Chapter 90: Chapter Thirty-Seven

**Amina's POV**

"No, it's okay, I promise," I said, cutting them off before they could try and change my mind.

I had no idea how these things got here, let alone why, yet I knew it was all my fault. For centuries on end, this pack had lived in relative peace, but within only months of my arrival, they had twice fallen at war. The rogues came first, and now the Lycans were threatening to destroy us all. My dark past was catching up to me at full speed, obliterating everything around me along the way, but tonight, I could no longer stand to watch it rob anyone else of their bright future. I knew what had to be done. I had to save Roxanne and Ophelia.

"Just tell him I'm sorry," I whispered before running out of the room, knowing how much Benjamin would hurt.

Saving his sister meant rushing to my death and breaking his heart all over again, and although I hoped, someday, he could understand, I knew he would never forgive. After all, losing his mate was not part of his plans, but what choice else did I have? Watching my friends perish was not part of mine.

I could hear the girls' frenzied pleas fade away and slowly turn into a distant memory as I closed the heavy cellar door behind me. The Lycans' voices, on the other hand, only grew alarmingly louder as I walked up the steps to the top of the stairs. My hands and legs began to shake and vibrate to the rhythm of every deep growl they let out, and my heart raced inside my chest like never before.

I left the dark and damp cellar with a simple plan in mind, get in the car and drive as far away as I could in the hopes that the Lycans would follow. But as I leaned against the wall and walked down the unlit hallway, another wave of blind fear suddenly washed over me and ignited each of my senses like wildfire. My mind became hazy and reality, completely distorted. '*Oh, God*!' I thought as I deliriously waved my arms around.

I couldn't see the beasts, but I could almost feel them everywhere around me.

I panicked, glued in place as their hot breath slid across my skin in a trail of goosebumps, and the faint sound of blood drops reached my ears as it dripped from their soaked furs. Then, seconds later, its distinct metallic scent sneaked past my nose and lodged into my throat.

"No! No!" I screamed in horror as their deadly claws curled around my shoulders first, then scratched their way up to my neck.

They were killing me, and I couldn't let it happen. If I died, Roxanne and Ophelia would be next.

"Let me go!" I cried and thrashed in their hands until my feet finally hit the ground again.

I took off running as fast as I could, crossing the entire length of the house to get away until my body hit a wall head-on. I moaned and swore in pain as I stood up, only to notice that I was but a few feet from the front door.

'*What the hell*?' I silently groaned, rubbing my forehead. The scent of blood had disappeared, the claws around my neck had vanished, and no more Lycans were chasing after me. I was alone and unscathed.

"Ugh, get it together," I scolded myself, realizing fear may have gotten the best of me.

"Oh no, please don't. That was quite entertaining." A hoarse and icy voice spoke from nowhere. "Usually, we're the ones who fling humans around and whatnot, but I have to admit, it's just as fun to watch you do it by yourselves."

I looked around for the intruder whose voice rose all around me and, through the darkness, saw an impossibly tall and pale-looking man approaching. He stopped at the threshold between the living room and hallway and, with his arms crossed, leaned against the wall. His piercing black eyes followed mine to the front door and back, and I could see his thin red lips reveal long, broken teeth as he smiled, rejoicing in my growing panic.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said, standing right between the exit and me. "We both know you'd be dead before ever touching that handle."

"Who are you?" I struggle to ask, my breathing quickening.

His nostrils flared as he sighed and walked up to me. "Right, who are you? What do you want? Goddess, I'm so scared!" The stranger mocked and scoffed as he brought his slender fingers to my hair and yanked my head back with force. "Let's just cut to the chase. My men and I are getting pretty tired," he growled.

And right on cue, five other Lycans emerged from the shadows in their human forms, clothes torn apart. Their purple eyes may have given way to dark ones, but as they moved swiftly to form a semicircle around us, they looked no less threatening. Their faces wore an expression of pure disgust, and their lips shone a crimson red, no doubt marred by all of the pack's blood.

"I'm going to ask the questions here, and you're going to answer. Understood?" The pale man asked, pulling my head further back before lowering his mouth to my ear. "That is, if you don't want me to kill the two she-wolves you're hiding, of course," he whispered.

"Okay! Okay," I let out, wincing. "I understand, yes."

"Oh!" He gasped, smirking as he released some of his hold on me. "An obedient human, how nice," he added, bringing his free hand to the base of my neck. "We've been given directions to this address earlier tonight. Is this Alpha Benjamin Miller's house?"

"Y-yes," I admitted, holding my tears back.

"Hmm…" the stranger hummed, tilting his head to the side. "And where is he?" He asked as his cool fingers lightly brushed Benjamin's mark on my skin.

"Hunting."

"What a coincidence, so are we," he said, boring his eyes into mine. "We're hunting for his mate, a human that goes by the name of Mina Langley. It wouldn't happen to be you, by any chance, now would it?"

"Yes," I revealed and instantly heard the men chuckle.

