Then I heard a blood-curdling scream coming from outside the window and from the street below. It sounded like a woman in paralyzing distress who was out of options other than screaming
I heard more yelling erupt through the silence in the room. The flashing lights of police units and ambulances created blurry red and blue shapes and shadows that bounced and danced across the room through the open curtains.
A siren pierced through the night with a wailing shriek. I stood up as straight as an arrow in the bed. Cameron was gone, but Ayden, Blaze, and James were all still sleeping soundly and uninterrupted beside me.
Ayden had his arm loosely draped over my legs. I shoved the sheets off and leapt over to the window, hurrying to put my clothes back on.
Ayden sat up on one elbow and cocked his head to the side in confusion. He wiped the blurry sleep from his eyes and blinked at me as if trying to determine if I was real or it was just a dream.
“Something is happening down there,” I said in a normal voice. I didn’t want to whisper. I wanted to warn the others. We needed to get dressed and out of here.
“What?” James groaned and sat up, yawning with a groggy fog over his eyes.
“There was just an explosion. I heard screaming. The police and ambulances and firetrucks are down there.” I pointed out the window.
I tried to suppress the panic attack that was trying to cripple me. I had a vivid flashback of the first time I was in this situation, when the dungeon walls of Thom’s castle started to crumble all around me.
“No.” I curled myself into a ball and shook my head, tucking my chin to my chest. “This can’t be happening again.”
The uprisings must have made their way to this village. We had to move quickly if we wanted to get out alive. Even though we were on the same side as the shifters, the Masters and their guards were beginning to retaliate and fight back.
They were burning the villages as the militia continued to burn their castles. It was mayhem out there.
James was the first one by my side. He dressed swiftly and then beckoned for me to come over to him. “I’m going to shift and then I want you to climb onto my back.”
“Okay.” I nodded and choked back a sob as I hot tears begin to streak down my cheeks.
“Sophia?” James grabbed me by the arms and intently looked into my eyes. “Don’t let go. No matter what. Stay on my back. Hang on for dear life. Close your eyes so you don’t have to witness the chaos unraveling around you.”
I nodded, but I knew I couldn’t make the promise not to look once we got outside. I needed to witness with my own eyes what we were up against.
James shifted into a jaguar in a flash before my eyes. The next thing I knew, he was on all fours and breathing hard with cobalt eyes and midnight fur that prickled with excitement on his neck.
I climbed onto his back and adjusted myself there into a secure position, gripping onto him tightly and praying that I wasn’t hurting him. He was enormous in his animal form. He took off from the room, fleeing alongside Ayden and Blaze, who had also shifted by that point.
I held on tight as James picked up his stride, taking giant leaps on his padded paws as we worked our way through the street.
“Look out!” I screamed and pointed into the air as flying debris from a neighboring building cannoned through the air and slammed into the asphalt beside us.
James lunged and ducked. I took two fists full of his sleek black fur into my grip and managed not to slide off his back. This was a far cry from the passion and pleasure we had experienced only a few hours before.
A lamp post split in half, shattering into shards that sprayed across the sky as a shifter worked his electricity magic on a Master guard. The shifter was tall and slender and looked recognizable to me, although I was certain it was just my mind playing tricks on me. There was no feasible way I could have known him.
The shifter was sending a current of electrical volts through the Master guard’s body that shook him and sent him into violent convulsions. The Master guard was burly and thick, beefy around the neck with huge sausage fingers.
The veins in the shifter’s temples bulged as he narrowed his eyes in concentration. His only goal was to take out that burly sack in uniform. The guard put up a fight but, in the end, he landed with a smack and a thud onto the concrete of the city sidewalk below.
It was turmoil at every turn. Masters and guards were fleeing. They were also fighting with the shifters, who were charging after the territory of their own village. Innocent people began to flee from their houses and apartments like scattering bugs dashing through the night.
Ayden roared and nudged his snout in the direction of a darkened alley. Perhaps we could meet up there, get our bearings, and formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Cameron was still out there in the mountains, probably completely oblivious to the hysteria of the burning and crumbling village.
We began to race in the direction that Ayden wanted us to follow. My heart drummed violently in my chest. I didn’t know what to do. I felt utterly helpless as I continued to hang on for dear life to the back of James’s thick, furry neck.
“I was hoping I would cross paths with you again.”
James halted in his tracks and my chin slammed into the back of his head. I would have recognized that voice from a mile away. I began to tremble from the inside out. My blood ran icy through my veins, cooling my system and making me tense in dread.
Slowly, I turned my head and looked over my shoulder. Thom was standing there in disarray. His clothes were bloody and torn and his hair was disheveled. He had a wild, nothing-to -lose flicker of devilishness glowing in his sinister eyes.
He cracked his knuckles and balled his fists. I tried to take slow, measured breaths while reminding myself that Thom would never stand a chance against James, Ayden, and Blaze.
James and Ayden growled protectively, baring their teeth and exposing their enormous jaws that could clamp down on Thom’s neck and kill him in an instant.
