Chapter 3

Sofia's POV

The cold stone floor of the dungeon pressed against my legs, but I hardly felt it. The guilt was too heavy, suffocating. Every time I closed my eyes, the boy’s face appeared, lifeless, the awful truth crashing over me again: I’d killed him. By accident, sure, but it didn’t matter. He was dead because of me.

The air was thick with the smell of damp and despair, but I barely noticed as footsteps echoed down the corridor. When the cell door creaked open, I lifted my head, heart racing. Several men entered, their faces hard, and I instantly felt small. Their attention wasn’t on me, though. Their focus was on one man in particular.

I didn’t have to be told who he was. His presence spoke for itself. Power radiated off him like heat from a flame. He was taller than the others, broader too, and though his expression was set in a fierce scowl, it was impossible not to notice how handsome he was. It was the kind of handsome that belonged in a movie, not in the middle of this nightmare.

The others referred to him as "Alpha."

Alpha? The word jolted me. I’d seen movies about wolves, heard stories of packs and their powerful leaders, but I never thought I’d be face-to-face with one. Yet, here he was, a living embodiment of all those wild tales.

 His dark eyes swept the room before landing on me, and when they did, something inside me shifted. 

It wasn’t just fear or shame. There was something more. A pull. A connection, almost, though I couldn’t explain why.

My heart pounded as his gaze pinned me to the spot. I couldn’t look away, even though every instinct screamed at me to hide. But there was no hiding from him. He was the kind of man who saw everything.

His next word shattered the air between us.

“MATE.”

My breath caught in my throat. I couldn’t have heard him right. Mate? Like in the stories? My thoughts spun, trying to make sense of it. How could I, a stranger, be his... mate? I barely knew what that even meant, except from what I’d seen in movies. And yet, deep down, something stirred at the word. It wasn’t just the way he said it,it was the way my body responded to it, like it was something I had been waiting to hear my whole life. 

But it didn’t make sense. None of this did.

The man,this Alpha,turned, as if the word alone had drained him of the anger he had brought in with him. He walked away, and as he did, something in me twisted. A strange, overwhelming urge to follow him surged up, nearly taking me to my feet. Why? I didn’t know him. He was a stranger. But as he disappeared down the hall, I felt it,the need for his protection, his presence. A silent understanding that, for reasons I couldn’t fathom, this man would keep me safe.

I didn’t even know his name.

The coldness of the dungeon returned as the heavy door shut behind him. The chill sank back into my bones, and I was alone again. Alone with my confusion, my guilt, and now this strange new reality. What was happening to me? Who was that man? And what did he mean by “mate”?

Before I could begin to untangle my thoughts, another man appeared. He wasn’t as imposing as the Alpha, but he had the same sharpness in his eyes. He unlocked the cell door and gestured for me to follow.

“Come with me,” he said, his voice low but firm. 

I hesitated for a moment, unsure of where this was going. But what choice did I have? I couldn’t stay in that cell forever. So I stood, my legs shaky but obedient, and followed him through the dimly lit corridors.

The farther we walked, the more the stone walls gave way to something grander. Large hallways stretched out in front of me, adorned with ornate details that felt entirely out of place compared to the dark, dingy dungeon. My heart pounded as we climbed a staircase, the surroundings becoming more lavish with each step. Where were they taking me?

Finally, we stopped in front of a door on the third floor. The man,Braylon, I overheard someone call him,opened it and motioned for me to enter. Inside was a room like nothing I had expected. The bed was massive, draped in rich fabrics, and the walls were lined with intricate tapestries. It was all so... soft. Too soft for someone like me.

“Stay here,” Braylon said, his tone leaving no room for argument. “I’ll come back later.”

With that, he left, the door clicking shut behind him.

I stood in the middle of the room, feeling completely out of place. Everything around me screamed luxury, but I still felt the grime of the dungeon clinging to my skin. My eyes drifted around the room, landing on a large mirror against the far wall. Something about it drew me in. Slowly, I approached it, hoping to find some familiarity in my reflection.

What I saw instead stopped me cold.

My eyes.

They weren’t the same. The dark brown I had known my whole life was still there, but something had changed. A glow,a strange light,hovered just beneath the surface, giving them an almost otherworldly shine. I leaned closer, pressing my fingers against my face as if touching my skin would change what I was seeing. But the glow remained, staring back at me, unfamiliar and unsettling.

What the hell was happening to me?

I backed away from the mirror, my pulse racing. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. People’s eyes didn’t just... change. Not like that. But no matter how many times I blinked, the glowing eyes stayed. 

The Alpha’s face flashed in my mind again, his voice echoing with that one word: Mate. And suddenly, the glowing eyes, the strange pull I felt toward him, the unfamiliar sensations flooding my body,it all seemed connected. 

But how? And why?

I pressed my palms against my temples, trying to force some sense into the chaos swirling in my mind. I needed answers, but the only person who seemed to have them was the man who had just walked out of my life as suddenly as he’d entered it.

Alone in the room, I sank onto the edge of the bed, staring at my hands, which now seemed just as foreign as my reflection. I didn’t know what was coming next. But one thing was clear,my life was no longer my own.