Given a Choice

+ Medora

I'd been called worse.

So it wasn’t really scary when they broke it to me. Kenzo pushed the door open. The heat from inside hit my face, thick with the smell of wood and expensive leather. I stepped over the threshold, and my boots left wet prints on the floor.

I quickly made a mental note to clean it later.

The entryway was massive. High ceilings held up by thick timber beams. A wide staircase curved up to a dark landing. The walls were lined with old framed maps, faded ink under thick glass. No family photos. No soft rugs. Hard edges and practical surfaces. It looked less like a home and more like a fortress.

It looked nothing like the outside.

Kenzo walked me into the main living space and guided me to a long sofa. I sat down on the edge. The cushion barely sank. My thighs spread when I sat, the fabric of my jeans pulling tight across my knees. I clamped my legs together and rested my hands flat on my lap.

Looking awkward, and out of place.

My heart hammered against my ribs, as I waited for them to scold me, or worse. I kept waiting for one of them to turn violent, exactly the way I saw them do in the woods all those years ago.

But nothing of the sort happened.

Kaz took the armchair across from me and sat perfectly straight, like he'd been carved right out of it. Kenzo dropped onto the other end of the sofa, leaving a wide, careful gap between us.

Kol walked past without a single word. A few seconds later, I heard the scrape of a chair from the next room, the rattle of a coffee pot, and the smell of dark roast drifting in. 

He didn't need to be part of the meeting. He just lingered in the background, like a silent threat.

I swallowed, my palm turning slimy from all the sweat.

Kai stopped in the archway and leaned his wide shoulder against the stone frame. He was taller than Kaz, broader, blocking most of the hallway light. He unlaced his boots like the meeting was already decided. He was the brawn of the pack, while Kaz was the undeniable head.

Kaz looked at my face. His eyes were cold. So much that I couldn't discern what he was thinking, and that unknown terrified me completely.

I always felt a strange, heavy pull in my blood when I caught his eyes on me, fighting right against the raw fear.

"The terms are simple," he started, his voice a flat rumble. "You live here. You will provide pups for the pack line, but your main purpose is to birth a Lycan child."

My mouth formed a silent 'O' in realization, as I nodded nervously.

So it was true. The Lycan bloodline was dying. Based on the pack rumors, Kaz was the only brother who was a pure Lycan. That was why he ran the household. The older brothers seemed to prefer it that way.

Being the head Alpha brought massive responsibilities. Including securing an heir.

He paused, watching me. I blinked and quickly looked away. My pulse raced at the thought that staring too long might look like disrespect. 

"We also secured your enrollment. The Academy is a twenty-minute drive down the mountain. You will resume your classes on Monday. In exactly a year from now, there will be a mating and a graduation ceremony for completing the Luna Academy."

So it seemed I couldn't escape school. My eyes narrowed in pure exhaustion.

But a ceremony...

My body in exchange for shelter and breathing. I understood transactions. My old pack didn't bother with trades; they just took. These dangerous men were giving me a clear, honest job description. 

A degree meant I could at least become a proper Luna, even if it was just on paper. The price was simply my body and a child.

My body had already been policed by my mother, criticized by my sister, and discarded by my mate. Trading it for survival was the best deal I'd ever been offered. I just had to do exactly what they wanted so they wouldn't hurt me.

I took a breath that went all the way down into my lungs for the first time in days. The room stretched into silence. Kenzo was watching my face like he was waiting for something to crack.

But there was nothing left to crack.

I just stared at the coffee table.

Kai's second boot hit the floor. He stood up straight. "If you don't want to do this," he said, his voice completely calm, "just say so."

Was he insane?

My heart dropped so fast! How can he say that.

I turned to him, offering a wry, tight smile. "Do I actually have a choice?"

Nobody answered. Kaz's jaw tightened. I let out a slow breath, pinned a small, polite smile to the corners of my mouth, and looked back at him.

