Chapter 2: The Room

I woke up gasping for air as if it had been sucked straight out of my lungs. The pain at the back of my neck still lingered, but I had bigger problems to worry about.

The room around me was unfamiliar, and I sat up with every hair on my body standing on end, fully on alert. I could feel the wolf within me growling at the hostility of the situation.

When I tried to stand, dizziness hit me as a result of the blow that had knocked me out, but that wasn’t the worst of it. I felt a weight pulling at my foot.

Only then did I realize the worst: I was chained with a thick and heavy iron chain.

I grabbed the chain and yanked with all my strength, but it was useless. That thing could easily hold down a brute. Then I had an idea: if I shifted, maybe my paw could slip through, or I could even break it.

So I tried.

I tried to transform.

And failed.

It was completely useless.

My transformation was being blocked. Every time I tried to release the beast within me, something forced it back down. Frustration boiled inside me.

D*mn it! — I growled as the truth hit me: suppression chains.

Suppression chains were rare, expensive artifacts capable of stopping any Lycan from shifting. And I only knew of one group besides my own pack who had the resources and connections to get their hands on something like that.

Karin… Then the memory hit me of what I saw before I blacked out: Rayan.

This was the worst possible situation. I was trapped, unable to transform, and most likely deep in enemy territory. If they had done this to me… Lyun!

The moment her name crossed my mind, my chest sank.

I couldn’t lose anyone else. I couldn’t lose her.

The screech of heavy metal echoed through the room, and the darkness around me was split by a beam of light. Lamps flickered on overhead, forcing me to squeeze my eyes shut against the sudden brightness, shielding them with my forearm.

The sound of heavy footsteps drew closer and closer. The blur before me slowly sharpened into shape, and I saw him.

“Rayan…” I snarled his name and lunged instinctively.

The chains did their job, yanking me back and stopping me just short of sinking my teeth into him. The pressure cut into me, forcing me to stay there. But it wasn’t just the chains that made me tremble—I shook with rage, with hatred, with disgust. That man standing before me was something I longed to destroy.

“Feisty… I like that.” He smirked, mocking me.

“If you so much as think of touching me with those filthy mongrel hands, I swear on the grace of the Moon Goddess, I’ll tear your skin off with my teeth.” I hissed, violet eyes blazing.

“Whoa! Relax!” Rayan stepped back, hands up, grin plastered on his face. “Starting off like this already?! Geez, breathe! We haven’t even begun.”

I didn’t blink, didn’t waver. My instincts screamed, the hatred roaring louder than any reason.

He leaned forward slightly, eyes locked with mine, and smiled.

“I’m not going to lay a finger on you. Not until you beg me to.”

I laughed coldly at that.

“In your wildest dreams, mutt.”

He laughed too, as if it was all some twisted game. A cold war of mockery. The problem was, I had already lost, though I didn’t know it yet.

“What did you do to my people?” I snapped, laughter gone.

“Oh, “your” people, you mean.” He made air quotes with his fingers before crossing his arms, tapping his chin as he paced. “You must mean that other one with you, right? What was her name… Lyn? Lun? Lan?”

“Lyun!” I shouted, fury lacing my voice. “If you did anything to her, I swear—”

“You’ll kill me, blah, blah, blah, yeah, I got it.” He rolled his eyes and finally stopped pacing, facing me. “Don’t worry, she’ll be joining you soon enough. And I promise, you’re going to love it.”

Rayan walked toward the door and opened it again. For a split second, my stomach twisted in dread, I thought he was about to drag Lyun’s lifeless body into the room.

But what came next was somehow worse.

The door creaked, and Lyun walked in.

No chains. No shackles. Nothing. Just her, standing there by the door.

“Lyun!” I cried, desperation cutting through my voice. “Did they do something to you? Did they-”

I stopped as I saw her eyes.

The way she looked at me was different, cold, bitter, as if she was stripping me apart piece by piece with her gaze.

“Lyun?”

She turned toward Rayan, and then kissed him.

Not a simple brush of lips, not a fleeting touch, but something hungry, laced with lust. Intimate. The kind of kiss lovers share in the throes of passion.

His hands roamed her body, gripping her ass, pulling her thigh up. I stood frozen, eyes wide, shocked beyond words, as they devoured each other. The wet sounds of their mouths filled the room.

Rayan pressed her back against the wall, lifted her as if she weighed nothing, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. They kept going, her nails dragging down his back through his clothes, while she cracked her eyes open now and then looking straight at me.

My jaw hung open. My heart twisted. I felt like I was about to throw up. Nausea and disgust consumed me.

I turned away, stumbling, gasping for air, trying to make sense of what I had just witnessed.

“Oh, no.” Lyun’s voice dripped with mockery. “If you don’t watch, there’s no fun in it.”

I heard her feet hit the floor, he must’ve set her down, I thought. Lost in shock, I hadn’t even noticed Rayan moving toward me.

I was caught off guard by his arms as they overpowered me, forcing me to turn forward and immobilizing me, holding my face up straight ahead while I fell on my knees on the ground.

Before me, Lyun stood tall, sarcasm and arrogance twisting her expression.

“Since you don’t want to watch the show, let’s skip straight to the explanation, my dear Alpha.”