The Dungeon

DAMIEN’S POV

My grip on Elara’s upper arm is bruising, but I can’t bring myself to loosen it. If I let go, my Lycan might take over completely.

Every step she takes beside me sends a wave of agonizing heat through the mate bond. My wolf is tearing at the inside of my skull, howling in a frenzy of rage and despair.

Stop! my wolf roars. You are hurting her! She is ours!

I forcefully shove the beast down, locking him in a mental cage. He is reacting to the biological tether, nothing more. I am the Alpha. I am in control.

I drag Elara through the private elevator and into the subterranean tunnels beneath Thorne Tower. The air here is cold, damp, and smells of old earth and iron. This isn't the glamorous penthouse. This is the underbelly of my empire. It’s where we hold enemies of the pack.

"Where are you taking me?" she gasps, stumbling as her bare feet catch on the uneven stone floor. She’s still wearing my black t-shirt, her long legs bare and shivering in the draft.

"I told you," I say, my voice echoing off the concrete walls. "The dungeons."

"You can't do this!" She tries to pull back, her nails digging into my wrist. "I didn't touch her! Damien, please, you have to believe me. Seraphina is lying!"

The sound of my fiancée's name on her lips makes my blood boil. "I saw the scratch on her arm. I saw the broken glass. You are a jealous, conniving rogue who thinks she can manipulate her way into my life because of a biological accident."

We reach the end of the tunnel. A heavy steel door stands before us. I punch in the security code, and the door slides open with a loud, metallic groan.

The room is small, windowless, and freezing. There is a single iron cot in the corner, a bucket of water, and heavy silver chains bolted to the wall. Silver is toxic to our kind, but these are heavily diluted—enough to weaken a wolf, but not kill them. I want her weak. I want her to break.

I throw her into the cell. She stumbles, falling hard onto her hands and knees on the cold concrete.

"Please," she whispers, turning to look up at me. Her eyes are red-rimmed, her face pale. The raw, bleeding wound of the rejection bond is visible in her eyes. "I have a sister. Her name is Lily. She's fourteen. She's in the city hospital, terminal. I was stealing the files to pay for her treatment. I never tried to poison Seraphina. I haven't seen her since I was fifteen."

She reaches out, her trembling fingers brushing the hem of my suit pants. "I am begging you, Damien. As your mate, as the woman the Moon Goddess chose for you, please, just check the hospital records. Please."

For a fraction of a second, a crack forms in my armor. Her voice is so raw, so honest. The pain in her eyes is too real.

She is telling the truth, my wolf whines, pressing against the bars of his mental cage. Look at her! Our mate is begging us!

But then, the image of Seraphina’s tear-streaked face flashes in my mind. The scratch on her perfect skin. The story of the poison. The Blackwood family has been a pillar of our society for generations. They wouldn't lie.

And this woman? She is a rogue. A thief who broke into my home.

"You are a liar," I state, my voice devoid of emotion. I step back, my hands curling into fists to stop them from shaking. "You will remain here until you confess to your crimes against Seraphina. And if you don't..." I let the threat hang in the air.

"No!" she screams, scrambling to her feet. She lunges toward the bars, but I am already stepping back.

I slam the heavy steel door shut. The sound of the lock engaging echoes like a gunshot.

Through the small, reinforced glass window, I see her slam her hands against the metal, screaming my name. But I turn my back, forcing my legs to carry me down the hallway.

The moment I am out of sight, I lean against the cold stone wall, gasping for breath. My chest feels like it’s being ripped open. The bond is pulling at me, a physical, agonizing tether dragging me back to that cell.

My wolf is in agony. He is clawing, biting, trying to break through my control. He hates me. He wants to tear down the walls to get to her.

You left her in the dark, the wolf snarls. You left her cold and scared. You are a monster.

I push off the wall, striding toward the elevator. I need distance. I need to get back to my office, back to my empire, back to the world where everything makes sense.

When I reach the main floor, my Beta, Julian, is waiting for me. He’s leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Alpha," Julian says, his voice cautious. "I heard you took the rogue to the dungeons."

"She attacked Seraphina," I reply, my voice cold. "She needs to learn her place."

Julian is quiet for a moment, his sharp eyes studying me. Julian is one of the few people in the world who isn't afraid to speak his mind to me.

"Damien," he says slowly. "I ran a background check on her, like you asked. On the name she gave the guards when she was arrested."

"And?" I snap, walking past him toward my private office.

Julian follows, his long strides matching mine. "There is no record of an 'Elara' in the city database. But I did find something. There is a patient in the city hospital. Lily Vance. Fourteen years old. She's in the terminal wing. The medical bills are completely unpaid. She's been flagged for eviction from the facility if the balance isn't paid by the end of the week."

I stop dead in my tracks. The world around me seems to tilt on its axis.

"She was telling the truth," I breathe out.

I told you! my wolf roars, a mix of triumph and absolute fury. Our mate was telling the truth! She was saving her sister, and you locked her up!

I turn to Julian, my heart hammering against my ribs. "What about the poison? What about Seraphina?"

Julian hesitates, looking uncomfortable. "I looked into the Blackwood family, too. There's no police report from when the alleged poisoning happened. In fact, the family went bankrupt three years ago. Elara's father died under mysterious circumstances. The stepmother and stepsister inherited everything, but they've been bleeding the estate dry. Seraphina has been trying to secure a merger with you for months."

The pieces of the puzzle start to click together in my mind, forming a picture that makes me sick to my stomach.

Seraphina lied. She lied to me. And I believed her because Elara is a rogue. Because I am an arrogant, prideful Alpha who assumed the worst.

Our mate is in a cage, my wolf howls, the sound bleeding into my human voice. She is dying, and you put her there!

I don't even bother to dismiss Julian. I turn and run.

I sprint back toward the elevator, my heart pounding in my throat. I slam my fist against the button, the wait feeling like an eternity. When the doors finally open, I rush inside, pressing the button for the basement relentlessly.

Please, I pray to the Moon Goddess. Please let her be okay.

The elevator descends, the numbers ticking down agonizingly slowly. Finally, the doors open. I burst out into the tunnel, my footsteps echoing like thunder.

I reach the cell door and punch in the code, tearing the heavy steel door open.

The cell is empty.

The chains are untouched. The bucket of water is still full.

But there is blood on the floor. A lot of it.

"No," I whisper, stepping into the room. My eyes follow the trail of blood to the corner of the cell.

Elara is lying on the floor, her body curled into a tight, fetal ball. She is violently shivering, her lips blue. But it's her chest that makes my blood run cold.

The black t-shirt she's wearing is soaked in crimson. Her hand is clutching her chest, right over her heart, and there is a strange, silver glow emanating from her skin beneath the blood.

"Elara!" I roar, dropping to my knees beside her. I pull her into my arms, her skin ice-cold. "Elara, wake up!"

Her eyes flutter open, but they aren't her eyes. They are glowing, a brilliant, blinding silver.

"Mate," she rasps, blood bubbling on her lips. "You... you left me."

And then, her eyes roll back in her head, and her body goes limp in my arms.

"Julian!" I scream, my voice cracking with a terror I haven't felt in a hundred years. "Get the pack doctor! Now!"

I clutch her to my chest, feeling her heart stutter weakly. The bond is screaming at me, a deafening roar in my head.

I thought I was punishing a liar. But as her blood soaks into my expensive suit, I realize the horrifying truth.

I just sentenced my fated mate to death.