### Chapter 3: Starving for Freedom đșđđ„
**Lia's POV**
The chains bite into my wrists, cold and heavy, cutting into my skin with every tug.
I pull against them, my muscles screaming, but it's no use. I'm too weak, my body a traitor that's giving up on me. Two years I've been running, dodging their claws, their growls, their cursed mate bond.
Two years of scraping by, hiding in shadows, fueled by nothing but hate. And now? I'm back in their hands, locked in this damp cellar like a dog.
I scream, loud and raw, the sound bouncing off the stone walls. I hate this. Hate them. Hate *everything*. đ©žâš
The door creaks open, and I flinch, my heart pounding. A Lycan guard shuffles in, his face blank, carrying a plate of foodâsome sad-looking bread and a chunk of meat that smells like it's been sitting too long.
He drops it on the floor in front of me, the plate clattering, and turns to leave without a word. My stomach twists, not from hunger but from disgust. They think they can feed me? Like I'm some pet they can tame?
"Why're you bringing me food?" I snap, my voice hoarse but sharp. "I thought omegas like me were meant to suffer."
The guard pauses, his back to me, and glances over his shoulder. His eyes are dull, like he's seen too many broken things to care.
"Alpha Dorian's orders," he says, his voice flat. "Eat. I'll be back in an hour to take the dish away."
I laugh, a bitter, broken sound that hurts my throat. "Take it back," I say, glaring at him. "Tell your precious Alpha I'd rather starve than touch anything a Lycan gives me."
He stares, his jaw tightening, and steps closer. "Alpha Dorian said if you don't eat, you won't like what comes next."
I laugh again, louder this time, the sound echoing like a taunt.
"What's worse than this?" I spit, yanking at the chains until they rattle. "Being chained up, staring at hell every damn day? You think I'm scared of what's next? I've already seen the worst."
I kick the plate, hard. The bread skids across the floor, the meat smearing grease on the stone. I meet his eyes, my chin raised, daring him to do something.
"There," I say, my voice dripping with venom. "I ate. Now clear it."
He doesn't say a word, just shakes his head and walks out, the door slamming behind him.
The silence crashes in, heavy and suffocating, and I slump against the wall, my wrists aching where the chains dig in.
My chest feels tight, like something's clawing at my insides. I'm weakâtoo weak.
The mate bond's draining me, sapping my power like a leech. I need them to reject me. Why won't they just let me go? Why won't they let me *die*? đ
I close my eyes, trying to breathe through the pain. My body's giving up, my power flickering like a candle in a storm.
I can still see my parents' faces, their screams echoing from that night. The blood. The fire. Dorian's silhouette in the chaos, his eyes cold as he watched it all burn.
I was just a kid, but I saw him. I know what he did. And now he thinks he can chain me, feed me, *own* me? I'd rather rot than bend to him. To any of them.
Minutes pass, maybe hoursâI can't tell. Time's a blur down here, just cold stone and the ache in my bones.
The door slams open again, and my eyes snap wide. Dorian storms in, his presence like a thundercloud, dark and heavy. His eyes blaze with fury, his jaw tight, and I can feel his wolf's aura pressing down on me, making my chest tighter.
He's pissed, and it sends a shiver through meânot fear, not quite, but something dangerous. Something that makes my traitor heart skip. đŸ
He grabs me by the arm, yanking me up so fast I gasp, the chains clanking.
"Why didn't you eat?" he snarls, his voice low, vibrating with rage. His grip is bruising, his fingers digging into my skin, and I hate how my body reacts, how the mate bond hums under his touch.
I glare up at him, my voice shaking but defiant. "Why do you care?" I spit. "Aren't you supposed to be punishing me? Why the hell are you trying to feed me now?"
He shoves me back, my shoulders slamming against the door. The wood digs into my spine, but I don't flinch, don't let him see the pain. His face is inches from mine, his breath hot, his eyes burning with something that's not just anger.
"You're so stubborn," he growls, his voice dripping with venom. "If you want to die, omega, why don't you just do it?"
He steps back, his hands flexing like he's fighting the urge to grab me again. My legs shake, but I hold his gaze, my heart pounding.
"Go ahead," I say, my voice raw. "Let me die. It's better than thisâbetter than you."
His eyes darken, his wolf snarling loud enough I can almost hear it. He wants to break me, I can see it, but there's something else there tooâsomething that makes my stomach twist. The bond.
It's there in the way his jaw ticks, the way his hands hover like he's torn between choking me and pulling me closer. I hate it. I hate him. But my body's screaming for him, for all of them, and it makes me sick.
He turns, stalking toward the door, but pauses, his back to me. "Suit yourself," he says, his voice cold as ice. "But don't come crying when it gets worse."
The door slams, and I'm alone again, my body sliding down the wall until I'm crumpled on the floor.
Tears sting my eyes, hot and unwanted, and I blink them back, furious at myself for breaking. The pain's worse now, a sharp ache in my chest that's more than just hunger.
My power's fading, my body giving out, and I can feel the mate bond pulling tighter, like a noose.
I close my eyes, trying to block it all outâthe pain, the weakness, the memory of Dorian's eyes.
My wrists burn where the chains cut in, but then I feel something shift. The metal loosens, falling away, and I'm lifted, my body weightless.
I force my eyes open, but everything's blurry, shapes swimming in the dark. A figureâtall, strong, familiar. My heart stutters, but before I can make sense of it, the world fades to black, and I'm gone. đ„âš