Chapter 1
Sophie’s POV
The words I heard hit like a blade to the spine. “The lone Alpha is dead.”
My knees crashed into the blood-soaked earth before I even realized I was falling. Farkas… gone. The last fragile thread holding me together snapped clean in two. My last hope gone with the wind, it crashed over me, heavy and suffocating, dragging me under.
Then two ugly, snarling werewolves with yellowed fangs and matted fur seized my arms. They yanked me up like I weighed nothing and hurled me into the back of a wooden carriage already packed with other captured girls. The door got shut behind me with a final, merciless thud.
Inside, the air reeked of sweat, blood, and terror. Girls like me huddled together, sobbing openly, their voices cracking as they begged.
“Please… let me go! I have a family—”
“I’ll do anything, just don’t take me there!”
Their cries rose into desperate wails that clawed at my ears, but I stayed silent. Grief had carved a hollow space inside my chest where screams should have been. I had no tears left to waste on monsters.
I lost the only man who ever gave me a fighting chance. The one who taught me how to hold a weapon, how to survive.
Farkas!!!
Taken by these same uncivilized, filthy beasts.
The carriage jerked forward, wheels groaning over the ruined streets of what used to be my home. Through the narrow slits in the wood, I caught glimpses of the slaughter. Calm streets that once echoed with market laughter were now littered with the broken bodies of fathers, brothers, and sons who had tried to protect us. Blood ran in thick rivulets between the cobblestones. The air tasted of smoke and iron.
In the distance, I could hear the werewolves’ victory howls—deep, guttural roars of triumph that made my stomach twist. They celebrated the fall of my city like it was a sport. Like the lives they had ripped apart were nothing more than entertainment for the night.
Farkas had given everything. He fought until his last breath to shield us from this nightmare. And now he was gone. A hero no one would ever sing about. Just another corpse left to rot in their cursed city.
I clenched my fists until my nails bit into my palms. They could drag me wherever they wanted. They could throw me into their Hunting Grounds and parade me like fresh meat.
But one thing I know……I WOULD RATHER DRIVE A BLADE INTO MY OWN THROAT THAN LET ANY ONE OF THESE ANIMALS MARK M!!.
I was not born to be claimed by beasts.
The carriage jerked to a violent stop. Before I could brace myself, the door was ripped open, and the ugly animal's hands dragged me out into the cold night air. My legs barely touched the ground before I was thrown forward like discarded trash.
I stumbled and crashed into the iron bars of a large holding cage. The metallic clang echoed through the chaos of the Hunting Grounds. All around me, the central square pulsed with savage energy.
They shoved me inside the cage and slammed the door shut, locking it with a heavy chain. My heart hammered as I gripped the cold bars, scanning the horror unfolding around me.
In the cage beside mine, another girl was hurled in like a broken doll. She hit the ground hard, naked and trembling uncontrollably. Fresh bite marks marred her pale skin, deep and savage, still bleeding freely down her thighs and breasts. Her eyes were wide and glassy, staring at nothing. She curled into herself, shaking so violently her teeth chattered. The sight twisted something deep in my gut. That could be me in minutes.
A low, mocking voice cut through the noise.
“Well, well… who do we have here?”
My blood turned to ice.
Venomfang!!
He stepped out of the shadows. The same bastard who had been my sister’s mate. The one who joined the others to strip and destroy my sister for their pleasure and entertainment. He hadn’t protected her. They made a spectacle of her pain.
His lips curled into a cruel smile as his eyes raked over my body.
“Sophie Meyers. How delightful. Still playing the defiant little human?”
He motioned lazily with two fingers. The guards yanked the cage door open and dragged me out, forcing me to stand before him. Venomfang circled me slowly, like a predator savoring prey.
Without warning, his large hand shot out and grabbed my ass, squeezing hard enough to bruise. His breath was hot against my ear.
“I’m going to make you my personal plaything,” he purred. “I’ll f**k you until you scream, then I’ll let every wolf in this square take turns turning you into a proper public b***h. Just like your sister.”
Rage suddenly took over me and my hand flew before I could think. The slap cracked across his face, sharp and loud. His head snapped to the side.
For a heartbeat, stunned silence fell over the nearby wolves.
Venomfang slowly turned back to me, his cheek reddening, eyes blazing with fury.
“You little w***e,” he snarled, his voice dripping with anger. “You want to be stubborn? Fine. Then you’ll face exactly what that b***h sister of yours faced.”
He leaned in closer, his breath reeking of blood and triumph.
I spat on him angrily. “You uncircumcised animal, I will never let you claim me.”
Venomfang wiped the spit from his cheek, his eyes narrowing with dark amusement.
“Take her to the arena,” he ordered, his voice rising so the entire square could hear. “It’s time I claim this defiant little b***h publicly. But first, I’ll let my clans have their fun with her while I watch. Strip her bare. Ruin her like the others. Let every wolf enjoy her body before I kill the others and take her with me as my plaything.”
He leaned closer, his breath hot and foul against my face.
“Let’s see who breaks first tonight. And for the record, no one is coming to save you, little Sophie. Not even that dead mentor of yours… Farkas.”
