The Prisoner Fiancee

Chapter 2

Nyra’s POV

I stared at the guards and then at Draven and then back at the guards and for one stupid second, I still thought this had to be some mistake.

“Draven…” My voice comes out small. “What is this?”

His face did not change.

“Take her.”

That was all he said, just two words, two words after three years.

The guards grabbed my arms before I could step back and I gasped. “No, wait!”

My eyes flew to him. “Draven, please. I didn’t do this.”

He did not move and Calista still clung to his arm, looking at me like she was afraid, like I was some monster and it made me sick.

“I did not poison her!” I cried. “You know me!”

His jaw tightened, but he said nothing and that silence broke something inside me.

“Draven!”

One of the guards pulled me harder.

“Move.”

I struggled. “Let go of me!”

But they dragged me out anyway, the study doors closed behind me and just like that, I was no longer the Alpha’s fiancee, I was a prisoner.

…..

The dungeon was beneath the western wing of the pack house, I had never been here before and I wish I still had that privilege.

The air down there smelt like rust, wet stone, and old misery and my stomach twisted as they dragged me down the steps.

“Please,” I whispered and I tried one last time. “Please, this is wrong, I did not do anything.”

The guard on my left snorted. “Save it.”

The other one unlocked a metal door and then they shoved me inside and I stumbled and hit the stone floor with my knees.

Pain shot up my legs and the door slammed shut behind me and then I turned fast and gripped the bars.

“Wait!”

But there was no answer.

“Please!”

There was still nothing and my voice broke. “I did not do this…”

But my words only bounced back at me from the walls and I looked around slowly, there was no bed but only a thin rag in one corner, a dented cup, a bucket and that was all.

My throat tightens so badly I could not swallow, this was where they put wolves they did not trust, rogues, thieves and traitors.

And now… me.

I sank to the ground and pressed my hand over my mouth.

No. No, this could not be happening.

This morning, I was still Draven’s fiancee and now I was in a dungeon because of a lie.

I thought of Calista’s face, that pale look, that trembling voice.

Please… don’t let her hurt me again.

A broken laugh left me, she was good, very good and Draven…

Draven believed her or maybe he just wanted to and that thought hurt most.

Hours passed or maybe minutes and I could not tell.

The dungeon had no kindness in it, no time, no comfort and no mercy.

At some point, two guards stopped outside my cell, they thought I was asleep and I kept my eyes shut.

“She always looked too proud for an omega,” one said and the other laughed. “I knew she would ruin herself one day.”

“She should have known her place.”

“An Alpha like Draven was never going to keep a low-born girl forever.”

Their footsteps faded but their words stayed.

I then curled tighter into myself and stared at the wall until my eyes burned.

At dawn, a tray was shoved through the gap under the bars, a stale piece of bread and a cup of water.

I rushed to it because I was starving but before I could touch it, someone appeared.

Selka.

My chest sank.

She was one of the higher-ranking she-wolves who always hated me, always smiling to my face and always spitting poison the second I turned away.

She looked into my cell and laughed.

“Well,” she said, and crossed her arms. “Look at you now.”

I stood slowly.

“What do you want?”

Her smile widened.

“I just wanted to see how the mighty future Luna slept.”

I said nothing, if I spoke, I may scream and her eyes fell to the tray and then she picked up a bucket from the floor beside her and threw its contents into my cell.

Dirty water splashed over the bread, over the floor and over my dress, over me.

I flinched back with a gasp and the smell made me gag.

Selka laughed harder.

“Oops.”

My hands shook.

“You wicked bitch,” I whispered and her face changed at once.

She then stepped close to the bars. “Be careful how you speak, prisoner.”

I glared at her through wet lashes and she lowered her voice.

“You should have died the day the Alpha found you.”

Then she walked away and I stood there dripping, shivering, shaking with rage, shame and helplessness.

And I hated that I couldn’t even chase after her, because she was free and I was not.

…..

By midday, the guards returned.

“Up,” one barked and I blinked at them. “Where are you taking me?”

“For questioning.”

My stomach dropped and they opened the cell and dragged me out before I could steady myself.

I have not eaten, I barely slept, my head hurt and my body ached but none of that mattered, not today.

Today, they wanted a show and I realized that the moment they led me into the central hall.

My feet stopped. No. No. Not here. Not in front of everyone.

The hall was full, pack elders sat in a raised row at the front and warriors lined the walls and the servants whispered near the doors standing beside the elders…

Was Draven.

My breath caught, he looked powerful and untouched, like he slept well last night, like he did not throw the woman who loved him into a dungeon.

Beside him stood Calista, dressed in white, one hand resting over her stomach like she was still recovering.

The sight of her almost made me laugh, she even looked weak beautifully and I was dragged to the center of the hall and everyone stared and I could feel it all over my skin, the shame, the curiosity, the disgust.

Elder Varek then lifted his chin. “Nyra Veylin, you stand accused of poisoning Lady Calista Vaelor.”

My voice shook. “I did not poison her.”

A murmur then moved through the room and he continued, “Were you jealous of her return?”

“No.”

“Did you fear losing your place beside Alpha Draven?”

My lips parted.

What place?

The one he already took from me?

“I feared nothing from a woman who had already left,” I said and my voice trembled.

Calista gasped like I slapped her.

“Still so cruel,” she whispered.

I whipped my head toward her. “Cruel? You are lying!”

The guards tightened their hold on my arms and Elder Moriah frowned. “Mind your tone.”

I laughed bitterly. “My tone?”

My eyes flew to Draven, this was it, this was the moment, surely now he would say something, surely now he would remember who I was, surely now he would defend me, even a little, even once.

I stared at him with everything breaking inside me.

“Draven…” My voice cracked. “Tell them.”

His face remained unreadable.

“Tell them I would never do this.”

There was silence and my heart began to ring.

“Please,” I whispered. “Please say something.”

His eyes held mine and for one second, I thought he would and then he said the words that crushed the last bit of hope inside me.

“If you are innocent, the Moon Goddess will reveal it tonight.”

The room went still, so did I and I stared at him.

That was it? That was all? Not I believed you, not this was wrong, no she was my fiancee.

Just that, a ritual or a test.

He was leaving me to fate because he would not stand for me himself.

My eyes burned so badly that I could barely see, I then nodded once, slowly.

Because if I open my mouth, I would break apart in front of all of them.

Elder Varek spoke again, but I barely heard him, all I heard was Draven’s voice, all I felt was the final truth.

He had abandoned me completely.

An hour later, they dragged me from the hall again, this time not toward the dungeon but toward the sacred grounds, toward the Moon Goddess Ceremony, toward judgment.

The silver moon hung high above the pack as the guards stopped me near the ceremonial entrance.

Then I heard the sound before I felt it, metal.

My heart stopped.

One of the guards lifted iron restraints and before I could even breathe…they led me into the sacred ceremony in chains.