Chapter 3: Gilded Cage

POV: Aria

The first thing I felt was silk against my skin, and my eyes snapped open.

Everything was wrong. The ceiling above me was painted with wolves running under moonlight, gold leaf tracing the edges. A crystal chandelier caught morning light and threw rainbows across walls that weren't William's peeling wallpaper.

My breath came faster.

The forest. Running. William's blood on the letter opener. The stone circle. Those rogues circling me like I was prey. The cliff where I'd been ready to jump, better to die on my terms than let them touch me.

A roar that shook the earth.

My hand flew to my throat and my heart slammed against my ribs so hard it hurt.

The wolf.

Black as midnight with eyes burning crimson, massive and deadly. It had killed those rogues in seconds, torn them apart like they were nothing, and then it came toward me covered in blood. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything but watch as it got closer and spoke one word in a voice that was barely human.

Mine.

I sat up too fast and the room spun. My stomach lurched and I pressed my hand against my mouth, swallowing hard against the nausea.

The bed beneath me was huge and soft and expensive, nothing like the thin mattress I'd slept on in William's servant quarters.

I looked down at myself and my breath stopped completely.

Someone had changed my clothes.

The torn, bloody dress was gone and instead I wore a nightgown made of fabric so thin I could see my skin through it. Cream-colored, sleeveless, barely reaching my knees.

My hands started shaking.

Who undressed me? Who touched me while I was unconscious?

I threw the blankets off and my legs wobbled when I stood but I forced them to hold me. The floor was cold marble under my bare feet.

The room was massive with a fireplace and bookshelves filled with leather books and chairs that probably cost more than everything William owned. And windows, high up near the ceiling, with iron bars across them.

Bars.

My chest tightened and air wouldn't come in right, too shallow and too fast.

Breathe. Just breathe.

But I couldn't because this was just another cage, prettier than William's house and softer, but still a cage.

The door opened.

I spun around with my hands coming up even though I had no weapon, nothing to defend myself with.

A woman entered carrying a tray, tall and beautiful with deep brown skin and black hair woven into intricate braids. Her amber eyes held a kindness that made my stomach twist because people who looked that kind usually wanted something.

"Oh good, you're awake," she said gently. "I was starting to worry. You've been asleep for almost twelve hours."

Twelve hours. Half a day gone while I was unconscious and vulnerable.

My nails dug into my palms.

She set the tray on a table and the smell of food made my stomach clench with hunger I'd been ignoring for days, but I didn't move toward it.

"Where am I?" My voice came out rough and raw.

"Nightfall Keep. The King's residence." She smiled like that should be comforting. "You're in the east wing, the guest chambers."

"Guest chambers." I looked at the barred windows. "With bars."

"For your protection. Rogues sometimes test our borders. The bars keep them out, not you in."

Lies. I'd heard enough lies from William to recognize them.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Kova Runemark. I'm mated to Rykker, the Beta. I'm also a healer, which is why I was asked to tend to you." She gestured to the food. "You should eat. You need your strength."

I stayed exactly where I was. "When can I leave?"

The pause before she answered made my throat close up.

"You can't," she said softly. "Not yet."

"Why not?"

She moved to one of the chairs and sat, then gestured for me to do the same. I didn't.

"What's your name?" she asked instead of answering.

My jaw clenched and giving her my name felt like giving her power, but what did it matter? I was already trapped here.

"Aria," I said. "Aria Thorne. Now answer my question. Why can't I leave?"

Kova's expression shifted, still kind but careful now. "Because you're his mate. The King's fated mate. The bond recognized you both last night and he claimed you."

The words hit me like fists.

Mate. Bond. Claimed.

"No." The word came out flat and hard. "I don't care what your bond says. I'm not anyone's mate. I'm not anyone's property."

"You're not property..."

"Then let me leave."

"Aria..."

"Let me leave!" My voice cracked and heat burned behind my eyes but I blinked hard, refusing to let tears fall. I would not cry, not here, not in front of her.

"I can't," Kova said, and she actually sounded sorry, like that made it better.

My hands curled into fists and my nails bit into my palms hard enough to hurt. Good. The pain helped.

"Where are my clothes?" I asked. "My real clothes."

"They were torn and bloody. They've been burned."

Of course they had. Of course they'd destroyed the only thing I came here with.

I walked to the wardrobe and yanked it open. Dresses, dozens of them, all expensive and all colors and all my size somehow.

My stomach dropped.

Someone had measured me while I was unconscious. Someone had touched me, studied me, dressed me in that transparent nightgown.

I grabbed the simplest dress I could find, dark blue with long sleeves and a high neck. My hands shook so badly I almost dropped it.

"Turn around," I told Kova, and my voice came out steadier than I felt.

