Bound By The Alpha’s Curse

Chapter15

MIRA

Lucian didn't give me a chance to find my footing before he was on me again. I tried to bring my weapon up to block, but he was too fast and too strong, and every time our blades clashed, the vibration traveled straight into my bone. I was gasping for air, my lungs feeling like they were filled with hot lead, but he kept swinging without mercy. He didn't let me breathe, and he didn't let me catch my breath, and eventually, he caught my ankle with a sweeping motion that sent me sprawling.

I hit the stone floor hard, the impact jarring my teeth, and my wooden sword clattered away from me across the room. I lay there for a second, staring up at the vaulted ceiling and trying to remember how to breathe while my ribs throbbed in rhythm with my pulse.

"You're a weakling, Mira," Lucian scoffed, standing over me with his sword resting casually on his shoulder. "You have no stamina, and you have no focus. You’re lucky I’m the only one in this room, because anyone else would have ended you three minutes ago."

I gritted my teeth and rolled onto my stomach, pushing myself up despite the way my muscles screamed at the movement. My hands were shaking, and I was covered in a fresh layer of sweat and dust, but I looked him right in the eye. "You're a cheater," I spat, wiping a smudge of dirt from my cheek. "You didn't even let me stand properly before you started swinging. You don't play by the rules of a fair training session, Lucian."

He let out a short, dry laugh and stepped closer, his shadow falling over me. "Do you think on the battlefield your enemies are going to give you a chance to prepare yourself? Do you think a rogue is going to wait for you to find your stance and say a prayer before he rips your throat out? Life isn't fair, and war is even worse. Delaying is dangerous, and it's the fastest way to get yourself killed before you even know the fight has started."

He didn't wait for a response before he swung again, the wood aimed straight for my head. This time, I didn't try to block it with a weapon I didn't have. I dropped low, feeling the wind of the blade pass just inches above my hair, and I rolled to the other side of the room. I scrambled to my feet and grabbed my sword, my heart hammering against my ribs.

"Watch your flank," he warned, his voice low and steady as he began to circle me again. "You’re too busy worrying about what I’m saying. Distractions are just as deadly as a blade, and you’re letting me get inside your head."

"I don't get distracted," I snapped, raising my guard and moving with him, keeping my eyes locked on his chest just like he had told me earlier. "I know exactly where you are and I know exactly what you're trying to do. You're trying to break me, but it's not going to work."

Lucian stopped moving and let out a long sigh, the tension in his shoulders dropping as he placed his wooden sword down on a nearby rack. He looked at me for a long moment, his green eyes searching my face as if he were looking for a person who didn't exist anymore.

"Why did you come back, Mira?" he asked, his voice suddenly quiet and devoid of the aggression it had held a moment ago. "You were free. You were out of this pack and away from the curse. Why would you ever choose to walk back into this hell?"

I tightened my grip on the wood, the sudden shift in the atmosphere making me more nervous. "It has nothing to do with you," I said, my voice steady despite the way my insides were trembling. "I didn't come back for you, and I didn't come back for the pack. I came back for my redemption. I came back to prove that I’m not the traitor everyone thinks I am, and to get the answers I deserve."

Lucian looked at the floor for a second, and then his gaze returned to mine, and there was something in his expression that I couldn't quite name. "I’ve been waiting for you," he said, the words coming out as a low murmur that seemed to fill the entire room. "I just never expected you to show up again as you did. I thought you would be different, or maybe I thought I would be."

I stood there, frozen, my mouth slightly open as I tried to process what he had just said. He had been waiting for me? The Alpha who had cast me out, the man who had treated me like a disease, had actually been expecting my return? The shock of it hit me harder, and for a split second, my guard dropped completely.

That was all the opening he needed.

Before I could regain my composure or even raise my hand, Lucian was moving. He tackled me with speed, his weight slamming into me and knocking the air from my lungs. We hit the floor together, but he was the one in control. He pinned my hands to my chest with one of his large palms, using his body weight to keep me down while he hovered directly over me.

"You are so easily distracted," he growled, his face inches from mine, his breath warm against my skin.

"You could easily die out there, Mira. A few soft words and you forget that I’m your opponent."

I stared up at him, my chest heaving as I realized what he had done. He had used that moment of vulnerability, that fake honesty, just to get me to lower my guard. He had lied about waiting for me just to win a training round.

"You did that on purpose," I rasped, my heart racing for a completely different reason now. "You said that just to distract me so you could attack. You’re even more manipulative than I thought."

"It worked, didn't it?" he whispered, his eyes dark and focused on my lips. "In a real fight, you’d be dead right now. Your emotions are your biggest weakness."

I looked at him, at the way his jaw was set and the way his body was tensed over mine, and a sudden, reckless spark of defiance lit up in my chest. If he wanted to play with distractions, then I could play that game too.

"Do you really think I’m the only one who can get distracted, Lucian?" I asked, my voice dropping to a whisper that mimicked his own.

He narrowed his eyes, his grip on my wrists tightening slightly. "What do you mean by that?"

I didn't give him an answer with words. I leaned up, closing the small gap between us, and I placed my lips firmly on his.