Bound By The Alpha’s Curse

Chapter12

MIRA

At first, I was sure this was some twisted joke or a training exercise I hadn't been briefed on, but the minutes slowly stretched into hours and nobody came back for me. The stone walls were cold against my back, and the only sound was the steady drip of water somewhere down the hall and the frantic beating of my own heart.

The adrenaline from the duel had completely worn off, leaving me with a body that felt like it had been put through a meat grinder and a mind that was spiraling into a dark place. I stood up, my legs shaking, and walked over to the heavy iron door. I gripped the bars, the cold metal biting into my palms, and I started to bang on them with all the strength I could muster.

"Hey! Is anyone there?" I yelled, my voice echoing off the damp ceiling and dying in the darkness of the corridor. "Let me out! I won the challenge! You can’t keep me here!"

I slammed my fist against the iron, but there was no response. I kept going until my knuckles were raw and my throat was sore from screaming. I was a member of this pack now, or at least that’s what the duel was supposed to prove, but they were treating me like a stray dog caught in the trash.

"Quiet down, Mira. You're giving me a headache."

The voice was low and smooth, and it came from the shadow right in front of my cell. I froze, my fingers still wrapped around the bars, as a figure stepped into the flickering light of the single torch on the wall. My eyes widened when I saw Lucian standing there. He wasn't wearing his Alpha's coat anymore, just a simple black shirt that showed the tension in his shoulders, and he had a smirk on his face that made my blood boil.

I scoffed, taking a step back from the bars and crossing my arms over my chest. "Are you serious right now? Is this some kind of sick prank to mess with my head because you're bored?"

Lucian leaned against the stone wall opposite my cell, his green eyes looking down at me. "Do I look like I’m messing around to you? I don’t usually spend my afternoons in the dungeons for the sake of a joke."

"Then why am I in here?" I demanded, my voice rising as the frustration finally boiled over. "I beat you. I stood in that ring and I played by your rules, and you told everyone I could stay. You gave your word in front of the whole pack, Lucian. Does the Alpha’s word mean nothing as soon as the crowd goes home?"

He simply shrugged, his expression completely unreadable. "I said you could stay in the pack. I never said where you would be staying."

I felt like I was losing my mind. The injustice of it was frustrating and I started pacing around. "You’re a coward," I spat, stopping to glare at him through the iron. "That’s what this is. You couldn't handle the fact that I brought you to your knees, so you’re hiding me away so nobody has to remember how weak you looked in that sand. You're pathetic."

Lucian’s expression shifted instantly. The smirk vanished, replaced by a cold, hard mask of fury. He moved so fast I didn't even see him reach through the bars. Before I could blink, his large hand was wrapped around my throat, and he slammed me back against the stone wall of the cell.

The back of my head hit the rock with a sickening thud, and I gasped as his grip tightened. His fingers were like iron bands, cutting off my air and pinning me in place. I clawed at his wrist, my nails digging into his skin, but he didn't even flinch. He leaned in close, his face inches from mine, and I could smell his scent.

"Let’s get one thing straight," he growled, his voice a low vibration that I felt in my bones. "Just because I let you have your little moment of victory in the ring doesn't mean I am weak. I have killed men ten times more dangerous than you without breaking a sweat. Do not mistake my patience for a lack of power."

I was barely able to breathe, and black spots were starting to dance at the edges of my vision, but I forced myself to look him in the eye. I managed a weak, rasping scoff, the sound caught in my restricted throat. "Did I... bruise your ego... that badly?" I croaked, my voice sounding like it was coming from a mile away. "You’re so... insecure... you have to choke a girl... in a cage... to feel like... a King?"

His grip didn't loosen. If anything, he pressed harder, his thumb digging into the side of my windpipe. "You think this is about my ego? You’re a fool. You won the duel, Mira, but you committed a crime the moment you raised a sword against me. You threatened the life of your Alpha and your King. In this pack, and in every pack from here to the border, that is an act of treason. It is punishable by death."

I felt the strength leaving my limbs, and my hands dropped from his wrist as my body began to go limp.

"Then do it," I whispered, the words barely audible as the world started to tilt. "Kill me and get it over with. It’s all you’ve... ever wanted... since I came back. Just... finish it."

My vision was blurring into a gray haze, and the sound of my own pulse was a deafening roar in my ears. I saw his jaw tick, his eyes searching mine for a flicker of fear that I refused to give him. He didn't let go, and he didn't speak. The last thing I felt was the cold stone against my back and the crushing weight of his hand on my neck before the darkness finally rushed in and swallowed me whole.