The Upper Floor

The silver burn on my shoulder is gone .It is replaced by a faint red mark. It isn't a claim. But it is a start. I look at the door Kael ripped from the wall. The metal is twisted like paper. It is a reminder of what he is. He is a force of nature. He is a king who takes what he wants.

"Move. Rogue."

Vane is standing in the doorway. He looks at the wreckage with a bored expression. He does not seem surprised that his Alpha destroyed a reinforced iron door. He looks at me. He gestures for me to follow him. I step over the debris. My chains clink against the stone. The sound echoes in the empty hallway.

We walk past the other cells. They are dark. They smell like misery. We reach a spiral staircase made of black granite. It leads up. Away from the damp and the mold. I feel the air change. It gets warmer. It smells like woodsmoke and expensive leather.

"The Alpha’s quarters are at the very top." Vane says. He does not look back at me. "Do not touch anything. Do not speak to the guards. Do not try the windows."

"I am not a child." I snap.

"You are a rogue in a den of wolves who want your head on a spike." Vane says. He stops at the top of the stairs. He turns to face me. "Sila was the warning. The rest of the pack feels the same way. They think you are a curse. If you leave Kael’s sight. they will finish what she started."

I do not answer. I know he is right. I am a trophy and a target all at once.

We reach a massive set of double doors. They are made of dark oak. Carved with the image of a snarling wolf. Two guards stand there. They are massive. Their eyes track me with a hunger that makes my skin crawl. Vane nods to them. They push the doors open.

The room is huge. It is not a cell. It is a fortress within a fortress. There is a massive bed covered in black furs. A fireplace tall enough for a man to stand in. A desk cluttered with maps and daggers. The windows are high and narrow. They look out over the Red Fang territory. I can see the forest stretching out for miles. It looks like a sea of dark green under the grey sky.

"Stay here." Vane says. He reaches for my wrists.

He produces a small silver key. He inserts it into the cuffs. The locks click. The weight falls away. I rub my wrists. The skin is pale and bruised. I feel lighter. But I feel more vulnerable. The chains were a cage. but they were also a barrier.

"If I hear the doors open. I will come for you myself." Vane warns.

He exits. The heavy oak doors thud shut. I hear the bolt slide into place.

I am alone in his space.

I walk to the bed. I touch the furs. They are soft. They smell exactly like him. Cedar. Ozone. Animal musk. The bond in my chest purrs. My wolf wants to roll in his scent. She wants to claim this territory as ours. I pull my hand away. I walk to the window instead.

The drop is a hundred feet. The stone is smooth. There are no handholds. Even a shifted wolf would struggle to climb down. I am truly trapped now.

I spend the afternoon exploring the room. I find a washbasin with clean water. I use a cloth to scrub the dirt and blood from my face. I look in the small silver mirror above the basin. I barely recognize myself. My eyes are sunken. My hair is a tangled mess of blonde and brown. I look like a ghost.

I find a tunic in a cedar chest at the foot of the bed. It is black linen. It is far too big for me. I strip off my torn. blood-stained rags. I pull the tunic over my head. It reaches my mid-thigh. It is warm. It smells like him. I hate how much comfort that gives me.

I sit in a large leather chair by the fire. I watch the flames. I wait.

The sun goes down. The room turns to shadows. The only light comes from the dying embers of the fire. The doors creak open.

Kael walks in.

He looks exhausted. His shirt is torn. There is a fresh scratch across his cheek. He stops when he sees me in his chair. He looks at his tunic on my body. His eyes darken. The silver in them flashes like a blade.

"You look better than you did in the dirt." He says.

"The Shadow Claw?" I ask. I do not get up.

"They are testing the fence." Kael says. He walks to the desk. He drops a blood-stained sword onto the wood. "They know I am distracted. They think I am weak because of the bond."

"Are you?"

Kael turns. He walks toward me. He moves slow. Like a hunter approaching a wounded deer. He stops in front of my chair. He leans down. He grips the arms of the chair. He pins me in.