"I'm okay with it."

I didn't have a choice but to agree. I would play the obedient part until I actually mattered, it’s not like they could free me. Kenzo's mouth parted slightly, but he shut it eventually, as if deciding the argument wasn't worth his breath.

Kaz stood up and walked out, signaling the meeting was over.

Kenzo pushed off the sofa and slapped his hands against his thighs, forcing a bright, sharp energy back into his shoulders. "Alright then. Let me show you around the house."

I didn't say anything. I just followed him.

The house was a dark labyrinth. He walked me through the main floor quickly. We passed the kitchen with its white stone counters and industrial appliances, and a dining table built for twenty. The whole place was designed to make a person feel small. It was a strange, quiet comfort. 

For once in my life, I wasn't the biggest thing in the room.

It made a tiny, confused flicker of relief dance in my chest.

We walked down a long, narrow hallway toward the back of the house. It was quite different here. It felt colder, and it wasn't just the air.

"Training room." Kenzo knocked his knuckles against a set of doors. The metallic smell of old copper and sweat seeped under the doorframe. Blood. "Don't go in there on a full moon. Ever."

I scrunched my nose at the scent and nodded instantly. We kept walking. He pointed to a closed oak door at the very end.

"Kaz's office. Restricted. Don't even touch the handle."

I nodded again. I wouldn't even dare.

"Breakfast is at six," Kenzo continued, walking backward to keep his eyes on me. "Not six-oh-five. If you miss it, you make your own food. The generator cuts out at midnight. Keep a flashlight."

I nodded, and he smiled warmly. The charm made my heart skip a panicked beat. Atleast this was better, if he had known I saw him that night. Would I be killed in that same manner or worse?

I shivered from the thought.

We stopped at a tall window at the end of the corridor. Dark pine trees swallowed the horizon. Snow was already piling high against the glass.

Kenzo stepped closer, and I instinctively took one step backward. He dropped his voice to a low whisper. "The woods out back... things hunt out there. You wander off the path in the dark, we might not find enough of you to bring back inside."

He wanted me to flinch.

A dry chuckle slipped past my teeth instead. Short. Raspy.

Real monsters didn't hide in the woods. Real monsters snapped necks in the mud. Real monsters wore matching lilac dresses and sat in the front row of a wedding complaining about photos. A wolf in the woods was just nature. Nature made sense.

I bet he didn't expect my reaction. He didn’t know that the real person I fear here was him.

Kenzo blinked. He raised his hand and rubbed the back of his neck, fingers digging into the muscles at the base of his skull. 

"Right," he muttered.

He led me upstairs. The second floor was warmer, the carpet thick under my boots. He stopped at the third door on the left and pushed it open.

A large bedroom. A massive bed covered in thick gray fur blankets. A real radiator hummed in the corner, heat radiating off the cast iron in actual waves. Bare walls. A single lamp on the bedside table.

There was a small couch and a tea table, then a wardrobe for my clothes. The windows were closed, and the curtains perfectly matched my blanket.

How did they know my favorite colors?

How did they know I loved the colors gray and green?

My heart thumped hard against my ribs as I snapped my gaze to Kenzo in pure shock. He tilted his head with a small smile, arching his brows at me as if asking:

Do you like it?

"Your room," Kenzo said from the doorway, making sure not to step over the threshold. "Make sure you rest. Tomorrow is a long day."

What was I thinking? My face fell instantly. There was no way I was actually being considered or cared for. It was just a coincidence. A golden cage was still a cage.

I stood in the center of the rug and looked at the bed. It looked soft. I didn't have to sleep on the broken cot by the clinic sink anymore.

"Thank you," I murmured in a soft breath.

I turned back to pull the door shut. Kenzo's palm hit the wood and stopped it.

He looked down at me, his eyes pooled with unexpected warmth. I shivered, looking away immediately so he wouldn't see the fear in my eyes.

"You will always be given a choice here, Medora."