Ezra's POV
Ezra's fists slam into the stone wall of the corridor.
Once. Twice. Three times until his knuckles bleed.
His animal is screaming inside him. Howling. Clawing at his skin from the inside like it wants to tear out and destroy everything in sight. The rage is so intense it feels like his chest might explode.
They tortured her.
For three years, they tortured his mate and he wasn't there to stop it. Wasn't there to protect her. She was suffering while he was alive and breathing and ruling his pack, completely unaware that somewhere in the world, the one person who mattered was getting her bones broken repeatedly.
The injustice of it is killing him.
"Ezra." Tobias's voice comes from behind him. "Don't do this."
Ezra doesn't turn around. His hands are shaking. His entire body is vibrating with barely controlled violence. If he looks at his Beta right now, he might hit him just to release some of this pressure building inside his skull.
"She needs to be claimed," Ezra says through gritted teeth. "She needs to know she's protected. She needs to feel my mark."
"She needs to not be forced into anything ever again," Tobias says quietly.
Ezra spins around. His eyes are glowing silver, his wolf right there at the surface, ready to take over.
"Don't," he says, his voice a warning.
"Someone has to." Tobias stands his ground even though Ezra is radiating enough danger to kill an ordinary wolf. "If you claim her without consent, you're no better than Ronan."
Ezra moves. Fast. He grabs Tobias by the throat and slams him against the opposite wall. His Beta doesn't fight back. Doesn't even try to defend himself. Just looks Ezra in the eye with a sad kind of understanding.
"You think I don't know that?" Ezra says, his voice barely a whisper. "You think I'm not aware that I want to mark her just so my wolf feels better? Just so I don't lose my mind?"
He releases Tobias and steps back, breathing hard.
"She's traumatized," Tobias says, straightening his shirt. There's no anger in his voice. No hurt. Just fact. "She's terrified of Alphas. She thinks you're going to hurt her no matter what you promise. If you force a bond on her right now, she's going to break completely. And you'll have broken her yourself."
The words hit like a physical blow.
Ezra sits down on the stone floor right there in the corridor. His head goes into his hands. His animal paces inside him like a caged thing, furious and desperate and helpless.
"I want to hunt down everyone who touched her," Ezra says. His voice is muffled. "I want to make them understand what true pain is."
"I know," Tobias says. He sits down beside Ezra, their shoulders almost touching. "But first, you need to be what she needs. Not what your wolf needs. What she needs."
"And what does she need?"
"Someone who won't force anything on her. Someone who'll prove that respect is stronger than possession."
Ezra breathes. In. Out. In. Out. He forces his animal back into its cage. Forces the rage down. Forces control to take over because Tobias is right and he hates it.
His mate needs something his wolf can't give her. She needs to choose. Needs to believe she has a choice.
He stands up and looks at his Beta. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me. Just don't screw this up," Tobias says. But there's a slight smile on his face.
Ezra heads to Mira's room.
The pack house is quiet this time of night. Warriors sleep. The injured rest. Everything is still and peaceful except for the storm raging inside Ezra's chest.
He reaches her door and pauses.
What if she's sleeping? What if she needs rest more than she needs to hear his promises?
But his animal won't let him walk away. Won't let him leave her alone for another second.
He pushes the door open quietly.
Mira is awake. She's sitting up in the bed, the soft blanket pulled up to her chest, her violet eyes staring at nothing. She doesn't even look at him when he enters. Just continues staring at the wall like she's looking at something only she can see.
Fear grips his heart.
This is what trauma does. This is the cost of what she endured.
Ezra closes the door quietly behind him and walks to the bed. He doesn't climb in. Doesn't try to touch her. Instead, he kneels beside the bed like he did in the kitchen at Silverpine. Like he did when he first realized she was his.
He kneels because it's the only way to make himself less threatening. Makes himself smaller. Makes himself submissive before the one person who matters more than his own life.
"You're safe now," he says softly. "I need you to know that. Whatever happens next, whatever comes, you're safe in Shadowfang territory. No one will hurt you here."
Mira's eyes finally move. They shift from the wall to look at him. But there's nothing behind them. Just emptiness. Just a girl who's been broken so many times that she's forgotten how to feel anything at all.
"I will not force you to do anything," Ezra continues. His voice stays calm and steady even though his insides are screaming. "Not the bond. Not a claiming. Not anything. You don't have to give me anything. You don't owe me anything."
He reaches out his hand slowly, palm up, offering her the choice to take it or not.
"I know you're scared," he says. "I know you think all Alphas are like him. But I'm not. I'm never going to be."
Still nothing. Still that empty stare.
Ezra feels like he's failing her. Like words are useless. Like no promise he makes will ever be enough to undo three years of torture.
"You can stay in this room as long as you need," he says. "No one will bother you. I'll make sure of it. And when you're ready—if you're ever ready—I'll be here."
He kneels there in silence, his hand outstretched, waiting for her to acknowledge him.
Finally, she speaks.
Her voice is so quiet he almost doesn't hear it.
"I don't want another master."
The words hit him like a knife to the chest.
"You're not going to be anyone's," Ezra says immediately. "Not mine. Not anyone's. You're going to be free."
"That's what Ronan said too." Her voice still holds no emotion. Just fact. "He said I could choose to obey or choose to be punished. He called it freedom."
Ezra's heart breaks into even smaller pieces.
"Freedom means you choose. Not that you get punished for the choices you make." He keeps his hand extended. "I won't punish you for anything. Not ever."
She looks at his outstretched hand like it's a trap.
"How do I know you're different?" she asks.
It's the first real question she's asked him. The first sign that something is still alive inside her, some part of her that wants to believe he might be telling the truth.
"You don't," Ezra says honestly. "Not yet. But I'm going to spend the rest of my life proving it to you."
Mira stares at him for a long moment.
Then, slowly, she reaches out.
Her scarred fingers touch his palm.
Ezra doesn't move. Doesn't push. Just lets her touch him at her own pace, on her own terms. It's the smallest gesture but it feels like the biggest victory of his life.
"I'm scared," she whispers.
"I know," Ezra says. "You should be. You have every reason to be. But I'm going to teach you that not all Alphas are monsters. I'm going to show you what it means to have choices that are actually respected."
"And if I choose to leave?"
The question nearly breaks him. The idea of her leaving, of losing her, makes his animal scream. But Ezra forces the panic down.
"Then I let you go," he says, and he means it. "And I hope you remember that you were loved here. Even if you leave, even if you never want to see me again, you'll always be safe. You'll always have a home in Shadowfang if you want it."
Mira looks down at where her hand touches his.
"I don't know how to live without someone hurting me," she says quietly. "I don't know how to be anything other than hurt."
"Then we'll learn together," Ezra says. "I'll teach you that you can be whole. That you can be strong. That you can be free."
She pulls her hand back and lies down in the bed, turning her face away from him.
But she doesn't ask him to leave.
Ezra settles into the chair beside her bed, like he promised at Silverpine. He sits in the darkness and listens to her breathing slowly shift from panicked to steady.
She's still afraid.
But she's alive.
And that's enough for now.
It has to be.