Chapter 4:The Escape That Never Was
675 Words
Lena woke to the suffocating scent of smoke and magic.
Her body jerked upright, instinct screaming that something was wrong.
The surrounding air was heavy, thick with an unnatural energy that buzzed against her skin. She was lying on something impossibly soft—too soft—but when she looked down, the truth sent ice down her spine.
Not a bed.
Silk.
Dark, heavy silken sheets, stitched with silver thread, draped across a massive four-poster bed that sat in the middle of a chamber carved from obsidian stone.
Her breath came faster.
The walls pulsed like a living thing, veins of silver weaving through the rock like lightning frozen in time.
She was no longer in the forest.
She was in his kingdom.
A kingdom no one was supposed to enter.
And no one was supposed to leave.
Lena’s pulse slammed against her ribs.
I have to get out of here.
She shoved the silk sheets off her body, swinging her legs over the side of the bed, but the second her bare feet touched the marble floor, she froze.
Not because it was cold.
Because the moment her skin met the stone, a pulse of magic surged through her, curling around her ankles like invisible chains.
Lena jerked back, swallowing a scream.
The room was alive.
Not just the walls, not just the shadows flickering in the dim, silver-tinted light.
Everything was watching her.
Her throat tightened.
"Stay calm. Find a way out."
The massive doors at the far end of the room looked like her best bet—twisted iron and dark wood, set within an archway so high it nearly disappeared into the darkness above.
Lena ran.
Her breath came fast, her heart hammering as she reached for the handles and pulled.
Nothing.
She tried again, yanking harder. The doors didn’t budge.
Her nails dug into the iron. "No, no, no—"
The air behind her shifted.
Her spine went rigid.
Not again.
Not now.
Slowly, so slowly, she turned.
And there he was.
Valerian.
Watching her.
Lena’s stomach dropped.
He was leaning against the far wall, arms crossed over his broad chest, his golden eyes burning with amusement.
"Planning on leaving so soon?" His voice was silk and shadow, deep enough to send a shiver down her spine.
Lena glared, her breath uneven. "Let me go."
His gaze flickered lazily to the door she had tried to pry open. "You think I'd let you leave that easily?"
She bared her teeth. "Try and stop me."
A slow, wicked smile. "Oh, little wolf."
And then—
She moved.
Lena spun on her heel, diving for the window across the room.
Too late.
The second she lunged forward, a shadow wrapped around her wrist—cold as ice, fast as lightning.
She gasped as the magic yanked her back, slamming her against something warm and unyielding.
Him.
His scent flooded her senses—dark spice, cedar, something forbidden.
A firm grip circled her waist, pinning her against his chest.
Her breath came in ragged gasps.
Lena thrashed, but his grip didn’t falter.
"Still fighting," he murmured, his lips too close to her ear. "Good. I’d be disappointed if you didn’t."
"Let. Me. Go," she growled.
Valerian hummed in amusement. "And what will you do, little wolf?" His fingers traced a slow, deliberate path down her arm, igniting something she didn’t want to feel.
Lena’s body betrayed her.
Heat curled low in her stomach, her wolf pacing inside her, drawn to him in a way that made her hate herself.
"You don’t belong to me," she snapped, wrenching herself out of his grip.
Valerian’s golden gaze darkened.
Something dangerous flickered across his face, and for a heartbeat, Lena swore the air around them crackled.
Then—he smirked.
"Not yet."
Lena shoved past him, sprinting for the door again—
But before she could reach it, the floor vanished beneath her.
A scream ripped from her throat as she fell.
Darkness swallowed her whole.
And the last thing she heard was his laughter...
- Writer
