Chapter 3

The Alpha’s Proposition

Lena did not sleep much. The cold of the dungeon got into her bones, and the thin cot did not warm her up much. But she could not sleep because of him, not because she was uncomfortable.

Damian.

His words haunted her, tangled with the primal pull of their mate bond. I don’t want a mate. His rejection should have been a relief. Still, it hurt more than she wanted to say.

She jumped up when she heard a sharp clanking sound.

The dungeon door swung open, revealing Damian standing there, his golden eyes closed. Two guards stood on either side of him, their expressions neutral, but their presence was an unspoken warning.

“Come,” Damian ordered.

Lena didn’t move. “To Where?”

He exhaled, impatient. “You’ll eat. Then we talk.”

Her stomach turned. She did not know why she should trust him, but she had to. She could not get acne if she was not fed. As the guards moved out of the way, she forced herself to stand up and squared her shoulders. Damian turned around and led her up the curving stone stairs without saying a word.

As they came out of the dark, she felt warm all over. Sunlight came through the windows of the packhouse, illuminating a long dining hall lined with wooden tables. Warriors and pack members sat eating, their conversations faltering as they noticed her.

She heard the murmurs.

“Is that the crimainal?”

“She’s his mate.”

“He’s keeping her alive?”

Lena forced herself to ignore them. Damian pulled out a chair at the head table, motioning for her to sit. Warily, she did, her stomach twisting further as a steaming plate of food was placed in front of her. Meat, eggs, bread. She wanted to eat, but she wouldn’t let him see her enjoy it.

Damian sat across from her in silence as she ate. After a few tense moments, he finally spoke. “I have a proposition.”

Lena raised an eyebrow. “You mean besides keeping me locked up?”

His jaw tightened. “You want freedom?”

She scoffed. “Obviously.”

“Then earn it.” Damian said.

Her fingers stilled on the fork. “Excuse me?”

“I have enemies, Lena. A rebel movement is spreading through the northern territories, threatening the packs under my protection.” He leaned forward slightly, his golden eyes piercing into hers. “You were like them for years. You know how they think.”

Lena made a funny face. “Do you want me to be your little spy?”

“I want you to do more than that.”

There was a long silence between them. The weight of his words settled in. He wasn’t offering an easy way out. He was asking her to betray the very life she’d lived for years.

She folded her arms. “And if I refuse?”

Damian’s expression darkened. “Then you stay locked away.”

Lena laughed, it was not funny. “You’re giving me the illusion of choice.”

His eyes flickered with something unreadable. “I’m giving you a chance.”

A chance. That was all it ever was, right? She never got anything from the world; she always had to scratch and claw to stay alive. The most powerful Alpha she had ever met now gave her a way out.

But how much will it cost? Damian asked.

She stuck a piece of meat with her fork and took a bite. She chewed slowly before responding. “I’ll think about it.”

Damian gave a curt nod. “You have until tomorrow.”

She did not blink as their eyes met each other. Tomorrow, right? Then she had less than twenty-four hours to find another way out.

Lena walked back and forth in her new small room. It wasn’t the dungeon, but it wasn’t freedom either. A guarded chamber on the third floor of the packhouse, meant to keep her safe but comfortable. The walls slid shut around her, and the weight of her situation got heavier in her bones.

A knock on the door startled her. She turned around just as Kieran walked in. His dark eyes looked at her carefully. He put the food tray on the small table with one hand.

“You should eat,” he said.

Lena crossed her arms. “Is that an order?”

Kieran’s lips twitched. “More like a suggestion. Damian won’t go easy on you if you take his deal.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What if I don’t?”

His smirk faded, replaced by something serious. “Then you’re useless to him. And Damian doesn’t keep useless things around.”

Lena swallowed hard. She knew that already. She had seen wolves discarded, left to rot in the wild for less. Her stomach hurt, and not just because she was hungry. It hurt because of how important the choice she had to make was.

“You were a rogue for a long time,” Kieran continued. “You know how dangerous they can be. But you also know their weaknesses. If anyone can infiltrate them, it’s you.”

She let out a slow breath. “And why do you care?”

Kieran leaned against the table, arms crossed. “Because I’ve seen what happens when packs fall apart. When Alphas fail to act.” His gaze sharpened. “Damian doesn’t fail.”

Lena sat down, her fingers tracing the edge of the plate before her. “He says he doesn’t want a mate,” she murmured. “Yet here I am.”

Kieran studied her for a moment before answering. “Damian has lost people before. He’s not willing to risk losing again.”

Lena’s chest tightened. That made her not sure what to think. She did not know how to feel about him.

Silence stretched between them before Kieran finally got up from the table. “Get some rest. Tomorrow, you decide.”

She watched him go, her mind was racing. Was this really her way out? Could she betray the crew —the only family she had known? Or would she gamble on something she couldn’t yet understand?

One way or another, her fate would be sealed by sunrise.