IVY
The silver chains bite into my wrists and I wait for the burning.
It doesn't come.
I'm sitting on cold stone in a cell that smells like death and fear. The chains wrap around my wrists, my ankles, my throat. Heavy enough that I can barely move. Silver that should be melting through my skin right now.
Instead I feel nothing. Just cold metal against my skin.
I test it carefully. Press my palm flat against the chain. Wait for pain that never arrives. The silver might as well be regular iron for all the damage it does.
What am I.
The question echoes in my head with no answer. Normal wolves burn from silver contact. Everyone knows that. It's our one true weakness. But these chains just sit against my skin doing nothing.
My violet eyes glow in the darkness and I hate them. Hate what they've done to me. Hate that I don't understand what's happening to my body.
Four hours ago I was getting married. Now I'm locked underground in chains that should be torture.
Footsteps echo down the hallway. Heavy. Confident. I know who it is before I see him.
Alpha Magnus appears outside my cell bars. Alone. No guards. He's not afraid of me at all and that terrifies me more than the chains.
"Comfortable?" His voice is pleasant. Like we're having tea instead of him visiting his prisoner.
I don't answer. Just glare at him through the bars.
He circles my cell slowly. A predator studying prey. "I've been researching your bloodline for two years. Ever since I found a fragment of text in the forbidden archives. Do you know what it said?"
Silence. I won't give him the satisfaction of asking.
"It spoke of violet eyed omegas who carried the blood of ancient wolves. Wolves who ruled before packs existed. Wolves with power that could reshape our entire world." He stops directly in front of my cell. "You're the first one born in three hundred years."
Three hundred years. The number is too big to understand.
"I don't care about ancient bloodlines." My voice sounds stronger than I feel. "I just want to leave."
Magnus laughs. Actually laughs like I said something funny. "Leave? Child you misunderstand your situation entirely. You're not a prisoner. You're an investment."
"What does that mean."
He crouches down so we're eye level through the bars. His smile is the worst thing I've ever seen. "It means you'll bear children for the strongest Alphas in every major pack. Your bloodline will be harvested. Studied. We'll learn how to awaken it in your offspring. Within a generation I'll have an army of wolves with your power under my control."
The words don't make sense at first. Then they hit me all at once and I can't breathe.
Bear children. Harvested. Army.
"No." I shake my head hard. "You can't do that. That's not legal even for Alphas."
"I'm Alpha Magnus Castellan. I decide what's legal in my territory." He stands again. "You should be honored. Your children will reshape the werewolf world. You'll be remembered as the mother of a new era."
"I'd rather die."
"Death isn't an option I'm offering." He turns to leave. "The first Alpha arrives tomorrow. Theron Vale from Frostmoon Pack. Strong bloodline. Good genetics. You'll produce excellent pups together."
My stomach turns. I lunge at the bars without thinking. The chains catch and yank me backward. I hit the stone floor hard.
Magnus doesn't even flinch. "I'd save your strength. You'll need it."
Panic claws up my throat. I can feel my power stirring under my skin. That violet fire that destroyed the ceremony. If I could just control it I could blast through these bars and run.
I focus on the heat building in my chest. Try to push it outward like I did before. The violet glow brightens around my hands. Energy crackles in the air.
Magnus watches with mild interest.
I throw everything I have at the cell bars. The power explodes outward in a wild blast. It hits the ceiling instead. Stone cracks and dust rains down. My second attempt goes left and scorches the wall. The third fizzles out completely.
I'm shaking. Exhausted. The power is there but I can't aim it. Can't control it at all.
Magnus actually claps. Slow mocking applause. "Impressive display. Completely useless but impressive." He heads for the stairs. "I'll have the guards bring you dinner. You need to keep your strength up for tomorrow."
His footsteps fade. The door at the top of the stairs closes with a heavy thud.
I'm alone again.
Hours pass. Maybe. Time feels wrong down here with no windows. No way to tell if it's day or night. Just stone walls and flickering torchlight and the weight of chains I can't feel.
