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THALIA’S POV

It had taken a whole night before the realization dawned fully on me—I had murdered two people and fled the scene. The blood on my hands had been washed away, but the phantom weight of it remained, pressing into my skin like lead. And what I had hoped on settling before dawn with my aunt—the woman raising my younger sister, Valerie—didn’t go as planned. I had tried to find the words to tell her we needed to run, to explain that the shadows of our past had finally grown teeth, but the words died in my throat every time I saw Valerie’s innocent face.

It had taken another day after I left the city before I fully understood that the people who sent those men would already be looking for me. They weren’t just common thugs; they were hunters. They were probably close already, sniffing out my trail like hounds on a scent.

Sleep didn’t come easy. I spent my nights staring at the ceiling, wondering if someone would throttle me in my sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw flashes of their faces—Paul’s handsome features twisting into that horrific mask of shock, and the tanned man’s body crumpled like a discarded rag. I kept seeing the way they lay there on the bathroom floor, the life leaking out of them in dark, silent pools. My wolf, usually a source of quiet comfort, was a shivering mess in the corner of my mind, terrified of what I had unleashed.

A week later, I had thrown on a hoodie and made my way to college again. I told myself I had to move on. I was being paranoid. No one was looking for me in this sea of humans, and I was back in my city, hidden in plain sight. It was all over now. Or so I prayed.

“Watch it, Thorne,” Brad brushed past me, a small smile on his face as he walked down the street with his friends. “You seem pretty out of it today.”

I jerked slightly, the straps of my bag digging into my shoulders. Panic flared in my chest. What if someone here knew that I was a murderer? Did it show in the way I walked? Was the guilt written across my forehead in jagged letters? “Sorry, the holiday was hectic.” I struggled to get the words out, my throat feeling like it was filled with glass.

He stared at me, his gaze slowly raking over my form as he backed away thoughtfully. “Alright, see you tomorrow in chemistry, Thorne. And get some rest, you look like a criminal who doesn’t want to get caught.”

His words slammed into my head like a brick, shattering the fragile peace I was trying to build. He was joking, but the truth of it made me feel sick. I was a criminal. He didn’t know it, but I did. Every heartbeat was a countdown, and I knew it was only a matter of time before it caught up to me.

Soon after, he was out of sight and I looked up at the sky. The sun was dipping below the horizon already, bleeding orange and deep purple across the clouds. I should probably walk faster if I wanted to get home before it got dark. In the dark, the monsters were harder to see.

My steps fastened as I turned to walk down the familiar alley, a shortcut I’d taken a thousand times. Then—

I froze.

Two figures stood far off, silhouetted against the dying light, staring directly at me. My heart slammed against my chest like a trapped bird. The air grew cold, and the silence of the alleyway became deafening. I took a step back, suddenly aware that we were alone on the street. No witnesses. No help.

Shit. They didn’t look like they were there by mistake. They had found me.

They would never catch me! The thought was a desperate scream in my mind.

I turned on my heels, ready to sprint, but I bumped into something hard—something that felt like a wall of solid muscle. Before I could even gasp, something heavy came down on my head. A flash of white light exploded behind my eyes, followed by a crushing darkness.

My vision went black almost instantly and I fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.

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When I woke up, the world was a blur of cold metal and the rhythmic sound of clanking as I rolled to my side. My head felt like it had been split open with an axe.

“Fuck…” I groaned, struggling to get to my feet, but my limbs felt heavy, unresponsive.

Suddenly, I froze. I felt a cold, biting weight around my hands.

“What the—” The words died in my throat as I saw the heavy chains that bound me. They were thick, rusted, and pulsed with a strange, low hum that seemed to sap the very strength from my bones.

What the actual fuck was this?

Immediately, I dragged myself to my feet, my breath coming in shallow hitches as I looked around the small compartment I had found myself in. It felt like a cage on wheels, vibrating with the movement of whatever vehicle was transporting me.

My head was pounding and I struggled to remember what the hell even happened. One minute I was in the alley, and the next… this.

Where was I? Why was I in a dark empty room? Why was I fucking chained?!

“Hello?!” I yelled, my voice cracking and sounding small in the darkness. I spun around, desperate for some kind of clue. “Anyone! Don’t do this! Please—Please don’t kill me.”

I would grovel and beg for my life if I had to. I didn’t care about pride anymore. I didn’t want to die. Who were they? Were they the people I had spent my whole life hiding from? Had the North finally come to collect its debt?

Suddenly, the door creaked open and I had to shield my eyes from the bright, aggressive burst of light.

“Make no sound.” A man stepped into the space. He was terrifying—a hideous scar ran from his brow down to his mouth, twisting his face into a permanent snarl.

