Chapter 4

Selena’s POV

I heard my bones crack

That was what forced me awake

The pewter that u had no escape

Not even in my dreams

I opened my eyes to the pain that came from the cold floor I was lying on.

The worst part wasn’t the cold floor.

It wasn’t the fact that my body felt like it had been run over by a truck

It wasn’t the fact that I couldn’t stop my mind frkm thinking back to my sister.

It was the silence.

It felt different

Too different.

It was the kind that crawls into your ears.

My bones felt sticky as though it had settled in there.

Stuck to them like rot. The sound of my heartbeat drummed repeatedly in my ears, I was worried that the guards could hear it outside the dungeon door.

My bones were knocked in place, and I could get them crack with every move I made.

The dessert wasn’t enough to describe how dry my tongue was, my limbs were sore and the headache I felt was custom made…dull and slow at the back of my head.

i always had wild imagination, tye kind that involved my sister and I living out our dream lives eventually.

Not this

Not dying in a glorified dungeon, no source of light

And worse for absolutely.

I felt the urge to punch the walls. To curse Zevran right here in this rat hole.

The cold air forces itself into my nostrils, not like I could help it anyway.

For some reason, it felt heavy in my chest, like it did not want time to breathe. My arms were still wrapped tightly around my body, but I couldn’t seem to stop shaking. Every time I looked around, the walls seemed closer and tighter, like they were trying to crush me. There was barely any space to move, no room to walk, not even to stretch my legs.

I was trapped.

No voices, or footsteps, just the slow steady drip of water somewhere far away. The sound only managed to tighten my nerves even more.

“Damn it,” I cursed, even though my coice sounded like a whisper. It didn’t echo. The sound just died in the cold air.

I kicked the wall with my left foot. Hard. Pain shot up through my ankle and I cried out, falling back onto the hard ground. I grabbed at my leg, tears stinging my eyes—not just from the pain, but from everything. From the fear. The hopelessness. The anger burning in my chest with nowhere to go.

I was scared.

Everything happened before I could register it. Like a movie scene, the little girl, the man and the way he looked between the girl and I.

How surprised he was that she was talking. How he hadn’t believed me initially.

I didn’t know if anyone even remembered I was here. What if they never came back? What if they left me to rot in this dark hole? My heart pounded in my chest, faster and faster, and I couldn’t catch my breath. I felt like I was drowning in the air itself.

I crawled to the wall and leaned my head against it. It was freezing. It made my skin hurt. But I didn’t move. I didn’t know what else to do.

Tears spilled down my cheeks.

What if this was it?

What if I never saw sunlight again?

What if no one came?

Then I heard it.

My ears perked at the sound from a distance and I instinctively jerked up.

“Footsteps. Heavy. Purposeful.

My body stiffened against the far wall as the iron door creaked open and a rectangle of pale light spilled in.

I blinked.

Then instantly regretted it.

Him.

Alpha Cassian Storm.

His shadow filled the doorway like a bad prophecy. Even in the dimly lit room, his presence had an oppressive aura.

Calm

Controlled, but always two seconds from a lightning strike

I forced myself to sit straighter, ignoring the way my spine protested. He wasn’t going to see me huddled. I might be caged, but I wasn’t broken. Not yet.

“How wonderful ,” I smiled, even though my voice had cracked from thirst, “The mighty Alpha visits his prisoner. Should I bow down or something, or are tears more your style?”

His expression didn’t change. I hated it. That I couldn’t get even a single reaction from him, not even an eye bat.

How did he feel carrying that smug look every time, like nothing could touch him.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, totally ignoring everything I had rambled.

I blinked once. Hard. “Sorry, what was that? Compassion? From the man who threw me into this rat-infested shoebox?”

His jaw tightened a little, just a twitch.

“I asked a question.”

“And I mocked it,” I shot back. “Seems we’re both consistent.”

He stepped inside, and the door shut behind him with a metallic groan. The sound echoed in my skull like a warning.

Don’t show fear.

Don’t show fear.

But fear didn’t take permission from anyone… especially not me. It increased with every step he took in the direction of my cage.

I had seen men like him before

Well, from s distance, when I scraped the tables they had used.

Not like this.

Not when they had a say on my life and death.

But I wouldn’t cower. Even if my knees were practically vibrating.

“You’re bruised,” he said.

“Occupational hazard,” I replied sweetly

. “You know, being falsely accused, dragged out like a criminal, thrown in a hole. Do you treat all your guests this way, or am I just special?”

His eyes flickered, storm-grey and unreadable.

