Chapter 2

Nyxaria

Well, shit.

Note to self: the next time a man promises a surprise trip for your birthday, stay in your damn house.

“Nyx, can you hear me?”

Kai’s voice sounded far away, vibrating through my skull as I dragged myself upright.

The heavy, choking stench of exhaust fumes was the first clue that we were actually still in the city. The second was the skimpy piece of cloth Kai had given me to wear before we left, still clinging tightly to my thighs.

“I’m really sorry, Nyx. I promise I’ll get us out of—”

Kai kept rambling, his voice cracking with a panic that was starting to get on my nerves. I ignored him, blinking aggressively as I forced my vision to finally snap into focus.

Even the punishments here were different.

Back home, my pack would have ended an offender on sight, leaving the carcass for the crows. But here? They injected us with some foul substance and tossed us into these cells.

“ I didn’t know they had secluded areas. I just thought we were allowed to roam around and—”

“We’re going to get out of here,” I cut in, adjusting the hem of the short clothing, glad I was finally controlling my body movements.

I refused to spend another second of my twentieth year around the moon here.

I tuned out Kai’s voice, drawing in a deep breath to fill my lungs with much-needed air.

The only perk of a world run by men was they were easy to stupidify. Throw a pretty girl in distress at them, and their brains short-circuit every single time.

I threw my head back, and let out a bloodcurdling scream.

The guards rushed in immediately, their eyes glued to me, completely ignoring Kai.

“It hurts!” I screamed.

From the other side of the bars, they watched me, trying to analyze the situation. I let out a pathetic, trembling sob for their benefit, peering through my fake tears to dissect them right back.

They were humans, unlike the men who captured us.

Humans working as guards for werewolves? What kind of place was this?

“Please! I’m scared!” I cried out.

I added a bit of flair to my movements, thrashing on the floor, while Kai backed me up with his own genuine, panicked stammering.

I scanned their waistbands, but there wasn't a physical key in sight and I was racking my brain for a thousand escape routes per minute. Then, one of them finally produced a small, flat plastic thing and tapped it against the wall.

The heavy door clicked and I didn’t think twice before I bolted past his shoulder.

“Go, Nyx! I’ll hold them down!” Kai said from behind me, his voice cutting through the struggles of the guards as they tried to get to me “Get help from their Alpha!”

I didn't look back. I ran as fast as my two legs could carry me, forcing myself not to shift into my wolf.

Everything in this place was odd. There were no traditional markers, no scents, nothing labeled to help me identify the Alpha's quarters.

The heavy thud of the guards' footsteps were already gaining on me. Panicking, I lunged for the nearest handle, practically shoving myself into the room and slamming the door shut behind me.

“Stupid girl,” I panted, pressing a hand against my racing heart.

I was being hunted by people who most likely wanted me dead, yet my heart wasn’t pounding from fear, it was beating out of pure excitement.

“Stupid, indeed.”

An unfamiliar male voice cut through the dark. Only then did I realize I wasn’t alone.

The stranger was handsome, sure, but his face wasn't what kept me frozen. My eyes were glued lower—staring straight at the thick, heavy length of his erect cock resting against his flat stomach.

He was completely naked, fully hard, and entirely unbothered that a stranger had just burst into his space.

“Wow,” the word escaped my lips before I could stop it.

I’d seen my fair share of cocks back in the village, but this one was an absolute beast.

The city really did have better infrastructure.

His expression remained completely blank as he stood, making the air in the room suddenly shift. I almost passed out from relief.

He was a werewolf.

The raw power radiating off him was a thick, suffocating aura. My eyes scrambled over his skin, trying to read his rank, but I was entirely lost.

In my pack, an Alpha bore a single, sacred chest tattoo to show his status, but this man’s body was a canvas of multiple dark tattoos.

Aside from the ink, he only had a neckpiece with a moon-shaped pendant resting against his collarbone.

“I’m so glad you’re a werewolf, I—” I started to say, but I was cut off as he hauled me away from the door, yanking me roughly toward the bed.

“No talking and no kissing. On all fours, now,” he said.

On all fours? Was this an exorcism?

“I need help. My friend is in the dungeons and—”

“Drop the act, I’m not into roleplay,” he muttered, finally tossing me onto the mattress. Before I could even process what 'roleplay' meant, his large hand slipped beneath my cloth, palming my breast.

“Wait, no! I said I need help—” I tried to protest, but his other hand was already sliding down between my thighs.

He didn’t budge. He wasn't listening to a single word I said until I managed to yank my arm free, throwing all my body weight into a heavy, hard slap right across his jaw.

“Listen!” I practically screamed.

His entire body stilled and for a brief second I was terrified I had just pushed a dangerous predator over the edge.

He was twice my size, and could snap my neck like a dry twig before I even had time to regret it.

But then, a low, dark chuckle rumbled from his chest and beneath me, his cock twitched against my thigh.

He moved away from me immediately, and I inched closer to the edge of the bed, watching him flick a switch on the wall. Suddenly, brighter light flooded the space, making me flinch.

Oh, he was definitely more handsome in the light.

His black hair was tied back in a bun, and a pair of piercing green eyes with a scar cutting through the left one stared back at me.

”What’s your name?” he asked, squinting slightly as his gaze swept over me.

With the room brighter, I noticed everything about him now. Even the way he spoke was strange. The words came out heavy and thick, rolling from the back of his throat in a way I’d never heard back home.

When he said your, the 'R' dragged out like a low growl, and he put a sharp emphasis on the syllables that made him sound lethal.

”My friend is in the dungeon—”

He shook his head, cutting me off. “That’s not what I asked you.”

I bit my tongue, fighting the urge to fire back an insult. I didn’t exactly have the upper hand here.

”Nyx.”

He raised a dark brow, like he was expecting a different answer.

”Nyxaria,” I bit out, giving him my full name.

He moved closer to the bed again. I refused to break eye contact as he loomed over me, extending a single finger to hook under my chin, tilting my head upward.

”Well, N-y-xaria,” he murmured, the foreign weight of his tongue dragging out the letters of my name.

“How about you ride my cock first, then we can discuss releasing your friend?”