CHAPTER FIVE

LARA

A shrill, familiar voice broke the spell. "I have been knocking on this door for the longest time, but got no response," Eveline said, her eyes narrowing as she pushed me back into the room. Her gaze swept over me, and I felt her disgust as if it were a physical blow. Her expensive dress and perfect hair spoke of her intent—she had come here to seduce Alpha Jerry. Her disappointment at finding me was a bitter, palpable thing.

"Alpha Jerry, she is in your room with you," she accused, her voice dripping with venom. "We all agreed she remains in the wood until evidence is given."

"I am not answerable to you, Eveline," Jerry replied, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. I shrank into a corner, my body trembling, my mind desperately searching for an escape route. Just then, Henry walked in. Without a moment's hesitation, he grabbed my hair, yanking my head back. "I will take her back to the pit," he snarled at me, then, to Eveline, "You stay with the Alpha." He didn't wait for a response, just started to drag me.

"I don't want her in the pit anymore," Alpha Jerry's words stopped Henry cold.

I had heard so many terrible things about Alpha Jerry—his cruelty, his wickedness—but his actions toward me now completely contradicted every rumor. The more he protected me, the more my fear grew. This kindness was a thin veil, a clever deception before the inevitable, and I knew deep down that something far worse was coming. I felt trapped between three evils. Henry and Eveline were the devils I knew; Jerry was the one I didn't, and his unknown plans terrified me the most.

"But she cannot be at home with me," Eveline insisted, her composure finally cracking.

Jerry smiled, a chilling, triumphant expression, and moved toward her. "Eveline, she is not returning to the house with you." The statement made my jaw drop. If not to the house, where was he taking me? Perhaps he was sending me into the woods, granting me my initial wish to escape.

Both Henry and Eveline were stunned into silence, waiting for his final judgment. "I will make her my Luna," he declared. The words echoed in my head, a terrifying and impossible decree. My heart seized in my chest. He said it again, staring directly at me, as if daring me to challenge him: "I will make Lara my Luna."

I didn't like Max, but I had heard he was a better man than Jerry. I had rejected an angel only to be faced with the devil himself. "No, sir, please," I pleaded, my voice breaking. "I am your brother's widow." I looked at my sister, tears dropping from her eyes. I wanted to tell her I had no part in this, but I knew she would stab me to death if I spoke.

"I will marry her and make her suffer for killing my brother," Jerry said, his voice now a low, chilling whisper, directed at no one but me. "I gave you all time to get your evidence, but you couldn't. I have found the evidence that I need, and so I will give her the befitting punishment."

His "evidence" was the sack of clothes I had packed for my escape. But a new thought solidified in my mind. The best way to find Max's killer was to stay here, in this house. This marriage proposal, as horrifying as it was, was the only way to do it. "Sister Eveline, I am deeply sorry," I thought, "but I have to accept this. I must find the truth." Eveline stormed out, tears of rage in her eyes. Henry followed, warning Jerry that he was making a huge mistake.

Then it was just the two of us. "Will I die tonight, just like my brother?" he teased, a cruel smile on his face. "Go and freshen up," he commanded. I hurried to the bathroom, grateful for the chance to be alone. I spent thirty minutes scrubbing away the grime, feeling a sense of relief wash over me.

When I returned, he was on the bed, watching me. I was so exhausted, so emotionally spent, that I could barely move. He told me to come closer, his gaze unblinking. I obeyed. "Take the towel off," he commanded. I let the cloth drop to the floor. He rose, his eyes tracing the contours of my body. "Ravishing," he said.

What happened next was a blur of fear and pain. His touch was rough, a stark contrast to his earlier gentleness. My body felt like it was breaking, but somewhere, in the haze of it all, a part of me felt a desperate pleasure. I was overwhelmed by the sensations, the pain, the raw power. Afterward, as I knelt in the bathroom, trying to clean the blood from my thighs, he followed me. He gently took the cloth from my hand and cleaned me himself, focusing on my vagina. He needs it to be properly cleaned for tomorrow.

The act was so jarringly tender that it made no sense.

He noticed my confusion. "Take that door," he said, pointing to the very back door I had once planned to escape through. His smile was dark and knowing. "It leads to that escape route you wanted."