DRAVEN'S POV.
"ENOUGH!!"
My voice thundered across the boardroom like a storm tearing through the mountains. The walls seemed to shake under the weight of it, and the murmuring lords instantly fell silent. But even as I stood there, eyes dark, jaw locked, my attention wasn't on them, it was on her. The human girl.
What in the gods' name was she doing here? And how…how in all the hells, did she escape the cage?
I barely remembered giving the order for her to be taken away earlier. I hadn't cared who she was then. She was a problem to be contained, not understood. But now, seeing her half-fallen on the marble floor, eyes wide, breath trembling like a cornered animal…
My confusion twisted into something far more dangerous.
I took a step forward. The scent of her…human, terrified, and real, hit me before I could stop myself. My instincts snarled.
"Leave," I said without turning to the lords. My voice was sharp enough to cut through steel.
They hesitated. Of course they did. Wolves, all of them, powerful in their own right but never brave enough to challenge me outright.
"I said—leave."
Chairs scraped. Boots echoed. Within moments, the grand chamber was empty. Silent, heavy, and charged. She didn't move. Just sat there, her gaze darting between me and the door as if she couldn't decide whether to run or faint.
I started striding forward, then stopped. My fingers had twitched, instinctively reaching for her arm, but the curse's shadow fell over me like an iron chain.
'Don't touch her.'
'Don't risk it.'
My curse was no myth, it was law. The last time a woman touched me, her heart had stopped before I could even breathe her name. Yet this one…she'd survived. Still, I wasn't foolish enough to test fate twice.
"Up," I ordered instead.
She blinked, hesitant.
"Get up," I repeated, my tone came out a growl.
Slowly, shakily, she obeyed. Her legs wobbled, and she winced when she stood. The moment her eyes lifted to mine, I saw it…defiance gleaming through her fear.
"Follow me."
Her lips parted like she wanted to argue, but she didn't. Good. I didn't have the patience for her words yet. I turned and led the way out of the boardroom, the echo of our footsteps filling the corridor. The air in the palace was colder here, the scent of stone and moonlight lingering around every corner. I could hear her breathing—too fast.
The guards stationed by the door bowed slightly as I passed. None dared to question the human trailing behind me. They valued their tongues too much for that.
When we reached my chambers, I opened the door and gestured her inside. She hesitated again.
"It's not a request," I said in a low voice.
She stepped in.
The door closed behind us with a heavy thud. Now that we were alone, the silence thickened, wrapping around us like smoke.
I faced her fully.
"So," I began, "you're truly a spy, then."
Her head jerked up. "A what?"
"You heard me." My tone was sharp. "What were you doing by the door of my meeting?"
Her brow furrowed, and she took a small step back. "I'm not a spy," she said, her voice shaking just enough to betray her fear. "I was just…trying to escape."
I crossed my arms, staring her down. "Who let you out? That cage is reinforced with silversteel. No one, not even my guards, could open it without a key."
She let out a humorless laugh. "Then maybe you should do a better job and make better cages."
My jaw tightened. She was bold…foolishly bold, but I almost admired it. Almost.
"You have no idea who you're talking to, human."
"And you have no idea what it feels like to be locked in a cage for no reason," she shot back, chin lifted. "I didn't ask to be here. I didn't even know this place existed until your men dragged me in!"
I stepped closer. "You're lucky you're still breathing," I said quietly. "If I hadn't ordered otherwise, those wolves would've torn you apart."
Her lips pressed into a thin line. "Then maybe you should let them. It'd be quicker than this."
Something in me stilled. The defiance in her tone wasn't arrogance, it was exhaustion, and desperation. Before I could reply, a sound broke the tension…a soft, unmistakable growl.
Not from me, from her. Her stomach. Her cheeks flushed pink.
I blinked once, the corner of my mouth twitching. "Hungry?"
She crossed her arms, glaring at the floor. "I haven't eaten since yesterday," she muttered.
I turned toward the door. "Zayn."
My Beta appeared almost immediately, bowing. "Your Majesty."
"Tell the maids to prepare food. Something…human."
Zayn's brows flicked up, but he hid it quickly. "At once." He disappeared, leaving us alone again.
The girl…Selin, if I remembered correctly from the report, shifted uncomfortably, her arms wrapping around herself as if the air had grown colder. I studied her quietly. She looked fragile, too fragile for this world. Yet she'd survived a touch that should've killed her. She'd escaped a silversteel cage, and she'd just stood in a room full of predators and lived. That wasn't weakness. That was…something else.
"What's your name?" I asked finally.
Her head lifted, cautious. "Selin."
"Selin," I repeated, testing it. The name rolled off my tongue like a whisper. "You will stay here until I decide what to do with you."
Her eyes widened. "What—here? In your chambers?"
I arched a brow. "You'd rather go back to the cage?"
Her mouth opened, then closed. "No," she muttered.
"Good."
I turned around, though I could still feel her stare burning into my back. I didn't trust her, not yet. But there was something about her that I couldn't ignore. Something that defied every law written in our blood. A human girl surviving the king's curse…
If the gods were playing games, then I was about to learn their rules.