LOGINKaidora's POVThe silence after they take Zane is suffocating.I collapse against the cold stone wall, my body shaking so violently I can barely breathe. Through the bond, I feel him— distant now, but still there. His rage. His terror. His desperate determination that feels futile against the reality of our situation.The cell is small, maybe eight by ten feet. Stone walls on all sides. No windows. No vents. Just a heavy metal door with a lock I have no hope of picking.I force myself to stand, to examine every inch of the space. Looking for weaknesses. For anything I could use to escape or fight or…Nothing. There's nothing.The walls are solid stone, ancient and unyielding. The door is thick steel with no handle on this side. Even the light bulb is recessed into the ceiling, too high to reach, protected by a metal cage.It's a cell designed to hold wolves, creatures with superhuman strength and enhanced senses. What chance does a human girl have against that?No chance. No chance at
Zane's POVThey're dragging me away from her.Away from Kaidora, whose terror floods the bond so intensely I can barely breathe. Away from my mate, who my father just admitted he's going to use, going to drain, going to sacrifice. “No!” I thrash against the guards' grip, Darko surging forward with desperate fury. “Let me go! Kai!” “Zane!” Her scream echoes down the corridor, raw with panic and despair. “Zane, please—”But they're stronger than me. Or maybe I'm just weakened by my father's Alpha command still pressing down on my wolf, making resistance almost impossible.They haul me up stairs I don't recognize, through hallways I've never seen. The secret passages of the pack house. The places where Alphas conduct business that can't see daylight.The places where people disappear.“Please.” The word tears from my throat as they shove me into a room on the third floor. “Please, don't do this. She's my mate. She's—”The door slams shut. The lock clicks.Silence.I'm alone in what loo
Alpha Rowan's POVTen years!Ten years of hunger. Ten years of feeding on other wolves just to keep Brutus from fading completely, of slowly dying while maintaining the facade of a strong, healthy Alpha.And finally, finally, the solution is locked in a cell beneath my pack house.I lean against the wall outside the holding cells, allowing myself a moment of pure satisfaction. The girl. Kaidora Hayes. Human. Impossible. And yet, the moment I saw her in my study weeks ago, Brutus surged with more life than he's had in a decade.‘She's the key,’ he'd snarled. ‘She's what we need.’At first, I didn't understand. Didn't understand why a wolfless omega— or what I thought was a wolfless omega— would affect my curse so strongly. But then the pieces started falling into place.Her scent, always masked with heavy perfumes and oils. Her inability to respond to Alpha commands the way a true wolf would. The way she moved through pack territory like someone searching for something specific.But he
Kaidora's POVThe cell they throw us into is deep underground, somewhere beneath the pack house that I never knew existed.Cold stone walls. No windows. A single flickering light bulb that casts shadows that make everything look like a nightmare. The air smells damp and stale, like this place hasn't been used in years.Or maybe it has, and no one who came down here ever left to tell about it.The guards— faceless pack members I don't recognize— lock the heavy metal door behind us without a word. Their expressions are carefully blank, like they've done this before. Like imprisoning the future Alpha and his mate is just another day's work.The sound of the lock sliding into place echoes in the small space, final and damning.We're trapped.I lean against the wall, my legs suddenly unable to support my weight. The journal— that damning, precious journal— was ripped from my hands the moment the guards entered the study. Evidence of Alpha Rowan's guilt, now back in his possession where it
Zane's POVLunch with Kaidora is supposed to be our last moment of peace before everything goes to hell.Instead, it feels like a funeral for a life we never really got to live.We sit in a quiet corner of the off-campus diner, the same place where we had our first date when this whole arrangement was still fake. Back when I thought I could use her to solve my problems and walk away unscathed.Now I can't imagine walking away at all, can't imagine a life without her in it.“You're staring,” she says quietly, pushing her barely-touched salad around her plate.“I'm memorizing.” The truth comes easily. “Just in case.”“Don't.” Her blue eyes meet mine, pain written across her features. “Don't talk like that. We're going to survive this.”“Are we?” I set down my fork, appetite gone. “Kai, we're about to walk into my father's study and accuse him of murder. With incomplete evidence and no backup plan. The odds of us walking out alive are—”“Better than zero.” She interrupts, reaching across
Kaidora's POVThe morning sun feels too bright, too cheerful for what this day holds.I barely slept, spending most of the night tangled with Zane, both of us pretending we weren't terrified of what comes next. When my alarm went off at seven, part of me wanted to stay in bed, to hide from the inevitable confrontation waiting this afternoon.But life— or the illusion of it— has to continue. At least until three o'clock, when we've agreed to meet in Alpha Rowan's study.So I drag myself through my morning routine, layering on perfumes and oils with extra care. If today is my last day pretending to be a wolfless omega, I'm going to make sure the disguise holds until the very end.Zane kisses me goodbye at the apartment door, his stormy grey eyes dark with worry and love.“I'll see you at lunch,” he says, his hands framing my face like he's memorizing every detail. “And then this afternoon—”“This afternoon we end it.” I interrupt, my voice is steadier than I feel. “One way or another.”







