CHAPTER 3

“Don’t ever try to run away from me again. This is your last warning.” Luke’s voice sounded far away, as if I were hearing it through water.

I slowly touched the side of my head. When I looked at my hand, it was covered in dark red blood.

The room spun around me, and a wave of dizziness almost made me fall onto the cold marble floor.

My head pounded with pain where it had hit the wall. I was only twenty years old. I still had my whole life ahead of me.

And I refused… I refused to let this monster take it away from me in this locked room.

I forced my shaking body to move. Pretending the pain was too much, I let my knees give way and slowly fell to the floor.

A soft cry escaped my lips as I lay there.

Luke stood over me, breathing heavily beneath his bathrobe. A proud smile spread across his face. For a brief moment, he let his guard down. He obviously thought he had finally broken me.

I gathered the last bit of strength I had left. With a desperate cry, I swung my right fist as hard as I could and punched him between the legs, right on his cock.

Luke gasped in pain. His eyes went wide as he doubled over, unable to stand straight.

The silver key slipped from his shaking hand and fell to the floor with a loud clatter.

I dropped to my hands and knees, grabbed the cold key, and pushed it into the lock.

My hands shook as I turned it, the door unlocked. I quickly pulled it open.

Just as my bare feet were about to step outside, a strong hand grabbed the back of my head.

Luke’s fingers twisted tightly into my hair, pulling me backward.

“You bitch!” Luke shouted through the pain as he dragged me back inside.

I didn’t stop to think. I turned around, grabbed Luke’s hand with my teeth, and bit down as hard as I could.

He screamed in pain, and his grip on my hair loosened.

The moment I was free, I ran. I raced down the long driveway and onto the dark road. My bare feet hit the rough ground with every step.

The night was completely dark, quiet and there were no streetlights, no passing cars, and no neighbors nearby to hear me scream.

My chest burned, and every breath hurt, but I didn’t stop. I had only one goal.

To stay alive.

Then, the deep sound of a powerful engine broke the silence. Bright headlights cut through the darkness behind me, casting my long shadow across the road.

Luke.

It had to be him. No one else lived in this isolated area.

I quickly ran off the road and hid behind the thick trunk of a large pine tree. I held my breath, afraid to make even the smallest sound.

A black luxury sports car slowly drove past my hiding place. Its tires crunched over the gravel before the car sped away and disappeared down the winding road.

I let out a shaky breath.

He thinks I ran down the main road.

I looked to my right. A dark forest stretched out before me.

It looked frightening, but it was much safer than staying on the road where Luke could easily find me with his car.

I quickly bent down and tore two long strips from the bottom of my torn, bloodstained dress. I wrapped them around my bare, bleeding feet and tied them tightly. Then I stood up, ready to run into the forest.

Before I could take a single step, a cold, heavy hand landed on my shoulder. Slowly, with fear filling every part of me, I turned my head.

Luke was standing right behind me. A cruel smile spread across his bloodstained face.

“Oh, sweetheart,” he whispered. His grip on my shoulder tightened until it hurt. “I told you before. You belong to me. No matter how hard you try, you’ll never escape from me.”

I stared at him in shock, my mind racing.

“I… I saw the car. I saw you drive away!”

Luke threw his head back and laughed.

“Oh, that?” he said with a smirk. “It’s a remote-driving system. There was no one inside the car.”

He pulled a small black remote from the pocket of his bathrobe and held it up with a proud smile.

“I’ve been doing this for years. Did you really think you could outsmart me?” His smile disappeared, and his voice turned cold. “Now come with me. Quietly.”

He grabbed my wrist and started dragging me back toward the house. His grip was so tight it felt like iron around my skin.

“Luke, please! Have mercy on me!” I cried, trying to pull my hand free as my wrapped feet slipped on the damp pine needles.

“I haven’t done anything to deserve this. Please… just let me go!”

Luke stopped walking. Slowly, he turned to look at me. The strange light in his eyes shone under the pale moonlight. Then his eyes moved down to my wrapped, bleeding feet.

A slow, frightening smile spread across his face.

“You know…” he said quietly, his voice calm but frightening. “Maybe I should cut off those pretty legs of yours. Then you won’t be able to run away anymore. You’ll finally become the quiet, obedient wife I want.”

A cold wave of fear settled deep inside me.

He wasn’t joking. As I looked into his empty eyes, I knew he meant every word.

If I went back to that penthouse, I wasn’t coming out whole.

I have to do something. Right now.

At that moment, the remote-controlled car slowly started backing toward the house, its engine humming.

Luke looked away for a second and pressed a button on the remote to stop the car.

That was my only chance. With all the strength I had left, I shoved him hard with my free hand.

He wasn’t expecting it, and immediately his grip on my wrist loosened. I didn’t hesitate. I turned around and ran straight into the dark forest.

Back in high school, I was the fastest runner on the track team. I won every race and loved the feeling of the wind against my face.

Tonight, for the first time, those years of training were saving my life.

I ran as fast as I could. I jumped over fallen branches, pushed through thick bushes that scratched my arms, and kept moving across the rough ground without stopping.

I went deeper and deeper into the woods until the trees blocked out the moonlight.

After a while, I finally looked back. There was no sign of Luke, the forest behind me was empty.

He couldn’t keep up with me.

But I didn’t stop. I kept running, even though my legs hurt and my lungs burned with every breath.

Then, without warning, the trees ended. I stopped so suddenly that my wrapped feet slipped in the wet mud.

Right in front of me was a wide, fast-moving river.

The dark water crashed against large rocks and there was no bridge. No safe place to cross. It was a dead end.

“No… no…” I whispered, holding my head in disbelief.

Is the entire universe really against me?

I quickly turned and ran along the riverbank, searching for another way out.

I had barely taken two steps when a hand shot out from the dark bushes and grabbed the back of my torn dress. It pulled me back with so much force that I lost my balance.

I fell hard onto the wet ground. My heart pounded as I looked up.

My eyes widened in horror.

“Aren’t you tired of running?” Luke said with a cruel smile as he stepped out of the shadows.

He was breathing hard. His bathrobe was covered in dirt and blood, but his eyes shone with victory.

“Running from me is a waste of time, Leah. I’ve lived in this place all my life. I know every part of this woods. Just give up.”

He grabbed my arm and dragged me across the rough ground. I didn’t scream and I didn’t beg.

By then, I knew there was no point asking a monster for mercy. A deep feeling of hopelessness filled my heart, putting out the last bit of hope I had left.

I let him drag me across the cold ground without fighting.

As Luke quietly hummed to himself and pulled me back toward the house, one painful thought filled my mind.

Maybe there is no God who listens to people like me.

“Let go of my mate. Now.”

The deep voice echoed through the forest. It was calm, powerful, and filled with a dangerous authority that made the leaves around us tremble.

I slowly opened my heavy eyes and looked up from the ground.

A tall man stood at the edge of the clearing. For a brief moment, his bright blue eyes glowed in the darkness like two stars. Then they returned to normal.

Luke stopped moving, his quiet humming ended at once. Slowly, his grip on my arm loosened as he turned to face the stranger standing among the trees.