5 - CALLISTA'S POV

The spark seared through the skin of my wrist and sent a jolt of raw agony straight up my arm.

The heavy smell of dark pine wrapped around my face and choked the breathable air right out of my lungs.

I did not see the dark rain falling over the beautiful royal gardens anymore.

My vision faded until I was kneeling back on the freezing black marble of the execution block.

I heard the deafening roar of the bloodthirsty crowd demanding my head for a crime I never committed.

I felt the rough wood of the block scraping against my bare knees.

The ghost of the cold steel broadsword pressed hard against the fragile skin of my neck.

I remembered the exact moment the blade cut into my flesh and ended my first life.

Ajax held me locked against his hard armored chest while he waited for me to submit to his authority.

"You belong to me now, so why the hell are you looking at me with so much fear?" he growled down at me.

His deep voice vibrated against my collarbone and sent a fresh wave of blinding panic straight into my veins.

I needed to get away from the man who ordered my brutal death.

"Let me go!" I shrieked while I thrashed wildly inside his unyielding grip.

"I will not let you run from our bond," Ajax rumbled and tightened his hold on my waist.

He tried to cage me against his massive body to calm my racing heart.

He thought his Alpha presence would soothe my fears and make me yield to his power.

He did not know his touch felt like burning poison sinking into my skin.

I acted on pure and feral survival instinct because the trauma demanded I escape him immediately.

I grabbed my own trapped arm and twisted it with a sudden burst of violent force.

A loud pop echoed from my shoulder joint while a sharp pain radiated through my collarbone.

I gasped out loud as the white hot agony flared down my arm and into my fingertips.

The sudden dislocation forced my arm out of his iron grasp and gave me the leverage I desperately needed.

I planted both of my palms flat against the thick metal plates of his chest armor.

I shoved the Alpha King backward with every single ounce of strength my body possessed.

Ajax stumbled back a few steps and stared at me with wide golden eyes.

The heavy rain continued to pour over us and soaked my red gown until it weighed down my legs.

I stood shivering in the mud while I gasped for air and gripped my throbbing shoulder.

The cheerful violins inside the ballroom stopped playing their lively tune.

An eerie and suffocating silence settled over the vast palace grounds.

I turned my head and saw dozens of wealthy nobles crowded around the open terrace doors.

They stood huddled together in their expensive silk clothes while they watched us in absolute shock.

I spotted my father standing near the edge of the stone steps with a pale and horrified face.

Galen Asteri clutched the fabric over his heart and swayed unsteadily on his feet.

He mouthed my name in a silent plea for me to stop this treasonous behavior.

I knew my father feared the wrath of the Alpha King more than anything else in the world.

I ignored my father and turned my attention back to the massive Alpha standing in front of me.

I expected Ajax to draw his sword or order his royal guards to throw me into the dungeons.

I waited for the familiar cold anger to twist his handsome features into a cruel snarl.

Ajax just stood in the mud and looked at me with genuine hurt swirling in his bright eyes.

He looked deeply confused and wounded by my violent reaction to our sacred mate bond.

He took a hesitant step toward me and held his large hands up in a placating gesture.

"Callista, please just listen to me for a second," he begged with a soft and pleading tone.

The sound of his gentle voice made my stomach churn with nauseating dread.

I knew the same mouth speaking those sweet words would eventually sentence me to death without hesitation.

I hated the way he looked at me with so much false concern.

He did not deserve my tears and he certainly did not deserve my submission.

I remembered the cold indifference in his eyes when he rejected me in front of the entire pack.

I felt the phantom pain of the executioner's blade slicing through my flesh all over again.

My chest heaved and my vision blurred with unshed tears of pure frustration and betrayal.

"Don't you ever fucking touch me!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

My voice cracked and broke as the raw venom of my anger spilled out into the storm.

The assembled court gasped in unison at my blatant disrespect toward their supreme ruler.

I heard Lady Saskia whisper a harsh insult to another noblewoman standing next to her.

I broke every single law of royal submission and I truly did not care what happened next.

Ajax flinched backward and dropped his hands to his sides while he stared at me in disbelief.

"I just want to understand why you hate me so much," Ajax muttered over the sound of the rain.

I refused to give him an answer or stick around for his royal guards to arrest me.

I grabbed the heavy layers of my ruined red skirts and yanked them up to my knees.

