CHAPTER 3: She Calls Me Monster
1648 Words
CHAPTER 3: She Calls Me Monster
POV: Kaelen
“I don’t hesitate.”
Darius’s voice cuts through the dungeon like a blade.
I feel Sera flinch.
Not from fear.
From recognition.
That is the first thing that feels wrong.
The second—
Is that I feel it too.
The bond tightens, sharp and sudden, pulling something deep in my chest. Her reaction hits me before I can stop it. Not fear. Not weakness.
Memory.
I turn to her.
She is staring at Darius now, her eyes no longer calm. There is something there. Something raw. Something dangerous.
“You remember him,” I say before I can stop myself.
Darius’s head snaps toward me. “What?”
Sera’s lips press together.
Too late.
The silence gives her away.
I step closer to the bars. “You’ve seen him before.”
Darius’s expression hardens. “What is he talking about?”
Sera exhales slowly, then lifts her chin.
“I remember all of you,” she says.
The words land like a stone in still water.
Darius takes a step forward. “Careful.”
“No,” she says quietly. “You be careful.”
My wolf stirs again.
Alert.
Watching.
Darius narrows his eyes. “You think you’re brave because you’re chained?”
Sera smiles faintly. “No. I think I’m brave because I’m not lying.”
The air shifts.
I feel it.
Tension building.
“What do you remember?” I ask.
She looks at me.
Only me.
“You,” she says. “Standing in the fire. Covered in blood.”
My breath catches.
Fire.
Again.
Always fire.
“That’s a lie,” I say, but my voice lacks force.
Her gaze sharpens. “Is it?”
Darius scoffs. “She’s playing with you.”
Maybe.
Maybe not.
“Say what you came to say,” I tell her.
She studies my face like she is searching for something.
Then she speaks.
Slow.
Clear.
“You didn’t just kill my brother,” she says. “You held him down while he begged you to listen.”
The world tilts.
Something cracks.
I see it—
Not clearly.
Not fully.
But enough.
A hand.
Mine.
Pressing someone to the ground.
A voice.
Pleading.
I step back hard, my shoulder hitting the wall.
“No.”
Darius watches me now. Not her.
Me.
“Kaelen,” he says slowly. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” I snap.
But my voice is rough.
Unsteady.
Wrong.
Sera sees it.
Of course she does.
“That’s the problem,” she says softly. “You remember nothing.”
My hands curl into fists.
“I remember what matters.”
“Do you?” she asks.
Her voice is calm again.
Too calm.
“Do you remember their names?” she continues. “Or just the orders you were given?”
Silence.
Heavy.
Because I don’t.
I never did.
They were targets.
Nothing more.
That is what I was taught.
That is what I believed.
“You’re lying,” I say again, but the words feel thinner now.
“We were not rogues,” she says.
Darius laughs. “You all say that before you die.”
Sera turns her gaze to him.
Cold.
Sharp.
“Then why did you kill the children?” she asks.
The question lands like a blow.
Darius freezes.
For a second.
Just a second.
But I see it.
So does she.
“I didn’t,” he says.
Her smile fades.
“Do you want me to describe it?” she asks quietly.
My chest tightens.
Darius steps closer, anger flashing. “Watch your mouth.”
“You watched them burn,” she says.
His hand slams against the bars.
“Enough.”
The sound echoes.
Loud.
Violent.
But Sera does not flinch.
She steps closer too, chains pulling tight.
“Say it,” she whispers. “Say you didn’t.”
Darius’s jaw clenches.
Silence stretches.
Then he turns away.
“That’s what I thought,” she murmurs.
My head spins.
This is wrong.
All of it.
“This is a trick,” I say.
But even I don’t believe it now.
Sera looks at me again.
And there it is.
That wordless judgment.
That quiet hatred.
“You want to know why I don’t fear you?” she asks.
I don’t answer.
“You should,” Darius mutters.
But she ignores him.
Her eyes stay locked on mine.
“Because I already lost everything,” she says.
The bond tightens again.
Pain seeps through.
Deep.
Endless.
I feel it like it is my own.
Her loss.
Her grief.
It wraps around my chest until I struggle to breathe.
“You feel it, don’t you?” she whispers.
I grit my teeth. “Stop.”