"He's a lucky bastard," one of the Lycan killers mumbled as he snuck up behind me.

"No offense to Alpha Aaron, but I really can't believe she comes from him," another laughed while a third buried his nose in my hair.

"Let's have a little fun with her before we go back, Beta. Come on; we deserve it."

"And don't forget, there's two more downstairs," a fourth voice said as I remained frozen in fear.

"Enough!" The pale man they called Beta screamed, pulling me away from the rest. "Our orders were to find and bring her to him, and that's what we're going to do. Go grab a car and let everyone else know we're leaving."

Much to my relief, his men reluctantly obeyed the orders and walked through the door one by one, all muttering obscenities under their beards. A minute later, Benjamin's truck turned over, and my eyes returned to the Beta. He pulled a long piece of white cloth out of its pockets and tore it in half before tying my wrists behind my back.

"Don't worry, I won't let them touch you," he said lowly as he brought the second piece of linen to my mouth. "But they're right; you sure are a pretty one. Maybe I should convince the Alpha not to kill you," he breathed out, pressing his body against mine. "I've always dreamt of owning an Alpha female, and I really would like to see you tied to my bed."

"No!" I tried to yell through my gag, my heart sinking at the glaring threats of rape.

I would have preferred death right this moment rather than ever relive that horror, but to my dismay, my efforts to run away did not anger him as I had hoped. Instead, he obnoxiously laughed as he caught up to me and dragged me kicking and screaming to the car.

"Remember now, I like my slaves obedient," he chuckled as he threw me into the backseat, promising to make me his own soon.

'*Where the hell are you? Please, Benji, don't let him take me. Please*,' I cried, for the thousandth time tonight, begging and praying for my mate as the truck drove off with a shriek.

**Roxanne's POV**

"We have to help her, Roxy! Open the door! She's screaming! Can't you hear her?"

***Anybody got eyes on Jenny? Sheila? Do you have eyes on my mate***?

***They're Lycans! These things are Lycans! Spread the word***!

***We have to send warriors to the packhouse; they're overrun with them***!

***Can anybody get to Luna Mina? We can't. These things are killing us off***!

"Roxy! We can't let her die! Open the door, Roxy! Give me the keys!"

"Shut up, O! Shut up! All of you, just shut up!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, slapping my hands on my head. "I can't think with all this screaming in my head! I can't think," I cried out, ultimately collapsing to the floor breathlessly. "My head hurts, O. Please, stop!"

"Close your pack link, Roxy. Listen to me," Ophelia said, crouching down in front of me and lifting my head in her hands. "You gotta close it now."

"Okay," I mumbled, finally doing as told, then gasped as the pounding in my head suddenly subsided.

All at once, the voices in my head died down and left behind only Jaya's quiet whimpering, for she, too, could feel, even in her coma-like state, all of the pain around us. I disconnected myself from the pack, and I was glad I did. I could finally catch my breath and hear my own thoughts for the first time tonight.

"Roxy?" Ophelia whispered, forcing my eyes to open again. "Mina was screaming before, and now I can't hear her anymore. We gotta go up there. She's probably hurt."

More tears rolled down my face as I removed her hands from my head. "We can't," I muttered, looking to the floor.

"Yes, we can. Just open the cage."

"No, Ophelia," I said again, breaking down. "If we go up there, we die. What would, then, be the point of Mina sacrificing herself for us?"

"What? You don't want to help her? But she's your best friend!" Ophelia yelled as she stood back up in shock.

"Yes, she is! That's why I know she wouldn't want us to go after her. Remember when she let you run out of the woods to escape the rogues?" I shouted back, guilt and pain crushing my heart. "Mina did this for us, and we have to accept that."

"But- but…" Ophelia stuttered, falling to the floor next to me. "She's gonna die."

"We don't know that," I told her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. "She's made it through a lot worse. We just have to beg the Moon Goddess to watch over her."

"What about us?"

"We'll pray that She watches over us too," I said, holding her tighter.

Ophelia was right, we could no longer hear either Mina or the Lycans, and slowly the house fell into a deep and eerie silence. We hugged each other, crying without a word for a long time until one after another, we fell asleep in the middle of the silver cage, exhausted beyond belief.

"Roxy, wake up." The teenager suddenly nudged me out of my sleep as she got up, looking to the ceiling. "Do you hear that?" She asked, helping me, in turn, to my feet.

"Yeah, I do." I replied, straining my ears to hear the faint sounds coming from above our heads.

A dozen or more Lycans had returned for us, I was sure of it, and as they methodically searched and shuffled through the house, room by room, I was also afraid that this time, they would not forget the cellar. '*This is it*,' I thought, giving up hope as their scattered footsteps and weak, choppy voices only grew louder. Our luck had finally run out, and the Lycans were now descending the steps that led directly to us.

"Get behind me," I ordered Ophelia wearily seconds before a blinding beam of light burst through the door and a familiar voice spoke up.

"Holy, fuck! Shit! Roxy, baby, it's me! I'm here!"