Chapter Eighteen

Raine POV

Blood pours down the dress and she hooks her claws into it and pulls, shredding it. “Get changed, witch! Or should I aim for your stomach?”

I grab the rags and shrug off the torn dress. My hand raises to touch my face. If I could shift I would rip her apart, but it’s a risk for wolves to shift while pregnant.

“You heal quick, no doubt the magic in you. Move.” I walk to the door and she grabs my arm and takes me down the hall to a door. Shoving it open she drags me down concrete steps. The place is damp and disgusting.

Shoving me into a cell she locks the door. “Someone will unlock it before you need to cook or clean.” Turning she walks off and I look around.

There’s nothing. No blanket, no sheet, nothing.

Sitting down I press my back against the wall. My head falls forward, and my hand settles on my stomach. I need to find a way out of this.

Running could help, but then what? If I get caught by other vampires or wolves Brax won’t know where I am. At least here, if he senses issues he can come.

“Be grateful you get that time out of your cell.”

The voice has me turn and I look around the dark cells trying to see someone. I notice a figure shifting.

“Don’t speak to me,” I whisper. I can’t talk to those forbidden. I can’t talk to prisoners. I’m already treated badly.

The woman laughs. “You don’t need to fear me. I’m not some rogue ripping apart wolves for fun. I’m like you. Shoved in here for his own selfish greed.”

I sit up more. “Who are you?”

“I’m Lucia.”

“Luna Lucia? We were told you died!” She’s alive. Kai’s mother is alive.

“I may as well have.” She sighs. “That is not my son. It’s not the boy I raised. He’s going to destroy the entire world for what he wants.”

“And what does he want?” I ask.

“Wolves to be superior. He wants witches and vampire hybrids to bow to him. He wants humans to know we exist so he can control them all.”

That’s suicide. “It’s not possible,” I whisper. “You fought him on it? His own mother and he did this?”

“I never got a chance to fight him on it before he threw me in here.”

No. “But Kai loves you.”

“Loved,” she whispers. “The moment he found out my father was a vampire hybrid it all changed. Even though I never fed to activate the curse, he still sees me as the monster.”

She’s... “You’re a vampire?”

“My darling husband knew. He wanted to find a way to stop this war, but Kai, he wasn’t going to have that. When we saw how cruel he could be, he was told he wouldn’t be alpha.”

“And he decided to take it by force,” I whisper.

She hums. “Is my husband still alive?”

“Barely. He’s been drugged. I went to stop it but he told me not to. Apparently he’s going to die even if I stopped the drugs. Now he sees it as it’s killing him quicker, letting him escape the pain.”

She stays quiet for a long moment. “I know this is going to be a risk, but please could you get a message to him?”

“No. Kai was so angry when I found the Alpha. I can’t risk him hurting me or the baby.”

“You’re pregnant?” She gasps. “No, I can’t believe that his level of hatred would go this deep.”

“It goes deeper. If I speak about the truth here, how I’m treated, the baby dies. He used a witch to cast the curse.”

She goes silent, and I feel for her. Finding out her son is this evil, this crazy.

“Who are you? And why you?”

“I’m Raine, daughter of Alpha Julius.”

“No,” she gasps. “We agreed you would never marry Kai. When your father had mentioned it years ago we said no. We said we would never agree because we saw the evil in him.”

“Well, my father believes your husband agreed.”

“Then why is he locking you up?”

“Because I’m part witch and Kai knows. He has a plan to use my magic, to reinforce weapons or something.”

I hear her shuffle, like she’s moving to get comfortable again. “You need to run.”

“I can’t.”

“You can. The moment you are outside the gates, run, and don’t look back.”

She thinks it’s that easy? “I’m a witch,” I whisper. “I’m not like you. Witches are hunted, they are abused, and used. At least here, my mate knows where I am. At least here, if he senses something wrong, he can come save me.”

“Witches don’t have mates, not even hybrids.”

“And vampire hybrids aren’t meant to have mates outside their own kind, but we’re mated together,” I say.

“A vampire?” She moves closer to the bars and now I see her. Her face is withdrawn, like the life has gone out of her. “How is that possible?”

“I don’t know, and no one else knows. He told me to agree to this wedding until he’s sure his pack is safe for me then he’s coming for me.”

“Vampire clans will never be safe for a witch.”

“Packs,” I whisper. “They are still wolves. They are packs. Clans are full vampires.”

She hums. “And this mate of yours, he has the power to keep a pack safe for you?”

“I believe so,” I whisper. “I have to have faith that he will get his pack safe, that he will come and rescue me.”

“How long before you came here did you know your mate?”

“A few days, not long enough,” I whisper.

“That’s not good, Raine. Unlike wolves, whose bond forms instantly and lets them sense everything. Vampire ones, they are muted. It takes time, a lot of mating to get the bond to a place where he can feel and sense you from a distance.”

I know that. “I’m going to meet him. Kai has agreed I can still work in my shop. It gives me the chance to see my mate.”

“Try to tell him every day,” she whispers.

“I can’t. The curse will kill the baby.” Is she crazy?

“You don’t understand. A true bond can outweigh a curse. Every time you’re with him and the bond grows, the more chance you have of speaking without the curse taking effect. Just try, and see what happens, every day.”

Try. I can do that. But if I feel the curse, I’ll stop. I can’t risk hurting my baby. My hand rubs against my stomach. I can do this. I might not be able to shift to protect myself, but maybe if I follow their orders, do what they want then I won’t be hurt, and the baby will be fine?