2/2
Kains went completely still. For a heartbeat, I thought he might strike me. Instead, his face settled into an unnervingly calm mask
“You are right,” he said, his voice devoid of emotion. “I didn’t want to look too deep, afraid I wouldn’t like what I saw, but aren’t you the same? There must be a reason your mother hates this pack, and yet you never bothered to find out either. You loved the little illusion of your very close to perfect life.”
His words struck me like a slap. As much as I wanted to deny it, he was right. My mother’s terror of Ravenhollow had been obrious from the start.
“You don’t want this to fade away,” he added softly, then turned and walked away, leaving me alone in the dimly lit corridor outside the dungeon.
I stood frozen, my heart hammering in my chest. What had I done? And what did he mean about my mother?
Without giving myself time to reconsider, I raced through the corridors toward my mother’s quarters. It was late, but I knew she would be awake. She rarely slept well here.
I pounded on her door, not caring who might bear. After several moments, it opened to reveal her startled face.
“What happened, Elowen?” she asked, quickly pulling me inside and dosing the door.
want to know the truth, mother, I demanded, my voice shaking with emotion.
Her expression immediately shuttered. “What truth? I am not hiding anything from you.”
“Mother, I need you to tell me what exactly makes you hate this place so much. I know something happened, and if you don’t tell me, I am willing to go the extra miles to find out.”
“What extra miles, Elowen?” Alarm flashed across her features.
I met her gaze steadily. “I don’t care if I get hurt in the process, but would discover the truth, because I know you are hiding something from me.”
She sank onto the edge of her bed, suddenly looking older than her years. After a long silence, she sighed heavily.
You are right, Elowen, I did keep a secret from you, a secret that has haunted me for years.”
She gestured for me to sit beside her. I did, my heart racing with anticipation and dread.
“I was only fifteen when our pack was attacked by the Ravenhollow pack, she began, her voice distant as if recalling a nightmare. “Alaric had been the Alpha; I would never forget watching my parents die before my eyes, but that wasn’t the worst part.”
Her hands trembled in her lap as she continued. “Alpha Alaric wanted to do a clean sweep, he didn’t want any of the pack members left alive, and so he went along with his soldiers, house by house, making sure everyone was dead. I don’t know if any survived, but they might have escaped into the woods, yet it would only be a few who’d managed to escape,”
“When Alpha Alaric walked into our house, my mother had hidden me beneath the bed, but when I heard the screams–my mother’s screams–1 went for her rescue. I couldn’t let her die, but maybe that was the biggest mistake I made; she was killed but I wasn’t.”
him
Tears filled her eyes, but she blinked them back, Alpha Alaric had wanted to kill me, but for some reasons he didnt; he brought me back to his pack. That night… He was the first–my first, and he made it the worst. I stayed weeks in pain, but that didn’t stop from visiting every night. I never understood the true meaning of pain till I met this monster.”
1/3
Horror filled me as I realized what she was describing. My mother–y strong, resilient mother–had endured unimaginable brutality,
“Two years later, after 1 was too wom out for hins, he took me to the guards, made sure I wished I was dead, and those cold–hearted soldiers did just as he had told them too. When they were done with me, I was more than willing to die, very much ready, but death wouldn’t come; even death ran away from me.”
She stared at her hands, as if seeing blood that wasn’t there. “Twish had been killed alongside my mother, so many times I had wanted to end my life, but Alpha Alaric made sure I was never left with that option, and then he locked me up. He forgot to feed me most times, and I waited for the hunger to end me. Just when F been starved ennugh, I was brought some unhealthy, bland food to eat.”
“I never did anything wrong to these people; why had he kept me alfe? And then I got the chance; the guard forgot the keys in the room with me, and so… I escaped, I ran away, I know if I was found would be killed, and what did I have to lose? It was a surprise he didn’t discover me, or maybe I just wasn’t worth the search.”
I reached for her hand, holding it tightly as she continued.
“I ended up trespassing on another pack’s land, and I was taken, also as a slave, but none gave me nightmares like Alpha Alaric did, none made me want to end my own life… I hated this place and coming back here; the memories, they all seemed so fresh and so new; every day here is torture, but I should have overcome this a long time ago, I thought I did.”
Her grip on my hand tightened painfully. That’s till I saw Kalus in the Mistwood pack, claiming that he was your mate, and it all shattered. I didn’t want you here; I didn’t want you to be hurt like I was. Kaius is just like his father; I couldn’t let my child. willingly fall into same torment I suffered.”
No wonder mother had fought so desperately against coming here. Her fears weren’t baseless paranoia–they were warnings from someone who had lived through this nightmare before. Everything she had said, every desperate attempt to keep me away from this place suddenly made horrifying sense.
“I never stopped loving you,” she continued, her voice breaking. “I never stopped thinking about you; I knew I left you alone to face all that had been happening to you, but see, your momma is also afraid too, and I want to help you, but how will I when I can’t even help myself?
I couldn’t process it all. My mother had been brutalized by Kaius’s father. And all this time she’d been terrified not just for herself but for me.
“Mother, I also have something to tell you,” I said, suddenly needing to unburden myself. “After I lost my child, I had wanted to leave the pack so bad, but Dorian… he had been so cruel, he threatened me. I was so desperate to start up afresh, and that’s when Kaius walked in. What you saw there–it was all an act. He wanted me to pretend like I was his mate.”
Her face went pale. “Dear Goddess…” she gasped, her hand flying to her mouth in shock.
do, he would kill you and maybe me too; for some reasons, no one can know about this.
you cannot tell anyone; “Mother, you Kalus is not jny mate.”
if you
“Then why did he pick you?” she asked.
