Chapter 4

There wasn't much to do there.

There was nothing in the drawers, the windows were closed and the door remained locked for a long time until the woman at reception delivered a plate of food.

She just slid it into the room and closed the door, but I could still see her shadow in the gap underneath.

I took the plate and sat down on the floor, placing it on my lap. I stared at the door.

"What are you planning to do to me?" I asked, doing my best to keep my voice steady knowing that she was listening.

The shadow moved away. I couldn't even be offended at being ignored, considering my situation.

I sighed, staring at the plate. It was kind of them to feed a prisoner (or as kind as one could be to keep a prisoner in the first place), especially with such well-made food. It must have been the same dinner served to the other guests of what I was assuming was a hotel.

Why would Viktor care about my comfort, knowing who I was? Knowing that I, an Ashenfur, bore Gregor's mark on my skin?

I picked up the plastic cutlery and ran the knife through the well-done fillet, trying to keep the plate balanced on my legs. I hadn't noticed how hungry I was-I hadn't eaten all day, and my stomach was starting to hurt.

"I don't know."

Her voice startled me.

At least I wasn't completely ignored.

"What does that mean?" I said, a little impatiently. "What do you do with your prisoners?"

"I don't think you're a prisoner."

I took a small piece of fillet into my mouth. Ashenfur genetics graced us with sharp teeth, but mine were even more prevalent. The meat broke easily.

"So what am I?"

She didn't answer.

I insisted a little more. "I bear the mark of my clan's alpha. Isn't that reason enough to kill me?"

She continued in silence.

I heard some noises on the other side and shrugged, going back to eating. Her footsteps moved away, and I heard them disappearing, probably down the stairs. A low buzz, some voices. Maybe a new guest.

I got up, taking my plate to the wide bed in the center of the room. I left it on the dresser and sat down. The mattress was definitely softer than mine at home. Gregor didn't like soft mattresses, he preferred firm ones. They hurt my back and bones, but I got used to them over time. I'd forgotten how comfortable it was.

More steps. I went back to eating as the noises came closer to my door. The shadows danced through the gap again, and it no longer looked like one person. I squeezed my eyes shut, chewing. Perhaps they were finally coming to deliver my sentence. 

The lock clicked and the door opened. Completely, this time, different from when the receptionist was handing me food, and Viktor's figure emerged.

I watched him enter, close the door and approach.

Trapped in that room at last, but with a man. I didn't like being alone with men.

He dragged a woody armchair close to my bed. He turned it around and sat down, staring at me with his arms on the backrest.

I didn't say anything. I just swallowed the piece of meat I was chewing and didn't move a muscle.

"You," he began, his timbre beautiful and rigid. "Speak."

"Say what?" I said. I tried to steady my voice as I had before, but my power was dying in front of him and the way he stared at me, as if his eyes were daggers pointed at my throat.

"Explain yourself."

I swallowed. Explaining myself, explaining my personal and possibly romantic life to the head of the Frostbites didn't seem like the best idea. He could use it all against me, and the last thing I wanted was to make a fool of myself. To have someone else think I was pathetic.

Still, I didn't know what else to say apart from the truth. Perhaps, in another situation, I could come up with some crazy story that would explain my state, my escape, when my mind wasn't so tired. I didn't sleep in the meantime, despite my tiredness, and Viktor barely gave me time to finish my meal before showing up demanding an answer.

I don't think I'd give a Frostbite too many luxuries either, if I were on my own territory.

Without a lie to take the place of the miserable truth, I didn't answer. He continued to stand there, freezing me with that look.

"I'm not leaving here until you answer me."

"What do you want me to say?" I said grudgingly, avoiding his eyes, and he frowned.

"You can start with the truth."

I stared at him with a bravado that came out of nowhere as I imitated his words from earlier with acidity, "I don't trust Frostbites."

He paused. At no point did he take his eyes off me. "Keeping the rival alpha's partner in the village is a risk I'm taking. You can repay me by that."

"I've already repaid by following you and your escort," I said. I wanted to escape the possibility of confessing the truth for as long as possible. "What did you want by bringing me here?"

He snapped his fingers as if it were a nervous act. He cleared his throat, moved his jaw. He almost looked uncomfortable, moving his torso away from the back of the armchair, looking anywhere other than at my face for the first time in the conversation.

"I don't know how to say this," he muttered.

"Say what?"

Again, a few nervous gestures.

