Nyra
I had never feared cages.
Not because I was unafraid of pain... I knew pain well enough to map it like a scarred geography across my skin. No, I didn't fear cages because cages taught you things. Who watched too closely. Who grew sloppy with routine. Who believed you broken.
And from those things, I learned where the cracks in my prison would form.
The wolves had dragged me to their Alpha claiming I killed two fellow wolves- the guard and the psycho. The rumor that had started with just a few soldiers with a vendetta against me had snowballed into a full-on rampage. Time after time, wolves had trooped to the front of my cell to hurl insults, spit in my face, and level threats for killing one of their own.
But after hearing their account of things, by the time Lucien turned his cool gaze toward me awaiting an explanation, I already knew then that there was nothing I would say that would change whatever fate he had in store for me.
So instead, I shrugged and said, "Well what can I say? I didn't like the way his breath smelled."
That response had earned a cry of outrage from the small crowd that had gathered to hear his verdict.
But Lucien had only stared at me through narrowed eyes and remained absolutely quiet. Afterwards, I was sent back to my cell to await my punishment and that was it.
He hadn't visited me in two days. I tried not to think about why that irritated me. The last time he'd stood in my doorway, staring at me with those cold, merciless eyes, my blood had rushed hot, wild, infuriatingly alive.
He hated me. I knew it. I felt it in the way his voice sharpened whenever I breathed too loudly. In the way his jaw locked when I smirked.
But beneath all that hate was something else. Something more dangerous.
The mate bond.
I wasn't stupid. I'd felt the tug in my chest the moment our eyes locked. Felt the unbearable truth snap into place like shackles around my ribs.
He hadn't accepted it, and I sure as hell wouldn't, but the bond didn't need our permission. It pulsed, stubborn and cruel, every time his scent hit my nose.
My wolf... a small, strange creature compared to his... stirred restlessly at the thought of him. I ignored it.
By the third day, the guards grew restless.
"Maybe the Alpha's bored with her," one muttered as they tossed my food through the bars. Stale bread, some dried meat, water that tasted faintly of iron. I hadn't eaten much. Hunger gnawed, but it also made me sharper. Hunger reminded me I was still alive.
"Or maybe," another said, "he's waiting for the right moment to gut her. Like a hunter fattening prey before the feast."
I smiled sweetly, leaning close to the bars. "Oh, darling. If he wanted me gutted, you'd be mopping my blood off the floor by now."
The younger guard flinched, stepping back. The older one sneered. "Shut your mouth, witch."
I tilted my head. "Funny. That's exactly what your mate said before I slit his throat."
The younger guard sucked in a breath. The older one went red with rage.
It was a lie, of course. I hadn't killed his mate. I was completely innocent of the accusations they'd levelled against me. But if they could throw false accusations around, I was damn sure going to use it as a weapon against them.
The wolf lunged for the bars, claws scratching metal. The younger one caught his arm. "Leave it, Jareth. The punishment the Alpha has in store for her will be a fate worse than death, I'm sure."
Jareth snarled, but he pulled back, though not before giving me a look that promised pain.
I just licked the crumbs of bread from my fingers and laughed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
That night, when the torches dimmed, the shadows came alive.
I sat cross-legged on the cold floor, eyes closed, breathing steady. I was talking- not words, not spells, just sound. A lullaby my mother had once hummed when I was still small enough to believe in safety.
The shadows answered.
They rose, slowly curling along the floor like smoke. They slid up my arms, cool and familiar, brushing my skin with almost tender touches.
My wolf stirred, uneasy. Shadows weren't natural, it said. They weren't pack.
No, I thought back. They're better.
Pack had abandoned me long ago. Shadows never would.
The chains hummed as the shadows pushed against them, testing. Not enough to break yet- but one day. One day soon.
I smiled in the dark.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The next morning, they finally brought me out.
A trial, they called it. But it was more like a spectacle. Wolves loved their theatre, their dominance games dressed up as law. They hauled me into the great hall, my chains clanking, shadows slithering close behind me like eager pets.
The pack crowded the stone benches, snarling, spitting, glaring. "Abomination." "Monster." "Leech." "Murderer."
I bowed as if I'd stepped onto a stage, my lips curved in mockery. "Oh, you remembered my name, how sweet."
The growls grew louder. A guard cuffed me hard across the face. I didn't flinch, though my cheek burned. I only turned my head slowly, spat blood onto the stone floor right onto his boot, and smiled wider.
Then Lucien entered.
The room fell immediately silent.
He strode in like a storm made flesh, every step heavy with authority, his presence pressing down on every wolf until even the air seemed to bow.
The bond tugged sharply at my chest. My wolf whined. I ignored both.
His eyes found mine immediately. Cold. Merciless. And burning. Always burning.
He stopped before me, towering, my shadows curling uncertainly at my feet as if even they hesitated before him.
"You killed my men and you continue to mock my pack." he said. His voice was quiet, but it carried like a blade through the hall.
I tilted my head. "Only because you make it so easy, Lucy."
A ripple of outrage surged through the crowd. Lucien's jaw clenched and for a moment, silence reigned.
"What punishment would suit our prisoner?" he yelled to the eager crowd.
Echoes of "Kill her" rang out so loud I could almost feel the ground vibrate with it.
I'd already been judged even before I was offered a chance to say anything so instead of trying to defend myself, I leaned forward till my face was within an inch of his and said:
"Just before I crushed his skull, your guard screamed so loud... almost as loud as your father did. Almost."
Gasps erupted. The hall exploded with noise. Wolves roared, surged to their feet, snarls filling the air.
Lucien's eyes went deadly still. Not blazing now. Not burning. Just cold.
The kind of cold that promised ruin.
My wolf whimpered. My shadows pressed tight against my skin as if to shield me.
But I only smiled, blood still on my teeth.
Because cages weren't meant to be endured. They were meant to be broken.
And I'd just handed Lucien the blade he could use to finally end my life.