My heart pounds so hard it feels like it might grow legs any minute now and burst out of my chest.
I snap my eyes back to Draven — focused back on the mission — and take a step forward.
“Draven,” I whisper, pouring every ounce of pain, hope, and desperation I have into his name.
Sin grabs my arm before I can reach him.
“Not yet,” he growls. “Too dangerous.”
I shake him off, stubborn fire rising inside me.
“I’m going,” I say, voice hard as iron.
But before I can take another step, Draven’s head jerks back — so violently that the crack of his neck snapping echoes down the hall. His entire body freezes. No more growling. No more trying to shift. No more fight.
And then it appears — that cursed leash materializes around his neck like it’s been called from the depths of hell, burning bright against his skin.
A voice slithers through the air. Cold. Mocking.
“Well, this is unfortunate.”
I jerk toward the sound and watch in horror as a red-headed woman, just like Amira, steps out of the shadows behind Draven. Or... no. She doesn’t step — she pieces herself together, like she’s sewing her own body out of darkness.
My stomach turns. My knees threaten to give out.
When she fully forms, my horror deepens.
She’s holding a glowing red thread — and it’s connected to Draven’s leash. When she tugs it, his entire body jolts like a puppet on strings.
She does it again, smiling wickedly, her dark eyes glittering with malice. She’s not just controlling him. She’s showing me that he’s hers now.
A strangled growl rips from Draven’s chest — low, broken. He’s fighting it. Fighting her. But the leash tightens again and cuts him off.
“Ah, ah, ah,” she tuts, tugging once more like she’s disciplining a pet. “Be a good little hellhound. Listen to your master.”
She turns to me, smiling with the kind of sweetness that could cut through bone.
“You’re such a troublesome little wolf,” she purrs. “When he first met you, I didn’t bother paying attention. You were too weak to matter.”
The sweetness vanishes, her face twisting into something dark and vicious.
“But it turns out you’re stubborn, aren’t you? Stubborn enough to be a thorn in my side.”
She steps closer. I can feel the weight of her power pressing down on me.
“Don’t worry,” she says, voice suddenly bright again, like she’s sharing delightful news. “You’ll only live a few more days.And when the time comes...” She grins, teeth flashing like knives.
“I’ll get to watch the hellhound rip you apart.”
Before I can react, she tugs hard on the leash.
“Go,hellhound.Get her for me.” Her voice drops into a sharp command. “And kill the Beta.”
My heart seizes in my chest.
Draven lunges. Claws bared. Murder in his eyes.
I can’t even scream — the sound gets trapped deep inside me.
