-----------------------------> out of the cage <------------------------------

His demons cried out for blood,

Their chorused chanting filled his soul.

But her touch felt soft,

Her eyes were warm,

And his demons silenced.

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Robin couldn’t make out most of the things that had happened around her after Jan had left. The howls and sounds of approaching feet approached her quickly and ended abruptly as she faintly saw dark and large figures peering down at her through her blurry vision. They were murmuring and whispering, though she could feel none come close to touching her. She had wanted to scream at them then, to beg them to take the pain away. Though the ache in her chest had died down to nothing but a numb feeling, her limbs were still stiff and now burning, like a fire that coursed through her veins in hot menace, pursuing each and every inch of her body.

In those few moments, she wished she had just died.

She was ready to just let it go, all her dreams, her desires…. Everything.

Her maestro had abandoned her, left her in pain. He had spoken those words to her, like a whispering poison that settled into her mind and wrought fear. He was not done, and will remain a phantom to her, she could not bear to think how much.

But her miserable thoughts had silenced once she felt that touch and caught a glimpse of those eyes, those beautiful eyes that haunted the back of her mind even in the most inappropriate or dire moments. They were eyes she had just see so recently, but now they had become ingrained within her mind, like torches in the darkness of her mind that led to someplace better.

It was the Alpha… and he was holding her now, like how he held her when he had broken into her cage. His touch was warm, so very warm, and it felt comforting. It was so different from how Jan’s touch seared her skin, the Alpha’s touch only settled her.

He was speaking words to her she couldn’t understand, and she knew she ought to have been terrified at that moment. She knew if she was thinking straight, she would have clambered off of him.

But for now, while her body was in pain and her mind amuck, she allowed herself to dissolve into his arms and finally embrace sleep.

And there were those eyes…. Those ruby eyes.

It came less as a shock and surprise to her when she awoke again on a bed, like she had the first time in that white and sterile room. The room was very much the same, though the window was now to her left and the door to her right. This time, she had simply taken in her surroundings and tried to accept it, trying to tell herself that everything would be alright.

The pain had gone, and she had been rebandaged so that they were clean and new. She also felt more rested and clear-headed than she did before. And with a clear mind, the questions started to rise from the back of her mind.

She was starting to wonder then if this was her own sort of purgatory, this white and sterile room. How many times would she wake up to this same place? It made her feel worried that maybe this wasn’t all that real.

Jan… the woods… those eyes…

Were they all real anymore?

She clutched her head in her hands and tried to control her breathing in an effort to keep herself calm. She had to stay calm and look at things properly. There had to be a reason why she was in this room.

She searched earnestly through her memories that had been muddied in her confusion and started to recall the time she had last been in her cage before the Alpha had held her. He had said something about… keeping the girls… and… imprisoning the Claws?

Was this what the Alpha meant then? That she was meant to stay in this room forever?

Thinking about it, she chided herself. She should not complain, for it was much better than her old cage with nothing in it. Now, she had a soft bed… 4 walls…. And a larger space for herself. She even had a window for herself that she most likely could open, and maybe she could even go out of the room and be given food if she asked politely.

If she was a good little songbird, she would have another maestro and everything would be all right.

It might be another cage… but it was a better one than the last. She should not complain.

Even so, she couldn’t help but feel disappointed. She had wanted to see the Alpha some more, maybe even spend more time with him. There was a pull in her that made her want to stay by his side for as much as she could…. Or as much as he would allow her.

Those thoughts were nonsense, though. The Alpha was a demon, and he had responsibilities. He would have no time for something broken like her, and he probably thought of her as nothing more than a nuisance… a pest.

Though she kept trying to tell herself that, something else in her mind was frustratingly wishing otherwise.

She moved around on the bed, wishing to lie back down again when, from her sheets, something plopped silently to the floor. She jumped, thinking something alive was crawling about, but as she peered over the edge of her bed, she was surprised to find flowers.

She bent down to pick them up and held them towards her chest. They were soft and beautiful, purple in color that sprouted in a delicate bell shape that darkened into a blue at the ends. She had never seen them in the woods before, but she could not deny that they smelt sweet and looked very much the same. Around the stems was a thick white ribbon with a small card tucked neatly into its folds.

She took it out and admired the surprisingly neat handwriting that stared back at her.

