Veyra POVThe sound of boots slamming against the concrete floor jolts me upright. It's still dark in here, and the air is colder now than before. The door to our cell crashes open, and blinding light floods in behind a row of guards.Here it goes.They move in with purpose, their orders etched into their movements."Up!" one barks. "You five, on your feet, now!"Sera is already moving, and Olivia doesn't wait to be told twice. Mari and Riven both scramble to stand, still half-asleep. Their eyes are wide and terrified. The sound of boots slamming against the concrete floor jolts me upright.It’s still dark, the air colder now than before, but the door to our cell crashes open, blinding light flooding in behind a row of guards. They move with purpose, no words, just orders etched into their movements."What if I refuse?" If I refuse to stand up and take part, surely it will ruin their plan."Then you're drugged and dragged there unconscious." His words are cold.I stand; I don't rush.
Veyra POVI begin to move. "Mari, stop!" I chase after her, the others following me at a distance. "Wait, we need to plan!"She stops and turns to face me. Her face is soaked with tears. A loud howl comes, and she bolts forward again. I go to chase her, but then I see it."Wait! It's a trap!" I scream, but it's too late. She steps on it, and I see the arrows move and fly at her. Her body stills, and I see the blood staining the back of her shirt.The other women begin screaming now and panicking."Calm down!" I yell. "If you're hysterical, you won't see the traps!" My words are cold, trying to make them listen.Riven sobs into Sera's chest. Mari didn't last long. Our team of five dropped to four far too quickly."What do we do?" Olivia looks at me."Stick together, watch out for each other." That's all we can do. "Follow me," I whisper, and we move into the trees. I scan everywhere for any traps. They think they can take me down, but they forget, I was trained to be an alpha, and no t
Dagen POVWe heard her, talking to the other women and making them think they can live and survive. She spoke like she was going to fight for them.The moment I saw her shift, my body almost stilled. She has a collar on, anyone who is less than an Alpha shouldn't be able to shift, yet she did.Her wolf is remarkable, it's grey and white. Her eyes instantly turn golden and there's a crescent that shines on her wolf's head. Something I had never seen before.I don't stop though, I run at her, and she runs at me, which shocks me even more. She's meant to run, she's meant to be afraid, I'm meant to chase her!The moment our bodies collide, I know it hurt her. I heard the noise her wolf made, but she doesn't quit, she bites at me, her teeth snapping on my leg. She's strong, but not strong enough, I can easily get her off my leg.Our bodies tumble down, and I should just kill her, right? But something inside of me wants to draw this out and play with her. She's made this game interesting, s
Rael POVWhen Dagen said he wanted to be the wolf in with Veyra, we didn’t think much of it. We know their packs have a long history; they are enemies at the core. It’s a war between their packs that dates back centuries.I doubt anyone even knows why they became enemies to begin with, but they sure are dragging out this war.Sitting beside Vane and Maddox, we watch the screens. The collective gasp we all do when she shifts is unnerving. She shifted. I was amazed that she could shift her paws alone, but her shifting entirely was something new.She’s not meant to do that. Her father stripped her title; she’s an Omega, but she fights like an Alpha. We watch, waiting for Dagen to rip her throat out. Only he doesn’t. I see the way his wolf stills, the flash in his eyes.“Oh, this is interesting,” Maddox chuckles and leans back. “His wolf has an obsession.”It does, and for some reason, it’s Veyra. That is going to cause some fun conversations later when he returns to the room to observe t
Maddox POVWho is this woman? Not only was she able to shift, but she’s fighting these cats like her life depends on it. We expected her to die quickly, and maybe we were wrong.“Almost makes me want to put her in the house. If this is how good she is without food, shelter and warmth, imagine her with all that.”“She would be unstoppable,” Vane states, and he’s right.Olivia continues to cry, and Veyra continues to fight to keep her alive, foolishly, the silver is going to kill her anyway. She’s distracted by one of the cats, and she doesn’t notice the other circling her. Before she notices, it pounces onto Olivia.The camera stays focused even as the cat rips her leg from her body. Her scream is instant, and Veyra turns quickly and foolishly.She’s just turned her back on the other cat. I wait, watching as she attacks the one leaning over Olivia, but it’s too late. The cat already has Olivia’s face in its mouth.Vane leans forward, on the edge of his seat, as the other cat lunges for
