Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 65871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Perhaps he senses my tension, because instead of going straight to sleep, he rolls over and holds me tightly. “You are safe now,” he murmurs in my ear. “You’re never going to be taken from me again. I can promise you that.”
I don’t want to tell him what I know. I don’t have the energy to call him out, and I have some shred of hope that maybe, just maybe there is some good reason for all of this.
Alexei growls softly against the back of my neck and I smile as the pleasant chemicals run through me. I let myself relax into his arms, trusting him somehow with my body even though my mind is now set very firmly at odds. I don’t know why he’s lying to me about Dom, but I know he will always protect me. That is how I am able to snuggle up into his arms and close my eyes, trusting him to take care of me as he always has.
I wake up perhaps an hour later, maybe just thirty minutes. It is impossible to say, except that Alexei is leaping out of bed and shaking me awake as he does it. There’s an alarm going off on a small box next to the bed, a red light and a small siren wailing in a very irritating way.
“What’s happening?” I ask him the question as my eyes feast on his naked, muscular form. Alexei at any hour is a handsome beast.
“There’s been a breach. Stay here. Actually. No. Come with me. I don’t want you out of my sight. Take your wolf form. Now.”
I do as I am told, padding alongside my alpha as we move through the halls. I can feel his concern. Not fear. He’s not afraid of anything as long as I am with him. Alexei is one of the strongest men and wolves I have met, and I know I am biased in thinking that because he is my mate, but I also know him more deeply than anybody else ever could also because he is my mate.
He is steady, and he is ready to do what must be done.
But he is worried, because whatever has happened now has happened inside the castle. I can feel all his feelings right now. He is tempering his anger.
Vlad, Viktor, and Piotr come out of the side halls, all carrying weapons. They have an extra one, which they put into Alexei’s hands. Now the five of us proceed downstairs, to a dungeon I did not know existed. Alexei didn’t mention the dungeons before, but then again, why would he? I am sure this is one of many secrets I am yet to be a part of. I have barely gotten to know the castle, really. I’ve been far too busy being abducted, among other things.
But maybe I should have known. Maybe there’s no excuse for all this ignorance I keep encountering. Elena’s words ring in my ears. Spoiled and selfish, that’s what she called me. She held back from calling me stupid, but only just. I’ve got to get more on top of things. I have to be more responsible.
It’s harder to process these thoughts in my wolf form, but I feel them so much more keenly. I am the alpha female, and I am supposed to be responsible. I’ve got to start looking after the pack. I’ve got to start thinking about others who rely on me.
We go down the stairs and into the dark, which is quickly chased away in stages by lights being turned on one after the other. I start to smell something of great concern. Blood. Wolf blood.
Someone has been killed down here, and I already know who. Instinct takes over.
I let out a baying howl and run headlong into the darkness.
“Anya! No!”
The shouts follow me, but do not stop me. They can’t smell it yet. They don’t know it yet, but there’s a body down here.
My wolf form means I reach the scene much faster than the others are able to catch up with me. That means I am alone when I find her. It is too late to save her.
Elena lies slumped on the dungeon passage floor, her eyes open and staring into an abyss we will all one day face. The expression on her face is pained, but not frightened. She died resigned, accepting what was happening to her.
The vampire is gone, of course. His cell stands open. The UV lights have been smashed and the gathering shadows seem to wrap around me as a large, cold hand extends from the darkness and caresses the top of my head, scratching lightly between my ears as if I am a pet dog.
It is Dom.
I thought he was dead. I suppose, technically, he is. But this is not what I meant when I asked.