Chapter 5: The Golden Cage

Elara POV

​The room Kael left me in was beautiful, but the moment I heard the heavy click of the lock from the outside, the silk sheets and the warm fireplace stopped feeling like a luxury and started feeling like a trap. I walked over to the window and tried to push the glass open, but it was bolted shut, and I could see two large guards standing in the courtyard below, their eyes scanning the perimeter with the kind of focus only trained warriors possessed. My shoulder throbbed with a dull, heavy heat, and when I peeled back the bandage Maria had placed there, the wounds were still red and angry instead of closed and scarred as they would be for any other person in this pack. Being wolfless meant my body worked at a human pace, so I was stuck with the pain while everyone else around me healed in hours, and it made me feel even more vulnerable in this house of monsters.

​A light knock sounded at the door before it opened, and a young woman with a tray of food walked in, her movements quick and efficient as she set the tray on a small wooden table near the bed. She had short brown hair and a neutral expression, but I noticed the way her muscles rippled in her arms when she moved, and there was a certain way she stood that told me she wasn't just a servant.

​"I brought you some soup and bread, the Alpha said you need to eat if you want to get your strength back." She said her voice flat and professional as she turned to leave.

​"Wait, please," I said, moving toward her while trying to look as small and harmless as possible, "I don't even know your name, and I’ve been stuck in this room for hours without anyone to talk to."

​She paused and looked at me, her eyes tracking the movement of my hands. "My name is Jada, I’m here to make sure you have what you need, but I’m not supposed to stay and chat."

​"Jada, listen, I’m just a traveler who got lost and I have family waiting for me on the other side of the neutral lands," I lied, my heart racing as I reached into my bag and pulled out a small gold ring I had managed to keep hidden in my pocket, "This is worth a lot of money, and if you could just tell me which guard shift is the weakest at the eastern border, it's yours."

​Jada looked at the ring, then at me, and suddenly her neutral expression shifted into a cold, mocking smile, making me realize I had made a massive mistake. "You think I’m a maid you can buy with a piece of jewelry, Elena? I’m a lead scout for the Shadowfang pack, and the only reason I’m carrying a tray of soup is that my Alpha ordered me to keep an eye on his guest."

​She stepped closer to me, and the sheer pressure of her presence made it hard to breathe. "Keep your ring, and don't try to bribe the staff again, because the next person might not be as patient as I am."

​She walked out and locked the door again, leaving me standing there feeling like a complete fool, and I realized that Kael hadn't just given me a room; he had placed me in a high-security cell where even the people feeding me were warriors trained to kill. I sat on the bed and forced myself to eat the soup, even though my stomach was tied in knots, because I knew I needed to stay alert for when Kael eventually returned to finish whatever game he was playing with me.

​The sun went down, and the room grew dark, save for the flickering light of the fire, and I was almost asleep when the lock turned again, and Kael stepped inside. He had changed out of his leather gear and was wearing a simple black shirt stretched tight across his chest. He didn't say anything at first; he just sat in the chair across from me and watched me with those storm-gray eyes.

​"You look better than you did when I found you in the dirt, though Jada tells me you’re already trying to corrupt my scouts with gold," he said, his voice low and smooth like he found the whole situation amusing.

​"I was just trying to find a way home, Kael, there’s no law against a woman wanting to leave a place where she’s being held against her will," I replied, pulling the blanket higher around my shoulders to hide the fact that I was shivering.

​"You call it being held against your will, I call it keeping a valuable asset from bleeding out in the woods," he said, leaning forward so the firelight hit the scars on his neck, "But let’s stop pretending, Elena, if that’s even your name. You have the scent of a Silvercrest high-born, yet you have no wolf, and you were running away from your own territory on your twenty-first birthday."

​"I told you, I’m just a traveler, and whatever scent you think you smell is probably just from the wolves who attacked me," I said, trying to keep my voice steady even though I felt like I was drowning under his gaze.

​Kael let out a short, dry laugh and shook his head. "I’ve spent my whole life fighting Silvercrest wolves, and I know the Moonshadow scent better than I know my own, so why don't you tell me why the Alpha's daughter is wandering into my woods with bite marks on her throat?"

​"I don't know what you're talking about, I’ve never even met Alpha Darius, and I certainly don't belong to any royal bloodline," I snapped, hoping the darkness of the room would hide the way my eyes were watering.

​"You’re a terrible liar, but I admire the effort, because most people would have broken the moment I walked into the room," he said, standing up and walking toward the bed until he was standing right over me, "Your father killed my father, Elara, and if the pack finds out who you really are, they won't be as gentle as Maria was with those stitches."

​I looked up at him, the heat from his body radiating toward me, and for a second, I wanted to tell him everything, to tell him how my father threw me away and how Adrian chose my sister. Still, I knew that giving him that information was giving him a weapon. "If you're so sure of who I am, why haven't you killed me yet? Why bring me here and feed me and fix my wounds if I’m the daughter of your enemy?"

​Kael reached out and tucked a loose strand of silver hair behind my ear, his fingers brushing against my skin and sending a jolt of electricity through my entire body that made my breath catch in my throat. "Because a dead princess is useless, but a living one is a debt that Darius Moonshadow is going to have to pay, and I haven't decided yet how much your life is worth to him."

​He leaned down until his lips were inches from my ear, and his scent of rain and pine filled my senses. "Get some sleep, Elara, because tomorrow we start the real work, and I want you to be very clear on one thing."

​"What’s that?" I whispered, my heart thudding against my ribs so hard I was sure he could hear it.

​"You think you’ve seen the worst that people can do because your boyfriend rejected you at an altar, but you have no idea what a real monster looks like, and I’m the only thing keeping them from the door."

​He turned and walked out without another word, the door locking behind him, and I sat there in the silence, staring at the wood and realizing that he didn't just want me for a ransom; he was looking at me like I was a piece of land he intended to conquer. I walked back to the window and looked out at the dark forest, wondering if I should have just let the wolves kill me in the woods