Vane POVI watch the screens in amazement. She should be dead by now, if not at least crawling. The blood loss, the bruises, and the weight of carrying other people. She fought Dagon, and she didn’t escape that unhurt. But she’s still on her feet, and moving like she was trained for this, like she belongs out there.She doesn’t, though; she is different. Yet I sit here, elbows on my knees, staring at the screen like I’m trying to figure out what the hell she is.Dagen returned, human again, shirtless and bruised from his fight with both Veyra and the cat. He’s silent, leaning against the far wall with that same brooding scowl that he always wears after a shift. Rael is nursing his drink like this is some casual broadcast. Maddox is still lounging back too entertained for his own good.She stumbles again, and I feel my wolf react, too fast, too tense, and my jaw tightens.“She’s slowing,” I mutter.“She’s been slowing for the last fifteen minutes,” Rael replies.“True, but she’s still
Veyra POVWe’re guided back to the cells. As I step into them, I stop when I see the five mats. Five. Today started with five of us. Now, there are only three.“That was awful, I’ve never been so close to dying,” Riven mumbles, and I turn to face her.“Are you joking!” My words are harsh, and she stares at me.“She’s not wrong, Veyra, we were all close to dying.” Sera sits on her mat.“I don’t mean that, I mean you two running off and leaving Olivia. She died because neither of you would stay and help!” How could they just run away from her like she was nothing?“What were we supposed to do, risk our own lives for her?” Riven stares at me.“Yes! You were! As if it were you who was hurt, you would have expected us to! Actually, you expected me to protect you, but you couldn’t even help her to safety?”Sera sighs. “I saw the silver flakes on it; they were in her bloodstream. She would have died anyway.”“Yeah, but at least she would have died with some dignity and knowing people cared!
Dagen POVI knew she was up to something, the others thought she was being stubborn, that she was exercising her right to tell us to get fucked, without saying it. Not eating, they thought was her fighting back, but I knew it wasn’t, which is why I stayed up.And here, I am. Pinning her against the wall after I caught her on camera sharing food when she was warned not to! She’s smirking like she’s winning, when she’s actually losing. She needs to stop helping others, as they make her weak.She leans closer and spits the chewed-up food into my face.“Then I don’t eat it, I won’t swallow one more bite of your food,” she snarls toward me.Her words hang in the air between us, it’s like a blade, sharp and final. She stands there, defiant but trembling, her chest rising and falling fast as she stares at me. No, she stares me down like I’m nothing more than another threat that she is intent on killing and destroying.I should hit her, that’s what everyone expects me to do. Hell, I know she
Vane POVPushing back my own doubts and worries, I sink into her slowly, guiding her down onto me with careful hands, but her body moves faster than I do. She's too hot, too slick, too desperate. Her breath catches the moment I fill her, and I swear I feel her wolf stir before I’ve even started to thrust.She buries her face in my neck, shaking. Her fingers dig into my shoulders like she’s clinging to the last piece of herself.I hold her and wrap my arms around her back to keep her chest against mine as I move inside her, deep, slow, and steady. I don’t want to hurt her, don’t want to add pain to what she’s already drowning in. Her body’s exhausted, worn down from too much agony and not enough time.But go, she still feels perfect. Every part of her fits me like we’ve done this a thousand times before. My hips roll, lifting to meet her, and her body clenches down around me with a soft, broken moan.“I didn’t want it like this,” I murmur against her temple. I was just getting to the p
VANE POVThis isn’t right, none of it at all. She's curled in Rael's lap, limp and burning. Her skin is flushed and her breathing is coming in shallow gasps. Her wolf has gone again, entirely. The bond failed, and his knot barely deflated before she was writhing and crying out, worse than before.Now though, they're looking at me. Like I’m the next fucking solution.“No,” I snap, stepping back. “We need to stop this.”“She’s dying,” Dagen growls. “We stop and she dies for sure.”“She’s dying anyway!” I shoot back. “All you’re doing, what you already did... is dragging it out. She gets a moment of peace, maybe even hope, and then the fire comes back stronger. You’re not saving her. You’re thrusting her closer to death.”Rael looks like he wants to argue, but he doesn’t. He’s still holding her, staring at nothing, as if he’s trying to understand what he just felt leave him.“She begged me,” he says softly. “She begged me to claim her.”“And it didn’t work,” I spit. “What makes you think
Rael POVShe’s still limp in my arms, barely conscious, but she still moves with me. Still rises and falls with the rhythm of my hips. Her body knows what it needs, even if she can’t speak it clearly. I hold her steady, trying to stay in control, but I can already feel my restraint fraying.“Rael,” she whispers, so faint I almost miss it. Something about her voice has my wolf surging forward more, clinging onto her.I look down. Her eyes are open, barely, but she’s looking right at me.“Don’t speak,” I murmur. “Just breathe. Save your energy”Her fingers claw weakly at my chest. “Please. You have to claim me.”I go still.
