Chapter 7

Mira's POV,

The heavy iron door creaked open, flashing my dirty cell room with sunlight. I winced in pain as my body felt stiff and weak being curled up in the dark for days. My wrists barely responded as I tried to get up lifting my head.

Through my blurry eyes, I saw Violet rushing toward me.

“Oh Goddess! Mira,” she gasped kneeling beside me. Her cool fingers brushed against my forehead checking my body temperature. “Your condition is worse off than I thought…”

I barely had the energy to say something. Keeping me locked here for so long had drained me more than any physical punishment ever could. I felt like a ghost, trembling as Violet helped me get up.

Then she turned toward the door calling two guards inside. “She’s not going to be useful to anyone if she wastes away. At least let her walk in the garden. Let her breathe.”

“We’ll inform Alpha Kieran.” One of the guards left the cell.

Alpha Kieran finally agreed to let me walk outside the cell, but with conditions. I could go to the castle garden, but only under strict watch. It wasn’t the real freedom but I clung to it anyway.

As I stepped outside my cell, the sunlight hit my skin burning me and for the first time in days, I felt like I was actually breathing. The fresh air filled my lungs pushing away my suffocation instantly.

I never felt the scent of damp earth and blooming roses could be so beautiful. My legs wobbled as I tried to take a few steps in the garden, the cool stone under my bare feet almost make me crying.

At first, the guards kept watching me like I was some wild animal about to run away. But after a while, they relaxed a little bit around me, probably realizing I was too weak to run even if I wanted to. Violet stayed close to me most of the times. Even some days, Erin also joined us in my regular evening walk. I was slowly adapting my new life outside the prison cell, cherishing the little freedom I was getting these days.

“You should eat more,” Violet murmured glancing at my frail hands. “You need to gain your weight and strength quickly.”

I sighed shaking my head. “Even if I did, would it really matter? He’ll the push me again to get pregnant.”

Violet hesitated for a moment, her eyes couldn’t meet mine. “Not forever. Things change. People change. He can still allow you to have a normal life after giving birth of his child.”

“Do you really believe it?” I asked bitterly, my fingers trailing over the petals of a flower. “He only knows how to be cruel with other.”

Violet sighed softly without saying anything else.

Beside Violet and Erin, I’ve also got another companion in my walk time. Dexter, the same guy who caught me in the dungeon when I had first tried to escape. Back then, I was terrified of him as he was the beta of Alpha Kieran. He was sharp, cold and completely loyal to Kieran. But now… now he seemed different.

Actually, he never glared at me with disgust like other guards were used to do with me. He wasn’t barking orders to me. He just kept watching me like a shadow always maintaining a distance.

And while I was still trapped here in Shadowmoon clan, his presence didn’t feel as suffocating as before anymore. Maybe it was the fresh air that helped to tolerate the other things easily. Or maybe I was too exhausted to be scared…. too tired to care for anything else.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” One day I blurted out before I could stop myself.

Dexter blinked, caught off guard. “Like what?”

“Like you’re trying to figure something out. I’m not trying to run away again.”

He smirked slightly, his body loosening a bit. “Maybe you’ll try soon, breeder.”

“And?” I was totally surprised sensing the boldness in my own voice.

“Our Alpha haven’t decided yet what he’ll do with you next time you try.” He smirked stepping few steps forward. “You’re different than I expected.”

I chuckled. “I’m still your prisoner. Nothing changed, right?”

“Maybe,” he said in a quieter voice. “But I still sense some changes in you recently.”

I frowned, clearly couldn’t get his words.

He tilted his head scanning me for a moment. “You don’t flinch anymore. Not like before.”

I looked away. “That’s because I’m too tired to flinch. Too tired to fight.”

His face softened a little. “That’s not all. You’re adjusting. Whether you want it or not.”

I bit my lip, unwilling to admit he was right. Instead, I focused on the flowers near my hands.

Suddenly, a thought struck me like an arrow. If I was going to survive this place, I needed to be stronger than others.

I turned back to Dexter. “Can you teach me something?”

He raised a brow, clearly caught off-guard. “Teach you what?”

“To fight,” I said, standing a little straighter. “To defend myself.”

A couple of seconds passed between us and then Dexter laughed loudly for the first time in front of me. A real, amused laugh, enough to spike my irritation.

“Oh, that’s so funny,” he said, shaking his head. “You? Fighting?”

I crossed my arms rolling my eyes. “What’s so funny about it?”

He smirked. “You’ll just use it to run away again.”

I scowled trying to sounded serious. “If I was planning to run, I wouldn’t be asking for your help.”

Dexter’s smirk still didn’t fade. “Sure, our Alpha won’t give you another chance.”

“I’m serious,” I insisted. “You said it yourself, right? Maybe that will help me adapting more in this pack.”

His gaze flickered before he sighed. “You really want to learn?”

I nodded like a stubborn child.

He scanned me for a moment before finally shrugging. “Fine, I need to talk with my Alpha. But hey, don’t cry to me when you end up with bruises.”

I rolled my eyes. “I think I can handle it quite easily.”

Dexter smirked again taking a step closer. “We’ll see about that if Alpha Keiran allowed you to train.”

Keiran’s POV,

I was in my study the first time I saw her under the sunlight.

Mira was walking between Erin and Dexter, moving through the soft scent of blooming jasmine. She was healing quickly, her skin slowly regaining its warm color. Their soft chuckles echoed through my garden, a sound so unfamiliar, so out of place in this quiet castle.

And Mira… Gods, she was breathtaking!

The way she smiled at Dexter, the warmth in her eyes… it was nothing like before.

But with me? She cried like hell. Why did she have to cry?!

That night, I had to slip out of the room like a damn thief. What was her problem?!This girl had me almost feel guilty for how I claim her that night.

Me! The Alpha!

I had seen fear in people before, but never in the eyes of a woman like Mira.

There was something different about her and I hated to admit that my attraction to her was new to me.

And now? Now, I wanted her. A sharp pang of envy twisted in my gut seeing her smiling at Dexter like this.

“F*ck! How dare she smile at other men like this,” I muttered in my mind, slamming my fist over my desk.

Suddenly, the memory of her soft moans flooded my mind, sending heat rushing through my veins. I could feel my manhood was waking up with a raw, undeniable desire.

I wanted to touch her. Right now. Maybe against the cool stone of the fountain or under the shade of the old willow, I wanted to claim her, to feel her body tighten around me, to hear my name coming from her lips in between breathless, desperate moans.

The thinking of running my teeth along the curve of her neck, tasting her skin beneath my lips turned my mind crazy. I wanted to fuck her tight pussy right there in the garden, to own her completely, to mark every inch of her as mine.

But then… I saw her smile. Really smile. And something inside me shifted.

I remembered the way she used to flinch around me, how fear used to cloud those beautiful eyes. Had I really claimed her that night… or had I just broken her painfully?

Maybe… maybe I had been too cruel.

But it didn’t matter. She was given to me by her own people.

A Luna? A loving mate? That was never in the cards for me. All I needed was for Mira to conceive my child.

Maybe next time, I’d try to be gentle. Maybe I’d even let her go once she done with her task.

After all, I needed an heir… not the woman.