>>Enya
"You have one job," Emrys said, his voice too casual for what he was about to drop like poison.
I sat stiffly on the edge of the couch in his study, my limbs still aching from the stone floor of the dungeon. My dress was filthy, torn at the hem, and I could feel the gri of the cell still clinging to my skin. The warmth from the fireplace was the only kindness in the room—and it wasn’t his.
"What?" I snapped, glaring at him through strands of unwashed hair.
The maid silently placed a tray of warm food on the small table beside , then disappeared like a ghost sensing a storm.
Emrys folded his arms and leaned against his desk, eyes glinting green like a serpent ready to strike. "Seduce the wolf in the dungeon," he said flatly. "Get him to imprint on you."
I stared at him, stunned for a heartbeat. Then revulsion twisted in my gut.
"You want to—" I rose to my feet. "Are you out of your damn mind?"
"It’s the only way," he said calmly, as if this was so strategic negotiation, not the utter degradation of his own sister.
I laughed bitterly, incredulous. "You’re serious."
"If he imprints on you," Emrys went on, "he’ll protect you. Father thinks he’s uncontrollable, but if you beco his... tether, we can use him. And you’ll stay out of the dungeon."
"You an your precious ’usefulness’ will keep alive."
His jaw tightened. "Enya—"
"No," I hissed, stepping forward. "Don’t say my na like you care. You left there. With no food. No word. You watched them drag into that pit like I was nothing, and now you want to be so... pawn in Father’s ga?"
Emrys didn’t flinch, but his gaze shifted. For a mont, I saw sothing flicker beneath the ice. Regret? No. Too late for that.
"This will please Father," he said, softer now. Like that would change my answer.
"I have no intention of pleasing that man," I snapped. "Not now. Not ever."
"You’ll end up back in the cell if you don’t," he said, voice tight.
"Then throw back in!" I shouted, fists clenched. "Better to rot than be your sacrificial whore."
His mouth opened—then closed again. He wanted to say sothing, I could see that, but he couldn’t get it out.
The silence stretched.
I took a shaky breath. "Stop pretending you care, Emrys. You’re just scared. Scared of Father. Scared to defy him. So you’ll do what you always do—offer soone else in your place."
His face paled slightly. "No," He shook his head, "You’ve got it wrong,"
"Yea, right," I turned back toward the food, suddenly nauseated by it. "I know everything," I shook my head, "I don’t even understand why you’re so afraid of him," I said bitterly, watching Emrys like he was sothing I’d scraped off the bottom of my boot. "You’re all he cares about anyway."
That struck sothing—I saw it in the flicker behind his eyes, the clench of his jaw. But he didn’t respond. Not to that.
He turned away, adjusting sothing pointless on his desk, before saying with that sa cold, calculated tone, "Just seduce the wolf. No one is asking you to sleep with him."
I narrowed my eyes. "Then what are you asking to do, exactly?"
But before I could get another word out, he spun back around, his voice suddenly sharp—cutting.
"It’s not like I would allow such a vile act," He didn’t scream, but his voice was full of anger which startled .
The air cracked with his fury. The fire behind him seed to dim for a mont, or maybe it was the way his shadow stretched across the room like a threat.
I blinked at him, startled. His hands were clenched tight at his sides, knuckles white. It was the first ti I’d seen him angry in a way that didn’t feel... controlled. Not calm. Not cruel. Just furious—irrationally so.
"What’s your problem?" I asked, quieter now.
He said nothing. His chest rose and fell in silence, eyes sowhere over my shoulder like he couldn’t bear to look at .
I turned my gaze down to the food again. It had gone cold.
Seduce the wolf...
Stay out of the dungeon...
Hmmm
"Fine," I said as I looked back at him. "I’ll do it."
His shoulders dropped ever so slightly. No relief, just a grim acceptance.
***
The guards shoved the door open, and for a second, I thought they’d made a mistake—until I saw the two figures dragged inside.
Ahin. Rika.
Both still bound in chains. Both filthy, bruised, and clearly out of place in the warmth of our chambers. The fireplace crackled quietly behind . Fresh sheets adorned the beds. Food was laid out, untouched, steaming in silver dishes.