RAEL POVNo one’s happy about this. Not about Dagen fucking her. Not about him biting her. Not about the way he’s clinging to her like she’s the last thing keeping him breathing.And definitely not about what comes next.She’s delirious with pain. Driven purely by heat, desperation, and the instinct to survive. That doesn’t mean she wants this. That doesn’t mean she can consent to it. Her wolf is barely present. Her body is in agony. But Dagen’s right about one thing, if we don’t try, she dies. Then we're just monsters who watched her burn from the inside out.There’s a chance she dies anyway. Even if we agree, she could still die, th
Dagen POVShe’s barely holding on, but she still nods. Still gives me that final, broken little whisper of permission “Make it stop.”That’s all I need. I strip fast, my jaw tight, breath short, barely hanging on as my wolf surges beneath my skin. The scent of her is everywhere, sweet and wild and burning through me like a drug I can’t fight. It hits me the moment I pull my shirt over my head, the moment I shove my pants to the floor and crawl back onto the bed where she lies stretched out, weak and trembling, her legs already parted for me like she’s waiting for salvation.I grab her thighs, drag her down to the edge of the bed, and settle between them. My cock is painfully hard, slick already, throbbing with the pressure building in me. When I press the head against her entrance and feel her heat, slic
Veyra POVSomething shifts in him.The careful movements give way to something deeper, firmer. Each thrust grows more deliberate, more insistent, like instinct is pulling him out of the restraint he's clung to. I feel it in the tension of his muscles, in the way his fingers press harder against my hips, holding me in place like he’s afraid I’ll vanish.I know I should be afraid. I know what rogues are... what they become when instinct takes over, but I don’t pull away.Instead, I arch into him.My breath comes faster, not from panic but from need, sharp and staggering. The pain that once consumed me has been replaced with something I didn’t expect. Pleasure. Rich and overwhelming, like it’s blooming through every nerve ending. My wolf leans into his without hesitation, drawn to the strength he’s offering, to the rare and careful way he’s giving it.He groans low in his chest as he sinks deeper, filling me completely with each thrust. The rhythm isn’t brutal, he never becomes careless,
Veyra POVHe doesn’t move like I expect him to.There’s no wild snarl, no rip of fabric, no hands dragging me down into the dirt. Just a pause. A slow exhale. One of his hands brushes against my waist, then stills as if he’s giving me a chance to change my mind. When I don’t, his fingers drift toward the hem of my shirt, curling beneath it with deliberate care.The fabric is stiff with dried sweat and blood. It clings to me in places, but he’s patient, peeling it upward, inch by inch, until my stomach is bare. My skin prickles under the touch of air, but it’s his silence that unsettles me more.He’s not grinning or gloating. He’s looking at me like I’m something fragile. Something breakable.My voice is rough, wary. “You’re not doing this like a rogue.”He doesn’t answer. Just eases the shirt higher, over my ribs, past my bruised arms. I wince when he lifts it off my head, and his touch softens instantly, like he noticed. Like he cared. He folds the ruined shirt and sets it aside, as
Veyra POVI crawl to the pile of items and grab the meat, shoving it into my mouth without caring how it tastes. It won't save me. Even I know that. I thought I was ready to die, but now that it's closer, I'm not.It's not the pain, not the burning heat under my skin, not the way my body refuses to move. It's the thought of dying that scares me. I was ready. Now, I want to live. But living means asking one of the Alphas to knot me.My pride won't let me. But maybe... if one of them offers again, if they suggest it, if they give me even a fraction of an excuse... maybe then I can say yes. I can take what I need and go back to surviving this trial on my own terms.I can't move. My body's done. My wolf is slipping further away, curling back into herself, and the last of my strength is gone. I know I'm exposed. I'm lying out in the open. Anyone can see me. The scent of the other Omega's body is going to draw the rogues soon, maybe even a boar or another predator. Still, I can't do anythin