Caged by the enemy Alpha

Chains

The storage room smelled like something died in there. Not fresh dead, but old dead. The kind of rot that seeps into stone and never leaves.

Rats were skittered all over the place and they froze midway when I hit the floor, heads tilted, whiskers twitching, like they were waiting to see if I was a prey or near company.

They tossed me in like garbage. My knees cracked against the floor, and pain whited out my vision for a second.

The door slammed.

Metal shrieked against metal.

A lock clicked, and that tiny sound was louder than anything.

"Welcome home, Princess," he said and spat, but it landed an inch from my fingers and I starred at it until it stopped being spit and just became another strain on the floor.

"Alpha said you get water only. No food till you learn some respect."

Footsteps retreated.

I stayed on the floor for so long that the cold bit through my torn fabric of dress and settled in my bone

The chains around my wrists dragged against the stone and pulled my skin raw.

Caleb.

That howl was him.

Young, choked, like someone clamped a hand over his mouth halfway.

Nothing fatal.

Good.

But I wasn't done yet.

The hours bled together.

I tried to sleep, but every time I closed my eyes, they were waiting , Eliora's blood. Papa's head rolling down the stone stairs like he was still trying to come to me. Mama's scream, ripped raw the edges.

And under all of it , the boy's voice. The one who gave me bracelet , breaking halfway my name.

I jolted awake, gasping, and pressed my forehead against the freezing floor with the bracelet still in my palm , cutting a crescent into my skin.

That's when another memory came.

I was nine, and Papa took me hunting for the first time.

Just the two of us.

"Stay behind me, little wolf," he said, his axe resting on his shoulder like it weighed nothing.

We were tracking a deer near Silver Creek when I wandered off to pick wildflowers.

A low growl sounded.

A mountain cat, big enough to swallow me whole, came out from behind a rock, ten steps away.

I froze. My heart was trapped like a bird.

But Papa didn't , he was between me and it in one heartbeat. His axe was up, and so was his voice.

"Don't move, baby. Look at me, not it," he said calmly.

He didn't kill it, but he roared louder than the cat, and it ran.

When it was gone, he dropped to his knees in front of me, his hands on my face.

"Hey, you're okay. I'm here, and I'll always be here to keep you safe, okay? Even if I have to stand between you and the whole world."

I cried then.

Not from fear, but because of how big the promise felt.

"Promise?" my voice was so small.

"Promise," he said and wiped my tears with his thumb.

Now I watched his head roll down the stone stairs.

He was the most caring man I had ever known.The man who made the pack feel save.

There was a day I slapped Caleb because he called me a fool.

He reported me to Mum, and she came back with him, scolding me until my ears burned.

And now there was nobody left to yell at me. Nobody to look for me when I disappear

Tears hit the stone before I could bite them back.

The next day, a clay pot scraped through the door.

Not food.

Just water.

I crawled over on my knees.

The girl behind it couldn't be older than sixteen.

Nightbane blue beads in her braids, eyes huge and terrified.

She looked at me like I was a ghost.

"Drink, please," she whispered.

"He will know if you don't."

"Is it poisoned?" My voice sounded like gravel from disuse.

"No, Luna. The Alpha said..."

"I'm not your Luna."

She flinched and pushed the cup farther in with shaking hands, then bolted.

The door shut again.

The water tasted of minerals and old pipes, but I drank it anyway.

Thirst was a weapon, and I refused to let them win.

The lock tuned again while I was wiping my mouth.

Kieran walked in.

He was in a plain shirt this time.

All I could see was a bundle of clothes in one hand.

He stepped in and left the door open.

"You're awake."

His gaze dragged over me, cataloguing, and stopped at my wrists.

"Disappointed I'm not dead yet?"

"Yeah."

He tossed the bundle at my feet.

"Change. You smell like blood, and the pack needs to see their Luna."

"I'm not your—"

"You are on paper, in front of the pack, and in front of the council. Five territories. If they call the treaty void, the war restarts, and thousands will die because of you."

"What damned treaty are you talking about, huh? What does the war have to do with me and my family? Now tell me, was that Caleb last night?"

He didn't answer.

He just stared.

"Was that Caleb last night?" I repeated louder.

My chains rattled as I shifted

"Do not question me."

His voice turned cold.

"If you really want to know what happened, go ask your father in the grave."

"Change, or Rourke will do it for you. His hands are not gentle."

It sounded like he was swallowing the rest of the sentence.

I pulled the torn gown over my head and dropped it.

Then I put on the dress.

Blue with white embroidery and long sleeves.

How smart, I thought.

He actually chose long sleeves to hide the scars.

Kieran was sharpening his pocket blade by the fire and didn't even glance over.

He was behaving like a man guilty of something.

When I faced him again, his eyes were fixed on my wrists, and his voice dropped.

"Who put the chains on?"

"Your Beta, following your order."

His fingers were warm as he turned my wrists gently to inspect the wounds.

When his thumb grazed a scab, I hissed.

"Rourke will be disciplined for this."

"Why do you care?"

He dropped my wrists like they had burned him and stepped back, cold air rushing into the space where he had stood.

"Wash your face. The council arrives at dawn, and you will stand beside me and say nothing. If you speak, if you plead, if you look weak—"

"What? You'll kill me like you killed the others? I'm already dead on paper."

"I will kill Caleb."

"South dungeon. Alive for now."

The floor tilted.

"Let me see him."

"No."

"Hear him."

He was quiet for a long time.

The blade kept scraping.

"Maybe after the council.

Five minutes.

And no contact."

I will take it.

I will play your Luna.

Stand there and say nothing."

He nodded once and headed for the door.

From the hall, Rourke screamed.

There was a wet, meaty sound that made my stomach churn.

The sound of bone and punishment.

Kieran's voice came next.

Pure ice.

"I said chain her, not mutilate her."

"Get her a slave and fix what you have done."

Dawn was coming.

And with it...

The council.

And with it...

Whatever would cost me to wear the word Luna