The warriors dragged me down the narrow stairwell. My boots scraped stone, my ribs screamed with every shove. The ropes bit deep into raw skin, and each breath felt like I was swallowing damp ash. The air was colder here, heavier, thick with mold and old blood. Darkness pressed at my chest until it felt like it could crush me.
When the stairs ended, they threw me onto the slick stone floor. Straw clung to my blood-soaked dress. The clang of a cell door echoed sharply in my ears. They dragged me inside and tossed me like broken prey. My shoulder scraped against stone, fire licking through the pain. The lock slammed behind me, final as death.
I lay still, cheek pressed to the damp ground. Storm's voice slashed through my mind.
Get up.
"I… I can't," I whispered.
Then crawl. But rise.
I dragged myself upright, pressing my back to the wall. My chest heaved, muscles screaming, heart pounding as rats scurried past, chains rattled somewhere in the shadows, and water dripped like cruel metronomes. The dungeon smelled of rot, sweat, and despair. Time stretched long and cruelly. No windows. No sunlight. Only endless nights.
Footsteps echoed. Torchlight flickered, stretching shadows into jagged teeth. A man appeared, broad, scarred, and dangerous. His gaze swept me like a predator measuring prey.
The Beta.
"You should be dead," he said flatly, voice cold. "Most rogues don't make it this far."
"I'm not a rogue," I rasped, my words weak but firm.
He smirked and slammed his spear against the bars. Pain shot through my shoulder. My cry escaped despite my teeth clenching.
Don't give him your pain, Storm hissed. He feeds on it.
The Beta entered the cell, filling the space like smoke. He pushed my hair back roughly. "Who are you?"
I said nothing.
His fist hit my stomach. Blood filled my mouth. He struck again. "Answer me!"
I stayed silent. My trembling hands felt slick with blood, but my silence was the only shield I had left.
He shoved me into the wall, making my head crack against stone. The world swirled. Then he muttered, "You'll talk at dawn," and stormed out.
I slid down, knees weak, teeth biting back tears.
Then a whisper scraped through the shadows of the next cell. "Don't speak to him," a raspy voice croaked. A man's figure shifted against his chains. "He breaks you first… then the Alpha finishes it."
"Why are you here?" I whispered back.
"Because I thought I could survive," he laughed, low, broken. "I was wrong. None of us survive him. He doesn't just kill… he takes everything from you."
His words chilled me deeper than the cold stone ever could.
More footsteps. Two guards dragged another captive woman into the row of cells. Her screams sliced through the silence. Behind her, a strange, half-wolf figure in blackened chains stumbled forward. His eyes flickered honey-brown in the torchlight, and his lips twisted as if he recognized something.
Storm bristled inside me. He knows… he senses something.
The hybrid coughed, trying to speak, but the guard slammed a boot against his chains. He hissed, silencing him. I kept silent. My healer aura suppressed, faint had stirred something inside him.
Do not let them know, Ella, Storm warned.
Even in the dim torchlight, I noticed other prisoners, huddled shadows whispering fear, faces pale with terror. The woman screamed again, clawing at her bonds. The hybrid's strained growl echoed after her, warning her to keep still. My chest tightened. I was not alone, yet the danger was close, almost suffocating.
The Beta returned, looming outside my cell. He paused, scanning me. Something flickered in his sharp blue eyes, hesitation, a brief glimpse of doubt before his mask of cruelty hardened again.
"You should already be dead," he muttered softly, almost to himself. Then he spat on the floor and left.
Storm's voice whispered, low and wary. He saw something… he doesn't understand.
The dungeon itself seemed to shift. Torches flickered as if bending away from the coming presence. Shadows stretched, clinging to walls. The prisoners stopped, shivering. Chains rattled, breath caught. Every nerve in my body screamed that something terrible and magnificent was coming.
Then the footsteps changed. Slow. Precise. Powerful. Dominating. Guards stiffened. The hybrid pulled at his chains, straining as if he could sense what I could not yet see. The woman stopped screaming, pressed back into her corner. Even the rats vanished, hiding from the weight in the air.
And then he appeared.
Tall. Broad. Silver eyes burning like twin moons. Power radiated from him in waves that locked the air and seized my lungs. My heart thudded against my ribs. Even Storm pressed close, tense but silent.
Every prisoner trembled. Even the Beta's shadow seemed to shrink back. The Alpha's presence filled the dungeon, bending reality.
He stepped closer, slow and deliberate. Torches pointed like flames struggling to breathe. Chains rattled as if every metal link recognized the force of his will. The hybrid in the corner twisted in his bonds, growling quietly, sensing the threat and… something else. Something he couldn't name.
Then the Alpha stopped in front of my cell. Silence crushed the air. His gaze met mine, silver on violent eyes, and for a heartbeat, the world held its breath.
"Open it," he commanded. Low. Dangerous. Like a vow whispered to the dark.
The guard fumbled, keys shaking in their hands. The lock clicked. The cell door swung open. My knees gave way. I clutched the wall, trying to stay upright, trembling so violently I thought I'd collapse.
The Alpha's presence pressed closer, like the weight of mountains. Even Storm went still. My blood pounded, my body a live wire of fear and… something I couldn't name. The hybrid in the corner let out a low, warning growl, straining against his chains as if warning me.
Then his gaze sharpened. Silver eyes slicing through mine. "What are you?" Rogue, His voice dropped, husky and steel, reverberating through the stone walls.
The dungeon seemed to shrink. Every breath I took burned in my lungs. My hands itched to move, my healer power threatened to rise. I suppressed it, teeth clenched. Storm hissed, tense and restless…all the hair on my body stood up
I wanted to answer. To explain. But fear gripped me. And as he stepped closer, shadows bending toward him, I realized: nothing here, no chains, no fear, no prisoner, no wolf, no dungeon, nothing mattered. Not when he looked at me like I was something both dangerous and essential.
And then… the world went black.