Rika looked around in wide-eyed confusion, her trembling hands gripping the front of her tattered dress. Ahin, anwhile, stood like a wounded beast, back stiff, expression unreadable beneath the gri and blood.
"What the hell is this?" I muttered, standing up sharply. "Why bring them here like this?"
The guards didn’t even blink in my direction. They just made the beast man kneel on the ground. Their way was rough. One of them kicked his knees while the other grabbed his head and forced him downwards.
Seeing that made angry
"Get out," I said louder this ti, "Leave them both and get out!!"
Nothing. They didn’t listen to my command. But it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.
I took a step forward, furious, "I said—"
"Leave," Einar’s quiet voice cut in, but it held a strange authority. One that made the guards pause. "That’s an order."
The n hesitated only a second longer before they stepped back and exited, leaving the door open just long enough for a gust of cold air to blow through.
I rolled my eyes as I turned to Einar. "Right. Of course. They might treat you like a monster too, but you’re still Father’s son. You still have weight."
Einar didn’t reply. He just sat back on the edge of his bed, pale and exhausted, watching quietly.
I turned to Ahin and Rika. They looked so out of place in the clean, perfud space. Rika stood close to her brother, her tiny shoulders tight with fear. Ahin was watching . Unmoving.
I walked forward and knelt down slowly in front of him until we were eye level.
His eyes narrowed, his chains rattled slightly.
"Don’t be mad," I told him, "I’m not your enemy."
He glared back and I did my best to remain calm.
"I want you to be my bodyguard," I said softly.
He didn’t react for a mont. Then, eyebrows furrowed, he gave a confused shake of his head. Not a word.
"I’m not asking you to beco so servant," I added. "I’m offering you a way out."
Still, nothing from him. He was unreadable. His breath ca in slow, heavy exhales.
"If you agree, you’ll be out of that dungeon," I said gently. "And Rika will be too. She won’t ever go back there."
At the sound of her na, Ahin flinched.
I looked at her—small, thin, fragile Rika, who had barely spoken since she ca out of that hell. She was staring at the fruit on the plate like she didn’t know if she was allowed to want it.
When I looked back at Ahin, his eyes were still fixed on her.
And for the first ti, I saw the fury fade just a little... replaced by hesitation. By the aching weight of decision.
Ahin’s chains clinked as he shifted. His eyes hadn’t left Rika since I made the offer, but now they slowly drifted back to —stormy, unreadable. He looked older than he probably was, like life had beat the softness out of him long before I ever laid eyes on him in that cell.
And then, finally, he spoke.
"...Why would you want as a bodyguard?"
His voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper, but there was strength beneath the rawness. Suspicion. Defensiveness.
I turned slightly to glance at Einar, who was still sitting quietly on the edge of the bed. He t my eyes and gave a single, firm nod.
I sighed and turned back to Ahin, folding my legs beneath as I sat on the floor in front of him.
"You already saw how I’m treated in this family," I said, voice low but steady. "I was thrown into a dungeon just for trying to help my brother. No one here sees as soone worth protecting."
I paused, letting that truth hang heavy in the air.
"My brother... Emrys asked Father to let out. And Father agreed, but—" I hesitated, my throat tightening. "He said I could leave... only if I seduce you."
Ahin blinked, visibly startled. His whole body stiffened, and he imdiately looked away, his ears and the edges of his cheeks turning a deep shade of red beneath the gri.
????
I stared at him. I was surprised by his reaction.
In all honesty, I didn’t expect him to react like that. It was so out of the blue.
And then—despite myself—I laughed softly.
"Calm down. I’m not going to throw myself at you," I said, shaking my head in exasperation. "I know how it works. Werewolves imprint once. With their soulmate. It’s not sothing I could fake, even if I wanted to."
He turned his head back toward , still flushed, still wary.
He’s a cute fellow...
"I don’t want to seduce you," I said. "I just want to get you out. And her," I nodded toward Rika, who now sat curled on one of the plush rugs, hugging her knees to her chest. "This place will kill both of you if you stay locked up. I saw it. You don’t belong in chains."
Ahin didn’t answer right away. But he didn’t look away again either.
The storm in his eyes was still there
His gaze sharpened, still cautious but deeply confused.
"...What do you get," he asked slowly, "from helping out strangers?"
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