Chapter 3 Chapter 3

Mira's POV

I opened my eyes slowly, looking around the dark gloomy room. A feeling of discomfort travelled through my skull. “Ugh.” I hold my head with both of my hands. The headache and pains all over my body feel unbearable.

I sat upright quickly, my heart racing as the memory of what happened this morning came crashing back. Oh, shit. Where am I? Who were those men? Could it be that I've been captured and taken back to Crescent Moon Pack?

“Athena, can you hear me? Where are we?” I asked but got no response from here.

I looked around, and only then did I realise I was actually in a cell. I tapped around the walls of the prison cell, it was eerily cold.

I tried to get up and I heard the sounds of chains clinging to each other. I ignored it and still tried to stand but I was forced back down because of the chain. Then I realized that I was feeling unusually weak and slow. It was extraordinary in a way I couldn't explain. I tried to stand up again but the smell of urine, faeces, and unwashed bodies hit me, I quickly wrinkled my nose at the stench and sat down again.

I tried to feel the chain and break it if I could but my hands couldn't go beyond a certain distance.

“Great.” Both my hands and my legs are bound tightly. I sat in the cold cell, in silence, trying to process everything that had happened, from the dying man in the forest to the man following me on my way to meet the healer. Could it be a set-up? I held my body with my little hands as tears started flowing down like a river. How could I have been so careless? How could I have been so foolish as not to have realised it was a trap?

Tears poured down my face as I gripped my aching jaw. Now I've been captured by either my father's guards or King Jasper's and I will eventually be ex…

The sound of the heavy door opening cut off my train of thought, and I scrambled to the corner of the cell in fear, the chains betraying my attempt to stay quiet.

Is it King Jasper with his guards? Are they here to take me to the city gate? To my death.

The footsteps echoed through the cell and they halted when they reached my cell door.

I covered my lips with my hands to prevent the sobs that threatened to escape.

The door of the cell opened and a huge male figure walked in.

“So… so, so…” The deep, husky voice echoed inside the cramped cell. “Who do we have he…”It trailed off as the man stepped closer.

It was hard for me to see his face but I noticed he was shocked or he was pretending to be. I stayed curled up in the corner of the cell, barely breathing.

“Gerald” The man's voice boomed, obviously angry.

I flinched, trying to push myself further into the corner if possible, as tears poured down my face in torrents.

Another man walked in and the huge man questioned him while gesturing towards me. “Who the fuck is this and what in goddess name is she doing here?”

I was taken aback by the huge man’s question.

“She's…. She's….” Gerald stammered.

“She's what Gerald?” The man growled, clearly losing his patience. “Speak!”

“Lucas was the one who tracked down the Watcher and by the time we received his signal, the Watcher had already stabbed him with a silver. We couldn't find either of them so we thought it wise to track the Watcher with Lucas's scent. So we….” Gerald trailed off as the huge man roughly shoved him aside and stormed out.

The huge man paused at the entrance of my cell. “Fix this! And so you know, if the Alphas finds out about this mess… you're a dead meat.” He said and walked away, leaving just me and Gerald, who was now staring at me like I was some kind of plague.

I thought about what Gerald who was staring at me said, and that was when it dawned on me—I had been mistaken for someone else. And probably the Lucas this man was talking about was the man I saved in the forest. I felt a little bit relieved that I had not been captured by my father's warriors or those of King Jasper. I wanted to let out a sigh of relief but I knew I couldn't because I didn't even know if this pack was dangerous or what these men were going to do to me. What if Gerald decides to kill me as a way to fix whatever mess he was in just to avoid his Alpha’s wrath?

“Where are you from?” Gerald finally asked after staring at me for about five minutes.

“The Borderlands” I whispered, not sure if I should tell him that I was from Crescent Moon Pack.

“Your name?”

“Mira…” I bit my tongue to stop myself from telling him my full name.

“Mira,” I whispered again.

He moved closer to where I was and said. “Don't worry, I'm not going to harm you. Just stretch out your hands and feet so I can unlock the chains.”

Slowly I stretched out my hands and feet, trembling a little bit. He unlocked the chains and then dropped them on the floor.

“Okay, Mira. This is what is going to happen. I am going to leave now and come back later. When I do, I'm going to set you free. Not completely free though. You'll have to work in the palace for a while before we let you go. Okay?”

I nodded and with that, he walked out, locked my cell door and with that, he left.