“I’m not doing anything.”
“Stop.”
Her voice softens.
“That’s your wolf,” she says. “Not me.”
My wolf growls low.
Agreeing.
Confirming.
I hate it.
I hate this.
I step forward again, close enough that I can see the faint tremble in her hands.
“You call me a monster,” I say.
“I don’t call you anything,” she replies.
“Yes, you do.”
Her eyes darken.
“I describe you.”
The words hit harder than anger.
Harder than fear.
Because they sound true.
“You don’t know me,” I say.
“I know what you’ve done.”
“You don’t know why.”
Her lips part.
Then close.
A pause.
Then—
“You’re right,” she says.
The admission catches me off guard.
For a moment, I think I misheard.
“You don’t know why either,” she adds.
That lands deeper.
Because it is true.
Orders.
That is all I had.
All I followed.
All I needed.
Until now.
“Why did you come here?” I ask.
Her gaze flickers.
Just for a second.
Then steadies.
“That doesn’t matter.”
“It does.”
“No,” she says softly. “What matters is what you do next.”
The words settle between us.
Heavy.
Loaded.
Darius exhales sharply. “We’re done here.”
He grabs my arm again.
I shake him off instantly.
“Don’t touch me.”
His eyes narrow. “You’re losing control.”
“No.”
“You’re listening to her.”
“I’m not.”
Another lie.
We both know it.
He leans closer, voice low. “You think the Alpha will be pleased if he sees this?”
My chest tightens.
Mordecai.
Always him.
Always watching.
“Leave,” I say.
Darius doesn’t move.
“I said leave.”
For a second, I think he will refuse.
Then he steps back.
But his gaze lingers.
Sharp.
Suspicious.
“We’ll talk about this,” he says.
Not a question.
A promise.
Then he turns and walks out.
The door slams shut.
Silence returns.
Just me and her again.
Always back to this.
I let out a slow breath.
“You shouldn’t have said that,” I tell her.
“Why?” she asks.
“You made things worse.”
Her lips curve faintly. “For you.”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
The word stings.
I step closer again.
Too close.
Close enough to feel the heat of her skin.
Close enough to hear the slight change in her breathing.
“You want me to suffer,” I say.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Her eyes flicker.
Pain flashes there again.
But she holds my gaze.
“Because you made us suffer first.”
The bond tightens again.
Stronger this time.
I feel it all.
Her loss.
Her anger.
Her need for justice.
And beneath it—
Something else.
Something quieter.
Confusion.
It hits me hard.
“You don’t understand this either,” I say.
She stills.
“What?”
“The bond,” I say. “You don’t want it.”
Her throat moves as she swallows.
“No.”
“Then why are you still here?”
The question hangs.
She doesn’t answer.
Because she can’t.
Because neither of us understands why this is happening.
A slow, dangerous thought creeps into my mind.
“What if you’re lying about something else?” I ask.
Her eyes narrow. “I’m not.”
“You said you came here by accident.”
“I did.”
“Then how did you get inside the territory?” I press.
Silence.
There it is again.
A crack.
“You were caught at the border,” I continue. “Alone.”
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
She looks away.
Just for a second.
But it is enough.
“You weren’t alone,” I say.
Her jaw tightens.
“I was.”
“No,” I say slowly. “You weren’t.”
My wolf stirs again.
Not with anger.
With certainty.
“You’re hiding something,” I say.
She meets my gaze again.
Defiant.
Sharp.
“I’m not the only one.”
The words hit.
Hard.
Because she is right.
But I push forward.
“Who else was with you?”
Silence.
“Answer me.”
Her lips part.
Then—
A sound cuts through the dungeon.
Low.
Faint.
But unmistakable.
A howl.
Not from inside.
From outside the territory.
My blood runs cold.
Another follows.
Closer.
More of them.
Sera’s eyes widen.
Not in fear.
In recognition.
I turn toward the door.
Every instinct sharp.
Every sense awake.
Because I know that sound.
Rogues.
Not one.
Not two.
A pack.
And when I look back at her—
She is already looking at me.
Like she knew this was coming.
Like she was waiting for it.
And for the first time since I met her—
I realize something far more dangerous than the bond.
She didn’t come here alone.
She came here for a reason.
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