I test my power again and again. Each time it goes wild. Hits everything except what I'm aiming at. By the time I hear footsteps again my whole body aches from failed attempts.
Two guards appear. Both betas. Big and muscular with faces that show no emotion. One carries a tray with bread and water. The other holds a silver rod like a cattle prod.
"Back against the wall," the first guard orders.
I don't move. Can't take my eyes off that tray. That means they have to open the cell door to give it to me.
The second guard slams his silver rod against the bars. The clang echoes through the cell block. "I said back against the wall omega."
An idea forms. Terrible. Desperate. Maybe my only chance.
I shuffle backward slowly. Make myself look weak and scared. Not hard since I actually am terrified. The chains drag on stone with a scraping sound.
"That's better." The first guard pulls out a key. The cell door swings open with a rusty creak.
He steps inside. Sets the tray on the floor. Stays between me and the open door like he knows what I'm thinking.
The second guard watches from the hallway. Silver rod ready.
I wait until the first guard turns his back. Just for a second. Just long enough.
Then I move.
The power explodes from my hands without aiming. Without control. Pure desperate energy that I throw at anything between me and freedom. It hits the first guard in the back. He screams. The smell of burning flesh fills the air. He collapses and doesn't get back up.
The second guard rushes in with the silver rod raised. I'm already moving. The chains slow me down but panic makes me faster. I grab the dropped tray and throw it at his face. He stumbles.
My power surges again. Bigger this time. Brighter. I don't think. Don't aim. Just let it pour out of me in a wave of violet fire.
The guard tries to dodge. Too slow. The energy hits him square in the chest. He flies backward and slams into the stone wall hard enough that I hear bones crack. Slides down leaving a trail of blood.
He doesn't move either.
Silence.
The violet glow fades from my hands. I stand there shaking. Staring at two bodies on the floor. The first guard's back is burned black. The second one has blood running from his mouth.
They're dead.
I killed them.
My legs give out. I catch myself on the cell bars. The metal is warm where my power scorched it. My hands are steady but the rest of me shakes so hard my teeth chatter.
I'm a murderer.
The thought repeats in my head like a drum. I killed two wolves. They were just doing their jobs and I murdered them.
But they were going to keep me locked here. Going to let Magnus use me like breeding stock. Going to stand guard while I screamed.
I don't know if that makes it better or worse.
The cell door is still open. Freedom right there. I could run. Try to escape before anyone realizes what happened.
I force myself to move. Step over the first body. My foot slips in blood and I catch myself. Keep going. Through the door. Into the hallway.
The keys are still in the first guard's belt. I take them with shaking hands. There's a knife too. Small but sharp. I tuck it in the waistband of the ceremonial dress that's now covered in dust and blood.
At the end of the hallway are stairs leading up. Leading out.
I run.
My bare feet slap against stone. The chains rattle with every step but I don't stop to remove them. Don't have time. Any second now someone will come check on the guards. Will find the bodies. Will sound the alarm.
I reach the top of the stairs. The door is unlocked. I push through into the packhouse basement. Storage rooms and old furniture. A window near the ceiling shows darkness outside.
Night. Good. Easier to hide in darkness.
I find a service exit. Slip outside into cold air that tastes like freedom. The packhouse is behind me. Forest ahead. If I can reach the trees I might have a chance.
Run. Just run.
I make it ten steps before I hear the alarm. A howl that cuts through the night. Then another. Then dozens. The whole pack waking up. Realizing their prisoner escaped.
Realizing she killed two guards to do it.
I run faster. Into the trees. Into darkness. My hands still glow violet and I can't make it stop. Can't hide when my own skin gives me away.
Behind me the howls get closer. Tracking party. Coming for the murderer who used to scrub their floors.
I'm not Ivy Sterling the weak omega anymore.
I'm Ivy Sterling the killer.
And they're going to hunt me like the monster I've become.