“Beautiful flowers for my beautiful mate.”

Mate? She had blushed at the simple words that had called her beautiful, but she also felt confused. There had to be a mistake. She did not recall ever being someone’s mate, nor did she recall ever being claimed. Either she had been claimed when she was unconscious, though this was highly unlikely, or the card was mistaken.

It had to be mistaken. Jan said that she could never be anyone’s mate… He said that she belonged to him.

Reading the card over again, she started to feel distressed and tucked it back neatly in the bouquet which she then replaced back at the foot of her bed. Those could not be meant for her, Jan would punish her if it were, and she did not want to hurt in case he would come crashing through those windows again.

“But he had left you,” her mind whispered, but she knew that it would not be forever.

She was trying not to cry at that point when there was a soft knock at the door. Wide-eyed and panicked, she edged towards the far end of the bed and did not reply. It seemed her silence did not deter the visitor as the door was swung open and there they were…

Those two red eyes.

Her breath caught in her lungs as she was finally there face to face with the domineering figure of the Alpha, and while a weird sense of relief clouded her mind, she could not dismiss the fear that came with it as well. He was towering over her with his uncanny height, and his face was set in a hard look. He was here… and it was to punish her for running away with Jan. He must be here for that.

But… the Alpha’s hard face was not mean, but one of silent relief and he stood at the door, almost awkwardly. Even so, Robin took a defensive position, placing her arms across her chest in case.

“You…” the Alpha’s voice was that low rumble that caressed her ears, and she couldn’t help but shut her eyes briefly to savor it, but she snapped them open a second later in fear that he might do something to her when she was not paying attention.

Jan had taught her to always pay attention to her master… and it seemed as if the Alpha was now her new one.

Seeing her reaction, she saw the Alpha’s eyes flash with pain before he quickly masked it by turning his head to the side. “You are feeling better?”

Robin did not know how to reply to that, trying to understand his hidden intentions but failing to find any that convinced her. Maybe he really was just worried? But he couldn’t be.

Thinking it best to not speak yet, she simply nodded, still staring at him warily, though she did not deny that she was taking in his… beauty as well. He was mesmerizing to her, almost dangerously so.

“That is good.”

Another awkward silence pierced the air, and Robin had to resist the urge to run up to him and sling herself into his thick arms like a rabbit in heat. She blushed at her thoughts and chastised herself, knowing full well she would be punished for that. Why was her mind giving her such bad ideas at the moment?

But he was observing her as well, with those mesmerizing eyes, and raking them over her figure with a deep look that made her shudder, though not in fear. It was as if he had a desire as well, but she did not know what.

His roaming eyes finally landed at her feet where she had placed back the flowers and a somewhat softer look passed over his features. She followed his gaze to them, a heat coming to her cheeks though she did not understand why. He glanced back at her, eyes bright and somewhat searching. “Did you get my flowers?”

She whipped her head to him then, a warm feeling flooding her chest at his words and bursting at the seams. Alarm bells were setting off as his words slowly sunk into her, but she could not fully comprehend the implications then. More like she refused to. She could not allow herself to think that-

“They were blooming outside,” the Alpha said quietly as he carefully shut the door behind him and walked in, his muscular form so drastic from the delicate nature of the room. He was a shadow, one that she could not tear her eyes from.

He was moving ever closer towards her bed, dangerously so, though his eyes continued to roam around everywhere else except at her face. She could only stare at him, dumbstruck and at a loss for words.

She could not be-

It was impossible-

And her heart finally stopped as he finally looked back into her eyes, dark red peering into melted honey with an indescribable swirling look of intent behind them, his legs finally touching the edge of her bed. He was only but a few feet away, so close that she could touch him if she leaned over just a bit. She could also smell him from that point, a deep musky and tantalizing scent that filled her mind with a fog, and her mind was going haywire as her heart pumped relentlessly in her chest.

“They were as beautiful as you. I thought you would like them….”

His voice had gone much deeper, much more...tantalizing as he leaned towards her. He was much closer now as he bent his head to level with hers, as her body froze terrified at his words. But what terrified her the most was that she was not scared, but there was an excitement in her bones.

Touch him.

Touch him.

Ki-

A small smile graced his beautiful lips, and the whole world fell into a complete stop. “My mate.”

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