“Stay back!” I yelled, scrambling into the furthest corner of the cell, my chains rattling mockingly.

If he heard me, he didn’t give a fuck. He reached out and pulled me forward by the chains, ignoring the way I clawed and kicked at him. It was almost like… he couldn’t feel it. My blows landed against him like pebbles against a mountain.

My eyes frantically darted around the strange environment as he dragged me out. This made no sense. It was nothing like I had ever seen. We weren’t in the city anymore.

The walls were dark stone and the floor was spotless, polished to a mirror sheen. The air hung heavy with the smell of damp earth and ancient wood, and I could feel the skin on the nape of my neck rising. My wolf was whimpering now, a high-pitched sound of pure terror that vibrated in my skull.

This place was trouble. This was unadulterated  power.

“Let me fucking go—” I had barely finished the sentence before he pushed open a pair of massive double doors and I was tossed to the floor with a careless thud.

I coughed, trying to find my bearing as my knees made contact with the hard, cold surface. I looked down, seeing my own reflection in the floor—and the gold contacts still covering the black void of my eyes. Please stay in place, I prayed. Please don’t let them see.

The click of boots slowly approaching where I lay sent me into panic mode. My heart was in my throat, beating so hard I thought it might burst. I looked up slowly.

Oh—

A man stood there. He was sculpted from shadow and authority. Dark hair and dark eyes that blazed with a fury I had never seen, a fire that felt like it could incinerate me where I lay. His jaw was set into a tight knot and he stared down at me with a look that told me I wasn’t here for roses and sunshine.

Maybe… just maybe if he wasn’t mad, he was actually handsome. Scratch that, immaculate was the right word. He looked like a god of war carved from obsidian. If I wasn’t scared shitless, I would actually admire the work of art in front of me.

“Who are you?” I hissed instead, scrambling back on my butt until the chains snapped taut.

That’s when I noticed the group of people in the corner. Dark robes, seasoned looks, and wary, ancient eyes that watched my every move. They sat behind a long stone table.

Almost like a… panel. A jury. 

The man in front of me didn’t move. He just stood there, overlooking me with authority oozing off his very sexy lbeing. Whoever he was, he was in charge. Every wolf in the room was holding their breath in his presence.

I opened my mouth to demand answers again, but he spoke first.

“Silence.”

For some reason, the words on my tongue died instantly. It wasn’t just a command; it was a physical weight that pressed down on my lungs. I just stared at him, my heart racing.

He leaned down slightly, those dark eyes burning through me, searching for something. “Call me Alpha King Rael. Do you know why you’re here, Thalia?”

My heart could have stopped functioning right then. I didn’t know what frightened my urinary organ—which was about to give up on me—more. The fact that he had an “Alpha King” title, which meant I was no longer in human territory and had been brought to the heart of the werewolf monarchy. Or the fact that he knew my fucking name.

I had never met an Alpha King. I had spent my life avoiding even the lowliest of pack members. And now? Faced with the king of them all, a man who looked displeased at my very existence, I wouldn’t rate the experience high.

My stomach tied in knots as I shook my head, not daring to speak.

“One week ago. Platinum Hotel in New York. You killed people.” He straightened up, his lip twitching slightly in a sneer of pure loathing. “My people.”

If I had been scared before, I was terrified now. I wanted the ground to open up and claim me. That would be a way easier death than whatever an Alpha King had planned for a murderer.

“I—”

What could I say? I was sorry? I didn’t mean to?

“They tried to harm me!” I squeaked instead, my voice sounding pathetic in the vast hall.

He locked gazes with me again and I looked away, frightened. I stared down at the floor, praying my contacts wouldn’t slip. Could he see through them? Could he see the “Cancer” mark on my soul? His gaze was so intense that I feared he could look past the golden lenses and see the black-eyed abomination beneath.

“They wanted to kill you?” He hissed, the sound vibrating with suppressed rage.

I barely snuck a glance at him, muttering some motherly prayers to myself while trying not to break down into sobbing fits.

His gaze darkened even further if that was possible. “You killed my brother, Thalia. It is only right that you stand before the panel that will judge you. Right here, where we both know you belong.”

Each word was a smack to my head, the syllables bouncing off the walls of my brain. His brother. I had killed the brother of the Alpha King. There was no escape from this. No country far enough to hide in.

He adjusted the dark, heavy coat around his shoulders. “You, Thalia Thorne, are accused of committing  murder.” He paused, leveling me with a glare that felt like a death sentence. “And witchcraft.”

My heart stopped.

W…witchcraft?

“Pardon?”