Chapter 6: The Iron Cage

POV: Roxana

I kept my head held high as I walked into the grand dining room, refusing to let the guards see my hands shaking. 

The heavy silver crown felt like ice against my scalp after the Seer’s brutal decree. Victoria and Celeste were already seated at the long table, their daughters whispering loudly as I took my seat at the head.

"Look at the little dead girl walking," Iris sneered, intentionally clinking her silver fork against her porcelain plate. "Ninety days to get pregnant or she loses her head at the chopping block. I wonder if she has even figured out how to make a man look at her yet."

"Be quiet, Iris," Celeste said, though her fake smile was filled with absolute mockery as she looked at me. "Our new Luna needs to focus on her duties instead of listening to your childish teasing. After all, her life depends entirely on her ability to breed a pup before the next full moon."

I gripped my linen napkin under the table, my knuckles turning white as I stared directly back at them. 

"You should watch your tongues," I said, keeping my voice cold and steady despite the panic clawing at my throat. "I am still your supreme Luna, and I can have you removed from this table with a single breath."

Victoria let out a sharp, ugly laugh, leaning forward to lock her hateful eyes onto mine. "You are a placeholder with a death sentence, Roxana," she whispered venomously across the white cloth. "My son Jaxon will take that throne, and no broken omega is going to stop him by dropping a bastard in three months."

The double doors swung open, and Magnus strode into the dining room, his massive frame instantly casting a shadow over the entire table. The oppressive weight of his Alpha aura flooded the space, forcing Victoria to snap her mouth shut and look down. He didn't look at his wives as he took his seat opposite me.

"Has the food been tested?" Magnus asked the head servant, his deep voice echoing through the tense silence of the room. The servant bowed deeply, quickly filling the Alpha's plate with roasted meat. 

Magnus finally shifted his dark, unreadable eyes toward me, ignoring the furious glances of his first two wives.

"You are not eating, Roxana," Magnus noted coldly, his tone completely flat and transactional. "A weak body will not conceive the heir this pack requires to secure the succession. Eat your food, and do not waste the limited time the spirits have granted you."

"I am not hungry, Alpha Magnus," I replied, forcing myself to pick up my fork just to show him I wasn't completely broken. "But I will ensure my body is ready for whatever requirements you have laid out in our contract." I needed the wives to see that I wasn't intimidated by his harsh words.

Magnus downed his wine, setting the heavy glass down with a dull thud that made the plates rattle. "Good, because my bed expects you tonight at midnight," he stated plainly in front of everyone at the table. "We will not waste a single night of these three months on foolish hesitation."

Jaxon, who had been sitting quietly next to his mother, slammed his fists onto the wood. "Father, this is an insult to the pack's honor," he snapped, his face turning red with humiliation. "You are openly talking about breeding with my discarded mate right in front of my mother and me."

Magnus slowly turned his head toward Jaxon, his eyes narrowing into a lethal glare that made the young wolf instantly freeze. "She is your Luna, Jaxon, and you will speak of her with respect or I will rip your tongue out myself," Magnus growled. The sheer power in his voice forced Jaxon to drop his eyes.

After the tense meal ended, I slipped away from the royal wing and hurried down toward the dark basements of the mansion. 

I asked one of the maids earlier and was told that Hestia was locked in the silver dungeons below. I have to go meet her, because she was the only one who could give me a fertility remedy. 

And I also don't want her to expose my secret connection to her magic, the elders would execute me before the three months were up.

I waited until the guards rotated shifts, then quietly snatched the iron key ring hanging from the wall hook near the stairs. 

The air grew damp and freezing as I crept down the stone steps, the smell of rusted metal filling my nose. I found Hestia’s cell at the very end of the corridor, her body slumped against the wall.

"Hestia," I whispered urgently, gripping the cold iron bars of her cell door as I looked inside at her bruised face. "Listen to me, if you are thinking that I betrayed you, I didn't. I honestly didn't tell the guards anything.”

“And I need your help to get a fertility remedy, if you do this for me, I will help you escape but you must also keep quiet." I said in one breath.

Hestia slowly raised her head, her eyes flashing with pure hatred through the tangled strands of her dirty hair. "You lie, Luna," she spat out, her voice raspy and broken from the dungeon smoke. "You sold my location to buy your shiny new crown, and now you want me to save your pathetic neck."

"I swear on my wolf's life, I didn't know they were hunting you," I pleaded, trying to fit the heavy key into the lock to unlock her chains. "We don't have time for this, Hestia. If you tell the elders about my past, we both die in this place."

Before I could turn the key, a heavy hand grabbed the back of my collar, ripping me away from the bars with violent force. The iron key ring flew out of my hands, clattering loudly against the floor. I gasped for air as I was thrown backward into the damp dirt.

Jaxon stood in the doorway of the cellblock, a malicious, triumphant grin spreading across his face as he looked down at me. 

"I knew you were hiding something, Roxana," he sneered, stepping closer and kicking the keys out of my reach. "Sneaking into the forbidden dungeons to talk to a rogue witch is high treason."

I scrambled to my feet, my back hitting the cold wall as Jaxon stepped closer to me, blocking my only exit. 

"Get out of my way, Jaxon," I demanded, trying to summon whatever authority I had left. "The Alpha will kill you if he finds you tracking me down here."

"The Alpha won't do anything once I tell him his new bride is plotting with a witch," Jaxon laughed, his hand reaching out to grab the heavy iron door of the cell block. 

"Let's see how much Magnus values his new contract when he finds out what you are trying to do." With a powerful shove, he slammed the heavy dungeon door shut, locking me inside the room with Hestia, who was still looking weirdly at me.