"Do I look weak to you. Lyra?"

His face is inches from mine. I can feel the heat of his breath. I can smell the iron of the blood on his skin. My heart is a frantic bird in my chest.

"You look like a man who is afraid of a girl." I say.

Kael laughs. It is a low. dangerous sound. He reaches out. He runs a thumb over the fresh scratch on his cheek. He smears a drop of his own blood onto my bottom lip.

"I am not afraid of you." He whispers. "I am afraid of what I will do to the man who tries to take you from me."

The honesty of the statement hits me like a blow. He isn't being kind. He is being possessive. It is the instinct of the Alpha. The mate is the most precious thing in the world. Even if he hates me. his wolf will kill to keep me.

"Sila said you told the council I was a mistake." I say. My voice trembles.

"I did." Kael says. He pulls back. He begins to unbutton his shirt. "Because you are. You are the daughter of the man who tried to kill my father. You are a rogue. You have no pack. no standing. no honor."

He drops his shirt to the floor. His chest is a map of violence. Old scars. New bruises. A massive tattoo of a red wolf’s head covers his heart.

"Then why am I in your bed?" I ask.

Kael looks at the bed. Then back at me. "Because the bond is stronger than my pride. Every time I am away from you. I feel like my skin is being peeled off. I can’t think. I can’t lead. I am a mess."

He walks to the washbasin. He begins to splash water on his face.

"I am going to make you an offer. Lyra." He says through the water. "One month. That was the deal. Stay in this room. Be my Luna in name only. Show the pack that I have claimed you. If you do that. the Shadow Claw will back off. They will see a united front."

"And then?"

Kael dries his face with a towel. He looks at me over his shoulder. "And then the Blood Moon comes. We perform the ritual to sever the bond. I give you a bag of gold. A horse. I escort you to the southern border. You never come back."

"You can sever the bond?" I ask.

"There is a way." Kael says. He walks toward the bed. "It is painful. It is dangerous. Most people don't survive it. But I am an Alpha. I have the strength to cut the cord."

I look at him. He is offering me my freedom. But the price is the very thing that makes us who we are. To sever a mate bond is to tear a hole in the soul.

"Why would you do that?" I ask. "You could just keep me as a pet. As a slave."

Kael sits on the edge of the bed. He looks at his hands. "Because I don't want to be a slave to fate. Lyra. I want to choose my life. I don't want to love you because a moon told me to. I want to be free."

"I want to be free too." I say.

"Then we have a deal?"

I look at the fire. I look at the man who killed my father. He is offering me the only thing I ever wanted. A way out.

"We have a deal." I say.

Kael nods. He lies back on the furs. He closes his eyes. "Sleep on the rug by the fire. Or sleep on the bed. I don't care. Just stay in the room."

I stay in the chair. I watch him. He falls asleep within minutes. His breathing is deep and steady. He looks peaceful. It is a lie. He is a storm.

I wait until I am sure he is out. I stand up. I walk to the bed. I look down at him. He is beautiful in a terrible way. I reach out. My hand hovers over his chest. Over the red wolf tattoo. I can feel the thump of his heart. It is steady.

I want to kill him. I want to kiss him.

The bond is a poison. It is making me crazy.

I pull back. I walk to the other side of the bed. I lie down on the very edge. I pull the furs over me. The scent of him is everywhere. It is a blanket. It is a cage.

I close my eyes. I try to dream of the southern border. I try to dream of freedom.

But all I see is silver eyes.

The night is long. The wind howls against the window. I feel a movement beside me. A heavy arm drapes over my waist. Kael pulls me back against him in his sleep. His nose nuzzles into the crook of my neck. He let's out a long. satisfied sigh.

I should push him away. I should fight.

I stay. I let the heat of his body warm mine. Just for tonight. I tell myself. Just for the deal.

The nightmare is changing. It is becoming something else. Something much more dangerous.

I fall asleep to the sound of his heart.

I’m