Page 71 of Pack Captive

I should run. But where to? My room was no more protection than this balcony. All the Warriors were looking for Merikh on the ground.

"I climbed, obviously." Merikh shrugged, like it wasn't a completely amazing feat.

I looked down over the side. If he fell, the impact would break every bone in his body. He would be nothing but a pulverized puddle. "You're insane."

"Being locked in solitary for months will do that to you." He gave me a crooked little half-smile, his green eyes glowing. "But this isn't insanity. This is need."

"Need for what?" I asked, genuinely curious despite myself.

Even if I was supposed to run, I had the strangest feeling that Merikh actually didn't mean me harm.

A wolf should trust her instincts—and mine were quiet.

"You."

He slid off the railing and stretched to his full height. Now that he was no longer in the cell, he seemed so much...more. Tall, as built as Ryden, but streamlined like Calian.

My mouth went dry. "I didn't mean to do anything to you."

I considered running at him full tilt right now and shoving him over the side with all my force...but my instincts said no.

And besides, if I failed, that would only give him a good reason to be angry.

"I owe my freedom to your touch." Merikh raised one of his hands, looking at his fingers curiously like there was an answer written there. "Freedom of my mind and body."

I had no idea what he was talking about, but I almost wanted to laugh. How ironic that I, wearing my shackle, would provide someone else their freedom.

"I could do the same for you," he said, nodding to my ankle and the glimmering bracelet.

My heart almost stuttered to a halt. "You can break it?"

Merikh wiggled his fingers. "The only question is, will you let me?”

I stared at him, imagining the shackle being dropped to the bottom of the lake.

I could be free to do what I wanted.

Merikh knelt down, and the moment I felt his hands on my leg I skipped back.

"Wait, no—you can't take it off," I blurted.

He looked up at me, his head slightly cocked. "Why not? Freedom is only a bracelet away."

I stared down at him, wondering why he was talking to me like a friend. "Because if you take it off, they'll never trust me."

Merikh snorted. "Who cares? Ohhh...wait." He squinted at me. "You've got hostage syndrome."

"No, I don't," I said indignantly, but Merikh sighed and stood up, brushing off his hands.

"Yes, you do. Otherwise, you'd let me take it off." He shook his head sadly. "A wolf should not be caged or chained, Ayla. Any other wolf with true freedom would've chewed its own leg off by now."

"Because it's not just about me." I crossed my arms, faintly amazed that I was arguing with the Bloodfang. "My pack relies on me, so yes, I need the Azurans to trust me. The rest of our lives depend on it."

"So... you’re being coerced into being okay with it," Merikh said, his lips twitching like he was about to break into a grin.

I glared at him.

"The thing is, I get it." He spread his hands wide as he walked across the balcony, glancing at me in a way that made me shiver. "When you spend long enough in a cage, you begin to forget it's there. You start to justify things."

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