Chapter 4

  I couldn't sleep that night because I could feel that my wolf wasn't settled. She was a volatile storm of mixed-up emotions, pacing back and forth in my mind, shifting between blinding anger and deep, suffocating anxiety. I sat up on the mattress, wanting to talk to her.

  “What's wrong, Lillian?

  “Something is about to happen! she snapped back, her mental voice sharp and laced with panic. I can feel it in the air.”she said.

  

  “I don't get you.”

  

  “First off, I am murderous over the fact that Toby almost died because of that stupid Beta and his evil wife! Lillian hissed, her fangs baring in my mind. And secondly, I feel anxious for a reason I know not of. I just feel like something is about to happen.”

  

  I sighed.”please can you calm down and let's go to sleep.” I pleaded with my wolf.

  

  “I am thirsty, she said, her ears twitching. We need to get water.

  

  I rolled my eyes at her restlessness but stood up anyway, my joints popping painfully. I looked over at Toby to ensure that he was deeply sleeping before leaving the safety of the laundry room to navigate the dark, quiet corridors.

  I slipped into the kitchen like a ghost, found a bottle of water, and drank it down to soothe the lingering burn of the wolfsbane in my throat. When I was finished, I threw the empty bottle inside the trashcan and turned to exit. I was actually happy, thinking I had managed to be here without bumping into anyone, when suddenly a rough, iron-tight hand wrapped violently around my neck from behind.

  It was the Beta.

  "Shouldn't you be asleep in your hole, whore?" Lukas whispered nastily in my ear, his breath hot and foul as his grip tightened. "Trying to steal something?"

  "Please... let me go," I shivered, terror striking my chest.

  "What if I say no?" he laughed darkly, a rumbling sound that vibrated against my back. "And kick you to the ground just like I kicked that pathetic omega friend of yours!"

  That's it! Lillian screamed, the mention of Toby completely obliterating her restraint. Let me at the bastard!

  I didn't fight her this time. I surrendered total control. My canines elongated past my lips as my sharp claws ripped through the tips of my fingers. Lillian grabbed a hold of the Beta's massive wrist and twisted it with all her might. He yelped in both shock and pain, his grip shattering. Lillian took the opportunity and pushed him hard to the floor before pouncing directly onto his chest, slashing his face with her claws and creating deep, bloodied tracks through his skin.

  "You bitch!" he growled, his eyes flashing a dangerous amber.

  The next instant, his powerful Beta aura exploded into the room like a shockwave, pushing her off him with an immense amount of force. We hit the wall hard, and Lillian immediately receded from the impact, throwing me back into control. I tried scrambling to my feet to run off into the shadows, but he was before me in a flash. He grabbed me tightly by the arm, his grip bruising my flesh.

  "I am taking you straight to the Alpha," he barked, his face a bloody, shredded mess.

  "No! Please..." I begged, crying out as he dragged me ruthlessly up the grand stairs and toward the Alpha's room.

  Alpha Victor was already standing outside his heavy bedroom doors. His cold, calculating eyes narrowed as he looked down at us. It was obvious Carlo had already mind-linked him the details.

  "What did the curse bitch do now?" Victor rolled his eyes, looking profoundly annoyed.

  "Your useless slave!" Lukas dropped me heavily on the floor before the Alpha's boots. "Did this!" he snarled, pointing at his bloody face.

  "I am sorry," I whimpered from the floor, curling into a tight ball.

  "Shut up!" Alpha Victor growled, his Alpha command slamming into my skull like a physical blow. "Get into the room and strip!"

  I stood up with trembling legs and stumbled into his dark, lavish room, my fingers fumbling with my tattered clothes as I took them off.

  "I will take it from here," I heard Victor say to his Beta, before he stepped into the room and closed the heavy oak door behind him with a definitive click.

  "Oh, darling." He walked over to me, turning me forcibly to face him. A sick, sadistic smirk played on his lips. "You are so in for it tonight!"

  He pounced.

  By the time he finally got off me, I was bleeding between my legs and covered in fresh bruises. Then, he grabbed the heavy leather whip from the wall. The cold night air blew against my bare, bleeding skin, and I shivered violently on the floorboards.

  "Oh, my dear, are you cold?" he mocked me, before bringing the whip down continuously. As I screamed out in pure pain, it only seemed like he enjoyed it more.

  "Please, Alpha..." I sobbed into the wood, my vision spots of black. "Just kill me please... just end all my suffering" I pleaded with him because the pain was simply too much. I didn't think I could survive it any longer.

  "Kill you and give you an easy end to your suffering? No, dear, I wouldn't do that." He laughed darkly as he came down to my level on the floor. He ruthlessly yanked one of my folded legs out, staring at the skin. "Ugly bitch," he read aloud, tracing the jagged words Lukas had carved into my flesh with his sliver knife earlier. He moved to my next leg, laughing as he read the other words. "Worthless whore. I must say, he did a pretty great job."

  He stood up, wiping his hands, his eyes hooded and dark as he watched me bleed. I swallowed hard, terror seizing me as I wondered what horrific sort of torture he had planned next.

  "Get up and lay on the bed."