Suddenly, there was a loud explosion in front of us. My ear drums felt like they were going to burst. I heard ringing in my ears, and I became dizzy. My grip on James’ back began to loosen. I felt myself sliding and I hit the ground.
I heard shrieks of terror flood the air around me. I saw spots and stars in front of my eyes as an enormous fire engulfed the building in front of us in a spectacular array of oranges and golds. The sky lit up like the day as the fire began to spread.
In the mania, everyone became frenzied and distracted. Thom seized the opportunity. I screamed as I saw him extending his arm toward me. Nobody was fast enough because nobody saw it coming except for me.
“There’s my most prized ugly duckling,” Thom snarled with a mouth full of mangled, yellow teeth. “I knew I’d find you again one day. You are far too stupid to keep yourself hidden.”
Maybe he was right. How could I have let this happen? How could I have been so reckless? I had been fueled by desire and impulsive adventure and that made my mind and actions sloppy.
Once I knew it was happening, it was too late to do anything about it. My body went limp and powerless in Thom’s malicious grip. He pulled a knife out of his pocket and switched it to expose the gleaming steel.
He pressed it up against my neck. It felt cold and smooth and dangerous on my skin. I stifled a scream, biting my tongue to suppress it. I didn’t know what Thom was capable of. He was a monster and anything could happen. I had to be appeasing if I wanted to survive. I had learned it through too many painful years of living under his dictatorship and impulsive command.
Blaze, Ayden, and James stared at me, frozen. They didn’t even blink. I knew that they wanted to help me, but I could see the worry in their eyes. If they made any sudden or jerky movements, then they were putting my life at risk. They had to be quick yet calculated at the same time.
I heard Thom’s wicked laugh bellow behind me as his breath hit the back of my shoulders and made me shudder. The sound of his laughter shriveled my inside
s. Thom pressed the knife blade harder against my neck.
“Make any sudden moves in my direction and I’ll slit your precious girlfriend’s throat.”
I couldn’t move a single muscle. I didn’t flinch, and neither did my rescuers. I knew they were taking him seriously.
My life was in their hands.
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Prologue: Defiance And Meet Again
*Drip-Drop*
* * *
5757...5758...5759.
I paused in my mental tracking of the droplets that fell from the leaking spot in the ceiling.
It was my way of attempting to go to sleep. To count sheep, only in the form of droplets that leaked from the specific spot in the small, stagnant dungeon.
Counting made the time slip away, giving me relief from the burning pain of the whip wounds all along my back.
I'd been training my healing abilities for some time, having mastered normal healing speed when it came to a standard injury like a cut, scratch, or bite wound.
This would be another round of testing to see how long it would take me to heal from metal whips. When they were first introduced as a weapon, I mentally laughed.
No way you could turn metal into something as flexible as a whip.
Clearly, I’d forgotten that magic existed in our world and time. Blacksmiths melted the metal, while witches and warlocks magically molded it into the fluid rope of the weapon they were focused on creating.
Genius, but didn't favor a submissive like me.
A submissive.
Sadly, that was my lot in life. It was what happened when you had no clue who your parents were and ended up in the wrong pack.
No family to prove how powerful you could be with time and practice.
My future was crucified because I was an orphan. It didn't matter how hard I fought or tried to prove I was better than those Alpha boys who couldn't even run half as fast as me.
I'd never be able to prove to them that I didn't belong in this category. The moment I was found and accepted by our Alpha, I was destined to be a mere pawn on his board.
Thinking about it made me clench my hands into fists. Of course, even that slight movement left me shaking in pain. I whimpered as quietly as I could, biting my lip and opening my weak eyes to see the almost-pitch-black surroundings.
Seeing the low-lit room did nothing but anger me. It would have been better to keep my eyes closed.
Then I could at least imagine where I was, rather than deal with this pitiful view of the stone box.
I was playing a mind-versus-body game, but I'd yet to figure out if I was winning or losing. My mind insisted that I sit up, but after multiple attempts, the shocks of pain nearly forced me to give up.
I made it to my hands and knees, but the sound of the door unlocking left me frozen in place. Dread slipped into my mind, rendering me even weaker than I already was, but I fought against it.
Fought the tempting urge to give up and submit to the man who was seconds from entering the room.
"Fight. We won't submit."
Yes. She was right. My wolf was always right. The image of her pure black fur emerged from the shadows of my subconsciousness. She was ready to do anything to show our resilience.
Predatory footsteps seemed to echo with each step against the grimy cement floor. My body grew tense as I braced myself, ready for the onslaught of pain and insults
I'm ready. Do not submit. 1,2,3,4,5—
Laughter.
The thunderous, deep mockery made my blood boil while my wolf growled in warning. It was hard to fight the need to growl with her. To be even more defiant than I'd already been in the last twenty-four hours.
I shrieked when my black strands were tugged up, forcing me to sit up on my knees and amplifying the surging agony from my wounds.
Fucking metal whip!
This would be a far more even match if my body weren’t burning from the silver embedded in the metal whips. I had a high tolerance to it, but god, I wished I was immune completely.
