Chapter Two: The Alpha's Prison
1216 Words
The days bled into each other like storm clouds gathering in a cursed sky. I didn’t know how long I’d been kept in the stone room within Alpha Kael’s mansion—maybe two days, maybe five. There were no windows, just cold walls and colder silence. Meals arrived twice a day, placed through a small slot in the door, and I hadn’t seen Kael since that night when he told me I might be the key to breaking the curse.
At first, I paced. Then I cried. Then I screamed until my voice went raw. And when none of that worked, I sat on the edge of the bed and thought.
About the mark. The burning sensation had dulled, but it still pulsed with an eerie, living rhythm—like it had a heartbeat of its own. Sometimes I swore it whispered, pulling me toward something… or someone.
Eventually, the door opened.
I didn’t leap to my feet this time. I just looked up as Kael stepped in, his expression unreadable. He carried a black coat and a pair of boots.
“Put these on,” he said.
I frowned. “Why?”
“You’re leaving the room.”
“Finally realized kidnapping your mate doesn’t exactly scream romantic?”
His lips twitched—almost a smile, but not quite. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”
My heart hammered. “Is it someone who knows about the curse?”
He nodded once. “She’s a seer.”
That shut me up.
Kael turned, giving me privacy while I dressed. The coat was thick, fur-lined, and surprisingly warm. The boots fit perfectly. For someone who didn’t seem to care, he had a way of making sure everything suited me.
Once we stepped outside, I gasped.
The Bloodfang territory wasn’t just cold—it was beautiful. Mountains stretched toward the sky, their peaks capped in snow. The forests were dense with pine trees, and the sky was so blue it looked unreal.
We walked in silence, two guards flanking us at a distance. I stole glances at Kael as we moved through the snow-packed path.
He didn’t look like a man weighed down by a curse. He looked like a king—unbreakable, untouchable, and painfully alone.
The seer lived in a small wooden cottage on the edge of the woods. Smoke curled from the chimney, and strange runes were carved into the door.
Kael knocked once.
“Come in, cursed Alpha,” a voice croaked from within.
He opened the door without hesitation. I followed, heart pounding.
The inside of the cottage was warm and smelled like herbs, smoke, and something old. A woman sat by the fireplace—wrinkled, blindfolded, with hair like white spider silk.
“Bring the girl forward,” she said.
Kael touched my arm, guiding me gently. When I stood in front of her, she reached out and placed her bony fingers on my mark.
I flinched.
“Oh, Moon help us,” she whispered. “The mark has awakened.”
Kael tensed. “What does that mean?”
The seer turned her sightless face toward him. “You were never meant to survive it. The curse isn’t yours alone. It’s hers too.”
My blood ran cold. “What?”
“You bear the same soul. Two halves. The Goddess marked you both. And if she dies… you die too.”
Kael’s breath caught. Mine did too.
The seer’s voice trembled. “It is no longer a death sentence. It is a bond. The final mate bond. If you break it, you both die. If you embrace it… you might survive. Together.”
“No,” Kael said instantly. “I won’t do that to her.”
“It’s not a choice anymore,” the seer said. “Your fates are woven together.”
Kael stared at the fire. “There must be another way.”
The seer smiled faintly. “There is. But it will require truth. Trust. And a sacrifice.”
---
We returned to the mansion in silence.
Kael didn’t speak until we were back inside. Then, he turned to me and said something I never expected to hear.
“You’ll train with my warriors starting tomorrow.”
I blinked. “What?”
“If we’re going to survive this bond, you need to be strong. Strong enough to protect yourself. Strong enough to protect me.”
“You want me to fight?”
“I want you to live.”
He left after that. No explanations. No apologies.
But something had shifted. I no longer felt like a prisoner.
I felt like someone preparing for war.
---
The next morning, I stood in a snowy training yard surrounded by strangers. Bloodfang warriors—all hard eyes and harder fists—watched me with thinly veiled contempt.
“She’s the cursed girl?” someone muttered.
“She won’t last a day.”
Kael stood on the platform overlooking the yard. “Begin.”
A female warrior named Darya stepped forward, arms folded. “Try not to cry too much.”
She lunged.
I dodged instinctively, but her foot caught my knee, and I dropped. Snow bit into my hands.
“Pathetic,” she sneered.
I stood, teeth gritted. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.
The second blow came fast—but I blocked it. Then another. Then I landed a hit to her shoulder. Her eyes narrowed.
“Again,” Kael called.
We trained for hours. Every bruise was a lesson. Every fall made me stand stronger.
By the third day, I could block most of Darya’s attacks. By the fifth, I could land hits that made her grunt.
And every night, the mark on my shoulder burned less. I was changing. Evolving.
---
One night, I found Kael in the library.
He was seated by the fireplace, staring into the flames. He looked… tired.
“You should sleep,” I said.
He looked up. “You’re improving fast.”
I shrugged. “Turns out pain is a great teacher.”
He smiled slightly. “I didn’t want this for you.”
“I know.”
We sat in silence for a while.
Finally, I asked, “What happened to the others? The ones the mark killed?”
His eyes darkened. “One went mad. The other faded—like the mark drained her until nothing was left.”
I shivered. “Why didn’t you die with them?”
He hesitated. “Because I never let the bond complete. I refused it. Blocked it.”
“And with me?”
“I couldn’t block it,” he said. “You didn’t just carry it. You awakened it.”
I met his gaze. “So what now?”
“We find the source,” he said. “And we break it.”
“Together?” I asked softly.
He looked at me, something fierce in his eyes. “Together.”
---
That night, I dreamed of fire.
A forest burning. Wolves howling. And a woman cloaked in moonlight whispering, "The bond was never a curse. It was a test."
I woke with a gasp, the mark glowing faintly on my shoulder.
And for the first time since the Rite, I didn’t feel afraid.
I felt chosen.
- Writer
