Sloane.
My wrists are numb beneath the silver restraints.
I can barely feel my fingers anymore, but I can still feel Charlotte's nails digging into my cheek.
She is smiling. My best friend is smiling.
Not the smile she gives me when I tell her something ridiculous. Not the crooked grin she wears when we're sneaking out together. This smile is cruel, and I can't understand why.
“About time you were chained like the bloody parasite you are.”
My eyes widen as her words stun me into absolute silence.
I search her amber eyes desperately, trying to find even a speck of the care and adoration they once held for me.
My Charlotte would never look at me like that, not on my twenty second birthday.
And Silas wouldn't just stand there in the shadows, watching.
“Char... what’s... what are you doing?" I croak, my voice trembling. "What’s going on? You don’t seem like yourself. Are you alright?”
Yes. She cannot be herself. Maybe she is under a spell, or a compulsion, or—
“Oh my god, would you just drop the stupid, selfless act?" Charlotte hisses, throwing her head back with a harsh laugh.
"Would you stop pretending to be a good person? I know exactly what you are!”
“Char, I think we were kidnapped. They must have given you something. Have you taken anything si—”
“Shut up!” Her scream causes me to reel my head back and clamp my mouth shut. She heaves in front of me, her chest rising and falling.
“I’m not myself? Please, this is the most myself that I’ve been in two years. Can’t you see?” She says as a twisted look of satisfaction settles on her face.
“I’m happier right now than I have been in two years, and that’s because I’m finally about to be rid of you.”
I cannot find any words to answer. In the heavy silence, I hear him grind his teeth from the shadows—a habit he always has when he is losing his patience.
“Do you know what it was like watching everyone choose you?” Her fingers tighten around my jaw.
“Your parents adored you. Gareth followed you everywhere. The pack loved you. Even Silas looked at you like you were something precious.”
Her smile twists at the way my face contorts into pain when she mentions Gareth.
“And I was always the friend standing beside you. The one people noticed only after they noticed you.”
Charlotte's eyes water, her features contorting into deep pain. Even now, a foolish part of me just wants to reach out and hold her until she doesn't feel it anymore.
Why is she talking like this?
“Charlotte, that's not tr—”
“You even got married to the man I told you I had feelings for. The only person who’d made me feel loved after my mate’s death.”
I recoil, shocked by her words, but anger finally seeps into my voice.
“Are you serious, Charlotte? You told me you had feelings for him after I told you we were fated mates!”
“You lied! You guys aren’t mates!” she screams in frustration, it feels entirely unreal.
“Charlotte, what are you talki—”
“If you guys were mates," she interrupts, her voice dropping to a chilling whisper, "explain to me why he has you chained to a wall in a dungeon, ready to sacrifice you and make me his new Luna?”
Her pained expression vanishes, replaced by a devilish grin. Before my brain can process her horrific words, the heavy iron door bursts open.
Multiple guards march in with torches, filling the damp stone room with blinding light.
They seize me before I can react. Their heavy hands clamp around my arms, hauling me away from the wall as the silver shackles are unlocked.
The moment my feet touch the ground, my knees buckle. Every muscle in my body screams in protest. The silver has been draining my werewolf energy for god knows how long
“Move.”
A rough shove sends me stumbling forward. The dungeon stretches farther than I realize. The guards line the stone walls with torches leading to an enormous vault while hooded figures stand in a wide circle, silent and unmoving.
In the center of the chamber stands Dominic Theron—Silas’s father, the former Alpha. His expression is dangerously close to delight, a terrifying look on a man who has never shown me anything but quiet hatred.
An enormous stone altar dominates the center of the room. Ancient runes carved into its surface pulse with a sickening, crimson glow.
No… this isn't a prison. Charlotte’s words echo in my head as the horrific truth finally dawns on me.
It is an execution chamber.
The guards force me onto the cold stone slab, fastening fresh silver restraints around my wrists and ankles. The metal burns against my skin like liquid fire. Charlotte steps back, proudly taking her place beside the man stepping out of the shadows.
Silas.
My husband. My fated mate. The Alpha of our pack.
He has been watching this entire time. He looks exactly as he did this morning. Beautiful. Cruel.
He is the same man who softly stroked my cheek before I fell asleep. Now, he does not even spare me a glance.
“Silas...” My voice cracks.
Nothing. He continues walking until he stands opposite me, his hands folded neatly behind his back. I search his face desperately for some type of emotion—fear, regret, anger, anything. Instead, I find absolute emptiness.
“Why?” The word barely leaves my lips and his dark gaze finally settles on me.
“You served your purpose.”