Isla's POV
"You ran from me."
I froze in the middle of the alley. My heart lurched into my throat as I turned, breathless, raw from running. The night swallowed the city's noise, leaving only his silhouette framed by a black car idling at the curb.
He stepped into the glow of a streetlamp, his sharp features carved from moonlight.
Dark suit with polished shoes and his hair smoothed like he'd stepped from a painting. Not a drop of sweat on him. Like he hadn't chased me through the storm of my own breaking.
But his eyes, those eyes, were steel and they were locked on me.
"Drake," I whispered. My voice cracked.
"You shouldn't have left the room." He tilted his head, as if studying a child who'd strayed. "That wasn't wise, little one."
Anger flared through the cracks of my fear. "You locked me in."
His lips curved into a smile that wasn't a smile. "To protect you."
"From what? From freedom?" My hands clenched at my sides. "You kissed my hand, and then you threw me in a gilded cage."
He stepped closer, his scent brushing over me like cedar, smoke and powder. My wolf snarled low inside me, confused, half-lured and half-defiant.
Drake's gaze softened for a breath. "I didn't throw you anywhere. I kept you safe and now…" His voice dropped, velvet laced with iron. "…you'll come back with me."
I shook my head, stumbling until the cold brick dug into my spine. "No. I won't. I'm not yours."
He didn't move, but the air around him seemed to settle, like a storm deciding where to break. "Not yours," he repeated, slowly, tasting the idea. "No. Not yet." He stepped closer, the warmth of his coat in the space between us. "Isla."
I tried to make my voice strong. "Don't."
He sighed, the sound low and practiced, an exhale that felt like the closing of a book. "We both know that's a lie," he said. "You ran because you were frightened, not because you were free."
A laugh escaped me, sharp. "Save the lectures."
He cocked an eyebrow. "I don't lecture. I correct."
"I'd rather die in the alley than go back to your careful hands." My feet dug into puddled gravel, the smell of rain and ozone sharp as a threat.
His amusement folded into something colder. "Then die in the alley." The words floated between us, impossibly soft. "Or learn to breathe under my roof."
The wolf pressed at my ribs, frantic. The city hummed again, distant and indifferent. I could run; I had run, but running had led me to him. Standing still, the price of staying alive felt suddenly heavier than the alley's damp stones.
His jaw tightened. In two strides, he was before me, his hand shooting out to catch my wrist. His grip wasn't cruel, but it was unbreakable, like chains of silk wrapping tighter the more I pulled.
"You are," he murmured, eyes blazing gold now, the bond flaring hot between us. "Whether you like it or not, the goddess has marked you. You're mine."
The spark shot through me, searing my veins, tearing a gasp from my throat. My knees trembled, traitorous, but I forced my chin up, trembling but defiant. "Then why did you lock me up like a prisoner?"
"Because," he said smoothly, leaning closer, "a mate can be a weapon."
The words gutted me.
I stared, wide-eyed, my chest splintering. "A weapon?"
His thumb brushed my jaw, deceptively tender. "You're valuable, Isla. Too valuable to leave unguarded. Ivory Moon will come for you. Logan will come and when they do, you'll be leverage. A chain to pull when I want the Alpha heir on his knees."
My stomach twisted. The room spun. "So you'll use me… against my own pack."
"Not use." His smile widened, calm and sharp. "It is called protect, possess and direct. You will be the key that topples your brother and when that happens, you'll thank me."
My wolf howled inside me, furious and clawing to lash out. My lips trembled with rage. "You don't want me. You want a weapon with my face."
He chuckled, low and dark. "Can't it be both?"
I slapped him hard. The sound cracked in the alley, echoing louder than the city's noise. My palm burned and my heart thundered.
For the first time, Drake's mask slipped. His jaw twitched, his eyes blazing hotter, but instead of striking back, he only caught my chin again, tilting it up until our eyes locked.
"Defiance looks good on you," he whispered. "But it won't save you."
Tears blurred my vision, hot and bitter. I wanted to scream. To claw at him. To run until my legs gave out. But his grip didn't loosen. His presence wrapped tighter, cold and suffocating.
"You'll come back with me now," he murmured. "Or I'll make sure the city learns what you are."
Fear spiked like ice water through my veins, humans, cameras and reporters. If they knew, if they saw...
"No," I breathed, my voice breaking.
"Yes." His lips brushed my ear, the bond burning between us. "Say it. Say you'll come."
My throat closed. I hated him, hated myself and hated the goddess for chaining me to this again, but I whispered the word anyway. "…Yes."
His smile was a victory.
We got to the Nightshade mansion, glittered again, and the firelight spilled through its windows like golden bars of a cage.
Drake guided me through its halls, servants bowing, no one daring to look too long. His hand never left my back, warm and firm, reminding me with every step that I wasn't free.
The same room waited upstairs. The gilded prison, the silk sheets and the locked door.
I spun before he could leave, fury breaking through my fear. "Why me? Why out of every wolf, every Alpha heir, every perfect and strong woman... why me?"
Drake's gaze lingered on me, sharp and unreadable. For a long moment, he said nothing.
Then he stepped closer, so close that I could feel his breath on my lips. His hand brushed a strand of hair from my face. His eyes softened, not warm and not equally tender, but fascinated.
"Because the Goddess is cruel," he murmured. "And sometimes, she gifts us something we can't decide whether to worship… or to destroy."
Immediately, his lips grazed mine before I could turn away. A kiss that wasn't tender but claiming.
I shoved him back, breathless with my heart pounding and tears threatening again.
He smiled as he left, locking the door behind him with a soft click. I collapsed against it, sliding to the floor and clutching my chest.
"Why would the Goddess give me a mate who would sell me?" I whispered into the empty room.
But the walls gave me no answer. What's more dangerous, being unloved… or being desired for the wrong reasons?