Chapter 3 The Cage Beneath
1222 Words
Seraphina’s POV
“Hello, daughter.”
My father’s voice carried calm and control, the kind that never raised itself because it never needed to.
I didn’t answer him.
I didn’t bow my head.
I didn’t step back.
I stayed where I was and let the fear burn quiet inside my chest.
Dante moved first.
He stepped in front of me without looking back.
Dominic shifted at my side, his body tight and ready.
The bond reacted fast, sharp and hot.
Three heartbeats trying to line up.
“Stand down,” my father said.
Not loud.
Not angry.
Just certain.
None of his wolves questioned him.
The tunnel filled with red light again.
Silver chains slid against concrete like snakes waking up.
I smelled iron, old blood, and control.
This place had been prepared long before we arrived.
That scared me more than the chains.
“You planned this,” I said.
My voice came out steady.
I surprised myself.
My father smiled like I had proven something.
“I always plan,” he replied.
One of the wolves moved too fast to see clearly.
The chain wrapped Dante’s throat in a blink.
He dropped to one knee with a sharp gasp.
My chest clenched hard.
The bond screamed.
“No,” Dominic roared.
He lunged, shifting mid step.
Another chain snapped around his wrists and yanked him down.
Silver smoked against his skin.
His howl shook the tunnel.
I reached for my blade.
Silver burned hotter at my waist.
The restraint tightened and ripped me backward.
I hit the ground hard.
The breath left my lungs.
My father walked toward me slowly.
His shoes never rushed.
He crouched like we were alone.
“Still stubborn,” he said.
“Just like your mother.”
“Don’t say her name,” I hissed.
He laughed once, low and soft.
“She screamed louder than you,” he replied.
I felt something inside me c***k.
The cage came out of the shadows next.
Steel bars.
Glowing runes.
Old magic.
The kind that didn’t break.
They shoved me inside without ceremony.
The door slammed shut.
Runes flared bright green.
The bars began to move.
Slow.
Careful.
Cruel.
Pain bloomed where silver brushed my skin.
I sucked in a breath and didn’t scream.
I refused to give him that.
My knees bent as the space shrank.
My back hit the bars.
Dante struggled harder.
Blood ran from his neck.
The chain burned deeper.
His breathing went uneven.
I felt it through the bond like knives.
“Stop,” I shouted.
My voice cracked despite me.
My father turned his head slightly.
As if I had amused him.
“Why?” he asked.
Dominic strained against the spikes pinning him.
His teeth snapped at the air.
“Touch her again and I’ll tear your throat out,” he growled.
My father looked at him then.
Really looked.
“Ah,” he said.
“So that’s what you are.”
Dominic froze.
Dante froze too.
Understanding flashed across my father’s face.
Not surprising.
Confirmation.
His smile widened slowly.
“That explains the loyalty,” he said.
My stomach dropped.
The truth was out.
Not spoken.
Seen.
Known.
The cage shrank another inch.
Silver pressed my ribs.
Burns bloomed along my arms and back.
I bit my lip until I tasted blood.
Still no scream.
My father turned back to Dante.
“You feel that?” he asked calmly.
“Your wolf is weakening.”
Dante lifted his head with effort.
His eyes were dull.
A wolf stepped forward with a vial.
Black liquid sloshed inside.
I knew that smell.
Suppressant.
Pack breaker.
Poison.
“No,” I said again.
My voice shook now.
My father ignored me.
He forced Dante’s mouth open.
The liquid went down.
Dante gagged.
Coughed.
Then sagged forward.
The bond dimmed like a light flickering out.
I screamed then.
It tore out of me raw and ugly.
The cage burned hotter.
The walls closed tighter.
I didn’t care.
Dominic lost it.
He broke one spike clean.
Another slammed into his shoulder.
Silver is a bit deep.
He roared in pain and rage.
My father watched all of it with interest.
Not joy.
Not anger.
Interest.
Like this was a lesson.
“You see,” he said, turning to me,
“power isn’t noise.”
He tapped the cage lightly.
“Power is control.”
I panted through clenched teeth.
My muscles shook.
The space barely fits me now.
My knees were crushed to my chest.
Silver kissed my throat.
“Let her go,” Dominic said hoarsely.
My father looked at him again.
Then at Dante.
Then back to me.
“Only one of you needs to choose,” he said.
Dante stirred weakly.
His eyes lifted to mine.
The bond flickered back, faint but there.
“Choose what?” Dante asked.
His voice was rough.
Broken.
Still steady underneath.
My father crouched in front of him.
“You claim her,” he said simply.
“Or you watch her die slowly.”
The words were casual.
Final.
“No,” I whispered.
I shook my head hard.
Don’t.
Don’t do it.
My eyes burned.
Dante met my gaze.
Really met it.
I saw everything there.
Love.
Guilt.
Pain.
Dominic shook his head too.
“Don’t,” he said quietly.
Not angry.
Not jealous.
Just scared.
The cage shrank again.
My breath hitched.
Silver pressed into my ribs.
Pain flared white.
I couldn’t hide the sound this time.
Dante snarled.
He tried to rise.
The chain yanked him back down.
He spat blood onto the concrete.
“I’ll do it,” he said.
“No,” I cried.
My father smiled wide.
Satisfied.
“Good,” he said.
He lifted a hand.
The cage stopped moving.
Did not open.
Did not ease.
Just stopped.
Air burned my lungs as I breathed shallowly.
Sweat ran cold down my spine.
I didn’t thank him.
I never would.
My father produced another vial.
Clear this time.
He tipped it into Dante’s mouth.
Color returned slowly to his face.
The bond surged back painfully strong.
I felt his anger flood me.
His hatred.
His fear.
His want.
It all tangled until I couldn’t tell which feeling was mine.
Dominic closed his eyes.
Just for a second.
The bond carried his pain sharp and deep.
I felt like I was drowning in it.
All of us are trapped in the same breath.
“You’ll come with us,” my father said.
“All of you.”
He stood.
“The facility is ready.”
Wolves moved in.
Chains tightened.
The cage lifted off the ground.
My body swayed inside it.
I fought dizziness.
Dante looked at me.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Soft.
Broken.
Real.
I pressed my forehead to the bars.
“This isn’t over,” I whispered back.
He nodded once.
Dominic forced a grim smile.
My father paused near the tunnel door.
He glanced back like
he had remembered something amusing.
“Oh,” he said lightly.
“The bond you feel,” he continued,
“It isn’t a mistake.”
He smiled slowly and cruelly.
“It’s the beginning.”
The lights cut out again.
And in the dark, my father’s voice whispered,
“Now tell me which of you will break first.”
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