Chapter 5

Lia:

The food was untouched.

I didn’t want to eat, but the maids insisted that I had to get something to eat.

I knew he would notice it the second he walked in. The tray sat neatly on the small table by the window, warm soup, bread, water. Real food. Pack food. I hadn’t eaten any of it, but I had stopped pacing. Stopped shaking.

That alone would tell him I wasn’t as frightened as before.

The door opened without a knock.

Marcel stepped inside, closing it behind him with deliberate calm. His gaze flicked to the tray, then to me. No judgment. No comment.

He pulled out the chair across from the bed and sat. “I see that you are still being stubborn with eating.”

“You didn’t have to get me anything to eat.” I said, and he scoffed.

“And let you starve yourself to death.”

“It would be a better option than being poisoned.” I said, and he raised an eyebrow before taking the glass and taking a sip of the water, setting it back in its place. I looked away from him, knowing that he just proved a point.

Then again, I knew that I would have smelled it if they snuck in poison.

For a moment, neither of us spoke. I just stared into space, wondering what was coming next.

The silence stretched, heavy but not suffocating. Different from before. I hated that I noticed. And I hated, more than anything, that my wolf felt comfortable with whatever this was.

I exhaled slowly. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you earlier. I am sorry for it.”

His eyes lifted to mine. Sharp. Assessing.

“You were injured,” he said. “And cornered. I wouldn’t blame you for being scared given everything that you must have endured until today.”

“That doesn’t excuse it.”

“No,” he agreed. “It explains it. But you don’t need to apologize for it.”

I looked away, jaw tightening. The words sat between us, unsettling in their lack of accusation.

He leaned back slightly. “What’s your story?”

I stiffened.

“My what?”

“Your story,” he repeated evenly. “Why you were running? Not from the rogues that night… from everything. And don’t tell me that you weren’t. It wasn’t me your were running from. You knew, since the moment you saw me weeks ago, that I wouldn’t harm you.”

I didn’t answer.

The seconds ticked by. I could feel him watching me, waiting. Not pressing. That somehow made it worse.

One brow lifted, just a fraction. “I thought so.”

I glared at him. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Pretend you’re patient.”

A corner of his mouth twitched. “I am patient. And I am waiting for an answer. One way or another, I am going to get it.”

“With everyone else,” I shot back. “I have no answers to give to you.”

He didn’t deny it.

“Listen,” he said, voice lowering. “I can’t help you if you won’t speak. I am not going to hurt you, Lia.”

I laughed, short and humorless. “I don’t need your help.”

His gaze sharpened.

“What I need,” I continued, forcing the words out before doubt could stop me, “is for you to accept my rejection. And let me leave. Me staying here is not going to do any of us any good.”

Silence snapped into place.

Then he smirked.

It wasn’t kind. It wasn’t amused. It was slow and dangerous.

He rose from the chair and took one step toward me.

Then another.

I stood my ground, even as every instinct screamed at me to move.

He stopped close enough that I could feel him, heat, power, something ancient and unyielding pressing into my space. His eyes held mine, and then…

Gold bled into the dark.

His wolf surged forward, not fully, but enough. Enough to make my breath hitch. Enough to remind me exactly who I was standing in front of. Enough to remind me that he could have my head if he wanted to, and he was choosing not to.

“That,” he said quietly, voice layered with something not entirely human, “is not going to happen. And it would be better if you allow yourself to breathe.”

My heart slammed against my ribs.

Before I could speak, before I could argue or threaten or beg, he stepped back, turned, and walked out of the room.

I stared at the door for a second too long before releasing a breath that I didn’t even realize that I was holding before opening my mouth.

“Well then, Alpha… it seems to me that you are in for a surprise…”