I turned my back on the man I once loved and sprinted blindly into the dark labyrinth of the royal gardens.

The golden light pouring from the ballroom chandeliers faded away as I plunged deeper into the maze.

Towering green hedges rose up on both sides of me and blocked out the rest of the world.

The wet gravel crunched loudly under my satin shoes while I ran without a specific destination in mind.

The maze felt endless and confusing in the dark night.

The tall hedges created a twisting path that offered no clear way out.

I took several wrong turns and found myself facing solid walls of green leaves.

I had to double back and choose different paths while my panic grew.

The rain washed away my footprints and left me totally lost in the dark.

I pushed past low hanging branches and ignored the sharp thorns snagging the fabric of my dress.

I slipped on a patch of slick mud and scraped my bare knee against a jagged stone.

I cursed under my breath and forced myself back up so I could keep running.

My lungs burned for oxygen and my dislocated shoulder throbbed with a sickening rhythm.

The freezing rain plastered my dark hair to my face and blurred my vision.

I did not stop running until my legs felt heavy and numb from the intense exertion.

The frantic adrenaline pumping through my veins finally began to crash and leave me feeling hollow.

I stumbled around a sharp corner and found a secluded alcove hidden deep inside the maze.

A tall stone statue of a weeping angel stood in the center of the small clearing.

I pressed my back flat against the cold base of the monument and slid down into the wet dirt.

I wrapped my good arm tightly around my knees and pulled them flush against my chest.

My teeth chattered from the cold and my entire body shook with uncontrollable tremors.

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to ground myself in the present moment.

"I am alive and he cannot hurt me yet," I whispered frantically to the empty darkness.

"Just breathe and think about the plan," I repeated while I rocked back and forth in the mud.

I told myself I was no longer the naive noble girl who blindly trusted the mate bond.

I survived the execution block and I would survive this awful night too.

I needed to focus on dismantling the Crimson Eclipse before they could frame me again.

I promised myself I would save the innocent people who died because of my naive trust.

My father and Odetta needed me to be strong and calculating instead of scared and broken.

I took several slow and jagged breaths until my racing heart finally started to calm down.

The throbbing pain in my shoulder served as a harsh reminder of my new reality.

I needed to pop the joint back into place before I could face the nobles again.

I gritted my teeth and prepared to slam my shoulder against the stone statue.

I closed my eyes and braced myself for the incoming surge of agony.

The only sound in the gardens was the heavy rain hitting the thick leaves of the hedge maze.

I rested my head against the wet stone and paused to gather my courage.

A sudden and disturbing noise cut through the steady rhythm of the storm.

I heard a wet and sickening sound of metal tearing through thick flesh nearby.

A heavy and armored thud followed immediately and shook the gravel path just a few feet away from my hiding spot.

My eyes snapped open and my survival instincts instantly hijacked my exhausted brain.

I held my breath and pressed my body deeper into the dark shadows of the weeping angel.

I slowly crawled forward on my hands and knees until I reached the edge of the tall bushes.

I carefully pushed a few wet branches aside and peered through the small gap into the adjoining path.

The dim moonlight broke through the storm clouds and illuminated a horrifying scene.

A tall figure draped in a heavy crimson cloak stood over a fallen body in the middle of the gravel walkway.

The dark fabric of the cloak confirmed the Crimson Eclipse cult was already active inside the palace walls.

The fallen man groaned in pain and weakly clutched a massive bleeding wound on his side.

I squinted through the rain and recognized the silver and black uniform of the royal guard.

His protective metal helmet rested in a puddle of muddy water a few inches away from his head.

I saw the familiar scarred face of Conrad staring up at his attacker in defiance.

Conrad coughed up dark blood and tried to reach for his discarded sword on the ground.

The cultist kicked the weapon away and planted a heavy boot onto Conrad's wounded chest.

Conrad let out a harsh grunt of pain and glared at the cloaked figure above him.

The assassin grabbed a fistful of Conrad's hair and jerked his head back to expose his throat.

"The master sends his regards," the assassin sneered in a raspy and distorted voice.

The assassin raised a jagged steel blade high into the air and prepared to drive it down into Conrad's neck.

"Hey! Stop right there before I scream for the King!" I shouted from the bushes and reached for a broken iron trellis spike lying in the dirt next to me.