The Alpha's Prize

5

Word Count: 1982

~Hunter

I stare down at my legs, silently cursing them.

It's been a week since the dinner and my injury has made little progress. My legs still feel lifeless and stiff, incapable of making a quick escape if necessary.

The door to the room opens, Taysa walking through balancing a tray on her arm.

"Good morning." Her sing-song voice fills the room. "How are you feeling?"

I shrink back into my pillow, closing my eyes as she rips open the curtains, cold, grim light casting it's horrid glow over me.

Even a sunny day depresses me now.

"I still can't walk, or hardly move," I grumble. She's heard this mantra every day this week, and yet the smile never slips from her face.

Setting the tray down on the bedside table next to me, she plucks off the silver lid covering the main plate, revealing a perfect omelette.

"The healers think that by next week you'll be able to start walking," Tay tells me.

"Comforting."

Seeing me staring enviously at the steaming mug of coffee, she hands it to me, watching me take a tentative sip before blowing at the liquid.

"We are meant to be friends, you know...We can't be friends when you hate me," she says quietly, looking down at her prettily painted fingernails.

I sigh, sitting up. "I'm sorry, I'm just frustrated. I'm meant to be many miles away from here by now."

In another situation I could see myself getting along with Tay. She's kind and attentive, even if it can be a little suffocating. Want is most important is that she means well.

"Why are you frustrated.?"

I give her a long look. "Why did you give me a fake backstory?"

"So mother would like you a bit more," she say uneasily. "It's not that I think that you're from a bad family or something, it's just that she will feel better thinking your family as based close by."

"The backstory is fine. Keep it," I mutter, taking a longer drink from the cup.

The ex-Luna liking me isn't a top priority, but it should keep them from digging deeper into where I actually come from is exactly what I need.

"By the way, myself and my parents are going to be leaving tonight to an event." She stands. "Kaan and my sister Azura will be home, so if you need assistance of any kind, they...well Kaan will be there."

Dread spills through me quicker than the poison did.

Alone here. With him.

"He's going to kill me," I groan, slapping my hand over my eyes. He's going to come in here and be done with me, then tell my parents I made a daring mistake while they were gone.

"No, he's not," Tay assures me. "Trust me, it will be fine."

"Alright..." It's not like I can invite myself to their event, so I'm stuck here.

Tay gives me a little wave once she reaches the door. "Have a good rest of your day, Hunter."

I squeeze the pillow around my head, dreading the incoming evening.

***

My attention never drifts from the window all day.

Eventually, much to my dismay, the sky darkened, the moon brightening as the sun dips below the horizon.