”

I turned slowly, my face hardening into a mask of indifference. Sienna was standing in the doorway, her eyes wide with shock as they landed on Mira. She looked like she had just seen a ghost, or a monster, and she marched into the room with her hands clenched at her sides.

“What are you doing?” she demanded, gesturing wildly toward the bed. “Why is she here? Why is she in your room, in your bed? Are you losing your mind, letting her get this close to you again after everything she did?”

“Stop assuming things, Sienna,” I said, my voice flat and cold. “None of that is happening. She’s here because I put her there. That’s all you need to know.”

Sienna wouldn't have it. She stepped closer, her face reddening with a mixture of anger and disbelief. “I’m not an i***t, Lucian. I saw the way you looked at her in the ring. You’re letting her control your head again, just like she did before. You’re being weak. You’re the Alpha of the Seattle pack, and you’re acting like a love-sick pup for a girl who deserves to be in a cage.”

I felt a surge of irritation because I knew she was right.

Mira was messing with me. Every time she looked at me with that defiant smirk, or every time she stood her ground when she should have run, she was chipping away at the walls I had built. I was letting her get under my skin, and it was a dangerous game to play. But I wasn't going to let Sienna stand in my private chambers and lecture me on how to run my life.

“I know what you’re doing, Sienna,” I said, stepping toward her until she was forced to look up at me.

“You’re trying to stir up trouble because you’re afraid of losing your influence. It’s pathetic.”

“I’m trying to save this pack!” she hissed, her eyes flashing with a desperate kind of fire. “She is a curse, Lucian. She’s the reason your family is falling apart, and you’re inviting her into your bed? If the council finds out…”

“Leave,” I interrupted, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.

“Lucian, listen to me…”

“I said leave,” I repeated, my claws starting to prick at my fingertips. “I am tired of your voice and I am tired of your interference. Get out of my room, or I will call the guards and have you dragged out in front of everyone. Don't test me today.”

Sienna stared at me for a long moment, her chest heaving with frustration. She looked like she wanted to scream, but she saw the look in my eyes and knew I wasn't bluffing. She turned on her heel, her silk dress rustling as she stormed out of the room, and she slammed the door hard enough to rattle the paintings on the walls.

The silence that followed was tensed. I stood there for a minute, rubbing the bridge of my nose and trying to settle the animal growling in my gut. I had too many enemies outside these walls to be fighting the people inside them, but Mira was becoming the eye of the storm.

I eventually turned back toward the bed, intending to check her pulse again, but I stopped dead in my tracks. Mira wasn't lying down anymore. She was sitting upright, her back against the headboard and her arms crossed over her chest. She was watching me with an expression that was entirely too calm for someone who had just been choked unconscious and dragged into an Alpha’s bedroom.

I flinched, my hand going instinctively toward the hilt of the knife at my belt before I realized where I was. I hadn't even heard her move. “When did you wake up?” I asked, my voice coming out harsh.

Mira didn't move. She just tilted her head to the side, her eyes tracking the movement of my hand before meeting mine with a steady, unbreakable gaze. The bruises on her neck were already starting to darken into an ugly shade of purple, but she didn't look like she was in pain. She looked like she was enjoying the fact that she had startled me.

“Did you see a ghost, Lucian?” she asked, her voice raspy but clear.