Chapter 9: Imprisoned

The cell reeked of decay and moist earth. When the iron door slammed shut, the impact resonated not only through the stones but also deep within my ribs. Then, an overwhelming silence enveloped me.

I moved back until my back pressed against the rough wall. The stone was cold. Without the internal heat of my wolf's power, the cold seeped into my bones, causing my teeth to chatter.

Each movement I made caused the purple runes etched into the iron cuffs to flicker with an eerie static energy, sending a numbing chill racing up my arms. It was a sharp pain, like the bitter tonic Sarlen had given me to take every morning for ten long years.

My inner wolf was completely absent once again, sealed away behind a heavy vault door in my mind.

I was merely a human girl again—fragile, vulnerable, and freezing. I despise how easily my body could become weak.

"Let me out!" I dragged myself up, slamming the heavy iron chains against the door. The metal clanged uselessly. "Eric! You have what you want!"

"Save your breath," a flat voice barked from the hallway.

A small viewing slot in the door slid open. Two of Eric's executioners stared in at me, their silver armor catching the dim, flickering torchlight. The lead guard held a heavy leather ledger, his thumb tracing a pre-written list of lines.

"The Sovereign scent," he read aloud, his tone entirely devoid of personal curiosity. "How did an untrained child mask it for ten years in the wild?"

I gripped the iron bars of the slot, my jaw tight. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The guard did not even blink. He merely tapped a charcoal marker against the iron door. "Don't waste our time. We have the logs from the cabin massacre, so we know how you survived against the rogues.

A standard suppression tonic can't deceive the pack's network for a decade. Who provided your father with the recipe? Was it a foreign pack? Did the Eastern Empire support your sanctuary?"

I narrowed my gaze. He wasn't questioning me; more like reciting a script. Someone had meticulously prepared these guards before they ever threw me in here.

"My father is a healer," I replied coldly. "He knows about herbs. That's all."

"Your adoptive father is a human," the second guard mocked, leaning closer to the slot. "A human can't concoct a potion strong enough to hide you from an entire realm. Who established the network, girl?"

"No one!" I yelled, my voice breaking in the damp air. "We concealed ourselves in the woods. Sarlen saved my life. If you hurt him, I will starve myself. I will make sure every drop of blood you extract from me is worthless."

The two guards exchanged a brief, mocking look, starting to chuckle.

But their laughter was cut short when a sudden, heavy stillness blanketed the corridor. The two executioners stiffened, their smiles vanishing as they quickly stepped away from the door, bowing their heads so low their chin-guards clicked against their breastplates.

Through the narrow slot, I watched a hooded figure glide slowly through the corridor shadows. The long, midnight-dark robes hid their face entirely, absorbing the weak torchlight.

The stranger stopped directly outside my cell. They didn't speak. They didn't move. They stood there in the dark, watching me through the iron bars. A strange, primal chill raced down my spine.

There was something in the slope of their shoulders, the precise stillness of their posture, that felt horribly familiar. But before the memory could click, the rhythmic echo of boots sounded from the stairwell.

The hooded figure turned with supernatural fluidity and melted into the dark hallway just as Elder Eric walked into view.

The guards opened the door of the cell, and Eric entered. He was unarmed. His expression was smooth, almost kind, as he gazed down at me curled up against the cold stone floor. That courteous calmness sent shivers down my spine; it resembled the look a merchant gives a prized horse before its demise.

"Are you settling in, Adele?" Eric inquired, his tone casual.

"We had an agreement," I insisted, raising my shackled wrists, the metal clinking between us. "I gave myself up so Sarlen could survive. Why is he locked in a cage?"

"Sarlen is a biological anomaly," Eric stated, taking a deliberate step closer to me. "He is being preserved. Just like you will be preserved. You are the most valuable asset in Dravenwood, child."

"I am a captive," I retorted, my back pressed against the wall as I tried to create more space between us. "You orchestrated the massacre a decade ago, didn’t you? You killed my mother. Don’t pretend to be the kind host."

Eric hesitated for a brief moment; his gray eyes glinted with something sharp and deadly before his calm facade returned. "The past should be forgotten, Adele. Your family failed to grasp the magnitude of their own genetics. They sought to conceal the gold, and I plan to extract it.

Picture an entire army of Dravenwood Alphas who cannot be subdued by silver or steel; with a kind of force, we will reshape the borders of the entire continent."

"The serum won't last," I murmured. "I witnessed your rogue wolves in the grand hall. They were frenzied. They had lost their minds." I replied, poking at his obvious madness.

"That is because the stolen samples were diluted," Eric explained, stepping closer until he towered directly over me. He leaned down, his breath uncomfortably warm against my face. "Tomorrow at dawn, our senior physicians will begin the true harvesting. We will drain you to the absolute threshold and isolate the genetic core."

"I won't let it work," I whispered, though the words felt hollow against the weight of the iron around my wrists.

Eric smiled, a terrifying look of complete, unshakeable triumph washing over his features. He reached out, his cold fingers lightly brushing the very tips of my blonde hair.

"Oh, it will work, Adele," Eric murmured, his voice dropping to a low, reverent whisper that made my stomach turn. "Because your gold blood isn't the only thing we came to harvest from this fortress. What sleeps deep underneath that blood... the ancient thing inside your lineage... that is worth infinitely more than a simple weapon serum."

I froze. "What ancient thing? What are you talking about?"

Eric’s smile widened, revealing the sharp, predatory edges of his teeth. He studied my face, his eyes tracking the frantic movement of my pupils. "You really don't know, do you? Your mother kept you completely in the dark."

"Know what? Tell me!" I demanded, my heart beating violently against my ribs.

Eric stepped back toward the cell door, signaling the guards to secure the lock. He glanced over his shoulder one final time, his gray eyes shining with a perverse joy.

"Your confusion only reinforces my beliefs, dear lamb," Eric remarked, his voice echoing against the damp stone walls as the massive iron door slammed shut. "The tales are indeed accurate. You have no idea what you actually harbor within your soul."