Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Mia's POV 

I couldn't help the whimper that escaped my throat as two big and burly men tied my hands behind my back and put a blindfold on my face. 

“How could a tiny little thing like you break into our boss’s house and think you'll get away with it? You're going to regret it!” one of them sneered and I sobbed. 

This was not how I expected things to go. 

There was never a plan to get caught. 

All I had on my mind was stealing the fingerprints and getting away with it. 

This was not supposed to happen. 

“How did she even get past our security defenses? None of them got triggered. We wouldn't have known if the boss didn't smell her,” another one said and my ears perked up at that. 

Their boss smelled me? Kai Voss himself?

That was odd. 

I didn't have a scent because of the absence of my wolf spirit. 

Did he have advanced senses or what?

“Did you get her?!” the same voice I heard earlier demanded loudly, sending a delicious shiver down my spine. 

The scent I had smelled in the study—a mix of cedarwood and smoke—clouded my senses. 

What was this scent? And why did it make me feel things I had never felt before. 

“Yes, boss. She's right here,” one of the men grunted, and I froze. 

Boss? 

Oh no. 

Kai Voss was here. 

There was no way I was making it out of here alive. 

A lone tear rolled down my cheek as I thought of Liam. 

He was going to be devastated if something happened to me, especially since I was doing this whole thing for him. 

“Take off the blindfold,” Kai Voss said, and I clenched my teeth as one of the men took off the material that was used to cover my eyes. 

I blinked as I was pushed to turn around, and my eyes landed on the hunk of a man standing in front of me. 

His dark hair was messy and disheveled, obviously as a result of tossing and turning on the bed. He had full eyebrows that were carved to perfection and his blue-grey eyes were trained on me. His nose was long and narrow, with full lips that brought his face together nicely. 

Oh Moon Goddess, this man was breathtaking. 

“Leave us,” he spoke, his voice deep and velvety. 

The men walked out, leaving me and Kai Voss alone in the sitting room. 

I had always heard of the man that was responsible for the security of the country, but I had never seen his face. I didn't care enough to put a face to the name. 

But now that I was standing in front of him, my heart beat wildly in my chest despite the situation. 

Why in the world was I finding a man attractive when I was most likely teetering the line between life and death?

The man could probably kill me within the blink of an eye for breaking into his property. 

As I snapped out of the haze I was in, I found Kai Voss staring at me. His blue-grey eyes had turned fully grey and he barred his teeth. 

“Mate!” he growled and I stared at him in stunned silence. 

Surely I must have heard him wrong. 

Mate?!

No. No. No. 

How could I have a mate? 

I didn't have a wolf spirit. It should be impossible. 

I had a boyfriend who I loved immensely!

“Ah… You must be mistaken, Mr. Voss. I can't have a mate. Something must be wrong somewhere…” I trailed off in a shaky voice, and he blinked, as if regaining himself. 

His eyes returned to the blue-grey shade I had seen earlier, and I realized that his wolf spirit must have come to the surface when his eyes turned grey. 

Kai's face hardened and he pinned me with his gaze. 

“Who are you and what are you doing in my villa?” he demanded coldly. 

I opened and closed my mouth multiple times as I thought of what I could possibly tell him. 

Was I supposed to tell him I broke into his villa to steal from him or what?

“My… My name is Mia Hale. I'm a wolf-clan student at Lycan Academy…” I said shakily, and he narrowed his eyes. 

“You're a student at Lycan Academy?” he asked, scrunching his nose as he sniffed. “I can't smell your wolf.”

I let out a nervous chuckle, even though nothing about this situation was funny. “That's because I have no wolf spirit.”

His eyes widened at the realization. “A lycan without a wolf spirit? Of course. That's why you were able to get past the security defenses without triggering any of the alarms,” he said bitterly. 

“You're the perfect spy. My rivals must have sent you to collect information or harm me,” he accused, and I quickly shook my head. “You would have gotten away if the mate bond hadn't been activated.”

Again with the mate thing. What part of me not having a wolf spirit did he not understand? There must be a mistake somewhere. I wasn't his mate. 

“That's not the case! Nobody sent me here to collect information or harm you. I came on my own!” I said, and he eyed me. 

“You came here all by yourself? What was your purpose?” he quizzed, and I deflated. 

“I-I acted all on my own to help my boyfriend achieve something he has been working hard on. He needed something that belonged to you to make things work out for him, so I decided to come and get it,” I explained in a low voice. “Unfortunately, I don't have any proof to clear my name. But I can promise you nobody sent me to spy on you. I swear!”

“You have a boyfriend?” he asked, his jaw clenched and his face twisted in disgust like the word tasted bitter in his mouth. 

Was that the only thing he grasped from everything I just said? 

I didn't respond to his question, instead I went to my knees and gazed up at him pleadingly. 

“Mr. Voss, please have mercy and let me go. I promise not to ever break into anybody's property after today and I won't even think about stealing anymore. Please let me go just this once,” I begged as I looked at him with teary eyes. 

I didn't want to die. 

I had not achieved half of the dreams I wanted to achieve in this life. 

I had not helped as much people as I wanted to with my healing abilities. 

I still had my whole life ahead of me and it would be so unfair if he killed me now. 

Liam would never be the same person if I died while trying to help him. 

I just couldn't die yet. 

Kai gazed down at me, an unreadable expression on his face. 

I couldn't tell what he was thinking at that moment, so I continued. 

“I'm still in school and I'm yet to graduate, Mr. Voss. I'm also a student nurse and I have helped a lot of people, but I still want to help more. If you kill me now, you'll be doing the world a great disservice,” I pleaded with tears streaming down my face. 

“I know what you're capable of, but please have mercy just this once and let me live. If you're kind enough to do that, I promise to never show my face in front of you ever again. You will even forget that I exist. Please, sir. Please!”

Kai seemed to stare at me with an amused glint in his eyes, and I couldn't help but feel offended that he found my suffering funny. I was scared for my life, and he was getting off on it. But I couldn't let my annoyance be known. 

After a few seconds, he looked away from me and put his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants. 

“Get up. You're not dying today,” he said coolly. 

My eyes widened in surprise, finding his words hard to believe. 

“Really? You’re not going to kill me? Does that mean I can go?” I asked happily, and he shook his head. 

“I never said that,” he stated. “You're going to remain alive, as long as you agree to stay in my villa. If you try to run away, you die.”

The smile on my face fell the instant I heard that, and I was immediately filled with dread. 

I had to stay in his villa and I couldn't leave? That was basically imprisonment!

What was the point of being alive if I didn't have freedom?

“Mr. Voss… What about my life? My school? Are they going to stop or what…?” I asked tentatively. 

What about Liam? What was going to happen to him?

“You will be allowed to keep attending classes and finish your studies. But that's it. Go to school and return to the villa. And my men will escort you all the time,” he said matter-of-factly, and I grimaced. 

I couldn't believe it. 

My life was about to change before my eyes. 

I had just traded my freedom for my life. 

I should have just asked him to kill me instead.