Chapter 8
The fortress was suffocating that night, the cold stone walls pressing down like the weight of a thousand unseen eyes. Every corridor whispered secrets, every shadow seemed to watch me, judging, waiting. The chains around my wrists had been gone for hours, but the invisible ones—the rules, the laws, the expectations of a world I never belonged to—remained. And Lucien… he was the heaviest of them all.
He stood at the centre of the great hall, tall, immovable, eyes glowing gold in the flickering torchlight. Not a muscle moved on him, yet I could feel the tension radiating from him like electricity. Every heartbeat I took, every breath, seemed synchronised with his, a cruel reminder of the bond I had never chosen.
I had no intention of kneeling. Not now. Not ever.
I walked past him, my boots striking the stone floor like a declaration of war. Each step was deliberate, each movement a refusal to submit. I didn't glance at him, though I could feel his gaze burning into me, sharp enough to slice. His silence was louder than any shout. He could crush me with a word, a gesture, or even a thought. And yet, I pressed on.
"I will not kneel," I said, voice raw, carrying in the empty hall. I made sure he could hear it and that the walls themselves absorbed my defiance. "Not to you. Not to Selene. Not to anyone in this pack."
Lucien's jaw tightened. I saw it flicker—danger, frustration, something darker and more terrifying—but he said nothing. Only the bond screamed in response, a wild, consuming heat that clawed at my chest. His dominance, his rage, his need—it pressed against me like a storm, but I refused to yield.
"You will," he finally growled, low, almost intimate, words meant to pierce, meant to intimidate. "If survival matters to you, you will."
I stopped mid-step, my spine stiff, my heart hammering. "I don't care about surviving under your rules," I snapped, voice shaking with adrenaline and anger. "I care about surviving your world. And I will not bow to fear. Not to you. Not to her. Not to anyone who thinks they can own me."
The bond flared in response, violent and insistent, and I could feel him—Lucien Blackfang—the most feared Alpha alive, pressing against my mind, demanding acknowledgement, demanding submission. Pain rippled through me, sharp as a blade, but I stood my ground. I wouldn't retreat. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of victory.
"You're mine," he hissed, close enough that the heat of his presence brushed my skin, "whether you accept it or not. And every second you fight me, every act of defiance… makes it worse for you."
I clenched my fists, nails biting into my palms until blood ran warm and metallic. "Then let it be worse," I spat, defiance dripping from every syllable. "If survival means standing tall, then I will stand. Even if I break, even if I die, I will not kneel for you—or anyone."
Lucien's eyes, golden and unyielding, flickered with something I couldn't name. Rage. Desire. Frustration. And underneath it all, a shadow of fear—the first I had seen from him. He feared what I might actually do: refuse him entirely.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Kael. His dark gaze lingered on me, unreadable, tense. Protective. Concerned. I felt him press against the bond, warning me silently, cautioning me against provoking Lucien. But even Kael knew he could not intervene—not here, not now. There was madness in stepping between an Alpha and his mate, and even a rejected one like me was part of that danger.
And then, it began.
Low at first, a rumble carried on the wind that made my stomach tighten. Then louder, closer, deliberate—the howl of wolves at the border, far enough away that the fortress walls rattled but close enough that the tension inside mirrored the approaching threat.
"They're coming," I whispered, more to myself than anyone else. My voice trembled with fear, exhilaration, and the thrill of defiance all at once. "The border wolves… they've sensed weakness. They're moving. Now."
Lucien didn't move. He didn't need to. Every muscle coiled, every nerve alert. The storm in him mirrored the storm outside. And I realised, for the first time, that we were linked not just by the bond but by a shared predator instinct that neither of us could escape. We were bound together in chaos, whether we liked it or not.
I straightened my shoulders, daring the wind, daring him, daring the world to strike. "Let them come," I said, voice strong, trembling with life. "If it's war you want, Alpha, I will not kneel for it."
Lucien's expression softened… briefly. Something almost human flickered across his features before being buried under the mask of the Beast. "Good," he said, voice low, dangerous, deadly. "Because kneeling isn't an option anymore. Not for either of us."
A growl tore through the night, sudden and sharp. The walls trembled with the echo of movement beyond them. My pulse quickened. I could smell them—wolves, approaching, hunting, testing the fortress, testing us.
And then… the shadows shifted.
A figure slipped past the outer walls with impossible silence, deliberate and precise. Not a wolf. Not part of the border pack. Selene.
My blood ran cold. My pulse thundered against my ribs.
Lucien tensed beside me, coiled like a spring, every nerve alive, but she had vanished before he could strike. The bond screamed between us, flaring in fury and warning.
"She's here," I said, voice tight with fear and fury. "Selene… she's inside. She's come for me."
Lucien's golden eyes blazed, the storm in him erupting like wildfire, and I realised, with a shiver of dread and thrill, that nothing—no law, no pack, no bond—would keep either of us safe tonight. Not her. Not the border wolves. Not even the fortress itself.
The game had begun.
And this time, there would be no retreat.