Chapter 1 - Mira

The sounds of monitors beeping rouse me from my sleep, but the sterile scent of a hospital is what makes my eyes shoot open. I have only ever been in a hospital once and that was to see my mother before she died, but I will never forget the smell. 

Even on my worst days when Mikhail would punish me with a silver whip, he would never take me to a hospital to heal up. This can only mean one thing…I’m not where I’m supposed to be.

I sit up way too quickly and my head spins; my hand quickly flies to a throbbing head, but I don’t dare cry out. Showing something hurts you is the first sign of weakness and after everything I’ve been through, I am anything but weak.

The question remains; where the hell am I?

I remember running from Mikhail’s men, bleeding and bruised, but from what I can tell, I am mostly healed now. I ran into an alley and looked behind me, only to run straight into a brick wall. 

No, that’s wrong; I ran into someone, a man with red Alpha eyes. He pushed me into an open door and saved my life. He didn’t need to help me, he could have just allowed those men to take me, but he chose to help me. Not only that, the man had a familiar face, someone I had seen before… who is he? 

The more I think about it, the more fear creeps into my heart. I have no idea where I am, no idea if I am yet again being held prisoner. There might not be chains on me right now, but a closed door can be seen as a prison cell.

I swing my legs over the bed and get to my feet, only for a sharp pain to shoot up my leg and the left side of my ribcage. A low whimper escapes my lips, but I don’t scream; instead, I suck in a breath and try to walk a few steps.

My little walk to freedom stops when the door opens and I freeze up, only to see a woman walk inside. She smiles at me and offers me a look of pity, one I’ve seen so many times.

“Hi there, you shouldn’t be walking yet. Come, let’s get you back into bed,” she says in a soft, gentle voice that I find myself listening to.

“W-where am I?” I manage to croak out, my voice strained and my throat feeling dry. The lady walks over to the glass water jug and pours a glass of water, before walking back to me and handing me the glass.

“Here you go,” she says and sits down next to me. “How are you feeling?” 

I finish the glass of water in three straight gulps and feel out of breath. She takes the glass from my hand and waits for my answer, gently encouraging me with the tilt of her head.

“I’m…my head hurts, and there’s pain all along the left side of my body. I can barely stand on my one leg, but my ribs seem to have healed, although they’re still aching,” I say, realizing that this is the first time I’ve ever spoken a sentence that long. 

She nods, then she gets to her feet. “I’m the one who tended to you when they brought you in; you took quite a beating. It’s amazing that you were able to run from those people for so long when you should clearly have been dead,” she says, shaking her head and looking at me in wonder. “Now, I’m going to check all your vitals, okay?” 

When I look confused, she smiles. “That means I’m going to give you a check-up to see how well you’ve healed and to make sure you’re on the mend. Make sense?” 

I nod silently; then she pokes and prods away at my body with odd instruments while she instructs me on what to do. She hums in approval whenever she seems to be happy about something, before moving on to something else entirely. 

I’ve never had a check-up before. I’m sure if she had to look deeper she would see the healed scars on my back from the silver whip, the fact that my shoulder hurts on most cold nights due to the muscle there tearing over and over because Mikhail had me suspended from the ceiling by my wrists. 

But she can’t see just how damaged I truly am; that I’ll take to my grave.

“Well, everything seems to be looking up. The Alpha will be happy to know you’re okay,” she says and is about to walk out when I call out to her.

“The Alpha? Who…is the Alpha?”

Before she can answer, the door opens again and in walks a man that sends all my alarm sirens ringing. Not because of how intimidating he looks; all tall, with tattoos, dark hair, dark green eyes, and an imposing body.

But because I know him; his scent, his face, his eyes. I thought I escaped Hell, but I now realize I’ve merely been in Limbo this entire time.

“Alpha, just in time,” the doctor says with a slight smile. “I have just done her check-up, and she seems healthy, but I must tell you she’s suffered considerably before this. Also, she’s slightly frostbitten and took quite a blow to the head…” 

Everything fell away because I made the mistake of looking up; he was watching me, pinning me with a gaze that had my heart beating too fast for my body to keep up with. A bead of sweat slips down the middle of my back, my palms become clammy, and my mouth feels dry.

I have never felt terror like this before… and for good reason. If this Alpha has to find out what I know… if he has to find out just what I mean to Mikhail, I’m dead.

“That’s good to hear,” he says to the doctor, dismissing her with those words alone while still looking at me.

“I will be at the clinic if you need me. Good day, Alpha Nikolaos,” the doctor says before she leaves me alone with a man whose name hangs heavy in Mikhail’s mansion… the same man currently in a bloody territorial war with the man I ran away from.

He grins, and a tremble shoots up my spine; then walks towards me with his hands tucked into the pockets of his jeans. I would have found him attractive if I didn’t know who he was, and would gladly have allowed him to save me. But there’s a reason Mikhail is terrified of this man… and I don’t want to find out what that reason is.

Pulling up a chair, he sits down opposite me, his gorgeous scent wafting everywhere as he leans back. “Well, now. I think it’s time for you to be honest with me, kouneláki.”