THE ALPHA'S CAGED MATE

LYRA’S POV The night my mother died, I heard something scratching at my bedroom window. At first, I thought it was a branch. Then it scratched again. Three slow, deliberate strokes. I froze beneath my blanket, staring at the dark window across the room. Rain tapped against the glass, and the wind rattled the old wooden frames of our little house. My mother used to tell me never to open the door after midnight. She never explained why. I used to think it was one of her strange habits. She had plenty of those. She checked the locks twice before bed, covered every mirror during thunderstorms, and refused to let me walk alone through the woods behind our house. But tonight, I finally understood that her fear had never been ordinary. Because my mother was dead. And something outside was looking for me. I sat up slowly, my fingers gripping the blanket. “Mom?” I whispered before remembering that no one would answer. The word hurt more than I expected. Only six hours earlier, I had been holding her hand in the hospital, begging her to wake up. She had looked so small beneath the white sheets. Her breathing had grown weaker until the monitor beside her bed became a long, continuous sound. Before she closed her eyes for the last time, she had grabbed my wrist. “Lyra,” she whispered. “I’m here, Mom.” Her eyes moved toward the necklace around my neck. It was an old silver pendant shaped like a crescent moon, something she had given me when I was little. “Never take it off.” I had laughed through my tears. “I won’t. I promise.” She shook her head weakly. “Not even if someone tells you they know what you are.” I remembered frowning. “What do you mean?” But she never answered. Now, sitting alone in our house, I wished I had asked more questions. Another scratch came from the window. This time, it was followed by a low growl. My blood turned cold. I threw the blanket aside and reached for my phone. My hands trembled as I switched on the flashlight. The beam landed on the curtains. They were moving. The window was closed. I swallowed hard and stepped closer. “Who’s there?” Silence. I pulled the curtain aside. Two glowing eyes stared back at me. I screamed and stumbled backward. Something enormous stood outside, its shape barely visible through the rain. It looked like a wolf, but no ordinary animal could have been that large. Its black fur blended with the darkness, and its eyes burned an unnatural shade of red. Then it opened its mouth. A row of sharp teeth appeared behind its lips. I ran. I didn’t stop until I reached the front door. My fingers fumbled with the lock, and I nearly fell when I finally pulled it open. Cold air struck my face. I ran into the rain wearing nothing but my sleeping clothes and bare feet. Behind me, glass shattered. A terrible howl ripped through the night. I didn’t look back. The woods were only a few minutes away. I had spent my childhood being forbidden from entering them, but tonight I had nowhere else to go. Branches scratched my arms as I ran between the trees. My lungs burned, and every breath felt like swallowing ice. Something was following me. I could hear its paws striking the wet ground. Faster. Closer. I stumbled over a root and hit the ground hard. Pain shot through my palms. Before I could stand, a shadow moved between the trees. The creature emerged from the darkness. It was no longer pretending to be an animal. Its body was covered in black fur, but its front legs had begun to change. Its claws dragged against the earth, leaving deep marks in the mud. I backed away. “Please,” I whispered. The creature tilted its head. Then it spoke. “Found you.” My heart nearly stopped. It could talk. I scrambled backward, but my heel struck a stone. I fell again, and the silver pendant around my neck slipped from beneath my shirt. The moment it touched the cold air, it began to glow. The creature recoiled. A painful hiss escaped its throat. “What are you?” it snarled. I stared at the necklace. “I don’t know!” The pendant burned against my skin. A strange warmth spread through my chest, followed by a sharp pain that made me cry out. For one impossible second, I heard a voice inside my head. Run, daughter of the First. Then everything went silent. The creature lunged. I squeezed my eyes shut. A violent impact shook the forest. I heard a deep growl, followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the ground. When I opened my eyes, a massive black wolf stood between me and the creature. Unlike the first beast, this wolf had golden eyes. They weren’t merely bright. They were almost human. The red-eyed creature lowered its head and stepped backward. “Alpha,” it whispered. The black wolf bared its teeth. One warning growl was enough. The creature disappeared into the trees. I remained frozen on the ground, unable to understand what I had just witnessed. The wolf slowly turned toward me. I should have been terrified. I was terrified. But something strange happened when our eyes met. The pain in my chest eased, and the silver pendant stopped burning. The wolf took one step closer. Then another. I tried to move, but my body refused to cooperate. “Stay away,” I whispered. The wolf stopped. For a moment, we simply stared at each other. Then a strange sensation swept through my chest. It felt like something inside me had awakened after years of sleeping. The wolf lowered its head. A man’s voice suddenly echoed through the darkness. “Who brought a human into my territory?” I turned toward the sound. A tall man stepped out from between the trees. He wore a black coat, and rain slid from his dark hair. His face was sharp, his expression unreadable, and his golden eyes were fixed directly on me. He looked at the wolf. Then at my necklace. His entire expression changed. “No,” he muttered. I struggled to stand. “Who are you?” He ignored my question. Instead, he approached me slowly, as if I were something dangerous. When he finally stood before me, he looked into my eyes. His jaw tightened. “Impossible.” “Can you please tell me what’s happening?” He reached toward my face, but I slapped his hand away. “Don’t touch me.” His gaze darkened. The black wolf behind him released a low, warning growl. The man didn’t look away from me. Then he said something that made the entire world seem to stop. “You’re mine.” I stared at him. “What?” His expression remained cold, but something wild flickered behind his eyes. “My wolf has recognized you.” I shook my head. “I don’t even know you.” He glanced at the silver pendant hanging against my chest. For the first time, I saw something that looked like fear in his eyes. “That’s the problem,” he whispered. Then he looked at me again. “Because if you are who I think you are, this kingdom is already doomed.”