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Chapter 9
Meira
Istumble into an empty room, the door shutting behind me with a clap, followed by the click of the lock.
“Fuck you, Dušan!” I yell as I spin around the empty room. Footfalls fade away outside.
“Sonofabitch!” I shout.
Four white walls, a small lamp, no window. My heart thumps wildly, and I’m drowning in so many emotions—fear, and unease uncoiling within me.
He knows…He fucking knows I’m a half-breed. Half-wolf, half-human. And when my kind don’t transform once we hit puberty, like me, the animal inside of us changes and becomes a ruthless monster.
Old feelings flare through me, tearing at my heart. I’ve been happy hiding, letting everyone believe I was an Omega, a Beta, whatever they told themselves…anything but the truth.
I tremble, hating the pity Dušan gave me when he worked out what I was…I don’t need anyone’s sympathy, let alone this Alpha’s.
My human father left us because I wasn't good enough.
Dušan now wants to force a mating onto me because I’m not enough as I am. The idea terrifies me. What if my wolf comes out? Will I die? Will she kill everyone around her? If by some miracle I survive, and the other shifters will murder her, then I’m gone too.
It’s why I’ve stayed so long in the woods, always alone.
No wolf will accept a half-breed as a true mate. I am nothing more than an outcast and weak.
I hate the world…and loathe myself.
I feel desperate, more so than I have for a long time.
I don’t want to feel used… It’s hard enough living with what I am, let alone having others mistreat me for it.
Tears drench my cheeks. I don’t remember starting to cry, but they fall like the broken shards of my life.
I squeeze my eyes shut, hugging myself tightly. In my mind, I see Mama in my vision from when I was younger and we had just moved into a new settlement, her face morphed into a furious frown. I forgot to shut the latch on the shed, and the chickens got out. They ran out of the settlement and into the woods that were crawling with undead.
I etch her face to the back of my eyelids. It has been so long since I dreamed of her or, seen her in my thoughts. Often, I lie in my treehouse for hours trying to picture her face, to remember on what side she parted her hair. But those little things fade with time.
My heart lurches like an undead. I miss her horribly.She’dknow what I should do now.
For so long, I despised the world and myself. But then what should I do? Cry myself into a puddle?
“Calm down,” I scold myself. It’s not as if I can control the way I was born, but what I can control is what I do right now.
If I’m lucky, I’ll be kicked out of this settlement…Except I learned long ago that holding on to hope that things will go my way is the quickest way to get myself killed.
I look up at the door and know exactly what I need.
To escape.
My sickness is tamed for now, so this is the time to move. Wiping my eyes, I stand tall, then blink at the lamp sitting in the corner, throwing light across the room.
I inspect the lamp up close before I snap off two of the metal brackets that cradle the lightbulb. They’re hot to the touch, but I barely feel it when my whole body is flooded with adrenaline.
In front of the door, I lean over and jam the thin metal rods into the keyhole, twisting them left and right. Jaine taught me how to break locks, saying,“This will save your life one day.”
A metal click sounds, and I smirk to myself as I push those two pins into my pocket then pull open the door. Quickly, I look outside. There’s no one in sight.
I slip out and run along the corridor, remembering that I passed an arched passage to freedom this way. The walls are bare, not a painting, decoration, or rug adorns the place. The castle feels cold and nothing like a home.
