Twisted Bonds

Chapter 4

~~Bree’s PoV~~

The lock outside my door slides open, the sound of the metal grinding on metal so sharp that I wince. Although there’s no light and no clock in my room, I can guess it must be afternoon now since I’ve already been given breakfast and lunch. One thing I can’t complain about is that I have always been fed well. Dalton wants me healthy, if nothing else, though I honestly don’t know why. He doesn’t seem to care about me in any other way.

And if it’s afternoon now, I can guess who is at the door.

I’m soon proven right as Dalton steps into the small space of my room, looking down on me with a sneer. “It stinks in here.”

Of course it does. He’s locked me up with no fresh air and no running water, does he really expect it to smell like roses?

To be fair, it is not Dalton himself who is speaking or commanding the body in front of me. I call him Dalton, since it is his form, but I haven’t spoken to the actual Dalton since the night we met, three years ago. Ever since we returned to his home, every time I have seen my mate, his wolf has been in control, the same wolf that my own wolf, Topaz, was so afraid of on that night we met. Now, I know that her instinct was completely correct. We should have paid more attention to that feeling and trusted our gut. Instead, we walked unwittingly straight into the jaws of the beast.

The wolf’s name is Nyko, not that he has ever told us that himself. I have overheard others whispering about him in hushed tones which is the only reason I know his name at all. Nyko speaks to us as little as possible, preferring to pretend that we don’t exist unless he needs something from us, which is why he’s here now.

“The maids upstairs will help you get ready for tonight. There is a stylist to make you presentable. You will smile and nod and say nothing to anyone that might be construed as a complaint. Do I make myself clear?”

I simply nod, not looking for a fight. I must pretend to be as docile and compliant as possible if I am to have any chance of getting away.

When I first came here, I was allowed to attend these kinds of functions more often. As the prince’s foreign advisor, Dalton frequently entertains visiting dignitaries. I made the mistake of trying to speak to some of the people at those parties, to tell them about the conditions I was being kept in and to ask for help, and word quickly got back to Dalton. He apologized on my behalf, telling everyone I had been under a lot of strain. Comments were made suggesting I was mentally ill. Everyone believed him rather than me, and eventually, he stopped letting me attend at all, telling people I was too unwell to appear.

Tonight, however, is a different story. Because the visiting party is from the empire where I grew up, from my ‘home’, the prince feels it’s important that I am seen, and Dalton has no choice. I have been warned repeatedly about the consequences if I disobey his orders, but I have no intention of asking for help this time. By now, I understand that no one is coming to rescue me. If I want to escape, I have to rescue myself.

Dalton’s growl makes it clear he doesn’t entirely believe me, but since he has no choice, he lets me go and I follow the maids upstairs. Just the effort of climbing the stairs leaves me breathless, and my shoulders stoop as I try to keep up. In the guest room I’m taken to, the maids leave me alone long enough to have a shower. Although I’m on my own, I’m not naive enough anymore to think that there’s no one standing guard outside the door, and anything in the bathroom that I could use to harm myself has been removed. Dalton has taken all the necessary precautions, but I don’t worry about any of that as I remove my dirty clothes and turn on the shower.

The warm water washes over me as I step beneath the stream, and I can’t help letting out a groan of appreciation. I never knew how good a shower could feel until I had to go weeks without one. Usually, the maids bring me a bucket of water once a week to wash my body and my hair. It doesn’t come close to the sensation of being enveloped in the warm, steamy rainfall that surrounds me now, and some of my tension washes away along with the grime from my skin. It feels like a new start, washing away all the misery of the last three years and watching it disappear down the drain. Not another night, I tell Topaz in my head as I take a deep, cleansing breath.

Never again, she agrees.

We’re getting out of here tonight or we’re going down trying, those are the only options.

When I get out of the shower, I wrap myself in the robe left for me and go out into the guest room where there is a small army of people waiting to see to my appearance. The years of captivity have weakened me, as the march up the stairs proved, and my face looks sallow. The stylists do their best with their makeup to make me look healthier, and though it does help, I still don’t recognize the woman in the mirror. I wonder if anyone who knew me in the empire would recognize me either.

None of the women speak to me as they go about their work; they’ve all been instructed not to, and I keep silent as well. There is no point in asking them for help, it will only upset Dalton. His spies are everywhere.

The dress that has been chosen for me is silver-colored and beautiful, but it doesn’t fit me properly. The strapless bodice slips down since my breasts have shrunk too much to hold it up. After a lot of debate among the women responsible for dressing me, they pin it tighter around me, cutting off my air, and I’m reminded of the night all this began at another party with another too-tight dress. That night, Dalton took me away, and tonight, I will leave him behind. Perhaps it’s fitting that I’m once again short of breath.

At last, they’re finished, and not a moment too soon. Nyko appears at the door, in Dalton’s form, and his nose wrinkles in disapproval as he looks me over. “I suppose you will have to do. Come along, the guests are beginning to arrive.”

Without a backward glance, I follow him out of the room, and towards the rest of my life.