Chapter 10 Cage With Golden Bars

~SYLION'S POV~

"Fool! You should have claimed her years ago!"

The voice of my wolf echoed inside my head as I paced across the narrow hallway, the folded letter burning hot against my palm before I shoved it into my pocket.

My boots struck the wood floor again and again, restless, as if my body could not settle no matter how many turns I made.

"Oh, shut up," I scowled. "It wasn't that simple."

"Simple?" My wolf gave a low laugh, sharp and mocking. "She looked at you every day. You guarded her, followed her, breathed the same air and yet, you pretended to be her brother. What brother dreams of her at night, hm? What brother watches her lips and clenches his fists not to touch?"

Heat shot to my face, my jaw tightened. "She trusted me back then. If I made a move, she would have hated me."

"And now? She hates you anyway. You denied yourself, denied me. And for what? To watch another man put his mark on her? To stand by while she calls him Alpha, husband, mate?" The wolf snarled, pacing inside me. "You are a coward, Sylion. Worse than that, you are a fool!"

I dragged my hand through my hair, tugging at the roots until pain shot down my scalp.

"I couldn't—!" My voice cracked, the words spilling too fast. "I couldn't because she saw me as family. She was fragile... she was—"

"She was yours," the wolf cut in, sudden and firm. "And you let her slip away."

I clenched my fists so tightly my nails dug crescent moons into my palms. My heart pounded, not from the wolf's anger, but from the letter in my pocket. The words in it... cold and cruel had twisted everything into a knot I could barely swallow.

The enemy was already circling and If she ran, she would die. If she stayed... she would hate me because she would learn the truth that I needed her.

Not only because my heart had long surrendered to her, but because she was one of the keys to the Moon Relic. The very relic that vanished three years ago.

If the vampires claimed it before I did, everything would end. The packs, the balance, even the fragile threads of werewolf fate will tear apart.

My wolf's tone shifted, softer now, "so you will use her? Is that your choice? Claim her heart, or claim her as a tool?"

I closed my eyes, images flickered--her small hand clutching mine when we were younger, her laugh when the lanterns lit up the night festival, her eyes filled with betrayal the day I vanished.

I whispered, almost to myself, "If she hates me but survives, then let her hate me."

The wolf went quiet for a long while, before sighing. "You lie even to yourself."

I turned, walking back into my room. My gaze landed on the letter again where I had just dropped it, the black wax seal slightly open. I had already read it twice, the words still pressed against my chest like stones.

She cannot leave. If she leaves, they will catch her and If she stays, I will break her heart myself.

Cage with golden bars—wasn't that what this was?

"At least if she stays, we can look at her every day..." My wolf chuckled suddenly, tone unexpectedly playful. "...listen to her soft breathing when she sleeps, watch her when she's angry and pretends not to care. Who knows, maybe one day she'll warm up to us again."

I hissed through my teeth. "Don't talk like that. She isn't some prize to keep locked away."

'Really? Then why did you lock the window yesterday when she tried to open it?' The wolf teased but I ignored him.

'Why did your hand tremble when you took away her shoes, saying it was to clean them? Hm?' The laugh grew louder. 'Possessive! So, don't pretend you're not."

My breath slowed for a second and I slammed my fist against the desk, the sound echoing in the quiet room. "Enough!"

But my wolf only snorted, curling lazily inside me. "You can deny me, Sylion. But you can't deny yourself."

I pressed my forehead against my hand, sweat dampening my temple. The air tasted heavy, as if the past itself had returned to choke me.

Four years ago... I thought I had buried it. But memory doesn't die when you command it, It creeps back, claws sharp, and fangs bared.

After the massacre that stole my pack and bloodline, I had wandered like a ghost. I healed, or I told myself I did. My body stitched itself, but my soul remained torn.

When I finally returned to that village, the first place I met her... I thought maybe I could anchor myself again.

But she was gone.

I searched, chased trails, asked strangers, followed whispers and then I heard it. The words that shattered me completely--she had been married.

Married to Alpha Alaric, the man I had once called brother-in-arms, and now only saw as an enemy after the massacre.

That day, I hid as the world no longer had space for me. I swore then, with blood in my mouth and hatred in my veins, that one day I would return. One day I would claim her back. Not as a brother, but as my MATE!

The vow carved itself into me, deeper than any wound.

And now she was here, in my house and breathing under my roof. Close enough that if I stretched out my hand, I could touch her.

Yet farther than ever.

The wolf sighed, amused. "She sleeps next to your room, yet you can't go meet her. Tell me, Sylion, how long will you stand in your own cage?"

I wanted to answer, but my throat locked tight, and my words stuck behind the iron bars of fear. It was then I heard it... a sound.

Faint footsteps, but sharp enough to cut through my thoughts. It wasn't hers because the rhythm was wrong.

My body stilled, every sense sharpening. Slowly, I moved to the window, careful not to creak the floorboards. I parted the curtain by a finger's width.

Outside, the pale moonlight shone across the ground. And there, just beyond the corner of the wall, was a strange shadow of someone.

The figure crouched low, head tilted up toward Elowen's window. The movement was so deliberate that I could tell it wasn't a passerby or a neighbor.

Then I suddenly recognized the Sigil on his clothes... a Dravenmere spy, obviously sent by their Alpha, Alaric.

My breath instantly stopped because Alaric must never know she was here in Tharros Pack!