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Chapter 2
Dušan
Ahard fist connects to my back, driving me into the dingy prison cell. Fire burns through my veins as I whip back around to the door made of iron bars slamming shut with a thunderous clang, locking me inside.
The whole room feels like it tilts on its axis, the dark stone walls, the floor covered in dirt and stinking of urine, and I stumble, crashing into the wall, losing my balance. Whatever the fuck they injected into me knocked me out cold. Even when I came to, moments before reaching the cell, I could barely stand, let alone think straight.
I shake my head to clear the fog in my mind. When I glance up, I meet Mad’s gaze. He leans against the wall outside my cell in a wide stance, hands deep in his pockets. Shadows gather under his eyes and his mouth splits into a smirk, revealing yellowed teeth.
There’s no sign of Lucien or Bardhyl, and only when I look around do I note I’m in the deepest prison, my underground prison. I have two floors of cells since I also use them to help Ash Wolves struggling on full moons. I once put Mad in here when his wolf had lost control on a blue moon. And now the bastard stuck me in here as a lesson, as torment, I have no doubt.
“You asshole!” A growl rolls over my throat as I push myself to stand upright. Every inch of me hurts while my thoughts lock on Meira and the last time I saw her. Mad’s wolves injected her, then she experienced her first transformation. My fists curl and I want to slam Mad’s head into the wall for touching her. I don’t even know if she survived the change, and the thought brings a stabbing pain deep in my chest. I might have lost her.
I have to believe she’s alive, or why else would my asshole stepbrother be in here alone? Hell, he’d bring her carcass to haunt me if she were dead. My pulse ices over at the thought.
I promised to be there for Meira, but I let her down at the one time she needed me the most. All because of the weasel I’m going to murder. He betrayed me, and I should never have left him alone in the prison. Of course, he had allies to break him out… I fucking hate hindsight, but would I change things if I had my time over? Not if it meant not finding Meira.
Rage collides into me, and I roar more like a lion than a wolf at how fucked-up everything turned out.
I lunge forward, shaking the bars. “Let me the hell out!” I bellow.
“Brother, why would I do that?”
I spit on the floor between us. “You are not my real brother, but you are everything like your father.”
His expression twists in a flash from a calm demeanor to a raging bull. He bursts toward me, nostrils flaring. His ice-blue eyes narrow, while his white hair sits wildly around his face. I want him fuming so he makes a mistake, comes in for me. Desperation for a savage fight rattles through me, and my sights are set on the wolf I should have eliminated long ago. I should have listened to Lucien and Bardhyl. But that’s not a miscalculation I’ll make again.
Mad stops just out of reach from me, strangely in control for someone who rarely thought before he acted. His entire body trembles, and he inhales heavily, the struggle to hold back clear. He stands as broad as me, but runs from most fights. So I poke the bear.
“Father betrayed us, hated us, beat us. You loathed him for what he did, and yet you became the monster you feared as a child.”
“You’re a fucking weak leader,” he spits. “Father was right about that, it seems.” He cracks his neck and lifts his chin. “Your pack is crying out for a solution to the undead, but instead, you play trading games with a damn Alpha who has a cure for his members. You’re a laughing stock, and I’m no longer sitting back and letting you kill everyone here if those abominations break into my compound again.”
I clench my teeth, grinding my back molars, but I refuse to let him get to me. He’s a liar. The relations I have with other Alphas like Ander in X-Clan is the way of the future. Not stealing or bringing war to our doorstep from deceit.
“You’re a fool.” I growl. “Ander’s serum is not a solution for us. It’s tailormade fortheirrace of wolves. You risked everything by—”
“And I’d risk it all again to save this pack!” he shouts.
I huff. “You mean to save yourself.”
A guttural snarl reverberates from his chest. “Your time is over, brother. I’ve been your lackey long enough. Now it’s time to show you how a real pack is run. And that little slut of yours will spread her legs for me, and her blood will help me bring immunity to the pack…mypack!” He slams a fist against his chest, his head high, so fucking proud of himself.
All I can think about is ripping out his throat, my hands curling into balls. If there’s one bright light to come out of this asshole’s mouth, it’s his admittance that Meira is alive. That sliver of hope floods me with the determination to never stop fighting.
“So, you have what you want, what the fuck do you want with me?” I snap, needing to know his motivation and understand how long I have to escape before my time is up. Mad does everything for a reason that benefits him.
I’m under no illusion that Mad will finish me. He knows as well as I do that I will never just stand by and watch him take my pack from me.
He bursts into maniacal laughter and begins to stroll toward the exit door. “How else do you think I’m going to claim your wolf girl?”
Sonofabitch!I’m his bait.
Meira slipped away from him, and now he’s hoping she will come back for me so he can trap her.
For the love of all things, I pray to the moon goddess that Meira runs as far from this place as possible. If I escape, I’ll find her if I have to search the entire world. For once, I hope she runs.
Lucien
