Iced Over

GWEN On the twenty-third day of my imprisonment, my nails still bled. My heavy lids fixed on the number carved into the concrete wall. “Twenty-three.” The sound of my voice was my only relief—proof that I was still alive. I’d been in this cell for twenty-three days. It could have been more. Or less. I had no way of knowing. Even with my dulled senses, I’d made sure to always scribble a number each day; marking every single day I’d spent in that place. I tried to sit up, but all my body ached. It hurt to even move a finger. Surviving each day was a struggle, and there was that small nagging feeling at the back of my head. That no one was coming. I would die here. Deep down, a part of me knew it was true. And that tore down the very last of my resolve I’d been struggling to hold on to. “We will always love you.” The cruelest lie I had ever believed. My chest twisted painfully, the memory more like fire in my chest than anything. People who love you would never abandon you this way. They’d never toss you away like you are nothing more than vermin. “Gweneviere.” I blinked away the heaviness in my head, trying to force myself to sit up. Light footsteps hit the floor, and sure enough, a figure slowly came into view. His dark grey eyes were cold. Unkind. A month ago, I would have never imagined he’d look at me with this much hate. “Get up.” I didn’t reply, simply staring at him while my heart ached painfully. He regarded me in silence as the seconds trickled by. Rhysander. One of the men I had envisioned spending the rest of my life with. “It didn’t have to happen this way. You never should have lied. Never should have acted the part of a fake and lied to us.” Anger slowly seeped up my throat. “Lied?” Rhysander was one of my mates. Caius and Felix made three. Unorthodox. Impossible, even. And yet, they had been mine. Felix had been first. A simple high school love story. Caius came later, by chance. And then Rhysander… sealed it. Had it been confusing? Absolutely. But I had three loving mates. Rhys stared at me unmoving. “Didn’t you?” I had three mates… “You lied to us. Used us for your mere whims and now you play the part of the victim?” He spat. “I have no words for you.” That only made my anger snap. The rusted iron bars clanged painfully as I gripped them with the last bit of strength I had. “I gave you everything,” Hot tears poured down my face as I glared. “Everything. And you— Someone else walks in, and suddenly I mean nothing?” “Is the b***h still going on with that?” My blood went cold on instinct. The same slippery, venomous voice that had haunted my mind over the last few weeks echoed relentlessly. Rhys turned to face them, his eyes still detached. “She still won’t admit to it.” Every instinct in me screamed to back away till I could very well mold into the wall. But I was tired. Tired of all I’d been force to endure. Tired of what was seemingly to come in all this. My heart thudded painfully as three figures slowly came into view. Two of them, once people I had cherished dearly, and the other being the very person who ruined everything I held there. “We shouldn’t have come here.” Aurelia whined, eyes seemingly fearful and innocent. She blinked innocently, still holding that look of fear in her eyes while she clung to my mates like she belonged there. Caius pulled her closer, his eyes holding nothing short of disdain. “Never be afraid, my love. She won’t hurt you anymore.” “Shouldn’t we just put her down?” Felix growled, his anger hot enough to burn through the steel rods that kept me bound. Each word or cruel vitriol that left their mouth only twisted at the knife already plunged in my chest. Aurelia was still clinging to Caius, like her whole life depended on it. It had been perfect once. It hadn’t mattered that I lost my parents a year ago. I had the inheritance they had left me. I had three men that had promised to devote their lives to loving me. That promised to see me for who I was, and not my flaws. I even had my wolf. “I hate that she took so much from us.” Aurelia wiped at her eyes furiously, cheeks red with what looked like sadness. “She too—she stole everything!” And then she came in… One random afternoon, I had come back from a meeting with a potential associate when I found her in the house. Surrounded by my mates, in tandem with my mother’s lawyer, and with a smile that threatened chaos. I stole her identity. That was her claim. And to crown it all off, they believed her. “You believed her,” the words left my throat barely hoarse. “You believed her over me. Five good years we’ve been together and you—why?” Seconds of painful silence trickled by. I didn’t break eye contact, even when Rhysander put his hands on the bars. Did he have a change of heart? Was he finally seeing her stupid act for what it was? “I hope you rot in hell for what you’ve done.” Whatever remained of my heart shattered. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t let out a retort or snark. All that left my mouth was a harsh cry. “Let’s get out of here.” It sounded like Felix. Or maybe Caius. I could barely tell. All that made their way to my ears were the broken sobs that tore out of my throat. Minutes passed. Or maybe hours. It was so hard to tell. I had lost my sense of time, or thinking, too torn and heartbroken to even care. Somewhere in the pit of my stomach, a fire continued to burn. Low, and barely noticeable, but it burned nonetheless. After everything I had done, this was what I was paid with. Aurelia had taken everything from me. My mates. My inheritance. My identity. And I had been left to rot away and die. With a shaky strength that seemed to surge from a place I couldn’t tell, I reached for the bars, only to find something wasn’t right. The hinges felt loose. Uncertain, and trying to hold back the dread in my chest, I shook it again. My throat bobbed, half in pain and half with hope. I gave it one small shake again, and the hook slowly gave way. This had been screwed shut for the longest time. And yet it was loose now. Thoughts spun faster than I could follow. Was this real? The logical part of me wanted to believe that this was a trap. And yet… I turned to the numbers I’d inscribed on the wall. Another day in this place and I might very well die. “I have nothing left to lose.” I let out a bitter chuckle and reached for the lock. With a bit of effort, I pushed it far back until the bars gave way. For a brief moment, my breath caught. It was open. The prison that had crushed every last bit of my essence day by day was finally open. The shock snapped the next second. Before the thought could settle, I was already running. Just as I crossed the railing of the foyer, a blur of black caught my eye. I didn’t stop. “Gwen!” My lungs burned, adrenaline surging through my veins as I tore past the long path that led away from the towering mansion behind me. I didn’t have a destination in mind. Didn’t have an inkling of where I wanted to go from here. All I needed to do was one thing. Escape.