“Show?" I croaked out as I tilted my head, smirking despite the pain that was going through me.
“You call that a show?" I couldn't help but laugh, Adriana ran her hand on Xander's chest as she kissed his shoulder, her eyes locked on mine. “All I saw was a man trying to fuck a woman but failing miserably,” I sneered, my voice laced with mockery. “Tell me, Xander, was that supposed to be impressive? Because from where I stand, it looked like you were trying to convince yourself you still have it.” Xander's eyes darkened but I wasn't done, if he thought that he could break me with this little show then he had something else coming for him. I leaned forward despite the pain, smirking. “Let me guess—you had to fake it, didn’t you, Adriana?” I tilted my head. “Watch your tone!” she snapped as her eyes narrowed in slit. "Oh my bad, you were a little loud and extra and I thought you were trying to fake it not to offend the King,” I said with a wicked smirk on my face, Xander slowly stood up from the bed and for a moment I felt fear grip me because of the dark look in his eyes. He was still naked but I refused to look down. He stopped in front of me as his hand harshly gripped my face. He leaned down to my ear, dropping his voice so only I could hear him. “So are you that desperate for me to fuck you, you're trying to piss me off?” he whispered and I couldn't help but scoff, "You're not man enough,” I said looking him straight in the eyes as his hand around my jaw tightened and then without another word he stepped back before walking away and disappearing into the bathroom. It was left with me and Adriana and she just kept staring at me like she won some prize or something. “Must be really painful…” she started as she climbed down from bed not bothering to hide herself. Like I told her I was interested in looking at her small tits and flat ass. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Must be really painful for you to look in the mirror and see those,” I said as my eyes landed on her chest and I knew I struck a nerve with the way her hands clenched, "Well, the king still likes them,” she defended and I just chuckled at how she looked. If she was a cartoon character she'd have smoke coming out of her head. “Does he? Because from the look of things he was ready to throw you away the second he found his mate. Just happens that he doesn't like me…well, for now.” I said and her eyes got dark as she walked towards me. "Let me tell you something…" she growled and I arched a brow. “The king is mine,” "Yet I bare his mark,” the look in her eyes told me she wanted to kill me instantly but she held back and that gave me some sort of satisfaction knowing that she couldn't do anything. "Soon enough he'll discard you as soon as he finishes his torture with you and I'll gladly help him,” she said as she moved back then she started walking to the bathroom and I knew what would come. When she reached the bathroom door she paused as she turned to me. "I'll do everything possible to make sure that Xander kicks you out of this kingdom. I bet you.” "Good luck trying,” ***** Xander and Adriana finally left me in the room after their series of activities in the bathroom. She was a whore there was no two ways about it. I was starving and my throat was dry like I swallowed a handful of sand. I was still chained and they left me like this to suffer. My hands were aching and it felt like all the blood from my hands flowed to my shoulders. I sighed as I looked down in exhaustion. I swallowed whatever saliva I had left to wet my throat but that wasn't enough. I needed water, I needed food. Back in my pack they hated me so nobody bothered about giving me food but I always found a way to feed myself. Well, I steal some food and that way I can be able to eat because even my fellow omegas hated me and didn't share any leftovers with me. It was that hard. At the same it shaped me to become the woman I am. I started receiving a lot of hate at the age of six. I could still remember the way those people had treated my parents. I was little but I knew when something wasn't right. The way they had all pushed them that night, taking them out of the pack. I had followed from a distance, too small for anyone to notice me. I saw them gather under the moonlight. And then my parents were in the middle. My father had been holding my mom's hand, the fear in their eyes. His eyes had met mine and I could see him telling me to run away but I was too scared to move. They were called names that day I couldn't remember. But one I'll never forget is traitor. They had called my parents disgrace to the pack and right before my eyes they had killed them. A dagger straight to the heart. I couldn't even make a sound. No tears fell from my eyes. But at that moment I felt a shift. My heart hardened. And I made a vow to kill everyone of them who had stood there and watched my parents get killed. There were twenty on my list. And one was already down. The rest; I was waiting for the right time. And when that time comes. Nobody would be able to stop me. And then; I'll paint this kingdom red.The sound hit me before the doors even opened.Struggling. Chains rattling. Her voice—hoarse but furious—spitting fire into the silence of the hall.“Let me go! Do you hear me? Let me go!”The guards pushed the heavy double doors open, their grips tight around her arms as if they feared she’d burn them alive. She stumbled into the office, wrists still bound, hair disheveled, eyes wild and flashing with defiance.My wolf lunged against my chest, a snarl ripping through me from the inside. The sight of her chained, treated like a criminal—it made my blood roar, my vision go red. Every instinct screamed to tear those chains apart, to crush the guards where they stood for daring to manhandle her.But I didn’t move.I couldn’t.Her life was hanging on the edge of a blade. One wrong move from me, one wrong word from her, and I knew this room would become her execution ground.So I sat rigid, my fists clenched against my knees, nails biting into flesh, and forced my wolf down. I had to play
