The Alpha's Forbidden Mate

CHAPTER 13

MIA'S POV

My throat still burned from screaming.

Every breath felt rough, like the air itself was scraping against something raw inside me. I swallowed carefully, but it didn’t help. The ache stayed.

The girl he had fed on lay on the floor, her body slack, her face turned slightly to the side. I couldn’t tell if she was breathing.

I didn’t want to look too closely.

Because if I confirmed she was alive, I’d feel relief.

And if she wasn’t—

I wasn’t sure what that would do to me.

“You’re thinking too loudly.”

His voice came from behind me.

I stiffened.

“I can hear it,” he continued, his tone calm, almost thoughtful. “The panic. The questions. The part of you trying to understand what you’ve just seen.”

I forced myself to turn.

“I’m not afraid of you.”

The words came out hoarse but steady enough.

He watched me for a moment, then let out a quiet breath that almost sounded like amusement.

“You should be.”

I held his gaze.

“You kill people and expect them not to be afraid?”

“I don’t expect anything,” he replied. “But fear usually comes naturally.”

His eyes moved slowly over my face, like he was reading something written beneath my skin.

“You, on the other hand, are trying very hard not to feel it.”

I didn’t answer.

Because he wasn’t wrong. He took a step closer....then another

Deliberate.

Every movement felt controlled, like he already knew I couldn’t go anywhere.

I pressed my back against the wall, ignoring the cold bite of it through my clothes.

“You didn’t sleep when I told you to,” he said.

“It didn’t work.”

“I noticed.”

His gaze lingered, studying me more carefully now.

“Do you know how rare that is?”

“No.”

“Almost impossible.”

I swallowed.

The word sat heavy in my chest.

“What does that make me?”

He didn’t answer right away.

Instead, he reached out slowly, like he was approaching something fragile.

His fingers brushed against my cheek.

Cold.

Too cold.

My body reacted before I could stop it—my shoulders tensed, my breath hitched—but I didn’t pull away.

I refused to give him that.

“It makes you dangerous,” he said at last.

The word settled between us.

Dangerous.

I let out a quiet breath, my fingers curling slightly against the chains around my wrists.

“I don’t feel dangerous.”

His gaze sharpened.

“That’s usually how it starts.”

Something about the way he said it made my chest tighten.

Like he wasn’t just talking.

Like he was remembering.

“Why me?” I asked.

The question came out softer this time.

Less defiant.

More… tired.

He tilted his head slightly, studying me again.

“Because you’re not like the others.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s enough.”

Frustration flared in my chest, but it didn’t have the strength it usually did. Everything felt heavier now.

Slower.

I leaned my head back against the wall, closing my eyes for a brief moment.

The chains shifted slightly as I moved, metal scraping softly against metal.

I felt it then....the soreness in my wrists. The tightness in my shoulders. The exhaustion settled deeper into my bones.

“Xavier is going to find me,” I said quietly.

I wasn’t even sure why I said it out loud.

Maybe I needed to hear it.

Maybe I needed to believe it.

That got a reaction.

Small—but there.

A flicker in his eyes.

“Is he?” he asked.

“He will.”

I opened my eyes and looked at him properly.

“And when he does, you’re going to regret this.”

Silence stretched between us.

For a second, I thought he might get angry.

Or defensive.

But instead—

He smiled.

Not wide.

Not mocking.

Something slower.

More controlled.

“I hope he comes,” he said.

My stomach tightened.

He turned away from me, walking back toward the girl on the floor.

He crouched beside her, brushing a hand lightly over her arm as if checking something.

“She’ll wake up,” he said, almost absently. “Eventually.”

I didn’t respond.

I didn’t trust my voice.

“You’re different,” he continued after a moment. “Even your scent…”

He paused.

Like he was thinking.

“Stronger. Warmer. It doesn’t fade the way theirs does.”

I stiffened.

“What does that mean?”

“It means,” he said, glancing back at me, “you’re not as simple as you think you are.”

I hated that answer.

I hated how uncertain it made me feel.

“My parents were human,” I said quickly. “I’m human.”

His expression didn’t change.

“Are you?”

The question hit harder than I expected.

Because for a second—

I hesitated. I thought about everything that had happened. The pain. The connection.

The way I couldn’t stay away from Xavier. The way this man couldn’t control me.

I looked away.

“I don’t know what you want from me.”

“Nothing,” he said lightly. “Not yet.”

That didn’t make me feel better.

He stood up again, brushing invisible dust from his coat.

“Get some rest,” he added.

“You’ll need it.”

“For what?”

He didn’t turn around this time.

“For when things get worse.”

The room fell quiet again.

Too quiet.

I pulled my knees closer to my chest as much as the chains allowed, wrapping my arms around myself. My body ached.

My head felt heavy. But my mind—my mind wouldn’t stop.

Dangerous.

Different.

Not human.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

“No,” I whispered to myself.

I refused to believe that. I had to. Because if I wasn’t human—

Then what was I? My chest tightened.

And for the first time since I woke up here—

I felt something shift.

Not fear.

Not anger.

Something deeper, something I couldn’t ignore anymore. Because if Xavier really did come for me…then this wouldn’t just be about escaping. It would be about surviving what comes after. And somehow—

I knew that might be even worse.