The Breaking Point

Eight days. Eira had been imprisoned in the Black Alpha’s dungeon for eight days.

The first three had nearly broken her. No food. No water. No light. No visits. Only darkness, pain, and the slow, relentless weakening of her body. On the fourth day, Varek had returned. His attempt to force her into submission had failed, and the discovery had changed something between them. He had ordered water and a healer, but his expression promised her refusal would not be forgotten, and the next four days brought little relief. She received one meal each day. A healer treated her wounds, stitched the deepest cuts, and washed away the blood and grime before leaving her with clean clothes. Her injuries were healing slowly, though the healer had warned her that several would leave scars.

 

At least she could stand without the room spinning. Most of the time. Today, she sat against the cold stone wall, her knees drawn to her chest. Her stomach ached with hunger, and her body still trembled whenever she moved too quickly. But the pain was no longer what frightened her. It was the thought of Cassian finding her. The thought of being dragged back to Bluemoon Pack, dressed in white, and presented as his future mate while everyone watched her surrender the last piece of herself. She would rather die. The sound of the lock turning pulled her from her thoughts. Eira lifted her head.

The door opened, and Varek stepped inside. He filled the narrow entrance with his broad shoulders and dark clothing. His grey eyes moved over her, taking in her pale face, the bruises that had not yet faded, and the way she held herself against the wall. He looked displeased. He always looked displeased when he saw her. The door slammed shut behind him.

 

“Stand.” Eira pushed herself upright. Her legs shook, but she stayed standing.

Varek watched her struggle.

“Your condition has improved.” She said nothing. “Cassian has sent another demand for your return.” Her stomach tightened. “He is gathering warriors along my borders,” Varek continued. “He seems determined to turn his obsession with you into a war.”

“I never asked him to hunt me.” She said,

“No. You ran into my territory and made yourself my problem.” Varek replies.

“I did not know where I was.”

“And now you do.” His voice was cold enough to make her skin prickle.

 

Eira lowered her gaze for a moment, fighting the panic clawing its way up her throat. She could not stay here. Every day she remained in Bloodmoon territory brought Cassian closer to the gates, closer to a confrontation that could cost hundreds of lives.

She had already caused enough trouble. “Release me.” Varek’s expression hardened. “What did you say?”

“Let me go.” Her voice was hoarse, but she forced the words out. “Take me to your border. I will leave your territory, and Cassian will have no reason to attack you.” A humorless laugh escaped him. “You expect me to believe he will stop hunting you simply because you cross a line on a map?” She shook her head. “No.”

“Then explain why I should entertain this ridiculous request.”

 

“Because keeping me here will only make things worse for everyone.”

His jaw tightened. “You presume to tell me what is best for my territory?”

“No.” She swallowed, struggling to steady her breathing. “I am asking you not to start a war over me.”

“Your fate is not yours to dictate while you remain under my protection.”

“Protection?” The word escaped before she could stop it. Varek’s eyes narrowed. Eira immediately regretted speaking, but the anger and fear inside her had become too much to contain.

“You locked me in a cell. You starved me. You tried to force me to submit to you.” Her voice cracked. “Do not call it protection.”

Silence settled between them. Varek stepped closer. “Be careful, Eira.” She flinched at the warning but did not retreat. There was nowhere to go.

 

“You have mistaken my patience for weakness,” he said. “I have tolerated your defiance long enough. You refuse my authority. You refuse my commands. You refuse to understand the position you have put me in.”

“Then kill me.” The words fell between them. Varek went still. Eira’s heart pounded so violently that she could feel each beat in her throat. She was terrified of him. Terrified of what he might do. But the fear of returning to Cassian was worse.

“Or release me,” she whispered. “Those are your choices.” His face darkened. “You dare to give me orders?”

“No.” Tears burned behind her eyes. “I am begging you to let me go.”

“Then submit.” She shook her head. “Eira.”

“What happens after I give it to you?” Her breath shuddered. “You keep me here? You decide what I wear, where I go, who I speak to? You decide what happens to my body?” His gaze sharpened at her last words. “I decide what happens to those who threaten my pack.”

 

“Then get rid of me!” Her voice broke into a scream. For a moment, neither of them moved. Eira’s chest rose and fell in ragged breaths. Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she hated that he could see them. She hated that her body was shaking. She hated that she had to stand before another Alpha and beg for something that should have belonged to her from the beginning. The right to choose. Varek advanced until she had to tilt her head back to look at him. “You will submit to my authority,” he said. “You will stop challenging me, and we will find a way to deal with Cassian without sacrificing the peace of my territory.”

“And if I refuse?” His expression turned murderous. “Do not test me.”