“I don’t know, But he was willing to offer your freedom and the contract-
our agreement only lasts for six months, and then we are both free; says he would pay me enough money to start a new life.
2/3
My mother shook her head, her expression hardening. “I don’t need is money, Liewen.”
“I know, but we need to start up afresh, and so we need this; after
But I still don
over, I promise you we will leave and never return.
don’t understand… she pressed, her eyes searching mine There are many females; he is an Alpha, the most known any she–wolf would want him; why did he pick you, and what is he going to gain from this? Because I don’t think your companion for six months is all he wants.”
I looked away, unable to meet her gaze. “Like I just said, I don’t…”
“I know why he picked you,” she said, her voice hollow with certainty
Yes. It’s some kind of payback. I ran away from this pack many years aguas a sex slave, and my daughter is taken for the same purpose.”
“I am not a sex slave!” I protested, though the words sounded weaken to my ears.
“Tell me he hadn’t bedded you more than once? This is what he wants; they want to ruin us, and it started with me.”
I couldn’t deny it. Kaius had taken me repeatedly, sometimes roughly, sometimes with that strange gentleness that was almost worse. I’d been at his mercy from the beginning
“You could run away… my mother suggested, desperation creeping into her voice.
“You think I hadn’t tried that before? He caught me, mom. The memory of my attempted escape e with Lysandra, ending with Dorian’s fists and Kalus’s cold observation, made me shudder.
“Did he hurt you?”
“No,” I lied, unwilling to burden her with more.
“How do you know he would keep to what he says? That he doesn’t intend to keep you here for a lifet
you?
ir maybe till he tires of
“He would do as he says, I insisted, though doubt had begun to creep into my mind.
“You put too much trust in him, but it is not your fault, you were right when you said this is the only way. I would protect you the best I can, but I’m so sorry, Elowen, I can’t do much.”
I reached out, squeezing her hand. “Don’t worry, mother, look after yourself; I am a big girl now.”
“We would get out of this together,” she said, though her eyes betrayed her uncertainty.
“We would get out of this together… I hope, I echoed, trying to sound more confident than I felt,
She took a deep breath, as if gathering courage. “And there is one mie thing you need to know.”
walted, watching her face carefully.
“My real name is Kate.”
7 was utterly shocked. Even my mother’s name was a lie.
1/3
u something as fundamental is her identity was false, what else in my life had been a deception? I found everything was anything in my existence actually real, or had it all on an elaborate illusion?
“I need to get back,” I said finally, rising from the bed. “Kalus will wonder where
myself questioning
She nodded, her eyes filled with a sorrow that broke iny heart. I hugged her tightly before slipping out into the corridor, my mind reeling from everything I’d learned.
The hallways were quiet as I made my way back to Kains’s chambers, Dawn was breaking, pale light filtering through the high windows. I’d been with my mother longer than I realized.
By the time I reached my chambers, my mother’s words had inken riot, growing into a suffocating certainty. What if she was right? What if this was all an elaborate revenge–Alaric’s son reclaiming the daughter of the slave who’d escaped?
The room was empty, Kalus nowhere to be seen. I stood in the center, looking at the luxurious furnishings that had impressed me when I first arrived. Now they seemed like props in a cruel play, designed to lull me into believing I had va
Something snapped inside me. I seized a crystal vase and hurled it against the wall, savoring the explosive crash. The release was Immediate–a momentary escape from the horrifying thoughts circling in my mind.
I moved to the dresser next, sweeping perfume bottles and trinkets onto the floor, Glass shattered, liquids spilled, but it wasn’t enough. I yanked open drawers, throwing clothes and jewelry across the room. I pulled books from shelves, knocked paintings from walls, tore pillows from the bed.
Each act of destruction was a cry against the fate that had brought me here–against Kalus, against his father, against that had shaped both our lives before we ever met.
The c
cruelty
When there was nothing left to break, I stood panting in the center of the ruined room. The brief satisfaction of destruction faded, leaving only emptiness. No amount of broken glass could change the reality of my situation.
My gaze fell on a large shard from the shattered vase. I picked it up, testing its edge against my thumb. Sharp. Perhaps sharp enough.
But I couldn’t bring myself to use it. Not like that. Not when my mother had just found me again, not
strong.
she needed me to be
My eyes drifted to the bathroom door. Another idea formed, one that seemed cleaner somehow. More peaceful
I walked in, closing the door behind me. My movements were mechanical as I plugged the large marble tub and turned on the taps. The sound of rushing water was soothing, hypnotic.
As the tub filled, I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I hardly recognized the woman looking back at me ghost of the person I’d been before all this began.
-hollow–eyed, pale, a
When the water reached the rim, I turned off the tops. I didn’t undress. It seemed pointless. I stepped into the tub fully clothed, the cold water shocking against my skin. I slid down until I was completely submerged, my hair floating around me like seaweed.
I held my breath, feeling the pressure build in my lungs. The urge to surface was instinctive, powerful, but I fought it. Spots began to dance behind my closed eyelids. My lungs burned, demanding oxygen I refused to give them.
Just as darkness began to claim the edges of my consciousness, strong hands plunged into the water, seizing my shoulders and yanking me to the surface, I gasped involuntarily, air rushing into my starved lungs.
“Breathe Elowen, breathe, Kajus commanded, his voice tight with something that sounded almost like panic.
2/3
I coughed violently, water spiding from my mouth as my body fougle to expel it, Kaius pulled me from the tub, wrapping me in a large towel as he carried me to the bed–the only piece of furniture in the room I hadn’t managed to destroy.
As consciousness fully returned, I felt a wave of shame wash over
I hadn’t even succeeded at this–my final, desperate attempt to escape
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