She did.

I changed fast with my fingers fumbling with the buttons. The dress fit perfectly because of course it did, because someone had made sure it would.

My skin felt too hot and too tight, like I needed to crawl out of it.

"Okay," I said.

Kova turned back and her eyes scanned me, probably looking for signs I was about to break down. I kept my face blank and empty, the same mask I'd worn for eight years with William.

Never let them see you're scared. Never let them know what hurts you.

"The food..." she started.

"I'm not hungry."

My stomach cramped with the lie. I was starving but accepting food from her meant admitting she had something I needed, meant giving her power over me.

I'd learned that lesson early.

I walked to the door and tried the handle.

Locked.

My breath caught in my chest and my vision blurred at the edges.

No. Not again. Not another locked door.

"Let me out." My voice sounded distant and hollow.

"I can't do that."

"Let me out." Louder now, and my heart hammered against my ribs. "Let me out right now."

"Aria, please..."

I yanked on the handle once, twice, again and again with my shoulder slamming against the wood.

"Let me out! Let me OUT!"

"You need to calm down..."

"I AM CALM!" I screamed and my voice cracked while my hands wouldn't stop shaking. "I just need to leave before he decides what he wants to do with his new property!"

"You're not property. You're his mate. It's completely different..."

I grabbed the metal tray from the table and swung it at the lock as hard as I could.

The crash was deafening. The tray dented but the lock didn't budge.

"Aria!" Kova caught my wrist, not hard or painful but firm enough to stop me.

I dropped the tray and my hands went to the lock instead with my fingers working frantically. It was simple and old-fashioned, like the ones William used.

I'd learned to pick those when I was twelve, when I needed to steal food because he'd locked me in my room for three days.

My fingers found the mechanism. I needed something thin, a hairpin, anything.

"Aria, please, you need to stop..."

"I need to leave," I said, and my voice shook along with my whole body. "I need to leave now."

The lock clicked.

I yanked the door open.

Two guards stood outside, both massive and over six feet tall with shoulders that could block the entire hallway. They looked down at me with carefully neutral expressions.

"Miss," the one on the left said. "You need to go back inside."

"No." My voice came out steadier than I expected. "I need to leave. Move."

"Can't do that, Miss."

I tried to push past them and the one on the right caught my arm gently, like I was fragile, like William used to hold me before the hitting started.

Something inside me snapped.

I swung at him with my free hand and my fist connected with his jaw. Pain exploded up my arm. It was like punching stone and he didn't even flinch.

"Please don't make this difficult," he said, still using that careful, gentle voice.

I kicked his shin as hard as I could. He shifted his weight but didn't let go.

The other guard moved to help and I fought them both, kicking and clawing and trying to bite when they got close enough. Not because I thought I could win but because if I stopped fighting, if I let them control me, then I was back in William's house, back in chains, back to being nothing.

Well, if I'm going to die, might as well go down swinging.

"Aria, stop!" Kova's voice. "You're going to hurt yourself!"

"Good!" I shouted back and tears burned in my eyes but I still wouldn't let them fall. "At least it'll be my choice!"

I got one arm free and lunged for the hallway. I made it three steps before both guards caught me, one on each arm, lifting me off the floor.

My chest heaved and my throat burned while my fist throbbed. My feet dangled in the air.

And then the air changed, heavier and electric, and my birthmark flared hot under my dress, burning like it had in the forest.

"Brave little mate."

The voice was a dark purr that ran down my spine like warm honey.

Every muscle in my body locked up.

The guards' grips loosened, not releasing me but not holding as tightly.

I twisted in their hold, looking back toward the chamber, and saw him.

King Valerian Goremane leaned against the doorframe like he had all the time in the world.

He wore only leather pants with nothing else, his chest bare and all carved muscle and white scars that told stories of violence I couldn't imagine. His skin was deep bronze and his black hair fell past his shoulders, still damp.

And his eyes.

Not crimson like in the forest but gold, molten gold, and they locked onto me with an intensity that made my breath stop.

My heart slammed against my ribs, too fast and too hard.

He smiled slowly, like a predator.

"Foolish," he said, his voice dropping lower, "but brave."

He pushed off the doorframe and started walking toward me with movements that were too smooth and too controlled, like a predator stalking prey.

Every instinct screamed at me to run.

But the guards still held me and even if they didn't, where would I go? He'd caught me once and he'd catch me again.

So I lifted my chin and met his eyes, refusing to look away even though my hands were shaking and my throat was closing up and I wanted to run so badly I could taste it.

His smile widened like my defiance pleased him, like it was exactly what he wanted.

"Oh," he said softly, each step bringing him closer, "we're going to have fun, you and I."