Five
1184 Words
ADIANA
I wasn’t sure why I still felt surprised—maybe some stubborn part of me still hoped Amy’s betrayal had limits. But the deeper I delved into this nightmare, the clearer her intentions became.
She didn’t just want my mate.
She wanted me.
Not in the way a rival might covet power or position, but something more insidious. She wanted my wolf. My soul. The sacred bond between flesh and spirit that only a white wolf carried.
But what she didn’t understand—what she couldn’t—was that white wolves couldn’t be taken by force. Not in body. And never in spirit.
By the time the rogue guards noticed nothing amiss, I had already returned to my cell. I tied the rope back around my wrists with the same sloppy tension they used and scuffed my footprints on the damp earth floor. Every motion was calculated, every breath slow and even. I couldn’t afford to raise suspicion—not yet.
Minutes passed. Then the guard returned, reeking of blood and stale meat. He sneered through the bars.
“Still alive?”
I let out a weak whimper and kept my eyes low, feigning defeat.
“Not for long,” he muttered, tossing a crust of bread into the cell before slamming the gate shut with a clang that echoed like a threat.
I didn’t touch the bread.
Instead, I waited.
The day passed in a haze of silence and thought. I kept to the darkest corners of the cell, letting my presence shrink until I was just another shadow. But inside, my blood simmered. Night was coming. The night.
The Blood Moon.
A rare celestial event, sacred to our kind. Our powers rose and fell with the moon’s cycles—and under this blood-red sky, everything would be amplified. Including Amy’s delusions. She would use the moon’s power to try and take me.
I pressed my back to the wall and reached inward.
“Do you think we can fight this?” I asked Hera quietly, knowing she could hear me. My wolf had been restless all day, pacing the edges of my consciousness like a caged flame.
“I don’t just think, I know,” Hera growled. “You should’ve killed that traitorous b***h last night when you had the chance.”
“If I had,” I replied, keeping my voice calm, “the Rogue King would’ve descended before we were ready. This isn’t just about Amy. She’s the tip of something larger… older. She traded our secrets long ago—planned the pack’s downfall, my a*******n… everything. Since my last life.”
Hera fell silent, but I felt her simmering agreement.
“Just stay with me,” I whispered, pressing my palm to my chest. “That’s all I ask. I’ll handle the rest. I swear to you—I won’t let her take you. I won’t let her take us.”
It was a promise, a prayer, and a battle cry disguised as hope.
Night fell quickly in this cursed place. The light died like a breath held too long, and the air grew colder, heavier. The moon was rising. I could feel it in my bones—the pressure, the ache, the stirrings of change. My body tensed, the first pull of transformation prickling at my skin like fire beneath ice.
The power of the Blood Moon seeped into the cracks of the cell, reaching for me. And I knew then—this was what they were waiting for.
This was the moment Amy had orchestrated.
But she had no idea who she was dealing with.
Suddenly, the door to my cell opened and in walked the person I expected last to visit.
“So, this is the white wolf?” he asked, standing over me like a tower. His face was contorted into cruel layers, and his eyes, blood red and narrowed. There was a scar across his cheek that made him look lethal, and that void expression was enough to strike terror.
But not for me.
“Yes, Alpha. She is the one,” replied one of his men. There were two guards flanking on either side, and I did my best to plaster myself to the wall to hide the rope around my wrists.
I could hear their abuse, their degrading words, but I decided to shut my mind and concentrate on Hera, who was slowly trying to resurface. Her protective instincts took over, shielding me.
The rogue king smiled cruelly. “Looks like she’s in heat.”
The soldiers laughed. “Do you think you will share her, Alpha?” prompted one of them.
“Once I have her power, she is of no use to me. The rogue soldiers could take their turn with her as they pleased.”
I tried to look away when one of the rogues grabbed my jaw and turned me to face their king.
“Bow before your king, you stupid cunt!”
Rage burst through my veins. I resisted, muscles trembling, lips pulled back in a silent snarl. I met the king’s gaze—unyielding, proud.
“I only bow before the Moon Goddess,” I spat.
The response cost me. A boot slammed into my stomach, crushing breath from my lungs. I folded, choking, and then a fist twisted in my hair, dragging me upright again.
“Enough!” the Rogue King barked. The walls themselves seemed to flinch.
He took a slow step forward, inspecting me like a beast inspecting its prey before the feast. “She’ll be broken… but not yet. After the ritual. I want her aware when we take everything.”
I barely had a moment to catch my breath before rough hands seized me. I was hauled up, wrists burning, and dragged through the underground halls. Hera’s growl vibrated beneath my skin, wild and primal.
Wait, she whispered. Not yet. Let them think we’re helpless.
The altar loomed ahead, a grotesque throne of sacrifice. The stone floor was carved with glowing runes, twisting and pulsing like veins filled with ancient blood. Candles burned low, their flames casting monstrous shapes on the walls. A witch in ceremonial garb chanted softly, preparing the rites.
And then—her.
Amy.
She stood at the center of the ritual circle, dagger gleaming in her palm like a sliver of moonlight. Her lips curled into a satisfied smirk, and her eyes sparkled with twisted pride.
“It’s fitting, isn’t it?” she purred. “You die the night you come into your power. Poetic, really.”
I steadied my breath and stared her down, even as the ground beneath me trembled with dark energy.
“You’ve always feared me,” I said, voice low, deliberate.
Her smile twitched, faltered—but only for a second. “You don’t even know what you carry. That power will rot inside you.”
“No,” I whispered, my voice a promise of fire. “It will burn anyone who tries to steal it.”
And for the first time, I saw something flicker in her gaze.
Doubt.
- Writer