Silence.That was all that filled the office. Heavy, suffocating silence that wrapped around my throat like a chain.Xander sat behind the desk, his hands folded neatly in front of him, his expression unreadable but his eyes sharp as blades. The weight of his gaze pressed into me. Raven sat to his right, her posture stiff, her fury radiating like heat from a forge. And me—goddess, I sat across from them, shoulders tight, heart pounding so hard I swore it shook the chair beneath me.Their silence was worse than shouting. Worse than any punishment they could have hurled my way.Because they were waiting. Waiting for me to explain how the woman who had been caught trying to steal their daughter was mine. My mate.Raven’s voice cut through the tension like a blade. “So what now, Dante?” Her tone was sharp, cold, laced with disbelief. “What do you want us to do? Free her? Free the woman who tried to take my child?”Her words slammed into me like hammer strikes. I couldn’t even bring myself
The moment the word left my lips—Deal—I hated myself. The sound of it still echoed in my head, clanging louder than the rattle of chains when the wolf—my mate, as he dared to claim—turned and left me in the dark. I sat slumped against the stone wall, breathing hard, pulse hammering in my throat, as though saying that single word had cost me a piece of my soul. A deal with him. A deal with fate itself, maybe. I pressed my wrists against the iron cuffs until the raw skin there screamed. Pain was better than thought. Better than the creeping realization that maybe—just maybe—he hadn’t been lying. Mate. The word burned hotter than fire. It explained too much. Why my magic had faltered that night in his room, betraying me when I had stood over him, blade in hand, victory within reach. I should have ended him. I wanted to end him. But the spell fizzled, the strike faltered, and for the first time in my life, power had turned traitor. Because of him. Because of the bond. I dug my n
I didn’t want to believe it. My mind screamed denial even as my wolf went utterly still inside me, ears pricked, nose testing the air again and again.No. No, it couldn’t be.But the scent hit me like a fist to the gut—roses, sharp and sweet, curling through the dank rot of the dungeon. The kind of scent that sank into bone and blood, that no time or distance could dull.And then there was the hair. That wild, untamed cascade of fire. My stomach dropped. My chest seized.Her.My mate.Chained. Shackled. Sitting on the damp stone floor of the cell as if the filth didn’t touch her. Back straight. Chin tilted. Defiant even with her wrists rubbed raw from iron.The one I had been chasing through forests and across borders. The one who had vanished like smoke after trying to put a blade through my heart. The one my wolf had raged for, hungered for, howled for.And now she was here. In the palace dungeon.Accused of touching my niece.The world tilted violently. For a heartbeat, I didn’t
The forest blurred around me, trees nothing more than streaks of shadow and green as my paws tore across the earth. The ground shook beneath every stride, claws digging deep into the soil, my wolf pushing harder, faster, driven by nothing but rage and fear.Sofia.The thought of her tiny face, her laugh, her bright eyes—my little girl—flashed in my mind, and each image ripped a fresh growl from my chest. My wolf snarled as I ran. My niece. My blood. My pup. Someone had dared to touch her. To take her. To make her cry.The world around me dissolved into red haze. My paws pounded harder. My lungs burned. None of it mattered. All that mattered was reaching the palace, reaching her, making sure with my own eyes that she was safe.My wolf surged, faster, stronger, until the gates of the palace finally came into view. Guards shifted nervously as I thundered toward them, but none dared block my path. They knew better. They knew what I was when it came to my family.At the last second, I skid
Darkness pressed against me like a second skin.The cell was nothing more than stone and shadow, yet it felt alive. Cold walls whispered of misery, chains rattled with every slight movement I made, mocking me with their weight. The air was damp, suffocating, filled with the stench of mold and iron and fear. My fear.I sat curled on the hard ground, knees pulled against my chest, my forehead resting on them. My wrists were raw where the cuffs dug into my skin, my ankles bruised from the shackles. Every time I shifted, the chains clinked—a reminder of how far I’d fallen.How far I had failed.I closed my eyes, but I couldn’t escape the truth. I had been caught. Not just caught—defeated, humiliated, stripped of everything that made me dangerous. The King himself had been the one to bring me down. His wolf, monstrous and magnificent, had crushed me into the dirt like I was nothing.And maybe I was nothing.I had told myself I was strong enough. Clever enough. Ruthless enough to take what