The healer’s hands were gentle as she changed my bandages, her expression remaining professionally neutral despite the depth of my wounds. She worked in silence, occasionally glancing toward the cell door where two guards stood watch.
“I think that would be all,” she said finally, packing her supplies. Is there anything else you need?”
“No, you may leave,” I replied, my voice stronger than I felt.
She hesitated, then leaned closer under the pretense of checking a bandage. “The Alpha King has prepared a room for you in the east wing–with a proper bed and bathroom. You don’t have to stay here.”
I almost laughed at the absurdity. A comfortable prison was still a prison. “I’m fine where I am.”
When she left, I settled back against the cold stone wall, taking inventory of my injuries. The bullet wound in my thigh had been expertly treated, as had the one in my shoulder. The slash in my side would leave another scar to add to my collection, but it too was healing well. Werewolf healing, combined with the skills of Ravenhollow’s healers, meant I’d be physically recovered in days.
But I had no intention of letting Kaius see that.
He arrived an hour later, carrying a tray of food that made my empty stomach clench with hunger. I hadn’t eaten since before the mission. The scent of fresh bread and roasted meat filled the small cell, but I kept my expression impassive as he set the tray on the
small table.
“You’ve lost a lot of blood; you need to eat, please,” he said, his tone lacking the commanding edge I would have expected from the
Alpha King.
I turned away, staring at the wall. Let him see that I would accept nothing from him–not food, not comfort, not explanations. If he thought a few meals and a soft bed would erase what he’d done, he was sorely mistaken.
When he left, I didn’t touch the food, despite my body’s protests. Instead, I slid from the cot to the floor, wrapping myself in the thin blanket I’d been provided. The stone was cold and unyielding beneath me, but there was a certain satisfaction in denying myself the relative comfort of the cot–in denying Kaius even that small concession.
I had spent hours lost in thoughts, drifting in and out of restless sleep, when the cell door opened again. The trays of food Kaius had been bringing went untouched, piling up in the corner of the cell. My body had begun to weaken, the combination of blood loss and hunger taking its toll. Good. Let him see what his imprisonment was doing to me.
“You are fucking dying, you need to let go of your pride and eat something.” Kaius’s voice was tight with frustration as he set down
yet another tray.
I remained silent, my back to him.
“You either eat or I will make you.” His tone hardened, Alpha authority slipping into his words. “There are these pipes that can be used to pass food directly into your body, and I would do that if I had to.”
“You have no right,” I managed, my voice raspy from disuse.
“I am trying to keep you alive.”
And I don’t care.” turned to face him, summoning what little strength I had left. “You either let me go, or I’ll die here. I bet you would love to see that.”
His expression shifted, anger giving way to something that might have been desperation. “What do you want? 1 am ready to do any other thing, and I don’t care what it is; say it and it’s done; all you have to do is eat the damn food.”
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Chapter 193
Anything? The question escaped before I could stop it.
“Anything,” he confirmed, his amber eyes intense.
I considered his offer, remembering the last time I had been desperate enough to beg him for anything. How I had knelt before him, pleading for him not to send me away. The humiliation of that moment burned fresh in my memory. Never again would I give him that power over me.
“Nothing. I don’t need anything from you.”
His face hardened, and for a moment I thought he might force the food down my throat. Instead, he turned and left without another word, leaving the tray behind like all the others.
Kaius didn’t return the next day. Instead, a figure I’d never expected to see again appeared at my cell door.
“Elowen,” Frost’s voice was soft, almost reverent, as he stepped into the dim light.
I struggled to sit up, suddenly conscious of how I’must look–unwashed, half–starved, wearing the same blood–stained clothes I’d been captured in. He crossed the cell in two strides, dropping to his knees beside me and pulling me into an embrace I was too weak
to return.
“I’m so sorry I couldn’t come to find you… I just didn’t think you deserved the pain we’ve caused you; you deserve better, and so I hoped you’d move on.” He pulled back, his eyes dropping to my hand where Kieran’s ring still glinted. “Congratulations on that.”
“Thank you. I missed you, Frost.” The admission cost me nothing; it was the simple truth.
“I missed you too… a lot.” His eyes swept over my thin frame, taking in the untouched food trays. Without comment, he shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders. The familiar scent of pine and winter enveloped me, bringing with it memories of simpler times.
I wanted to ask him about the attacks on the other packs, to demand the truth about Ravenhollow’s involvement. But something stopped me–perhaps the fear that his answer would shatter whatever fragile connection we were rebuilding. Or perhaps the fear that he would confirm Kaius’s innocence, forcing me to confront the possibility I’d been wrong.
“You are a fighter. Don’t give up this so easily,” he said, nodding toward the trays of food.
His words reached something deep inside me, a flicker of the strength I’d been too exhausted to find. I nodded, not quite a promise but not a refusal either.
As he rose to leave, I caught his hand. “Will you come back?”
“Yes.” No hesitation, no conditions. Simple and sure, like Frost himself had always been.
After he left, I stared at the newest tray of food for a long time. My resistance had been about control–the one thing I could still exert in this prison. But was I really controlling anything by slowly killing myself?
Slowly, I reached for a piece of bread, tearing off a small morsel and placing it in my mouth. The taste was almost overwhelming after days of nothing. I chewed carefully, swallowed, then took another small bite.
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