Chapter 3

Kestrel’s POV

I wince, my face twisting in agony as the first thing I’m aware of is the terrible pain throughout my body.

I try to stand up but collapse back onto the floor. There is so much weight on my hands and feet.

“Hey, calm down, baby. Try to sit for a bit.”

Hearing Reid’s soft voice fills my heart with hope. He’s still alive. For a moment, I thought they’d successfully separated us.

“Reid,” I cry, trying to sit up. My limbs ache, feeling way too stiff and raw. My breathing is laboured as I taste blood and dirt on my tongue.

Memories from the last few hours come rushing back, harsh and fast like a tsunami. Pa’s betrayal hits me a second time, and tears fill my eyes, but I immediately blink them back. I can’t show weakness.

Reid says something again. I know because I see his lips move, but his words are drowned out by the sudden ringing in my ears. I reach up to grab my head when something wet slides down my temple, dripping onto the cold floor beneath me.

The metallic smell is unmistakable. With the amount of blood on the ground, either I’m bleeding to death, or someone else has bled to death on this exact spot.

How many people have these beasts killed?

My chains rattle as I strain my neck, looking behind me.

“Are you alright?” I ask, my eyes scanning every inch of Reid. Silver metal bites into my wrists and ankles.

I’m certain this is a punishment cell for animals like themselves. But even with my silver sword, they had recovered quickly.

“As fine as I can be. Although I feel like a hundred bulls ran me over.” He chuckles in pain.

“Surprisingly, they treated my leg,” Reid adds, and truly, there’s a bandage on his knee.

“Why?” I ask. Something’s definitely fishy here.

He hisses, adjusting his position. “I don’t know. Maybe they want us alive. I was losing a lot of blood.”

“What’s the plan to get out of here?” I ask, more to myself than Reid.

A smirk spreads across Reid’s face, and I find myself smiling too, despite not knowing his plan yet.

“Tell me what’s on your mind, you smart aleck.”

“I may have stolen some blue dust,” he whispers.

My jaw drops.

Do you want to get yourself killed? That’s Garrett’s most valuable item. He claims a warlock gave it to him. The blue dust grants extraordinary strength for a few hours, after which whoever ingests it returns to their previous state or worse.

“Shit, what if Pa finds out?”

“He abandoned us, remember?”

I shake my head. “That’s because he knows we’ll find a way out.”

Reid doesn’t look like he agrees, but he also doesn’t argue with me.

I glance up, noticing there’s only one window, a tiny glass pane in the roof of the stone cell. The torches mounted on the walls provide most of the light and heat.

“How are we going to get out?” I ask, my thoughts racing.

At that exact moment, the iron gate creaks as it’s pushed open.

No one steps in, and whoever opened it moves aside as if waiting for someone. My nerves heighten as I listen intently.

And then I hear boots. Three pairs.

I don’t move until their owners come into view.

Squaring my shoulders, I look up.

There are three men. They all enter as though they own the very air we’re breathing. All of them have the same stormy eyes, but different facial features. They carry an overwhelming sense of pride. Clearly related. These must be the princes of Ashen Ridge.

I recognize their names even before matching them to their faces.

Zane, the youngest, born five days after his brothers. His pale face has soft features, but the tattoos lining his neck up to his forehead speak of his hardened nature. He twirls an iron ring on his right hand with a smirk.

In between stands Axel, the second born, brutal and loud. Pa says he’s the sickest one among them. His fists are scarred, and his eyes remain fixed on Reid with a predator’s intensity.

My hands curl into fists.

Whatever thought you have running through that mind of yours, you better kill it. I’ll die first before letting you hurt my man.

And then my eyes find him, the firstborn son of Alpha King Valen. The only child of the first marked Luna. Knox.

The silent one, the deadliest of all three. He’s rumoured to be his father’s right hand, always carrying out his father’s judgment.

He stands at the left end, quiet and still. He’s visibly taller than the others. His broad shoulders remain rigid, but what unsettles me the most is how his dark gaze locks on me, as though he’s seeing straight through the front I’m putting up.

Keeping my head raised despite being surrounded by alpha blood quickly takes its toll on me, but I refuse to back down.

I’m not afraid of them. I’m not afraid of death.

Knox doesn’t look away, and neither do I. No one’s going to intimidate me.

Somehow, my eyes notice how perfect the man bun on his head is. He has some of the most beautiful lips on the planet, with that perfect bow shape. His jaw is so defined it reminds me of the sharp edge of my sword.

“Well,” Axel drawls, his cold eyes sweeping around the cell. “The famous hunters. Mutts who promised us pain and extinction, chained like the animals they so despise.”

“Poetic,” Zane says, flashing his sparkling white teeth. “Although they smell worse than mutts.”

“Fuck you,” Reid croaks.

In the blink of an eye, Axel strides forward and, without hesitation, punches Reid in the gut.

Let go of him, you bastard!

My chain rattles as Reid doubles over, coughing violently.

My body surges forward on instinct, but the damn chains yank me back with a sharp snap. My wrists burn, and tears pool in my eyes.

“You touch him again,” I hiss, ignoring the pain tearing through my body, “and I swear to God I’ll gut you with your own fucking spine.”

It’s possibly my imagination playing tricks on me, but I could swear Knox’s brow twitches with interest.

Axel turns to me, his teeth bared, revealing growing fangs.

“Say that again, you hunter whore!” he yells, charging at me.