Nora POV
The servant woman shows her around Kade's chambers like Nora isn't a prisoner. Like she's just a new maid learning her job.
"You clean everything here," the woman says. She's older, maybe fifty, and she won't make eye contact. "Change the sheets daily. Keep the water hot. The Alpha doesn't like disorder."
Nora nods and memorizes where the exits are. Two doors lead out of the main chamber. One goes to a sitting room with a third exit into a hallway. The hallway connects to the staircase. The staircase leads down to the main floor where she can see guards rotating shifts through the front windows.
There's also a side passage that looks like it goes toward the kitchens.
Everything in her mind is already calculating. Three possible routes out of this room. The hallway seems least guarded during meal times when the warriors are in the dining hall. The side passage might lead somewhere useful. She needs to explore when she can.
The servant keeps talking. "The Alpha eats at sunset. You bring the meal, set it down, and leave. Don't linger. Don't speak unless he speaks to you first. Don't stare."
Nora files all of this away carefully.
She spends the rest of the morning cleaning. The chamber is immaculate to begin with. Nothing is out of place. But she does the work anyway, moving through the space methodically, looking for anything useful. A knife. A key. Something she can use to get out of this territory.
What she finds instead is evidence of a person.
Books on the shelves about strategy and warfare. A map marked with territory lines. Photographs of the pack that show Kade's face in different expressions. When he's at war, he looks like a weapon. When he's with the other warriors, he looks like a leader. When he's alone, which she only sees in one photograph, he looks completely empty.
She studies that photograph for too long.
Around midday, she's sent to do laundry. The path to the laundry house takes her through the main part of the compound. This is where she sees what the pack actually thinks of her.
A female warrior steps directly into her path. Nora doesn't know her name but she recognizes the challenge in her stance.
"Kane spy," the warrior says quietly so no one else hears. "You think the Alpha is going to protect you forever?"
Nora keeps her expression neutral. She's learned already that showing fear or anger is weakness. "I'm just doing my work."
The warrior moves closer. "When he gets bored with you, we'll remember what pack you came from. We'll remember your family."
Nora's hands curl into fists but she keeps walking. Behind her, she can feel other eyes tracking her movement. Watching. Waiting to see if she'll fight back. Waiting to have an excuse to attack.
The male warriors are different. They don't threaten. They just stare too long. Their gazes follow her body in ways that make her skin crawl. One of them actually steps toward her like he's going to test whether she'll come to him or run. Nora walks straight past him without breaking stride.
By the time she reaches the laundry house, her entire body is tight with anger and fear.
An older man is there, sorting fabric. He glances at her and goes back to his work. He doesn't seem to care who she is or where she came from. For that, she's grateful.
She works quietly, learning the routine. In and out. Less likely to encounter problems that way. Less likely to give anyone a reason to hurt her.
As the sun starts to set, she's back in Kade's chamber preparing his meal. The cook gave her a tray with meat and bread and something hot in a cup. She sets it carefully on the table by the window, exactly where the servant woman showed her.
The door opens.
Kade walks in like the space was made for him to occupy. He's been training. She can see it in the way his shirt sticks to his chest, the way he's breathing heavy. His dark hair is damp. His silver eyes are bright with something that looks almost like anticipation.
She should leave. That's what the servant woman said. Set the meal down and leave.
But she doesn't leave.
She stands there like an idiot while he studies her. His gaze moves from her head to her feet, taking in everything. The fear probably. The way her hands are shaking slightly even though she's trying to hold them still. The way she won't look at him directly because looking at him is dangerous.
"Your hands are shaking," he says.
It's not a question. It's not even really a statement. It's just an observation, said like he's noting the weather.
Nora forces her hands to stop. "I'm not afraid."
He smiles. Just barely. Just enough that she can see the edge of it. "No one said you were."
He walks to the table and sits down to eat. She should go. Now. This is the moment where she leaves and gets away from him and his questions and the way her entire body is responding to his presence.
But then he speaks again.
"Stay."
Two words and her entire plan to escape starts feeling less important.
"The Alpha said—" she starts.
"I'm the Alpha. I'm saying stay." He picks up the cup and takes a drink. "Tell me about the Kane pack. About your life there."
Nora stands frozen. This is a trap. It has to be. Nobody just asks a captive about her past life unless they're trying to find weaknesses.
"There's nothing to tell," she says carefully. "My pack is gone now."
"You had a father." It's not a question. He's watched her enough to know. "Tell me about him."
The words hit like a physical blow. She doesn't want to talk about her father. Doesn't want to remember his face. Doesn't want to think about the fact that he's dead because of the man sitting in front of her.
"I'd rather not," she says quietly.
He sets down his cup and leans back in his chair. He studies her for a long moment. She can feel the weight of his attention like something physical. Like it has actual mass.
"You're planning to escape," he says suddenly.
Nora's heart stops.
"I've seen you memorizing exits. Guard rotations. The way warriors move. You're thinking about timing, about routes, about opportunity." He takes another drink. "That's smart. Smart is good."
She doesn't know how to respond to this. She expected him to be angry. To punish her for thinking about leaving.
"But you should know something," he continues. His voice is still smooth, still calm, but there's something underneath it now. Something that makes her skin prickle. "I've fought in fifty territories. I've conquered five packs. I can track a scent across mountains and through storms. And I can move faster than anything you've ever seen."
He stands up slowly.
"So if you run, I'll find you. And when I do, the rules are going to change."
He moves toward her and Nora forces herself to stand still. Running would only prove his point. Fighting would get her killed. All she can do is stand there while he approaches.
He stops just in front of her. Close enough that she can feel the heat coming off his body. Close enough that she can smell him. Something like pine and storm and danger.
His hand reaches out and his fingers touch her chin, tilting her face up toward his.
"Don't run from me," he says softly. "Because when I catch you, and I will catch you, I'm not going to let you go again."
Then he releases her and steps back.
"You can leave now," he says, sitting back down to his meal like he didn't just threaten her. Like he didn't just make it absolutely clear that she belongs to him.
Nora walks out of the chamber with her skin burning everywhere he touched her.
And the most terrifying part is that she's not sure she actually wants to escape anymore.