"You don't have to... tell me. I'll just ask you a question, and you answer me with a yes or a no."

"Okay..."

He shook his head, sighing. Back to massacring me with his eyes.

"Those marks on your body. Was it Gregor?"

The mention of his name made me freeze.

Gregor. Of course, rival alphas were familiar with each other, weren't they? Just as I knew his name, he should know mine, and more importantly, Gregor's. Was it so obvious? Did I look like someone who would submit to this, or was Gregor transparently hinting at subjugating other people in this?

I stared at my arms. It was no big deal. Sometimes, around the full moon, these things would happen, Gregor's animal instincts would announce themselves as too present, too visible. It wasn't what really worried me, or what really made me run away, but his words, the smell of others in the room, and... ?

Viktor nodded. In the face of my silence, his eyes softened like the mattress on that bed.

"Gregor isn't the best man in the world," he said, scratching his neck soothingly. He added softly, "No Ashenfur is."

"You don't know that."

"I know," his voice hardened again, "I know very well. Your clan carried out a senseless massacre against us, to no avail."

I frowned. "Yours too. You're not angels."

"In retaliation. You started it, you have to know that."

I crossed my arms. I knew that the attack was a whim of Gregor's ego (even if I would never admit it to Viktor), although I didn't have many more details. Women weren't really included in that. We weren't members of the security team or leaders of any kind. That was the only function imposed on us: to produce and reproduce. And I obviously wasn't successful in that area. If I had been, who knows, maybe Gregor would have seen me differently.

Viktor again seemed to accept my silence. He dropped his point and the argument, "Look. You running away from them just shows that you're coming to your senses. Nothing good comes from that side."

"I'm not running away from all the Ashenfur-"

"But you are running. That's good."

I didn't feel like it was.

"In the meantime," he continued, "I'll be happy to provide shelter. Gregor left you colored. I won't let you go back there."

Gregor had been a good partner. But how could I say those words when even I didn't believe it?

I didn't want the Frostbites to be kind. I wanted them to be despicable, to do things that justified all the years I'd spent thinking the worst of each member, and every story that reached my ears about unjustified barbarity. I expected savagery because that's all I knew.

Viktor surprised me. Why didn't he take the opportunity to welcome me into his lair? Some would boast of the victory of making their archenemy's wife bow her head to them in a sign of weakness, of attacking in her vulnerability. Alone in a forest, and now alone in a room.

I could only think of one reasonable explanation: he wanted to exchange favors, didn't he?

Of course he did. Any remaining hope of an unrealistic benevolence crumbled in the face of that simple idea. There was always a hidden reason for everything. And when the prey was weak, everything became much easier.

"What do you want in return?"

He blinked.

"In return?"

"When are you going to make me pay?"

He sighed. Again, he shifted in his chair and ran his fingers through his messy hair.

"Can't you be grateful for once? Say thank you, maybe."

"For what? For locking me in this room?"

"For not treating you like a prisoner."

"I could be treated like one. I wouldn't be bothered. At least you wouldn't mind the chivalry."

He looked at me. "We're not like Ashenfur men."

"Yes, I can see that. We eat our food raw," I gestured to the plate next to the bedside table.

"I'm glad you recognize your shitty background." He stood up and put the armchair back in its original position. His voice had a tone of indignation that strangely didn't arouse my irritation. "We'll give you a roof over your head and some food. When you're comfortable, I'll dispatch a healer to take a look at you, but I don't want you going anywhere near Gregor Ashenfur again."

He didn't have that authority. Still, it was good. I didn't want to face Gregor again, if only to hide for a while, under the pretense that I was just following Viktor's words.

I stared at the floor and spat out a lie that hurt, "He'll come looking for me."

Because he wouldn't.

Viktor shrugged. "I imagine he will. Let him."

I shook my head.

"That's a death wish."

"A wish I'm willing to face. I've already killed your kind. What's one more?"

My stomach clenched. My mother. They killed her in their retaliation, while she was trying to save my skin, and now she was just another corpse on the ground. More senseless victims. And here I was, relaxing in the territory of those responsible for the loss of the only person who really cared about me.

I turned to Viktor. "You're not as nice as you think."

He ignored me. Slowly, he walked to the door again, opening it.

Even so, he fed me. Gave me a bed and a roof. 

I bit my lip. In displeasure, I said, "Thank you."

He looked over his shoulder and left in silence.