Chapter Eight – Zara's POV
Fated in Chains
The first thing I felt was warmth.
Soft. Steady. Solid.
My head rested against something firm. I allowed myself to stay there, my body exhausted, my mind drifting in and out of consciousness.
Then it hit me.
The execution.
The deal.
Hunter.
My eyes flew open.
I jerked back, my heart racing as I realized I had been resting against his shoulder. My body moved on instinct, shifting away from him as fast as my bruised limbs allowed.
Hunter didn't react.
He sat still beside me, his green gaze fixed straight ahead, as if my sudden movement didn't faze him.
I pressed myself against the car door, my breath unsteady. My wrists throbbed where the ropes had burned my skin, my body weak from days without food or rest.
Where am I?
I blinked, forcing myself to focus.
The car was large. Luxurious. The seats were smooth black leather, the windows tinted so dark I could barely make out the scenery passing by. The hum of the engine was low, steady, filling the silence between us.
I turned to him.
He still hadn't looked at me.
His jaw was tight, his arms resting against the seat in complete ease. He looked calm—too calm.
Like he wasn't sitting beside a woman who had just been tied to a stake, waiting for death.
Like he hadn't just bought me.
The realization sank into my bones.
I belonged to him now.
I clenched my hands into fists, my nails digging into my palms. My wolf stirred uneasily inside me, but she wasn't angry.
She was restless.
"Speak to him."
Her voice echoed in my mind, urging me forward.
I hesitated.
Why should I?
This man had walked into my execution without hesitation. He had spoken to my father like he owned my fate, and my father had given me away without a second thought.
I swallowed, pushing back the lump in my throat.
But I needed answers.
So I took a shaky breath and spoke.
"Why?"
The word felt too small for the weight it
carried.
"Why me?"
Hunter's green gaze finally shifted to me, slow and deliberate.
"Why what?" His voice was deep, smooth, completely unreadable.
I swallowed. "Why did you want me?"
He didn't blink.
"You knew what I was," I continued, my voice steady despite the way my stomach twisted. "You knew they called me a curse. A monster."
Hunter exhaled slowly, turning his gaze back to the road ahead.
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Then, finally—
"Soon, you will understand."
That was all he said.
I frowned. "That's not an answer."
He didn't respond.
My fingers curled against my lap. "You stopped my execution," I said, my voice firmer now. "But not because you wanted to save me. You wanted me for something. I deserve to know—"
"You deserve nothing."
His voice cut through the space between us, cold and sharp.
I stiffened.
My lips parted, but no words came out.
Hunter let out a breath, rubbing his temple as if he were already tired of this conversation. "You will have your answers in time," he said, his tone softer now but still holding that air of finality. "Until then, keep quiet."
I clenched my teeth, my chest tight with frustration.
I wanted to push.
I wanted to demand answers.
But I knew better.
So I swallowed my words and turned back toward the window, watching the trees blur past us as we left behind the only home I had ever known.
Or maybe—
The only prison I had ever known.
---
Hunter's POV
She was too quiet.
Too cautious.
I had expected more fight from her.
More anger.
More something.
But she simply sat there, her body pressed against the door, as if she could disappear into it if she tried hard enough.
I kept my gaze forward, my hands relaxed against my lap.
I had waited eleven years for this moment.
I had searched.
Tracked.
Hunted.
And now, she was sitting beside me.
Not as the girl who once stood by my side.
But as the woman who had been cursed to kill me.
I exhaled slowly, keeping my expression unreadable.
I didn't want to tell her.
Not yet.
Not about the past.
Not about what she meant to me.
Not about what she was.
Not about the prophecy that declared she would one day be my downfall.
She wasn't ready for the truth.
And maybe—
I wasn't ready to tell it.
I clenched my jaw, my mind dragging me back to a time long before this.
---
Eleven Years Ago
The training grounds smelled of sweat and dirt.
The other warriors circled me, their laughter ringing in my ears.
"Pathetic."
"A beast that can't even fight."
I gritted my teeth, tasting blood in my mouth as I pushed myself up from the dirt. My body ached from the last hit, my ribs screaming in protest.
But I didn't fall.
I wouldn't fall.
Even if I was alone.
Then—
A hand reached toward me.
I looked up.
She stood there, her silver eyes filled with something I had never seen before.
Not pity.
Not disgust.
But something warmer.
Something that made my chest tighten.
"Come on," she said, offering her hand. "Get up."
I hesitated.
Then, slowly—
I took it.
That was the first time Zara Nightshade saved me.
Even when she didn't know it.
---
I still had the pendant she gave me.
A small silver wolf, worn with time, but still hanging around my neck.
She had given it to me before she disappeared.
Before I lost her.
Before I spent the next eleven years searching for her.
And now?
Now I had found her.
Only to learn that she was not just my mate.
She was the one prophesized to kill me.
Or worse—
I would have to kill her before she killed me.
I clenched my fists, dragging myself back to the present.
Zara sat beside me, silent.
Still afraid.
Still unaware of what she truly was.
I turned my head slightly, watching her from the corner of my eye.
She didn't know.
Not yet.
But soon—
She would.
And when that day came—
One of us would have to die.