Chapter 6 A Cage Of Luxury

He didn’t just drop me onto the bed, he threw me.

The impact sent a shock through my body, the air leaving my lungs as I scrambled backward, hands fumbling for anything to use as a weapon. The massive bed dipped under his weight even though he hadn’t moved closer yet; it was that large, that soft, that wrong. My pulse roared in my ears.

“Touch me and I’ll kill you,” I spat, the words trembling between defiance and fear. My back hit the carved mahogany headboard, and I didn’t care how small or helpless I might’ve looked, I’d rather die fighting than let him think he’d won.

Darius stood at the foot of the bed, the dim golden light from the chandelier casting harsh shadows across his face. His black hair was slightly tousled from the struggle, his jaw tight, his muscles shifting beneath his black shirt as if holding back barely restrained power.

“I won’t touch you,” he said, voice low and steady, yet the rawness in it made my heart skip. “Not until you want me to.”

I laughed bitterly. “That day will never come.”

He took a step closer, slow and deliberate, like a predator humoring its prey. “We’ll see.”

My breath hitched despite myself. His voice had softened, dipped into something dangerous and magnetic. “You’re my mate, Lyra,” he continued. “ You have nothing to fear here.”

“Over my dead body.”

“Don’t tempt me.” He smirked.

My chest heaved. Every word out of his mouth made me want to claw him. “What gives you the right to drag me here? Do you think because you’re Alpha you can just—”

“Yes.”

That one word, calm, absolute, hit me like a slap.

My voice broke on the next breath. “You’re unbelievable.”

“You’re bleeding,” he said instead, nodding at my arm.

I glanced down. I hadn’t noticed the scrape I’d gotten while fighting him earlier, just a thin line of red across her forearm. I jerked it away when he reached for me.

“Don’t touch me.”

“I wasn’t asking permission.”

“Well, I’m not giving it.”

For a heartbeat, silence stretched between us, heavy, electric. His gaze locked on mine, unreadable and burning all at once. Something flickered there, something ancient and instinctive that made my stomach twist.

He broke the moment first, straightening. “Mara will tend to you.”

“I don’t need your—”

“You need rest,” he said sharply, cutting me off again.

I glared at him, hands curling into fists. “You don’t tell me what I need and do not need you don’t even know me.”

His mouth curved, not into a smile, but something far more dangerous. “Don’t I?”

That made me freeze.

He took a slow step forward. “You can fight me if you want,” he said quietly. “You can hate me. But understand this…” He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a low, gravelly whisper. “You’re not my prisoner, little hybrid… unless you make yourself one.”

My breath caught. The words hit something deep inside me, something old and wild that had been asleep for too long.

I wanted to slap him. I wanted to run.

But instead I just stood there, heart hammering, too aware of the heat rolling off his body, the way the space between us seemed charged, dangerous, magnetic, alive.

He turned and started toward the door without looking back. “Rest. We’ll talk in the morning.”

“I’m not staying here!”

He paused, the faintest smirk tugging at his mouth. “You’re free to leave,” he said. “If you can make it past the gates.”

For a heartbeat, the air between us crackled. I could feel it, the pull of the bond, the invisible thread tying us together. I hated it. I hated him. I hated the way my body seemed to betray me with every breath that filled my lungs with his scent.

He sighed dragging a hand through his hair and exhaling. “You’re exhausted. Angry. Frightened. None of that will help you right now.”

“I don’t need your help,” I hissed.

“Maybe not,” he said, glancing at me with something unreadable in his gaze. “But you need rest. And food.”

He turned toward the door again.

“Wait,” I said sharply. “Where are you going?”

“To make sure you don’t have a chance of escaping,” he replied.

Then, before I could move, he stepped out of the room. The door shut with a heavy click, and I knew that sound

He’d locked me in.

I turned around, taking in the room, no, the suite. It was enormous. Larger than my entire apartment, probably. Gold accents lined the cream-colored walls, velvet drapes framed tall windows, and the bed at the center was big enough for four people.

Everything smelled like him.

I swallowed hard, hating the way my body reacted to it

Wood, smoke, and wild musk. The scent clung to the sheets, the drapes, even the damn air. My fingers brushed over the velvet curtains, rich, heavy, and perfectly maintained. The room was easily three times the size of my entire apartment back in the city.

“This is his room,” I whispered, realization dawning.

Of course it was. The masculine touches were everywhere, the tailored jackets hanging over a chair, the faint scent of whiskey from the decanter on the dresser, the boots by the door. The entire place breathed Darius.

I crossed to the balcony and yanked at the handle. It didn’t move. Locked from the outside. My stomach twisted.

Next, I tried the main door. Locked too.

“Of course,” I muttered under my breath. “The great Alpha King’s hospitality, luxury imprisonment.”

Panic prickled beneath my skin, cold and creeping. If Darius knew who I was… if he truly recognized me, then it was only a matter of time before the Elder Council knew too. And if they knew—

That thought sent a jolt of pure terror through me.

