Chapter Four

“Hey. Wake up.”

Claws screeched against iron. The sound tore through the dungeon. Prisoners scrambled awake. An enforcer was here, it was morning.

I wasn’t asleep, but it was hard to notice the difference in the cage.

This was how it always was: constant dim lights and the gothic stench of rotten food and dead rodents.

From the tiny window in my cage, I knew the sun had risen once since that night. That was the only light I had and it still had heavy bars against it.

It was almost like my family had prepared me for this moment. Everything in the dungeon was familiar.

Just like the hole, I mused.

Home sweet home.

Another cage opened, the clang echoing through the dungeon. I heard a loud cry as someone was carried into the cell next to mine. The way they carried him – careful, almost scared – made other prisoners go quiet.

I smelled his blood before I heard his whimpers. It was familiar in a way that made my palms itch.

“You.”

I looked up, and regretted it immediately. The flashlight hit my face, blinding me. I squinted painfully.

“You’re the goddess’s choice?” The enforcer laughed.

Like it was the best joke he’d ever heard.

“You look like shit. I can’t believe you’re supposed to be the alpha’s mate.”

His disgust made me shrink away.

I knew what I looked like.

Just the smell that oozed from my dress was worse than the pigs I washed at home. My lips felt torn. My hair stuck to my skin.

I waited for him to throw more insults like every enforcer before him.

“You’d expect the alpha’s mate to be —”

“She isn’t.” A tight, grave voice came from behind him.

“Get back to work.”

The enforcer froze. Then bowed apologetically, almost running the other way.

I hugged my knees deeper against the cold wall. It hurt when I tried to see who it was. My eyes were swollen from crying.

Whoever it was smelled of mud and wood. Like they spent all their time in the wild.

Only the alpha’s army smelled that way.

He did too.

That was all I had of him.

The short moment of excitement when he held me, and I foolishly felt like I was more.

I thought of the Alpha… a lot.

It was almost impossible not to. He was the reason I was here. His rejection felt like a void, nothing else could fill.

I chuckled mockingly.

Maybe this was what I deserved, for being so naïve.

“What’s so funny?” The grave voice tore through my thoughts.

Then slowly it came closer.

I recognized the delta’s voice as she came closer, and shrank deeper into the dark. “N-nothing.”

It was Skylar.

She was in charge of every prisoner in the pack and those brought in from battle.

Her hard eyes glared at me. It showed me why the enforcer ran scared.

“I know you.” She declared as she got closer to my cage. “I was there when they brought you in. I’m surprised you’re still alive.”

I said nothing.

I wasn’t sure how to respond.

The deltas were one of the most terrifying ranks in the pack. Breathe wrong and they could find subtle ways to make it your last act.

“Don’t you speak?” Skylar slammed the cage.

I flinched. “I do.”

“What’s your name?”

“Aurora.”

“I had a wolf named Aurora.”

There was an awkward silence. “She died.”

“S-sorry.” I tried.

No one ever spoke to me. Insults and threats were normal. This was… strange, and I didn’t know how to feel about it.

“How do you know the alpha?”

“I don’t.”

“People find it hard to believe. They say you made the alpha sense you.”

Then she added, “The alpha shouldn’t even breathe the same air as you.”

I wanted to mention that the alpha can’t be made to do anything.

Instead, I stammered. “I-I don’t know—”

“Wow.” Skylar shook her head.

Her eyes went flat again, the softness in them gone as fast as it came.

“Can barely speak or think,” she said, but quieter this time. Less like a weapon. “Who trained you?”

“Eris.”

“That bitch. Ugh. I hate her.”

I almost smiled. I wasn’t sure why and it left me with an odd feeling in my stomach.

“How long have you been here?” Skylar probed.

“Since I was brought in.”

“Hm.”

There was a long pause.

I should know… I counted every second. My nails dug into my palm, almost tearing flesh. It was funny how desperate I wanted this conversation to go on.

“Is it true what they say?” Skylar leaned against the cage, rattling its hinges a little. “You don’t remember.”

“Yes.”

“How does that feel? If I were in your shoes, I might go crazy.”

I didn’t. I wanted to brag. In fact, I had every plan not to, and get out of here as soon as I could.

“It feels like a maze… without an exit.”

“A prison.”

“Yes,” I nodded. “No escape.”

She said nothing at first.

Then sighed, “That’s a sad way to live.”

I frowned. Her words were conflicting. They were filled with pity but it didn’t hurt me.

Better to get pity than hate. I guess.

“Why didn’t you ever run away?”

Oh.

I couldn’t possibly tell her the truth…

“I was going to.”

I was already behind bars. What more could she do?

“But where?” I asked.

“Right. You’re an exile.”

“I’m not.” I blurted.

My hair fell across my face, hiding my shocked expression. I’d never spoken without thinking–never out of turn.

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

I said nothing.

“Eris is a liar.” She hissed, “I remember the day you were bought.”

“You didn’t speak. Not once. The slave masters called you a broken omega. No one could figure out how a child survived without a pack.”

“Luck,” I whispered.

Skylar scoffed. “That’s no luck.”

“Maybe you’re just meant to see your suffering till the very end.”

No.

“If you were an exile, the slave masters would have announced it. Now, you may be a thief, but not that.”

I kept quiet.

What was I supposed to say to something that felt like support but also disregard?

Nothing that’s what.

But Skylar wasn’t done. She was about to say something else.

That was when I heard the rumble. It started low.

One. Then two. Then hundreds.

The ground trembled. They were close.

Angry stomps from hidden crossroads, with evil intentions.

“I’ll tell an enforcer to bri—“

“Something’s coming.” I leaped to my feet.

My weak limbs almost threw me back to the floor.

I ran to the tiny window. I saw nothing.

But I could hear them.

Sniff.

I could smell them.

The angry vibrations in their blood, and the cold breath from their heated growls.

Enemies.

“What’s coming?”

“Many.” My voice shook. “An army… coming to kill.”

“What are you talking about?” Skylar's claws slid out, slow and lethal.

I looked back at her. Her eyes were calm–unaware.

She couldn’t hear them?

The ground seemed to pulse beneath my feet. A distant thunder… growing. Closing in.

My breath hitched. I could feel it in my bones.

They were coming.

“Tell the alpha.” I stumbled back from the window, pressing into the bars of the cage.

My pale knuckles gripped its bars until they burned. “Please… tell him they’re here.”

Skylar went still.

This time, when she looked at me, something shifted. Because I wasn’t guessing. I knew.

And she saw it–clear as the fear I couldn’t hide.

War was already at our door.