I forced myself to open my eyes, glaring at the man with wild orange eyes. His smile only grew, mocking my fragile state.
The thick scent of alcohol and the fact that he wore nothing but black leather shorts told me he was here for more than just checking to see if I was dead.
"Fuck off." I got to the point, my wolf getting closer and closer to the surface in defense. There was no point in trying to talk sense into an alcoholic man, especially one as barbarically selfish as my Alpha.
"All that time wasted beating you. Still got a big mouth." With ease, he tossed me to the wall. A loud crack reached my ears, but it was my scream that told me I'd broken something from the impact.
The way my body involuntarily shivered pissed me off. I growled and tried to fight my weakness, but that sickening laughter reached my ears once again, freezing me in place.
"Kira. Baby. Why do you love pain more than you do me?" He walked up to my slouched body, and I didn't dare give him the satisfaction of seeing my tears.
He doesn't know me. He doesn't understand how this pain fuels my need to run from here.
With my head lowered, I heard his pants hit the floor, and I mentally groaned.
Not again...
I gasped when my head was lifted by force, leaving me no choice but to look up at my Alpha. I hoped my eyes had shifted in color, reflecting the raging blaze I wished would turn into fire and scorch this man into a crisp corpse.
"Ah. That defiance of yours is far too sexy to ignore," he whispered. "Kneel for me."
His sly grin and the power of his Alpha command were enough to push my wolf past my control, and I growled loud and hard, trying desperately to fight the order I'd been given.
He was my Wolf Alpha, but he might as well have called himself my Master, seeing as he treated me more like a slave than a respectable woman of the pack.
Not like he’d ever treated any female with respect. Not even his own mother.
He frowned, and his orange eyes turned darker. "Krishna. Kneel before me now."
My knees dropped to the floor like weights, but all I could do was sit in the shadows and feel Krishna's opposition.
This was the part I despised, in every single confrontation I’d experienced as of late. Krishna, my wolf, always stepped in when the dark moments approached.
In the days we’d been stuck here, she’d always stepped up to the plate. She'd rather be the victim and deal with the backlash of our rebellious ways than allow me a front row seat in it all.
If only she knew that being in the back seat was just as painful.
Our Alpha laughed maliciously, amused at the hot tears rolling down our flushed cheeks.
"You can keep fighting, Krishna. You and Kira. Keep pleasing me with that feistiness of yours. It only turns me on." He chuckled and shook his head, letting go of our hair and taking a step back to view our body with hunger.
I wore just a ragged top and panties, both having shreds and rips that made them utterly useless in giving me even a semblance of coverage.
"Take your top off," he commanded, using a lot more force than he had previously.
Neither of us could fight the force, slowly doing exactly as he said while whimpering at the shocks of pain that shot through our body when our back muscles stretched out.
Something was definitely broken, but I'd have to wait for my body to fix itself.
Finishing the deed felt like hours, but the top was finally off and on the floor next to me. The entire time my Alpha stroked himself, watching me with glee and lust.
"You make your life so hard for yourself and your Master, Krishna. Give up. Submit to me. I'd treat you like a queen if you only bowed down to me."
The brittle laugh that escaped us hurt but was also satisfying. Krishna had initiated the laugh, but I'm sure if we were back in our main
roles, I'd do the same.
As if it was my time to defy our Alpha, Krishna pulled back and gave me control again.
"I've defied you since I joined this hellhole at eight years old. What makes you think after seventeen years, I’d suddenly agree to your terms? My answer is still the same as before. Fuck. Off."
I smiled when his face darkened, and in a blink, I found myself against the wall behind me, the side of my head against the cold, moldy cement.
"If it weren’t for this body you've been blessed with and the power you carry that makes killing you off-limits in the eyes of the 1st Gen Alpha of British Columbia, I would have killed you that very day when I smashed your head," he snarled.
I merely giggled, the sound weak but otherwise powerful in its intention to belittle his threat. "You were not my Alpha. Your father was. The one you fucking murdered in cold blood. As for killing me, stop using my gifts as an excuse. You keep me merely because I AM powerful and losing a rare female Alpha like me would be a foolish mistake when it comes to war."
He didn't answer me, but his grip against my head grew hard, his fingernails digging into my scalp. Krishna was seconds from taking over, but a cold chill ran through me as our Alpha spoke.
"Do not switch on me!" The commanding power was enough to stop Krishna, but she growled and tried to fight his Alpha power with our own.
In all my twenty-five years — except for the first seven that I couldn't recall for the life of me — I'd known within myself that I had power far greater than that of the mere boys who mocked me. I was a leader. I had to be, or I wouldn't be able to say no when other female wolves were forced to say yes.
He let go of my head, and I thought he'd leave me be, but once again I was caught off guard as he pulled me up on my weak legs and pressed me against the wall.
Our eyes locked and I felt his cock between my legs, my thin panties the only layer of protection I had left. We stood there in an eye lock and I had to zone out Krishna's howls.
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