Chapter Nine – The Breaking Point
(Raven's POV)
The cell was colder than I remembered.
Stone walls pressed in on me, slick with condensation and silence. The air was thick with the scent of rust and old blood. I sat in the corner, knees drawn to my chest, arms wrapped tightly around them. My breath came in shallow bursts, each one a reminder that I was still here. Still trapped.
Still theirs.
The collar around my neck pulsed faintly, a dull throb that echoed in my skull. It was more than metal. It was a cage. A leash. A muzzle for something they didn't understand.
Something I barely understood myself.
I didn't know how long I'd been here. Days? Weeks? Time didn't move in this place. There was no sun, no moon. Only the flickering of a single bulb overhead and the distant sound of footsteps that never came close enough.
Sometimes I heard screams. Sometimes I realized they were mine.
Sometimes I didn't care.
The door creaked open.
I didn't look up.
I didn't need to.
I knew his scent before he spoke. Smoke and pine and something darker. Something wild.
"Raven," Darius said.
I didn't move.
He stepped closer. "It's me."
I wanted to scream. To run. To throw myself at him and demand answers. But I didn't trust my voice. I didn't trust myself.
He knelt beside me. "I know you can hear me."
I flinched.
He was too close. Too warm. Too real.
"I saw the mark," he said. "It's waking, isn't it?"
I clenched my fists.
He reached into his coat and pulled something out. A box. Small. Familiar.
He set it on the floor between us. "You told me not to open it until I remembered."
My breath caught.
He opened it.
The scent hit me first—blood and ash and memory. Then I saw it. The strip of cloth. The note.
Find me. Wake me. Burn them all.
I looked up.
His eyes were wide, searching. "I remember," he said. "I remember everything."
I wanted to believe him.
I wanted to believe I wasn't alone.
But the collar burned, and the voice in my head whispered: Liar. Traitor. Alpha's dog.
I lunged.
My hands closed around his throat, nails digging into skin. He didn't fight back. Didn't flinch. Just stared at me with those pale, unblinking eyes.
"Do it," he whispered. "If that's what you need."
I froze.
Blood trickled down his neck, warm against my fingers.
I looked down.
The scar on his chest—my mark—was glowing.
I stumbled back, gasping. "Why are you here?"
"Because I never stopped looking."
"You left me."
"I tried to save you."
"You let them take me."
"I didn't know—"
"You knew enough!" I screamed. "You knew what they were! What they'd do!"
He stood slowly. "I know. And I'll never forgive myself. But I'm here now. And I'm not leaving without you."
I laughed. It was a broken sound. "You think you can just walk in here and fix this?"
"No," he said. "I think you can."
The collar pulsed again, harder this time. I cried out, clutching my head. The voice returned, louder, crueler.
You are ours. You are nothing. You are the vessel.
Darius reached for me. "Fight it."
"I can't," I gasped. "It's too strong."
"You're stronger."
"You don't know what they did to me."
"I know enough. I've seen the files. The experiments. The chains."
He stepped closer.
"I know they tried to erase you. But they failed."
I shook my head. "You don't understand. I'm not me anymore."
"You're Raven," he said. "You're the girl who bit me when I got too close. The girl who ran faster than the wind. The girl who made the wolves bow."
I looked up, tears burning my eyes. "They made me forget."
"Then let's make them remember."
The door slammed open.
Two guards stormed in, weapons raised. "Step away from the asset!"
Darius didn't move.
"She's not an asset," he said. "She's the future."
The guards lunged.
Darius moved faster.
In a blur of motion, he disarmed the first guard, slamming him into the wall. The second swung a baton—Darius caught it mid-air, twisted, and sent the man sprawling.
He turned to me, breathing hard. "Can you walk?"
I nodded.
He offered his hand.
I hesitated.
Then I took it.
The hallway was chaos. Alarms blared. Red lights flashed. More guards poured in from every direction.
Darius didn't hesitate. He moved like a storm, fists flying, bones cracking. Maximus surged beneath his skin, his eyes glowing silver, his voice a growl.
I followed, heart pounding, the collar burning hotter with every step.
We reached the exit.
A wall of Elders blocked our path.
"You've gone too far," Lysara said. "This is treason."
"She's not your prisoner anymore," Darius said.
"She's a danger to us all."
"She's the only one who can save us."
Virek raised his hand. "Then let her prove it."
He snapped his fingers.
The collar around my neck flared—then shattered.
Pain exploded through me. I screamed, falling to my knees.
The world tilted.
And then—
Everything went quiet.
I stood.
The wolves were there.
Not in my mind.
In the flesh.
Golden eyes. Bristling fur. Jaws wide.
They bowed.
I stepped forward, the mark on my chest glowing like fire.
"I remember," I said.
The Elders stepped back.
Darius smiled.
And the wolves howled.