CHAPTER 6
I'm back with a fresh chapter for you all. Sit back, read, and enjoy Dreamers!!
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Mia did not remember much of the journey.
The world blurred past in fragments where the pounding of hooves, the sting of ropes biting into her wrists, the unyielding silence of the warriors who escorted her.
She did not cry, did not ask questions. What was there to ask?
She had been claimed, not as a mate, but as a possession.
Daniel's words rang louder than the thunder of the horses.
"You belong to me now. Not as my mate. As my servant."
They followed her like a curse, carved deep into her bones.
When the riders slowed and the towering walls of his territory rose before her, her chest tightened.
His lands stretched farther than her eyes could see, where the forests were dense and untamed, stone halls vast and imposing, and warriors lined up like an army awaiting command.
Every head bowed as Daniel passed. Here, he was more than an Alpha.
He was untouchable. Untamed. A king among wolves.
And she... was less than nothing.
At the gates, whispers spread like wildfire.
"A slave?" a she-wolf scoffed, her tone dripping poison. "The Lycan dragged home a servant?"
Another sneered, eyes gleaming with cruelty. "She reeks of him. But look, pitiful. He must have brought her as a joke."
Mia kept her head low, her cheeks burning, though she did not falter. She had no voice here. No strength to fight. All she could do was follow the pull of the rope, her body moving where he led.
Daniel's grip on her arm was iron, dragging her through the grand hall where his Beta, Michael and warriors knelt in reverence. Their gazes flicked toward her, sharp and questioning, before settling back on him.
"This girl," Daniel said, his tone cold enough to chill the air, "is not my mate. She is my property. She will serve me, and she will serve this pack. Nothing more."
The words pierced her chest like blades. Fate had given her a mate. He had turned her into a slave.
The pack chuckled, some sneering openly, others smirking as if the declaration were sport. They would follow their Alpha's lead. If he called her worthless, she was worthless.
Daniel's gaze fell on her again, gold burning through her like fire. "On your knees," he commanded.
Her body obeyed before her mind caught up. Knees against the cold stone, eyes fixed on the floor, heart thundering so loud she feared he might hear.
"Good," Daniel said softly, though his voice carried that edge of steel. He bent close, his whisper meant for her alone. "Remember your place, Mia Reed. You are nothing here. Nothing to me."
But as he straightened, his jaw tightened, his fists curled, his wolf snarled in protest. The scent of vanilla clung to her skin, wrapping around him, pulling at him. Every breath was a battle.
He told himself he brought her here to break her. To prove that fate had no claim over him.
But deep down, he feared the truth.
It wasn't her who would be broken.
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Mia's days blurred into one another, each as heavy and thankless as the last.
At dawn, she was scrubbing the stone floors until her hands were raw. By midday, she polished armour that gleamed brighter than her own future ever could. By nightfall, she was bowing and serving wolves who sneered as though she were dirt beneath their boots.
No one spared her kindness. No one spared her a glance that wasn't laced with contempt. To them, she was not the fated mate of the Lycan King. She was the servant he had dragged into their kingdom as proof of his cruelty.
The wolves made certain she felt it.
"Careful, little wolf," one warrior mocked when she passed with a tray. "Your shaking hands will spill before you reach him."
Another leaned closer, his breath hot against her cheek. "If he grows bored of you, perhaps I'll take a turn."
Laughter broke out, sharp and merciless. Heat scorched her face, shame closing her throat. She bit her lip hard enough to taste blood, forcing herself to keep her head down. Survival demanded silence. Fighting back meant pain.
But then the air shifted.
A growl rumbled across the training yard which is low and deep. The laughter died at once, as though the sound itself had stolen their voices.
Daniel stood at the edge of the circle, his golden eyes burning like fire. The warriors stiffened, bowing instinctively.
"Did I give you permission," he asked, voice like velvet over steel, "to touch what belongs to me?"
The warrior who had leaned close dropped to his knees, pale and trembling. "Alpha, I didn't mean........"
The sharp sound of claws unsheathing silenced him. Daniel's gaze cut through him like a blade. "Do I look amused to you?"
"No, Alpha," the wolf stammered, pressing his forehead to the dirt.
Daniel's gaze lingered on him a moment longer before snapping back to Mia. She froze beneath his stare, tray trembling in her hands.
He should have left her to their ridicule. It was the proof he wanted, which was the evidence that she was nothing. Yet the thought of another man's breath on her skin, of another hand reaching for her, had his wolf roaring with fury.
He clenched his jaw, every muscle tight with restraint. "Back to work," he barked.
The warriors scattered instantly, eager to flee his wrath. Silence reclaimed the yard, heavy and tense.
Mia stood in the centre, chest rising and falling, the tray shaking as though her arms no longer belonged to her.
Daniel stepped closer. His shadow swallowed hers, his presence pressing down like a storm.
"Do not mistake this for mercy," he said, his voice low and sharp enough to cut. "You are my servant. No one else touches what is mine."
The word mine pierced her like a brand, cruel and intoxicating all at once. Her lips parted, but no sound escaped.
Daniel leaned closer, his breath ghosting against her ear. "Remember this, Mia Reed. You may be my mate by fate, but in this pack, you will learn what it means to be nothing."
And yet, as he pulled away, his hand brushed hers while fleeting, too quick to mean anything, yet heavy enough to leave her pulse racing.
Mia lowered her gaze, forcing stillness into her trembling body. But deep inside, a truth stirred that neither of them could smother.
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That night, silence pressed heavily against the walls of the small chamber Daniel had ordered her to sleep in. It wasn't a room, but it was a cell dressed in stone and shadows, tucked deep within the servants' wing. A narrow bed. A cracked basin. Four walls that felt more like chains than shelter.
Mia lay on her side, staring at nothing, the rough blanket clutched in her hands.
Her body ached from the day's Mia barely remembered the journey that had brought her to this unforgiving place.
The world outside the confines of her mind blurred into chaotic fragments: the rhythmic pounding of hooves, the relentless sting of ropes biting into her wrists, and the suffocating silence of the warriors who escorted her.
She didn't cry; questions echoed unanswered in her thoughts. What was there to ask?
She was nothing here. A servant. A slave. And yet fate had tied her to the most feared Alpha of them all.
Mia closed her eyes, her last thought heavy with despair.
If this were what it meant to have a mate, perhaps she would rather have had none at all.