Ehlian hated the nights, not just because of the hard, cold floor that left him stiff and aching, but because Grasson’s groans echoed faintly from two floors below. The sound was endless, like some insatiable machine. This place was worse than rotten.
Hayce closed the book he always read in the evenings, and moved to the window, pulling the curtains shut but leaving a thin gap in the centre.
Ehlian tapped the floor experimentally, hoping some miracle had softened it since last night. Of course, it hadn’t. Sleeping on it every night was pure fucking torture. He was only twenty-four, and all his bones and joints ached. Damnit. Such a lavish cell and Hayce couldn’t afford a second bed?
The soft sound of Hayce’s steps broke through his thoughts. Startled, Ehlian snapped his head up to meet the alpha’s gaze, wary.
“If you don’t get in bed tonight,” Hayce said, stopping in front of him, “I will put you there myself.”
Like you put me on my knees,he thought.
Hayce stared at him, his expression unreadable. “Is that how you want it?”
Ehlian flushed, mortified. He hadn’t meant to project his thoughts through the pack bond. He cursed his pathetic strength and the band around his wrist, which left him incapable of holding a solid mental shield.
“I don’t want you,” Ehlian said lamely.
“Go to bed.” Hayce’s tone left no room for argument. “I won’t offer again.”
Then Hayce walked away and began to change, pulling on a pair of shorts and a tank top with unhurried ease. Ehlian refused to look, turning his head firmly away. Not that he noticed the narrow V tapering down Hayce’s hips, or the way his muscles shifted under his skin. So what if Hayce was fit? Most alphas were.
When the lights went out, the ominous red glow of the lock above their door cut through the darkness.
Fuck this. One more night on the hard floor and he’d need stitches.
Reluctantly, he stood.
His aching muscles protested every movement as he crossed the cell and hesitated at the bed. Cautiously, he set down his pillow and lay on his back, making sure to stay at the very edge. The blanket was large, but it barely covered him. He wouldn’t dare pull more, afraid to wake the sleeping alpha.
But he wasn’t asleep, Ehlian reminded himself. Hayce was very much awake. He could feel it in the stillness of the air, sense it in the way Hayce’s energy crackled softly around the room. He could almost feel Hayce observing him.
“I won’t do anything,” Hayce’s voice cut through the charged silence. “Sleep.”
Ehlian snapped, “I can’t just sleep because you tell me to.”
He was angry at Hayce. Angry at himself. Angry at this whole fucked-up situation. With a sharp yank, he grabbed the edge of the blanket and dragged it over himself, cocooning his body completely, like it would shield him from the weight of Hayce’s presence.
Turning onto his side, he stared through the narrow gap in the curtains. Arox shimmered in the darkness, its glow fractured through the orbiting prison’s thick glass. Yet the hypnotic view wasn’t enough to distract him from the heat radiating off Hayce’s body, nor the maddening pulse of power that buzzed in the air. It tugged at the omega inside him in ways no other alpha had.
And the worst part? Hayce wasn’t even trying. He hadn’t unleashed his allure, not once since Ehlian had been shoved into this cell. No spike in enchanting power waves, no deliberate push of telepathic dominance. But he was doing something. Hehad to be. Something that set every nerve on edge in Ehlian’s body, leaving him wired, unable to shake off the blistering intensity.
His jaw clenched. “It won’t work on me. Stop it.”
“I’m not doing anything, Ehlian.” Hayce replied, sounding bored.
Liar.
It had to be the pack bond. There was no other explanation. The telepathic link pulled pleasantly at his mind and core, messing with his senses.
There couldn’t be anything else.
Could there?
Chapter 5
Two months into Ehlian’s imprisonment, a torn package was waiting for him in the cell. It had already been opened, likely searched by the guards to make sure no weapons had been smuggled inside.
Ehlian sat down in the armchair and flipped open the paper lid. Inside was a small cake, cut in half with a crooked candle poking from the top.
