Chapter 5: The Note
1043 Words
Lena's POV
Three days.
Three days since I rejected him. Three days of sleeping in his bed while he takes the floor. Three days of stolen glances and almost-conversations and a tension so thick I could choke on it.
Three days, and I still haven't figured out if I'm a prisoner or a guest.
Axel leaves every morning for Alpha duties. Pack meetings. Border patrols. The business of running a territory. He locks the door behind him—definitely a prisoner then—but he always brings back food.
Hot food. Good food.
And he always watches me eat it.
Creep.
Today, I'm alone again. The morning sun cuts through his window in golden stripes. I'm sitting on his bed—his bed—wearing his hoodie for the third day in a row.
I should give it back.
I'm not going to give it back.
A knock on the door makes me jump.
No one knocks. Guards just shove food through a slot. Axel walks in like he owns the place—which, technically, he does.
"Come in?" I call.
The door opens.
Not Axel.
A girl stands there. Maybe seventeen. Brown hair, nervous eyes, hands clutching a tray of food like a shield. She stares at me with a mix of fear and curiosity.
"You're her," she whispers.
"Um. Yes?"
"The one who rejected Alpha Axel." She steps inside. Kicks the door closed behind her. "Everyone's talking about you. Some say you're crazy. Some say you're brave. My mom says you're both."
"What do you say?"
She thinks about it. "I say you're still alive. That's more than most people expected."
Ouch.
"I'm Mira," she adds. "The Alpha asked me to bring you lunch. And to keep you company so you don't go insane from boredom."
"Thoughtful."
"He's not as scary as everyone thinks." Mira sets the tray on the table. "He's just... sad. You know?"
I don't know. But I nod anyway.
Mira leaves after twenty minutes of awkward small talk. She promises to come back tomorrow. I promise not to bite her.
Then I'm alone again.
---
I eat my lunch slowly. Soup. Bread. Some kind of meat pie that's way better than anything I ever made for myself. Axel has good taste.
Or his cooks do.
I'm wiping the last of the bread through the soup when I notice something.
The tray has a false bottom.
I almost miss it. A slight lift at the corner. Like someone glued it badly. My fingers find the edge and pull.
A piece of paper falls out.
My heart stops.
I unfold it with shaking hands.
One sentence. Written in careful, blocky letters. Like someone tried to hide their handwriting.
Leave him or I'll make the vision come true myself.
The room spins.
I read it again. And again. And again.
Leave him or I'll make the vision come true myself.
Someone knows.
Someone knows about my vision. About what I saw. About Axel killing me.
But I never told anyone.
I never told anyone.
"How—" My voice comes out strangled. "How do you know?"
The paper doesn't answer. Obviously. I'm talking to a piece of paper like a crazy person.
But my hands won't stop shaking.
Someone in this pack knows my secret.
Someone in this pack wants me gone.
And someone in this pack can make the vision happen.
---
I hear footsteps in the hallway.
I shove the note into my pocket. Shove the false bottom back into place. Grab my spoon like I was eating the whole time.
The door opens.
Axel walks in. Dark hair messy. Grey eyes tired. He looks at the tray, at me, at the room.
"You ate," he says.
"I ate."
"Good." He sits on the edge of the bed—close enough that I feel the warmth of him. "We need to talk about what happens next."
"What happens next?"
"The pack wants answers. They're scared. A rejected mate bond is unstable. It makes wolves nervous." He runs a hand through his hair. "I've been protecting you for three days. But I can't protect you forever if you won't help me."
"Help you how?"
"Help me understand." He turns to face me. Those grey eyes pin me in place. "Why did you really reject me, Lena? Not the vision. The real reason."
"That is the real reason."
"No." He shakes his head. "The vision showed you dying. That's terrifying. I get it. But you didn't even hesitate. You didn't think. You just screamed and rejected me like your life depended on it."
"Because it did!"
"Did it?" He leans closer. "Or did something else make you do it?"
The note burns in my pocket.
Leave him or I'll make the vision come true myself.
Someone wants me gone.
Someone wanted me to reject him.
Someone planned this.
"I—" My voice cracks. "I need to tell you something."
Axel goes still. "I'm listening."
Someone knocks on the door.
He doesn't move. Doesn't look away. "Go away," he calls.
"Alpha, it's urgent." A guard's voice. Strained. "There's been an incident at the northern border. You need to come now."
Axel's jaw tightens. He stares at me for one long moment.
"This isn't over," he says.
"I know."
He stands. Walks to the door. Pauses with his hand on the frame.
"Stay here," he says. "Don't open the door for anyone but me."
Then he's gone.
And I'm alone with a note in my pocket that says someone wants me dead.
---
I pull out the paper again.
Leave him or I'll make the vision come true myself.
I read it until the words blur.
Then I read it again.
And I make a decision.
I'm not leaving.
Whoever wrote this—whoever wants me gone—they don't know me.
They don't know that I've spent nineteen years surviving.
They don't know that I've saved more lives than I can count.
They don't know that I'm done being invisible.
I fold the note carefully. Tuck it into my bra where no one will find it.
Then I walk to the window and look out at the pack that wants me gone.
Come for me, I think. I dare you.
- Writer