 

“I have nothing left to give you!” The words tore out of her. She could not breathe. The walls seemed to close around her, the air growing thick and suffocating. She saw Cassian’s face in her mind. His polished smile. His cold eyes. The certainty with which he had spoken about their future, as though her life had already been decided. She would not go back. She would not let him mark her. She would not belong to another man. “I will do what I have to do,” she whispered. Varek’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell does that mean?” Eira looked at the door. Then at him. She knew she could not outrun him. Her body was too weak, and he was too fast. But she couldn't stay here and wait for him to decide her fate. She had to try. She lunged. Her shoulder slammed into his chest as she tried to force her way past him. For one fleeting second, she thought she might reach the door. Then his hand closed around her arm. He yanked her backward. Eira twisted violently, clawing at his wrist. She drove her elbow toward his ribs, caught the edge of his clothing, and fought with everything her weakened body could give her.

 

“Let me go!” Varek caught her other arm.

She kicked at him, striking his shin. He barely reacted. “Stop fighting me!”

“No!” She wrenched herself sideways, nearly tearing free before he seized her around the waist and drove her down.

Her knees struck the stone. Pain exploded through her legs, and the breath left her lungs. Before she could recover, Varek forced her forward, pinning her against the floor with his weight and strength.

Eira fought him until her arms trembled. Then she screamed. “Kill me!” Her voice cracked against the stone walls. “Do you hear me? Kill me!” Varek caught her wrists and forced them behind her back.

“Enough!”

“Please!” She struggled against his grip, tears blurring the floor beneath her. “Please, just end it! I cannot go back to him!”

 

“You think I am going to let you dictate what happens here?”

“I would rather die!” The words came out raw, stripped of everything but terror. Varek dragged her upright and turned her toward him. His hand closed around her jaw, forcing her to meet his eyes. “You would rather die than submit to me?” Eira shook her head desperately, unable to stop crying. “I would rather die than belong to either of you.” Something in his expression changed. Not softened. Hardened. His grip tightened until her jaw ached.

 

“I have offered you a way out of this situation. I have given you time to recover. I have tried to make you understand that I am not your enemy.”

“You are holding me as your prisoner!” She replies, “And you are determined to make an enemy of me!”

“I never asked you to save me!” Eira said, “No. You expect me to clean up the disaster you dragged to my borders!”

“Then let me go!” His voice thundered through the cell. “Stop telling me what to do!” Eira flinched, but she did not look away. Her entire body was shaking now. She had no strength left to fight him, no plan left to make, no hope left to cling to. All she could see was the future closing around her, another Alpha deciding that her refusal meant nothing. Varek stared down at her, his breathing heavy, his grey eyes burning with a fury she had never seen before. “You will not leave this territory until I decide you can.”

“Then kill me here.” His hand tightened around her jaw. “Stop asking me to kill you!”

“Why?” she cried. “Why does it matter to you what happens to me?”

“Because you are standing in front of me, defying me at every turn, while an entire pack threatens my borders over your existence!”

 

“Then give me to him!” The instant the words left her mouth, she knew she had made a mistake. Varek’s expression became terrifyingly still. “You want me to hand you over to Cassian?”

Eira could barely breathe. “No.”

Varek asked, “Then what do you want?” Eira swallowed. “To be free!”

“You will not be free by throwing yourself into his hands.”

“Then there is no way out!” Her voice shattered.

She tried to pull away, but his grip held firm. Desperation surged through her, hot and blinding. She could not think. She could not endure another day of this, another hour of waiting for someone else to decide what would happen to her. “Either release me,” she choked out, “or kill me yourself!”

Varek’s face twisted with rage. “You ungrateful, stubborn little...”

“Do it!” she screamed. “If you are going to keep me here, then finish it!” His control snapped.

 

“I will fucking mark you before I kill you!” The words tore through the cell. Silence followed.

Eira went still. So did Varek. For a moment, neither of them moved. His hand remained locked around her jaw, his grey eyes burning into hers. She could feel the tension in his fingers, the fury rolling off him in waves. He had threatened her. Another threat. Another attempt to frighten her into submission.

But something inside Eira had finally run out of room for fear. She stared straight into his eyes.

 

“Then do it.” Varek’s expression shifted. Eira lifted her chin, ignoring the pain in her battered body. Tears still clung to her lashes, and her breathing came in ragged, uneven pulls, but she refused to look away.

“Go ahead.” Her voice shook, but she forced out every word. “Mark me!”

She tilted her head, baring the side of her neck.

 

“Do it, Varek. If you are going to threaten me with it, then stop talking and do it!” For one suspended heartbeat, nothing happened. She thought he would release her. Perhaps curse her. Perhaps drag her back to the floor and leave her there. She had not expected anything else. She had challenged him. She had nothing left to lose. She believed he had spoken out of spite and anger, because she needed him to understand that even this threat would not make her beg for his mercy. Then Varek’s eyes changed. A low, guttural sound rose from his chest. It was not quite a growl. It was something deeper. Older. Something that seemed to vibrate through the stone beneath their feet.

 

Eira’s breath caught. Varek released her jaw. For the briefest moment, she saw something savage moving behind his grey eyes, something that had nothing to do with the man who had been arguing with her. His wolf. She barely had time to understand what she had awakened. Varek seized her by the back of the neck and yanked her head to the side.

“Varek…” His teeth sank into her neck. Pain blistered white across Eira’s vision. She screamed.