Chapter Seven

Avyaane’s POV

My heart pounded in my chest as Chad gripped my chin the way he always did, his fingertips grazing my skin, just enough pressure for me to register the amount of power he held over me. My heart raced, but not only out of fear — fury coursed through me like wildfire.

“That was your one chance to make this easy,” he said again, his voice a slow, taunting drawl. "But you chose wrong."

I had jerked my face away, scowling up at him. "I’ll never belong to you."

Killian chuckled, a deep, laughing sound. “She still thinks she has a choice.

I did. I had one last choice.

Fight.

Summoning every ounce of strength I had, I contorted my body and drove my knee up, bringing it down into Chad’s gut. He grunted, the impact pushing him back. I corresponded, going for his throat, however I hardly made it a step ahead of Logan hitting me from behind, his muscular arms encasing me to him.

"Let me go!" I kicked and fought, thrashing wildly, but he was stronger — they all were.

Logan’s breath ghosted across my ear, as he whispered, “You’re really making this fun for us, little wolf.

A chill went down my spine.

Chad shook it off, his blue eyes black with something deadly. "Enough."

There was dominion in his voice, that dogged command of an Alpha. My body responded, my wolf whimpering at the intensity of it. I hated how readily my instincts had betrayed me.

"Take her back," he ordered.

Logan pulled me toward the castle, and I struggled against him, my feet hardly touching the ground. Killian and Blair trailed behind, smirking as if this were some sort of game.

To them, it was.

To me?

It was a war.

The Castle Dungeon

Rather than my spa-like prison cell, Logan dragged me down another corridor — this one Cumorah-colored.

My stomach twisted.

"Where are you taking me?"

No answer.

I fought for breath, my lungs growing short as we ran down stone stairs into the castle’s sublayer. The air turned cold, heavy with an iron-and-earth stench.

I froze.

The dungeon.

A flickering torch lit rows of iron bars, heavy chains dangling from the walls. I literally DUG my heels into the floor. "No. No, you can’t"

Killian seized the rusted iron door and opened it.

Logan threw me inside.

With a painful thump, I landed flat on my back against the cold stone floor, my palms scraping against the harsh surface. "You bastards!" I spit, quickly getting to my feet.

Killian was leaning against the bars, grinning. "You ran, Avyaane. Actions have consequences."

I could feel my nails digging into my palms. "And what? This is your punishment? Locking me in a cage like a fucking animal?”

Chad finally moved, his expression inscrutable. "No, Avyaane." His voice appeared deceptively calm, but there was something deadly underneath it. "This is just the beginning."

As he turned and walked away, the others filed silently behind him and my stomach twisted.

Then—the door slammed shut.

I was alone.

Trapped.

Again.

Chad’s POV

I was outside the dungeon, listening to her labored breath through the iron bars.

She was scared.

Good.

She needed to learn.

Logan crossed his arms. “How long we gonna leave her in there?”

"As long as it takes."

Killian’s scarlet eyes glinted with amusement. "What if she breaks?"

I exhaled slowly. "She won’t."

Avyaane was stubborn, too rough to tame so fast. But I needed her to know one thing:

She belonged to us.

And soon, she would discover that there was no running away.

Not anymore.

Avyaane’s POV

Cold.

When I opened my eyes, that was the first thing I felt. Each breath felt like agony because of the cold seeped into my bones through the hard stone of the dungeon floor. The cool air carried the stench of rock, metal, and restraint smells I knew far too well.

I didn’t know how long I had been down there. Hours? A day?

The only thing I was sure of was that they had put me away like a disobedient pet.

I pushed myself upright, my muscles sore from resting so long against the unforgiving floor. The moistness hugged my skin, and my body ached in spots I hadn’t even known were bruised. Bastards. Did they think that this would actually break me? That I’d plead with you for forgiveness?

Never.

All this did was stir up my hatred.

I leaned back against the cold stone wall and hugged myself as I glared at the bars of iron. They wanted obedience. Submission. They would get neither.

I would rather die of hunger in this stinking prison than let them catch me on my knees.

Then footsteps, approaching, echoed through the underground halls.

Someone was coming.

Straightening up, I tried to put defiance into my face. I wouldn’t show them fear.

The big door of the dungeon creaked open. A figure stepped inside, tall and lean, the torchlight splashing long shado

ws across sharp features.

Chad.

His icy blue eyes locked on mine immediately, and for a moment, he just stood and watched me.

Chad’s POV

I’m not sure what I thought I was walking into when I came down here.

Perhaps her being curled up in a corner, trembling with fear.

So she could scream at me, plead to be let out.

But what did I saw?

She was just sitting there.

Her green eyes blazed in defiance, body taut but unmoving.

I felt a dark stirring within me.

She wasn’t broken.

Not even close.

I approached the iron bars, my boots clattering over the stone floor. "How’s your new room?"

She didn’t answer.

I smirked. “Silent treatment, little wolf? That’s cute."

Still, nothing.

Her face was a mask, but I saw the fire in her eyes.

She hated me.

Good.

As I leaned against the bars, a hand ringed now around the iron. "You tried to escape. You failed. Now, it is your time to pay.

At last, she exhaled slowly and met my eyes. “Do you feel powerful, Chad?” Her voice was low, mocking. “Imprisoning the insipid omega bitch? Does it make you feel like a real Alpha?”

Something snapped in me.

Enough.

In one fluid motion, I withdrew the key, unlocked the cell door, and entered.

She stiffened.

Good.

She was not as fearless as she pretended to be.

I knelt in front of her, pinching my fingers around her chin so that she would look at me. “You’re not weak,” I told her, my voice lower but as deadly. “That’s the issue, isn’t it?”

Her breath hitched. It was subtle, but I noticed.

Still, she recovered quickly.

She stared at me, definitely. “Go to hell.”

I chuckled darkly. "You first, sweetheart."

I released her and stood over her, my body eclipsing her little form.

“You are not leaving here where you don’t know where you belong.”

Thin lips twisted into a derisive sneer. “I already know my position,” she retorted. “And it’s not beside you.”

My jaw tightened.

I arched my brow. “Well that’s where you’re wrong, mate.

She flinched at the word. The bond pulsed between us — their burden and my force, an invisible string, no way to escape, no possibility of cutting.

She could deny this as much as she liked.

But she felt it.

Just like I did.

She was mine.

And she was about to find out that very thing.

I stepped back and observed her, patiently. “Enjoy the dungeon,” was all I said, and then I stepped away from the door. “We’ll talk again soon.”

The moment I crossed the threshold, her voice arrested me.

“I’d prefer to rot in here than to ever accept y

ou.”

My lips twisted into a gradual smirk.

She would change her mind.

Soon enough.