CHAPTER 3: The Ditch

The air outside the Spire was freezing. Rain lashed against my face, mixing with the tears and the blood already drying on my skin. The guards didn't carry me; they dragged me. My heels scraped against the wet pavement of the parking lot until my sandals snapped, leaving my bare feet to pick up every rock and shard of glass on the ground.

"Please," I choked out, my voice sounding like I’d swallowed broken glass. "I didn't do it. Silas is lying. Please, just listen to me."

The guard on my left, a massive wolf with a scar across his nose, kicked my ankle to shut me up. "Save it for the pits, little girl. The King wants you to hurt, and I’m happy to help."

They tossed me into the back of a black van. My head hit the floor with a sickening thud,  everything blurred. It was hard to keep my eyes open. I lay there, gasping.

The drive felt like hours. We left the city behind, heading deep into the Sunken Mines. This was where the city’s waste ended up. It was a graveyard for any wolf sent there; they dump your body to rot.

When the doors opened, I curled myself, trying to make myself small. 

"Out," the guard barked. He grabbed my hair and yanked me onto the muddy ground.

“Please let me go, please!!!” I cried out as he kept dragging me.

I looked up through my tangled hair and saw him.

A black SUV sat a few yards away, its headlights cutting through the dark. Kaelen was leaning against the hood, his arms crossed. He had discarded his suit jacket. His white shirt was rolled up at the sleeves, and even from here, I could see the muscles in his forearms tensing.

"Kaelen!" I screamed, trying to crawl toward him. "Kaelen, look at me! I didn't kill that girl! I loved her! I used to bring her sweets from the kitchen!"

He didn't move. He didn't even flinch. He just stood there, watching me in the rain. I could feel the rejection bond pulsing between us—a hollow, throbbing ache in my chest that told me he was hurting too, but he was using that pain to fuel his hate.

"Start," Kaelen said. His voice was flat. Empty.

The guard with the scarred nose didn't hesitate. He swung his heavy boot right into my ribs.

I heard the snap before I felt the pain. He punched my side, almost breaking a rib; the pain stole my breath. I curled into a ball, trying to protect my stomach, but the other guard started in on my back.

"Tell us why you did it," the scarred guard hissed, grabbing me by the hair and slamming my face into the mud. "Did you like hearing her scream? Did you like the way the blood felt?"

"I... didn't..." I coughed, spitting out a mouthful of blood and silt. "I was... in the kitchen..." I held my words, the pain vibrating through my body, making it hard to speak.

Another kick. This one caught me in the jaw. My teeth clattered together, and I felt a piece of one break off.

"Liar!" the guard yelled.

I cried out, my eyes becoming more blurry.

They didn't use their wolf forms. They didn't need to. They were twice my size and trained to kill. They took turns. Punching, kicking, and dragging me through the jagged rocks. I felt my skin tearing, my dress being reduced to rags that did nothing to hide my shame.

I kept my eyes on Kaelen. I kept hoping he would see the truth in my eyes. I kept waiting for him to hold up a hand and say *Stop.* Instead, he just watched. He looked bored.

"Is that all?" Kaelen called out, his voice cutting through the sound of the rain and my muffled sobs. "She’s still breathing. The child didn't get a quick end. Why should she?"

One of the guards reached into his pocket and pulled out a heavy chain. It was Silver, the only thing that can weaken and kill a wolf.

"No," I whispered, my heart freezing. "Please, not silver."

For a werewolf, even a weak one like me, silver was poison. It didn't just hurt; it burned the soul.

The guard wrapped the chain around his fist and punched me square in the chest.

“Ahhhh.” I screamed. It wasn't a human sound. It was the sound of my wolf dying inside me.

The silver entered through my skin, traveling through my veins like fire. It felt like my blood was boiling. Every inch of me was screaming, my nerves on fire.

"Confess!" the guard roared, hitting me again with the silver-wrapped fist.

"I... I..." I couldn't even speak anymore. My lungs were choked up. I tried saying something, anything, but nothing came out. I looked at Kaelen, my vision blurring. He was leaning against the headlights.

*Help me,* I thought. *Please, mate. Help me.*

He turned his back.

He walked to the car door and opened it. He didn't say a word. He didn't look back. He just got in.

"Finish it," the guard said, seeing their Alpha leave.

They picked me up by my arms and legs. I was a ragdoll, a broken mess that they could use as they pleased. On the count of three, they swung me.

I flew through the air for a second before hitting the bottom of a deep, narrow ditch. The water at the bottom was ice cold, biting into my skin, making the wound more unbearable.

I lay there, face up, the rain falling into my open eyes. I couldn't move my arms. I couldn't feel my legs. The silver from the mud was already starting to seep into the open wounds on my back, stinging and eating away at me.

Up at the top of the ditch, the guards looked down.

"Pathetic," one said. He spat into the ditch, the spit landing on my forehead.

They walked away. I heard the engine of the van start up. They drove off, leaving me to die and waste away. 

I was alone.

I looked up at the sky. The clouds were thick and black, lit up by the distant glow of Nocturna. It was beautiful, in a cruel way.

I tried to take a breath, but my chest wouldn't expand. My heart felt heavy, like a weight was being pressed on me, slowing down.

*Thump.*

It hurt.

*Thump.*

It was so quiet.

I thought about Kaelen. I thought about the way his eyes looked when he first saw me. For one tiny second, I had thought I was finally going to be loved. I had thought the nightmare of being a "low-blood" was over.

What a joke.

I felt a tear slip out of the corner of my eye, joining the rain.

*Thump.*

My heart gave one last, violent shudder. A final beat that echoed in my ears.

And then, everything went black.

Chapter 4