Chapter 3

Aria's POV

It was Cain, my dead sister's mate.

Cain Lake.

He grabbed my arm and his grip wasn't gentle, but it wasn't brutal either as he dragged me inside the warehouse. It was firm, possessive even.

The inside looked exactly like what it was—a makeshift base for wolves on the run. Motorcycles lined one wall in various states of repair. Weapons hung on the other side; guns, blades, etc. Maps covered a third wall, marked with red circles and crossing lines that probably meant territories and escape routes.

His crew was already inside, helmets off now, and they all turned to stare at me.

Mika, the woman from earlier. Reaper, the massive man who looked like he could snap me in half without even trying. A thin guy hunched over a laptop typing away furiously and others I hadn't been introduced to yet.

They stared at me like I was a bomb about to explode.

Maybe I was.

A man with dirty blonde hair and an oblong face stepped forward. His leather cut had "VP" patched on it. Vice President. Second in command.

"This is insane," he said, getting in Cain's way. "You kidnapped the Alpha King's daughter. He'll bring war."

Cain's response was ice-cold. "That's exactly what I want."

The VP ran a hand through his hair. "Brother, I'm all for revenge, but this? This is suicide."

"Then leave." Cain's voice could have frozen hell. "Anyone who wants out, there's the door."

No one moved.

He shoved me into a metal chair. I stumbled, catching myself on the armrest. My wrists and ankles hurt a lot.

Cain stood over me, trying to control his rage. "Let's get something straight. You're here because your father murdered my pack. Every one I ever loved." His voice dropped, sounding dangerous and broken. "And the woman I loved”.

I flinched at his statement. It still hurts after all these years. Like a wound that never healed.

"You think I don't know what he did?" I replied, my voice coming out much stronger than I felt. "You think I don't—"

"I think you lived in a castle while we bled." He cut me off, leaning down until we were eye level. "I think you're his blood, his legacy, his Princess."

Something inside me snapped.

I stood up so fast the chair scraped backward and got right in his face despite the fact that he could kill me with one hand. Despite the terror clawing at my throat.

"I haven't left that castle in ten years," I said, my voice quivering as I enunciated each word. "I watched Elena die. I've been his prisoner just as much as you've been his victim."

The warehouse went silent.

Everyone was watching this showdown—the rogue Alpha and the broken princess, staring down each other like wolves deciding whether to fight or flight.

His gaze dropped to my wrists. To my too-thin frame that even the ruined ball gown couldn't hide. To the shadows under my eyes that spoke of sleepless nights and worse days.

His jaw tightened. "Show me."

"What?"

"Your wrists."

I hesitated. These scars were mine—my private hell, my proof that I'd survived when dying would have been easier. But something in his voice, and in the way he was looking at me now, made me obey.

I held out my hands.

He took out the chains, then turned my hands over, the long sleeve of my now ruined was already gone. His touch was surprisingly gentle. Like I was something fragile that might break. He turned my wrists over, examining the scarring with a blank expression.

Silver burns. Injection marks, dozens of them, creating a connect-the-dots pattern up my forearms. Restraint wounds where I'd fought against chains until my skin gave up.

Behind him, Mika's whisper cut through the silence. "Goddess, what did he do to her?"

I yanked my hands back, wrapping my arms around myself and looking away. "Everything. He did everything. So if you want revenge, get in line, you're not the only one grieving Elena."

Cain's expression shifted, something in between confusion and anger. He glanced at his VP and then back to me.

"Why would he torture his own daughter?"

The laugh that escaped my mouth was bitter. "Daughter? Don't pretend you don't know he never saw us as nothing more than tools."

The words hung in the air, devastating and shocking.

"Project Apex," I said, my voice flat and without emotion

"He's been injecting me with wolfsbane since I was ten years old. He told everyone I was defective, that I couldn't shift. But that was a lie." I sighed tiredly, I didn't know why I was revealing all these to him, but seeing a familiar face, one linked to Elena, was like seeing a light in a dark tunnel.

I met Cain's eyes. "He's been harvesting my blood for ten years to create super-soldiers. Wolves he can control. Wolves that don't question orders."

The thin guy, Ghost, pulled out a tablet, fingers flying across the screen. "Holy shit. I've heard rumors about Apex but I thought—"

"It's all real," I cut him off. "It’s all real”

Cain's face had gone blank. The kind of blank that meant he was processing something that just changed everything.

“Sorry to disappoint, brother in law,” my voice dripped with unhidden sarcasm, “but I'm not the pampered princess you expected, just like Elena, I'm a victim too.”

He snarled, his wolf flashing in his eyes, no Alpha took a challenge kindly, but I could see in his eyes that it didn't change what he had to do.

His VP broke the silence. "So what's the play? Ransom her?"

"No Jax." Cain growled. "We use her to draw him out. He wants her back? He comes himself."

My stomach sank further in. "You're using me as bait."

"You're his most valuable asset." Cain crossed his arms, reining in the wolf beneath his skin "He'll come."

I sat down, my legs shaking . "And then what? You kill him and me too?"

He leaned close, so close I could see his dark pupils and could smell his leather jacket and gunpowder.

"I haven't decided about you yet, Princess."

I held his gaze, refusing to look away first.

"Then you better decide fast," I whispered. "Because when my father comes, he won't just want me back."

Cain smiled, straightened up and crossed his arms while flashing a full smile at me.

"Good. I'm counting on it.”