Bound By The Alpha’s Curse

Chapter14

MIRA

I sat on the edge of the large bed and smoothed out the silk sheets with my palms, my throat still burning from where Lucian’s fingers had dug into my skin. I had woken up the moment Sienna stormed in, but I stayed still, keeping my breathing even while I listened to her screeching about my presence. It was amusing to hear her get so worked up over me, and even more amusing to realize that despite her desperate attempts to get rid of me, Lucian hadn't followed her lead. He had stood his ground, and the frustration in Sienna’s voice as she left was a better medicine than anything Kara could have given me.

Lucian stood by the window for a long moment before he turned around, his eyes widening slightly when he saw me sitting up. He looked like he had seen a ghost, his hand twitching toward the knife at his belt before he caught himself.

"When did you wake up?" he asked again ,his voice sounding rough and edged with a tension he couldn't quite hide.

I shrugged, leaning back against the headboard and crossing my arms over my chest. "A while ago. It was hard to sleep through the sound of your ex-mate having a meltdown in the doorway, but I suppose that’s none of your business, just like my health is none of mine since you almost killed me in that cell."

Lucian gritted his teeth, his jaw ticking as he stepped closer to the bed. "I didn't kill you. You’re sitting right there, aren't you? If I wanted you dead, Mira, you wouldn't have woken up at all."

I scoffed, sliding off the bed and standing on the plush carpet. My body ached, and my head was still throbbing from where it had hit the stone wall. I walked right up to him, stopping only when our chests were inches apart, and I looked up into those piercing green eyes.

"Are you so good at going back on your words now, Lucian?" I asked, my voice low and sharp. "Is that what being an Alpha means? You make a deal in front of your entire pack and then you drag the winner to a dungeon because you can't handle the sight of your own blood on the sand?"

He looked down at me, his eyes flashing with the gold of his wolf, and I could feel the heat radiating off him.

"What are you talking about?"

"The training," I reminded him, poking a finger into the center of his chest. "You promised that if I won, you would train me yourself. You made a commitment to make me a better fighter, but instead of keeping that promise, you had your guards toss me into a cage like a common criminal. You’re an egoistic asshole, Lucian, and you couldn't bear the thought of losing to a suppressed wolf in front of your warriors. Is that why you locked me up? Because you’re a coward who’s afraid I might actually become stronger than you?"

I could see he was fuming. The muscles in his neck were tight, and his breath was coming in short, angry bursts, but he didn't move. I was riling him up on purpose. I wanted him to see that no matter how many times he tried to break me, I wasn't going to back down. I wasn't that scared girl he had cast out years ago, and I wasn't going to let him treat me like a mistake he could just hide away in the dark.

Lucian finally let out a sharp, humorless scoff and turned on his heel. He walked toward the door without saying a word, and for a second, I thought he was just going to leave me there to rot in his bedroom. But when he reached the door, he stopped with his hand on the handle and looked back over his shoulder.

"Are you coming or not?" he snapped.

I felt a surge of elation that I quickly suppressed, keeping my face neutral as I followed him out of the room. We walked through the palace in silence, the guards we passed keeping their heads down and staying out of our way. We reached the training room in the lower level, a large space with stone floors and racks of wooden weapons lining the wall. Lucian walked to the center of the room before turning to face me.

"First of all," he said, his voice echoing off the high ceiling. "What you did on the battlefield earlier was incredibly stupid. You relied on luck and a single opening that I gave you because I underestimated your desperation. If you tried that on a real battleground against a rogue who doesn't care about the rules of a duel, you would be dead before you even knew you were in a fight."

I opened my mouth to argue, but he held up a hand to silence me. He walked over to a rack and pulled out two wooden practice swords, tossing one toward me

. I caught it by the hilt, the weight of the wood familiar in my hand, and I started to shift my feet into a fighting stance.

"You have no discipline," he continued, circling me like a shark. "You have spite, and you have a high pain tolerance, but those things only get you so far when someone with real training wants you dead. You think because you landed one hit, you’re ready for the world? You aren't even ready for me."

I gritted my teeth, tightening my grip on the wooden sword. "Then show me. Stop talking and show me what I’m missing."

Lucian smirked, a dangerous, predatory look that made my heart skip a beat. "Fine. Rule one: never assume your opponent is going to wait for you to get comfortable."

Before I could even finish positioning my feet or raising my guard, Lucian moved. He was a blur of black and silver, and his wooden sword whistled through the air as he launched a sudden, brutal attack