They couldn’t know. They couldn’t.

If they found me, if they realized what I was, it wouldn’t just be my life at stake. The thing that lived inside me, the creature bound by my blood, would never be allowed to exist. The Council had executed people for far less.

I forced myself to breathe, pacing back and forth. I needed to think. I needed a plan.

I clenched my fists so hard my nails bit into my palms. “You’ll pay for my father’s death,” I muttered. “I’ll make sure you do.”

But anger couldn’t drown out fear, or the growing sense of claustrophobia that pressed in from every wall.

I tried the door again, jiggling the handle, slamming my shoulder against it once, but nothing. Solid oak, reinforced. I moved to the balcony doors, pulling at the handles with all my strength. Locked. Sealed.

Panic began to stir in my chest, slow and suffocating.

My eyes caught on the adjoining door near the fireplace. I pushed it open, a walk-in closet. Or maybe calling it that was an understatement. It was a boutique. Shelves of fine shirts, jackets, and tailored suits. Rows of shoes polished to perfection. Everything smelled like him, clean, sharp, intoxicatingly male.

I turned away, disgusted with myself for noticing.

Another door led to a bathroom more like a small spa. The walls were marble, the floor heated beneath my bare feet soft amber light spilling over a deep clawfoot tub already filled with steaming water and rose petals. A silk robe hung nearby.

He’d planned this. If I didn’t want to kill him for murdering my dad I’d be touched by the consideration.

He’d had it drawn for me.

My heart twisted at that realization, not with warmth, but confusion. What kind of captor offered comfort? What kind of monster carried you away only to offer you a bath?

I gripped the edge of the tub, my reflection rippling in the water.

“This doesn’t make sense,” I whispered.

It didn’t. None of it did.

He’d called me his mate, but that couldn’t be right. Darius Kade, the Alpha King, was ruthless. My father was killed by him simply because he and my mothers were in love.

And now fate, cruel, twisted fate, had decided to bind me to him?

No. I wouldn’t accept it.

I walked back into the bedroom, staring out at the faint light of the moon spilling through the drapes. I could hear faint footsteps beyond the door, guards stationed outside. They’d never let me walk out of here.

But I’d find a way. I had to.

I turned away and stalked back into the main room. The thick rug muffled my footsteps, but the silence pressed on me from every side. It felt wrong to be here, like stepping into forbidden territory.

Something about the air made the monster inside me stir restlessly, whispering that this place, this man, was both danger and belonging.

No. I wouldn’t give in. I couldn’t.

I went to the door again and pounded on it. “Darius!”

Silence.

“I swear to the Moon Goddess, if you don’t open this door—”

Still nothing.

I hit the door again, the sound echoing in the cavernous space. My voice cracked. “You can’t keep me here! Do you hear me? You can’t!”

When no answer came, the weight of it all hit me. My knees gave way, and I sank onto the floor. The air was thick, heavy, humming faintly with energy. Maybe it was the mate bond; maybe it was the mansion itself.

I couldn’t tell anymore.

I pressed my palms to my chest, trying to slow my breathing. “He knows who you are,” I whispered to myself. “They know too.”

A tremor ran through me. The monster inside me, the one I’d spent years suppressing, stirred in recognition, whispering, Run.

I got to my feet again, forcing my mind to clear. I scanned the windows, the vents, even the fireplace. There had to be a way out.

The balcony overlooked the forest, dark, endless, thick with mist. The drop was high, but if I shifted, I could survive it. Maybe. If I could break the lock.

I pulled at the handle again until my fingers ached. It didn’t budge. I considered throwing a chair through the glass, but something told me it was reinforced, this was the Alpha King’s room, after all. Nothing here would break easily.

Defeated, I slumped onto the edge of the bed, staring at the flickering fireplace. Shadows danced across the walls.

This wasn’t a home. It was a fortress.

And I was its prisoner.

But Darius’s words echoed in my head. You have nothing to fear here.

He was lying. He had to be.

I thought about his face when I accused him of killing my father—the flicker of guilt, or maybe surprise, that crossed his expression before the mask fell back into place. Could he? No. I couldn’t let myself believe that. A ruthless wolf like him to feel remorse?

And now the goddess, in her twisted sense of humor, had bound me to him.

I buried my face in my hands.

For a long time, I just sat there, listening to the faint ticking of an unseen clock. The house creaked, alive in its silence. Somewhere beyond the walls, I could sense his presence, steady, powerful, watching. The bond pulsed faintly, tugging at me like a heartbeat.

He said he wouldn’t touch me until I wanted him to.

He didn’t need to.

The bond was already doing his work for him.

I rose to my feet and went to the window again. The moon hung low, silver and cruel. My reflection stared back at me, tired, angry, afraid, but not broken.

Not yet.

My gaze drifted toward the forest beyond the iron gates. Somewhere out there, freedom waited, cold, wild, and dangerous. But it was better than this gilded prison.

I pressed my hand against the glass. “Before sunrise,” I promised myself.

Before sunrise, I’d be gone.