Chapter 8 The Gilded Cage

The familiar quiet of my room, or rather, my prison, settled around me. Maris hadn't said a word after the tour. She simply returned after a few minutes, motioned for me to follow her, and led me silently back to the chamber I'd started in. No soft reassurances this time. No explanation. Just a drawn expression and eyes that didn't quite meet mine. I tried to ask her what was wrong, if I'd done something, or if she was just mad at me now, but she didn't answer.

The door shut behind me with a soft click, and I was alone again.

I paced the floor restlessly, fingers trailing across the armrest of the plush chair before I dropped into it, burying my face in my hands. The quiet buzz of tension wouldn't leave me. It throbbed just beneath my skin like a second heartbeat.

What the hell was my life?

Just a few weeks ago, I had a job-even if it was a thankless one-and a best friend who made the awful parts a little more bearable. I'd just started getting my feet under me. Just started believing that maybe things were going to be okay. And then Damian Thorne had swept in like some goddamned storm, knocking down every defense I had with those eyes, that voice... and now I was here. In a gilded cage, guarded by secrets and people who didn't think I had the right to leave.

The worst part? The longer I stayed, the more my mind started to adjust to it, and that terrified me.

A sound pulled me from my spiral thoughts; the soft turn of the doorknob, followed by the quiet thud of boots on the polished floor.

Damian.

Of course, it was him. But he wasn't alone.

Behind him strode another man, tall and broad, with the kind of ease that screamed confidence and authority. His features were sharp and symmetrical, his brown hair a little tousled but clearly intentional, and his eyes the same warm shade that matched his tousled locks. His presence filled the room like static before a lightning strike.

He wasn't bad-looking. Handsome, even. But he wasn't Damian Thorne.And he sure as hell didn't make my skin prickle with rage and confusion the way Damian did. No, that special brand of emotional chaos was reserved for the man who'd stolen me from my life and locked me in a fantasy mansion filled with shifters and secrets.

The new guy smiled at me with easy charm, then nodded once. "Evelyn Carter," he said smoothly. "I'm Elias, Alpha Damian's Gamma. It's a pleasure to meet you."

I didn't bother returning the smile. "Unless you're here to take me back to where I came from, Elias Gamma, your presence isn't welcome."

His smile only widened, and he cast a look over his shoulder at Damian. "See? I told you she'd be a firecracker."

Damian smirked and leaned casually against the doorframe. "You did. Consider me officially told."

I crossed my arms and glared at them both. "You're really proud of yourself, aren't you? Collecting women like trophies and then bringing your little minions to gawk at them?"

"Minions?" Damian repeated, raising a brow. "Elias, did you hear that? You're a minion now."

Elias chuckled. "I've been called worse."

I rolled my eyes, my temper sparking. "This is a joke to you. My entire life has been turned upside down and you're both laughing about it."

Damian's smile faded slightly, his gaze sharpening. "It's not a joke, Evelyn. None of this is a joke."

I took a step forward, fists clenched. "Then let me go. I don't want to be here. I don't care what kind of 'bond' you think exists between us. It's not real. I don't feel anything except anger and-"

"-confusion," Damian finished for me, his voice low. "Because something inside you is waking up, and you don't want to admit it."

"You don't know me."

"I know enough."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and pushed forward. "Fine. If you won't let me go because of what I want, then maybe you'll care when the world finds out what you did. Layla knows I'm missing. She knows you. She'll go to the police. She'll storm your company and drag your name through the dirt. She won't rest until she finds me."

That got a reaction. Damian's jaw tightened for half a second, but it wasn't fear I saw in his eyes. It was amusement..and something that was akin to pity, but it was gone as soon as I'd blinked.

''You really think I didn't plan for that?" he asked quietly. "Layla is under the impression you left for a last-minute business trip. We altered her memory of that night. She has no clue you were even taken."

The room tilted. "What...?"

"She'll remember you packing a bag. Saying goodbye. Telling her you'd be back in a month or two. She won't question it. Not until it's too late."

My knees buckled, and I caught the edge of the chair to steady myself. "You... you wiped her memory?"

Damian didn't flinch. "I did what I had to do."

"How could you?" I whispered. "She's my best friend. She's...she's all I have."

His expression darkened, shoulders squaring as he stepped closer. "I am the Alpha. I can do anything I need to protect what's mine."

That word,'mine', landed like a slap. I had to take a step back so I wouldn't collapse on the floor like a puddle.

He turned without waiting for my reply and strode toward the door. Elias gave me one last glance, his eyes gentler than Damian's, but still unreadable.

"Nice to meet you, Evelyn," he said softly.

The door shut behind them with a finality that echoed through the silence. I stood there for a moment, frozen. Then the weight of it all hit me at once.

Layla didn't even know I was missing.

No one was coming for me.

No one would even realize I was gone.

I finally collapsed to the floor, the velvet rug muffling the sound of my knees hitting the ground. A single tear slid down my cheek, followed by another... and then the dam broke.

The sobs tore from me, ugly and raw. My chest heaved, my hands trembled, and I clutched the fabric of the chair like it was the only solid thing left in my world.

I cried until my throat hurt. Until my eyes burned. Until the only thing left was the hollow echo of my own despair.

And still, no one came.