Cold water slams into my face and for a moment I think that I am drowning.
It feels like i am back to the time Imogen almost succeeded in killing me.
I sputter and cough, gasping loudly and trying to dodge the icy water that drenched me from head to toes.
Nearby laughter rings out, Low, mean.
I blink rapidly, the world shaking for a moment before everything steadies and I can see where I am.
A tiny cell in the dungeons underneath the pack house, but how?
"The Alphas don't have all day to wait for you." A voice barks, hostile, curt.
Alphas?
My head snaps up in the direction of the voice then I wince and try to raise myself off the ground only to realize that my hands have been chained.
I suck in a breath, panic rising in my chest.
"Up!" The voice growls impatiently again.
Right outside is a mountain of a man who is looking down at me in disgust. Tattoos have roped around every inch of skin that is visible and thanks to his lack of a shirt, a lot is visible.
Fearful that if I so not do as he has ordered he won't waste a chance to come inside and do goddess knows what to me.
Quickly I get up but thanks to the wet ground and chains around my hands and feet, I slip and fall painfully on my tailbone.
"OUCH!"
The man snarls angrily at me and despite feeling an unbelievable amount of pain I hastily get to my feet again, trying to dodge the wet ground.
"What.." I croaks, "What is happening?"
"You will find out soon enough princess." He grunts and impatiently drags the ends of my chain so I have no choice but to stumble out after him.
Pain shoots through my head and I remember the forest, Beta Ronan's dead body and the Alpha's disappearance.
I feel myself sway for a second and I'm hardly able to stay upright as he hauls me out of the cell and through the narrow passage.
Out of the dungeons and into the sunlight which blinds me momentarily.
Without ceremony I am dragged across the courtyard like an animal being led to the slaughter, the chains dancing with every labored step I take.
Dozens of eyes are on me, hateful, burning, some even hooting obscenely at me.
Men with the same scary look as the one who is dragging me along. They are scattered across the courtyard, the hostility wafting off them makes me stumble more than once.
The thought of what they will do to the daughter of the Alpha whose pack they have just conquered filled me with panic.
Finally, I am flung at the end of the courtyard where members of the pack or what remained of it are seated on the floor.
Unlike me, they don't wear chains.
The next thing I notice is that they are mostly only women. Elderly wolves. Low-ranking men with defeated eyes and slumped shoulders.
Some were bruised. Some bloodied. All of them terrified.
I look around and notice to my relief that May is there.
A muffled sob shakes my chest. For some reason I don't want to cry in front of all these people.
Around me, pack members shift as far as they can get from me, whispers breaking into soft cries. But the grief does not last, it turns. Toward me.
I feel it before I truly see it.
The hatred.
Their gazes burn into my skin, sharp and venomous.
This is your fault.
You brought this.
The Alpha's cursed daughter.
My hands shake violently as I curl inward, wishing that I can disappear from their sight.
Then, that same scent hit me again.
Sharp. Powerful. Overwhelming..
Heavy footsteps echo across the courtyard.
Everything fades beneath the weight of their presence.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. Identical, yet terrifyingly different.
They move with lethal grace, dark hair falling loose around sharp, handsome features. Their beauty seems unnatural, dangerous, the kind that makes your instincts scream even as your eyes can't look away.
Like how playing with brightly colored reptiles will lead to paralyzing pain.
Their scent wraps around me like chains.
The same scent from outside the forest.
The same one that had awakened something inside me.
My heart thunders painfully.
The pack falls into complete silence.
The twins stop before us.
One smiles.
It was slow. Charming. Deadly.
The other didn't.
His expression is cold, eyes razor-sharp as they sweep over the pack, dismissive, calculating. When his gaze lands on me, something dark flickers through it.
Disgust.
Hatred.
The smiling one spoke first.
"Where is Alpha Edmund?"
His voice is smooth, almost pleasant.
Every head turns toward me.
My mouth opens, but no sound comes out.
"I swear don't know," I whisper finally. "He left me."
The smile vanishes.
In a blur of movement, the unsmiling twin grabs my chin, fingers icy and unyielding as he forces my head up. I freeze, breath shallow, every instinct screaming as his scent crashes into me at full force.
"You lie poorly," he says quietly before straightening up and bringing out a rag which he cleans his hands with.
The other tilts his head, studying me like an insect pinned to glass.
"If you do not tell us where he ran," the smiling twin says lightly, "we will begin killing them."
He gestures lazily to the pack.
"Maybe we will bring out the little ones and start with those."
A strangled sob rises from somewhere behind me.
I shake my head frantically. "I swear, I don't know. He disappeared, he abandoned me."
For a heartbeat, neither of them speaks.
Then laughter rippled through the courtyard.
Sharp. Cold.
Before they can speak again, a voice cuts through the silence.
"Maybe you should kill her instead."
I turn.
Imogen stood among the pack, her face pale but her eyes blazing with hatred and triumph.
"She is the Alpha's daughter," she says loudly. "If you want to teach the Alpha a lesson, start with her. She's the curse that brought this upon us."
Murmurs ripple.
Agreement.
My chest tightens painfully as the twins gazes slide back to me.
Slow.
Interested.
The smiling one crouches, bringing himself eye level with me.
"Well," he murmured. "That does make you special."
The other, eyes cold.
"Or disposable."
The chains bite deeper into my wrists as terror surges through me.
And beneath it all.
Their scent seems to taunt me.
Wild.
Uncontrollable.
"So," The smilling one whispers, "How about we take her advice and you can join your groom."
I followed the tilt of his head, and…
Axel.
My vision blurs.
His eyes were open, glassy and empty, mouth frozen mid-snarl. His hair was matted with blood, his head mounted on a spike which pointed on top of the walls, along with other heads.
Male heads.
Severed.
Blood dried black beneath them, staining the walls in long, rust-colored trails.
I recognize them.
Pack warriors.
Elders.
"No…" I mutter incoherently. "Please, no…"
Before I can collapse on the floor, the smiling twin wraps his hand around my neck. Squeezing and and lifting me till I am standing right on my tiptoes, making it hard to get air into my burning lungs.
With a sudden movement, he rips off my dress. Leaving me bare for everyone to see.
My legs kick against air as he lifts me up even higher.
"Who would have imagined," he says slowly, savoring every word, "that something so exquisite could be born from a man as vile as your father."
His eyes trace me with deliberate leisure, caressing, measuring. I feel skinned under his gaze.
"A rapist," he add lightly, as if reciting lines from a book.
"No…" I choked out but he continues.
"A butcher of children. A coward who kills pregnant women and plunged his weapon into a friend's back."