The Luna Scorned; Her Impotent Mate

Episode 5

KARINA

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!

It was the deep, biting cold sinking straight into my bones that I noticed first but my head was throbbing with a heavy, sick rhythm that made it seem like it would burst into smeetherings any second from now.

“Ouch!”

A groan slipped out as I shifted my weight, before I felt a sharp pricking pain as my bare arm scraped painfully against rough, hard stone. My eyes snapped open, a loud, sharp gasp tearing from my throat into the quiet room.

This was definitely not my bedroom at the Silverfang Pack. There were no silk sheets here, no warm morning light filtering through expensive curtains, and no soft rugs beneath my feet.

I pushed myself up onto my hands and knees, my breath coming in fast, shallow pulls. The air smelled entirely wrong, thick with the scent of damp earth, coppery tang of blood blood, and a harsh, bitter pine that burned the back of my throat.

Where was I?

Panic hit me so fast it made my vision blur, and my heart began to hammer against my ribs like a trapped bird.

And then, the memories slammed into my chest.

Ashley.

Her sick, twisted smile in the office when she told me she was going to take everything from me, right before staging that fall and hitting her head on the table.

Chase storming into the room with that blind, furious look in his eyes when he looked at me. He hadn't even asked for my side of the story; he just ordered his men to lock me up like a rabid animal.

I remembered the desperate escape from the car, running blindly into the dark, forbidden woods while the thundering, wet growl of a feral beast chased me down. And then, I remembered the green eyes. The towering, shadowed man who stepped out of the nightmare to pull me from the jaws of death.

I looked around the room, my chest rising and falling in rapid, terrified jerks as I realized it was nothing more than a stone box. A cage. I had survived the cursed woods just to be locked up by a dangerous stranger.

My chest heaved as pure survival instinct flooded my veins, hot and desperate. I looked across the dim room and saw a heavy wooden door, left open just a fraction of an inch at the end of the wall.

I didn't think, and I certainly didn't plan. I just ran. I scrambled to my bare feet, ignoring the awful pain shooting up my scraped legs, and threw my entire body weight against the heavy wood.

The door flew open with a loud crack, and I burst into the dark hallway, my feet slapping loudly against the frozen stone floor.

I needed to find an exit and feel the sun on my skin, but I didn't make it very far.

It didn’t take long before I slammed hard into a solid wall of muscle, the impact knocking the breath straight out of my lungs. I stumbled backward, bringing my shaking hands up to defend myself.

"Well, well, well," a deep, rough voice mocked.

I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the low light of the stone corridor to find three massive men standing in front of me. Their arms were covered in thick, angry scars and dark, twisting tattoos.

They didn't look like the clean, polished, respectful guards back at Silverfang; they looked like wild animals and street enforcers who broke bones for fun.

One of them stepped forward and leaned down, dragging his nose loudly through the air near my neck. I shoved his hard shoulder away, my hands shaking uncontrollably, but he just threw his head back and laughed.

"Smell that, boys?" he grinned, showing a row of surprisingly immaculate, white teeth.

"Smells sweet," another one said, his dark eyes scanning me up and down like a piece of meat.

"Smells like rich girl perfume and absolute terror," the first man spat. "Smells like the Silverfang Luna."

My blood ran cold because they knew exactly who I was.

"Look at her," the third man sneered, taking a slow step toward me iwith a shaky laugh. "She is shaking like a leaf. What a fragile little thing."

"A broken toy," the first one agreed, crossing his massive arms over his chest. "Did you get lost in the dark, princess? This is a warzone. Not a tea party."

Anger finally pushed past my thick fear. "Get out of my way," I commanded, tired of their stupid taunts.

I tried to put the cold, hard authority of a Luna into my voice, but it came out breathless, weak, and small. They only laughed harder, looking clearly amused.

Feeling insulted, I lunged, swinging my fist as hard as I could right for the first man's jaw. He didn't even step back to block it; he just tilted his head, letting my knuckles slam directly into his heavy jawbone.

Pain shot straight up my arm, sharp and fast, but he didn't even blink. He smiled, grabbed my wrist, and twisted it hard.

I screamed, falling to my knees to stop the bones in my arm from snapping.

"Feisty," he grunted, letting go of my wrist before shoving me hard in the center of my chest.

I flew backward, my feet leaving the floor entirely until I hit the stone wall with a sickening thud. I slid down to the cold floor, gasping for air as the rough stone bit into my back.

When I pushed my hands flat against the ground to get back up, another man grabbed the back of my ruined shirt. He yanked me up with zero effort and tossed me across the hallway like a cheap ragdoll.

I hit the ground again, sliding across the dirt until my knees scraped raw and bloody on the stone. Tears of hot frustration stung my eyes at how completely useless I was, possessing no strength and no power while they stood in a circle laughing down at my bruised body.

Then, the loud laughter died. It didn't just fade away; it was cut off instantly, like a switch had been flipped in the dark.

The air in the hallway changed entirely, growing freezing cold, heavy, and completely suffocating. The three massive men stepped back quickly, lowering their heads as their cruel faces turned suddenly pale and dead serious.

I looked up, my chest heaving and my throat burning, as he stepped out of the deep shadows.

The man with the green eyes.

He was taller and broader than Chase, his dark hair falling messy over his forehead, and his eyes glowed a bright, terrifying green in the dim light. He moved forward without making a single sound, his mere presence demanding absolute, total submission.

He stopped a few feet away from me but didn't reach out or offer a hand to help me up. He just looked down at me, his face cut from cold, unforgiving stone.

"What is this?" he asked, his voice a low, dark rumble that literally shook the floor under my palms.

"She tried to run, Alpha Kole," the man who twisted my arm said quietly, keeping his eyes glued to the cobblestone floor

Alpha Kole…

I’d heard tales of the powerful, rogue-born lycan and the sight of him alone confirmed the dangerous, magnetic and impossibly self-controlled monster they said he was.

He didn't look at smitten guard, instead he kept his green eyes locked on my dirty face. "Stand up," he ordered.

I stayed on the floor, breathing hard as I looked up at his towering frame.

"I said, stand up."

"No," I whispered, my voice shaking.

His sharp jaw tightened. "Listen to me very carefully, Silverfang," Kole said, his voice flat and incredibly hard. "You are in my territory now."

I swallowed the dry lump of fear in my throat as he took a slow, heavy step closer to me.

"There is no royalty out here," he continued. "There are no pampered Lunas here. There are no silver spoons, no soft beds, and no guards to fight your battles for you. If you want to survive the feral beasts hunting outside my walls, you earn your keep."

"I did not ask to be brought here," I spat out, my chest rising and falling fast.

"And I did not ask to find a bleeding, useless target stumbling blindly through my woods," he shot back, his deep voice snapping like a whip. "But here we are."

He crouched down, bringing his face level with mine. Up close, he smelled like wild rain, dark earth, and sharp pineM- an intoxicating, dangerous smell.

But something about his scent sent a trail of warmth snaking up my spine, warding off the chill of fear that had gripped me.