CHAPTER 16
1309 Words
MIA'S POV
I didn’t know how long I had been awake.
Time felt strange in that place. There were no windows, no sound from outside—just the dim light above and the quiet breathing of the other girls.
One of them stirred.
I noticed it immediately.
Her fingers twitched slightly against the floor before her eyes fluttered open. She didn’t move at first, just lay there, staring up at nothing like she was trying to remember where she was.
Relief washed over me before I could stop it.
She wasn’t dead.
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I had been holding and shifted slightly, the chains tightening around my wrists. The metal scraped against my skin, already sore from earlier.
“Hey,” I said softly, my voice still rough. “Can you hear me?”
Her eyes moved slowly toward me.
There was confusion there. Weakness. But not that empty, controlled look from before.
That was enough.
Before I could say anything else, the door clicked.
My body tensed instantly.
He stepped in like nothing had happened.
Calm. Unbothered. Like this was just another part of his day.
His eyes went to the girl on the floor first, then to me.
“She woke up,” he said.
“I can see that,” I replied.
He didn’t respond to my tone. Instead, he walked further into the room, his gaze shifting back to me, more focused now.
“You’ve been awake for a while,” he observed.
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t try to scream again.”
“There’s no point.”
Something about that seemed to interest him.
He stopped a few steps away, studying me like he was trying to figure something out.
“You adapt quickly,” he said.
I didn’t answer immediately.
I was watching him. Really watching him this time.
The way he moved. The way he spoke. Nothing about him felt rushed. Not even when he fed. It was controlled. Intentional. Like he knew exactly how much to take and when to stop.
That was the part that made it worse.
Not the fangs. Not the blood.
The control.
“You’re studying me,” he said suddenly.
I blinked, caught off guard. “No, I’m not.”
“You are,” he replied calmly. “You’ve been doing it since I walked in.”
I looked away, annoyed that he had noticed.
“Maybe I’m just trying to understand what kind of monster I’m dealing with.”
That earned a quiet chuckle.
“Careful,” he said. “You might end up understanding more than you should.”
He crouched in front of me again, resting his arms loosely on his knees.
“You’re not afraid enough,” he said.
I frowned. “What does that even mean?”
“It means,” he replied calmly, “you should be begging by now. Crying. Trying to bargain.”
“I already tried that,” I said, thinking back to earlier. “You didn’t listen.”
“That’s because you didn’t mean it.”
I held his gaze.
“And what makes you think I mean anything I say to you now?”
That made him pause.
Just slightly.
Then he leaned in closer, not touching me this time, but close enough that I could feel the cold coming off him.
“Your heartbeat,” he said quietly. “It doesn’t match your words.”
I swallowed.
I hated that he could read me that easily.
“What do you want from me?” I asked.
“Right now?” he said. “Nothing.”
“That’s hard to believe.”
“It shouldn’t be,” he replied. “If I wanted something from you, you’d know.”
I didn’t like the way he said that.
Too certain.
Too calm.
He tilted his head slightly, his eyes narrowing just a little.
“Who taught you to resist?”
“No one.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is.”
“Humans don’t just ignore commands like that,” he said. “Not unless something is wrong.”
“Or something is right,” I shot back.
That seemed to catch his attention.
His gaze sharpened again, more focused than before.
“Interesting,” he murmured.
Silence fell between us for a moment.
Not uncomfortable.
Just… heavy.
“You mentioned the Alpha,” he said after a while.
My chest tightened slightly.
“What about him?”
“You’re confident he’ll come for you.”
“He will.”
“You sound certain.”
“I am.”
He watched me for a few seconds, like he was weighing something.
“And if he doesn’t?”
“He will.”
There was no hesitation in my voice this time.
I needed that to be true.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
“I hope he does,” he said.
The way he said it made something twist in my stomach.
Not fear.
Something else.
Something I didn’t want to think about too much.
He stood up slowly and turned away from me, walking toward the other girl again.
She tensed when he got closer, trying weakly to push herself back.
“Relax,” he said, almost absentmindedly. “If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t wait.”
She froze.
I clenched my fists against the chains.
“You’re cruel,” I said.
He glanced back at me.
“No,” he replied. “I’m honest.”
He crouched beside the girl and checked her pulse like it meant nothing to him. Like what he had done earlier hadn’t mattered at all.
“You’ll live,” he told her, standing up again.
Then his attention returned to me.
“There’s something different about you,” he said.
I didn’t respond.
I didn’t trust that conversation.
“Your scent,” he continued. “Your reaction. Even the way you look at me.”
“I’m looking at you like you’re insane.”
“That’s not all.”
He took a step closer again.
“Most humans either break… or submit.”
“I’m not most humans.”
“I’ve noticed.”
I leaned back against the wall again, exhaustion starting to creep in.
“I don’t know what you think I am,” I said, “but you’re wrong.”
“Am I?”
“Yes.”
He studied me for a moment longer.
Then he shook his head slightly, like he didn’t believe me.
“You don’t belong to him,” he said.
The words caught me off guard.
“What?”
“The Alpha,” he clarified. “You don’t belong to him.”
“That’s not your decision to make.”
“No,” he agreed. “It’s yours.”
I frowned, trying to understand what he meant.
“Then why am I here?” I asked.
“Because I brought you here.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you need for now.”
I let out a frustrated breath and looked away from him.
“I don’t understand you.”
“You don’t have to.”
He stepped back slightly, creating a bit of distance between us again.
“But you will,” he added.
I glanced back at him.
“And when I do?”
He held my gaze for a second.
Long enough for the weight of his words to settle.
“When he comes,” he said quietly, “you’ll have to choose.”
The room felt colder after that.
I didn’t respond.
I couldn’t.
Because for the first time since I got here—
I wasn’t thinking about escaping.
I was thinking about what happens when Xavier actually finds me.
And why this man sounded like he was looking forward to it.
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