"I'm not some pawn in whatever game you're playing." Nya glares at Vince. "Can't you see that it's not working, that she's leaving? She is not falling for it. She is willing to leave me here just to get away from you." She searched his features waiting, waiting for an explanation, for a response, a reaction. He didn't seem phased by her tone or accusations. He watched her as if he was the one who needed clarification.

She scrunches her brows together. "um... this is not going to get her back, Alpha... You..." it was getting hard to have a straight train of thought here. "You have to change..."

"I don't mind if this is what she wants."

"You don't mean that."

"Why not?"

"I don't understand." She looks down at her hand still being tightly held between his fingers.

"You don't have to."

"Is that the alpha thing to say?"

"It's the Vince thing to say... and you better watch that little mouth."

She bites her lips. "But... I have a right to know. You can't just keep me here without at least a reason."

He tugs her an inch closer making her gasp subtly. "Who is enforcing this law, Nya?"

The tone he used to say her name made the fine hairs all over her body stand on end. She blinks. "What am I like your slave now?"

The corner of his mouth lifts. "One thing is correct, you are mine."

Her lips part and air seeps in. "What?" She looked down at his hold still on her and needed him off. She pulls, and surprisingly, he slackens his fingers easily. His glare, however, turns into a wolf at feeding.

He takes an intimidating step her way. "You heard me..."

She automatically takes a step back but what she was thinking was how heat still lingered where he had held. She hated that she even noticed.

"You belong to me now..." he takes another step forward, making her take another back.

Waves were thrashing around in her stomach and her heart was soaring, but placid she remained. He keeps coming to her until before she knew it, her back hit the wall. He lays his forearms beside her head and leans in inches from her face. "You understand me?" In that very moment, she felt the sensation of a sneeze. She didn't hide it, didn't blink, didn't look away.

As she stares up at him, her eyes glow so brightly she could see them in the reflection of his pupils.

Butterflies danced within her when he simply smiled, brushed hair from her forehead, and watched as it fizzled out. "I won't stay here."

"Is that so? Well then, I dare you, try and leave, give me a reason to have my hands on you."

"Whatever you do, it wouldn't be worse than what's already been done to me."

"I'm not going to hurt you... and I'm not going to let anyone else hurt you."

"What do you want with me?"

His glare shifts to her lips. She hiccuped. What the hell is going on? She could swear on everything in God's creation that he wanted to kiss her, that he was looking at her with desire. He couldn't be... He hated her rank, he would never be attracted to a being like her. He would never do that to her sister. She must be imagining, she just must be. It was the blood. Every since his blood was forced into her body things have been odd. She can't deny anymore that she was feeling something because of it.

"I want... you to be compliant. Listen, and there will be no issues."

"Why would I do that?"

"Watson... is one reason. He is as good as dead and all of the other Slays are as good as gone. You name it, I'll do it. And then, I'll bring you back kicking and screaming. And I don't care who sees."

She shakes her head subtly. "But why? Lee is not-"

"I've already made it clear that Malina has nothing to do with the decisions I make... so this is the last time I want you to ask about your sister. And the truth is, You don't need to know that, you just need to listen. A lot of wolves' lives depend on you." He pauses and leans close to her ear so their cheeks slightly graze, and whispers. "Don't fight Nya, because the truth is, I can lock you up in here with the place surrounded. But I don't want to have to treat you that way." He steps back, giving her back her personal space.

She ignores the instant coldness she felt, swallows, curls hair behind her ear, and settles her even breaths."But-"

"Have you eaten anything for the morning? You look smaller."

The anguish in her sister's eyes was still fresh in her brain and he was talking about food. "Aren't you hurt? Isn't it devastating that she's gone?" She continues to press. She never thought she would ever be speaking to an alpha this way but she didn't care right now. "Won't you miss her?"

"I can't give her what she needs. So why would I ask her to stay? Nothing will change and she will continue to be unhappy."

"But-"

"Come." He grabs her arm, jolting her senses at the touch.

She backs away, pulling out of it quickly. "Please stop. I'm not a rag doll you're gonna drag all over."

"Then move," He directs her with a shift of his head. "in the kitchen, now."

She hesitates, giving him a once over before noticing that he was rubbing the tips of his fingers together like he was just waiting for disobedience. She decided to move her feet.

It smelled like muffins when she entered the kitchen but the smell did nothing to open up her appetite. "I'm not hungry." She pulls out a stool near the island and lowers herself on it.

He goes into the fridge and takes out a bowl of sliced fruits she had left in there. "Have some." He sets it in front of her.

"Why won't it change? I mean, what changed? You asked her to marry you just a couple of weeks ago."

"Eat."

She shakes her head. "I don't wanna eat."

He rolls his eyes. "Look, I'm trying to have patience here."

"Don't... I didn't ask for you to..." A tear leaks down her cheek and she wipes it away quickly. "I don't need a caretaker, I don't need a babysitter. I want to know why I am here. I have a right to know. If it's not because of Lee, then why?"

He grits his teeth. "It doesn't matter how much right you think you have, you don't need to know. Sometimes it's true what they say, ignorance is bliss, Nya."

"Is it? So every day I wonder about my birth parents is bliss?" She bites her lips. Why did she just say that?

For a few long moments, it was silent.

He never takes his eyes off of her. He leans back on the counter and folds his arms. "When I was a kid, my brother got lost... and after a few days passed and he wasn't found I got so angry. I asked my father why the universe would do this to him, to us... You know what he said?"

"What?"

He said the universe wants to keep the good, good. If they go through life without hardships, they become spoiled and weak. They don't appreciate, they don't learn... and that's what was happening to Bent. His exact words were, "watch my son find his way home stronger, braver, and wiser than before" And so said so done. Three days later he came home on his own."

"What are you trying to say?"

"That you wouldn't be who you are today if you didn't live the life you have. Don't regret it, don't wonder."

She looks down at her fiddling fingers. "This isn't about me. I'm fine... it's you and Lee..."

He lets out an annoyed breath. "So here are the rules. I am to know where you are at all times. You are not to leave the pack grounds without me or my permission. You are not to let anyone touch you and if you need anything you are to let me know first. Got it?"

"Don't you have more important things to deal with?"

"No."

Her mouth opens immediately to respond but the way he looked at her sent tingles shooting up her spine, and her verbal skills vanished. What did it matter anyway? It didn't seem like anything she said would make him explain. Still, she hoped this was for Lee, and maybe he has too much pride to admit that right now. "I'm just gonna go upstairs."

He nods. "You'll be moving to the bedroom near mine."

"What? Why? I don't-"

"You heard me."

"I'm staying like you want, I'll follow your rules like you want, can't you at least let me pick the room I want?"

He smirks. "You never had a choice, and I'm not giving you one now."

"This is abuse of alpha power."

He huffs out a laugh. "You're relentless." He pushes himself off the counter and takes an intimidating step her way.

Her eyes shoot open. "What are you doing?"

"Since you won't listen willingly, I'm going to make you."

She backs away. "Something is wrong with you." She runs off and up the stairs with her luggage, trying to forget how handsome he appeared when he smiled.

~~~

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