“You are special,” he said after a pause.

I blinked.

What?

“Well, that’s new,” I muttered, folding my arms, trying to look less like I wanted to sprint for the door. “Are we about to bond over trauma now? Or should I guess how many bones you’ll break today?”

He didn’t smile. Of course he didn’t. The man probably hadn’t smiled since birth.

“I came to offer you a job.”

I choked on a bitter laugh. “You think this is a job interview? Where’s my résumé? Should I list my skills? I’m very good at surviving betrayal.”

He ignored the sarcasm. Typical.

“As my daughter’s nanny.”

The words sliced through the air like a thrown dagger.

For a second, I forgot how to breathe.

Not because I was surprised.

But because I remembered.

The little girl from earlier—the one who’d led me into this rat cage i was in.

Mummy.

Her.

“I just want a way out,” I was already tired from the back and forth,

I wanted to go home, to hug my sister, to start life afresh, maybe two months earlier

“not to be stuck with some weird kid,”.I managed, even though my chest tightened because I had not meant it. She looked adorable, with her big round eyes.

No wonder she looked like him. That same thick dark hair. That guarded look. The sense she was always listening, always watching.

“She’s called Sisi,” he said, voice lower now. “She doesn’t speak. Not to anyone.”

I snorted softly. “Funny. She spoke to me.”

A beat passed.

“She called me her mother,” I added, just to see his face change.

It didn’t. Not much. But his jaw flexed slightly, and I knew the words rattled him.

“Why me?” I asked, my grip on the bars had tightened now, I was holding them as though they held a solution to call my nerves.

”you could just pick anyone from your kingdom and let me be,” or maybe she didn’t speak a word to the either? But I couldn’t add that part.

“She doesn’t trust anyone,” he said. “Until you.”

My laugh was sharp. “So I’m being promoted from accused thief to full-time nanny. Do I still get to keep the shackles?”

“I’m giving you a way out.”

“Oh, how generous. And what if I say no? You’ll toss me into a deeper dungeon?”

His eyes met mine, steady and cold. “You won’t.”

“Arrogant much?”

“Practical.”

“You don’t know me ,” I retorted, voice colder now. “What makes you think your people will accept me around your heir?”

“No one comes here,” he replied. Simple. Final.

Gods.

Was that supposed to be reassuring?

“Let me get this straight,” I said, crossing my arms tightly. “You dragged me here, and now, because your daughter mumbles one word, I’m suddenly qualified to be her guardian?”

“She said more than one word.”

I stared.

That… wasn’t the point.

“Did you even ask her why?” I asked. “Why she said it? Why she picked me?”

“No.”

“Of course not,” I muttered, pacing again. “Because feelings are terrifying, and silence is safer. You people only trust orders, don’t you?”

Cassian didn’t rise to the bait. His face was unreadable again.

“She’s not safe around just anyone,” he said after a pause. “You’re the first person she’s reached for. And I need someone she can trust.”

Need.

Not want.

Always the cold choice.

“And what happens when she decides I’m not her… whatever she thinks I am?” I asked. “You’ll throw me out again?”

His voice was quieter this time. “No.”

The air between us thickened. For the first time, he looked like he was searching—for what, I couldn’t tell.

“You said she hasn’t spoken in months?” I asked, softer now.

He nodded once.

I stared down at the floor.

Poor little girl.

Even in that brief moment, she had clung to me like her life depended on it.

“Mummy.”

I exhaled shakily.

I’d never heard anyone say that word to me. Not like that.

“Why do I get the feeling this isn’t just about her?” I asked finally, looking back up at him. “What is this really about, Alpha?”

A pause. His gaze dropped to the floor, just briefly.

And then: “There’s more going on than you know.”

“Well, that’s just delightful.” I waved my hand. “Mystery, betrayal, creepy nobles, silent kids, emotionally constipated Alphas—this is practically a soap opera.”

Still no smile. But the corner of his mouth twitched.

Barely.

Almost.

Was that… amusement?

I folded my arms again, suppressing the flutter in my chest. “So what now? You let me out of here and give me a palace room? Or are you planning to drop me directly into a nursery from hell?”

“You’ll start immediately.”

He paused staring intently at me.

“One more thing,” he said without batting an eyelid.

I waited.

“If you ever hurt her—intentionally or not—I will personally see to it that no one ever finds your body.”

My breath caught.

Not because of the words.

But because there was no malice in them. No rage.

Just quiet, terrifying certainty.

And somehow, that scared me more than any threat ever had.

maybe fate was never going to stop playing games with me.