Chapter Nine

Laura lay still on the hard bed, every inch of her body screaming with pain. The silver cuffs around her wrists burned like fire against her skin. She shifted, trying to find a position that hurt less, but it was no use.

Sleep wouldn't come. Not with Lucian's cold words echoing in her mind.

"Your real problems start soon."

What did he mean? What could be worse than being trapped in the most feared pack in the territory?

A tiny sound caught her ear. Laura froze.

Footsteps. Then soft voices.

The big wooden door to her room stayed shut, but she could hear through the crack at the bottom. Laura held her breath and strained to listen.

"Why did the Alpha bring her here?" a deep voice asked. The guard sounded confused, maybe even annoyed.

A second voice, lighter but filled with anger, answered, "Does it matter? She's nothing. A thrown-away Luna. Weak."

Laura's chest tightened. They were talking about her. She curled her fingers into the furs beneath her, trying not to make a sound.

"Nothing?" The first voice laughed, the sound bouncing off the stone walls. "She lived through the rogues. And Lucian carried her back himself. That's not nothing."

There was a pause. Laura could hear boots shifting on the stone floor outside her door. She pictured the guards, standing with arms crossed, debating her fate like she was some object.

Then, a third voice joined in, darker, scarier than the others. "You think he saved her because he's nice? Lucian never does anything without a reason."

Laura's stomach twisted into knots. She pressed a hand to her mouth to keep from making a sound. They were right. Lucian hadn't saved her out of kindness.

But then why had he?

"Maybe he wants to break her," the lighter voice suggested with a hint of excitement. "Or maybe she's useful to him somehow."

A fourth voice, older and more careful—cut in. "I don't care why he brought her, but I know one thing. She's a problem. And problems don't last long in Bloodfang."

The room suddenly felt ten degrees colder. Laura's fingers dug into the furs beneath her.

They don't just want me gone. They want me dead.

The guards kept talking, their voices dropping lower, but Laura could still make out most of it.

"Bloodfang has always been different," the first guard said with pride in his voice. "We follow strength. But Lucian—" he stopped suddenly, as if afraid to continue.

"You mean he's not crazy like the Alphas before him? The ones who killed pack members for fun?" Another guard laughed.

Laura frowned, her brow creasing. She'd heard stories about Bloodfang. That they were cruel. That Lucian had taken power by force. But hearing it from his own pack members...

"He's too careful," another voice complained. "He thinks too much. We should have taken Silver Moon territory when they were weak, but he lets that bitch Kieran keep his power."

"He's waiting for something."

"Or someone."

Silence fell between them. Laura could almost feel the tension through the door.

Then, the oldest guard spoke again, his voice cold as ice. "Doesn't matter. Some of us follow him. Some don't. But that girl in there?"

Laura's heart pounded so hard she was sure they could hear it.

"She's just a piece in his game. And pieces get thrown away."

A door opened somewhere down the hall, and then footsteps faded away. Two guards stayed behind, their boots scraping against the stone floor.

Their voices were quieter now, but Laura could still hear the anger in them.

"He's getting soft," one muttered.

The second guard laughed, a harsh sound. "Lucian? Soft? He killed a whole rogue clan last week."

"Then why is she still alive?"

Laura's chest felt so tight she could barely breathe.

"He should have let the rogues finish her. Or let us do it."

Cold sweat ran down Laura's back, soaking into her thin shirt. She wrapped her arms around herself, the silver cuffs rubbing painfully against her skin.

They want me dead. Not just because I don't belong. Not just because I'm a thrown-away Luna. But because they think I'm dangerous.

Her mind raced through possibilities, each one worse than the last.

Lucian was the only thing keeping her alive right now. Not because he cared. Not because he saw her as an equal.

But because he had a reason to keep her breathing.

And if he changes his mind?

She wouldn't last one day in Bloodfang.

Laura curled into a ball, pulling the furs up to her chin

despite the warm room. Her body trembled, not from cold but from fear.

She was stuck.

And worse?

She was running out of time.