(TRIGGER WARNING: CONTENT CONTAINS SEXUAL ASSAULT)
The vault was burning, or perhaps it was just my own body temperature rising. Sweat trickled down my spine, and my steps faltered as I trailed behind Alexander, preparing to commence the fire ritual.
Silviu had settled himself on a stool, watching us with a mischievous glint in his eyes. It was obvious that he had something to gain from all of this. He had orchestrated Everett's death to ensure Alexander's ascension as Alpha, and he had helped Alexander in getting me back.
There had to be compensation for his efforts. Perhaps a pack merger? Whatever it was, I knew it must be worth something for Silviu to help Alexander this much.
I glanced at my family. Tears welled up in my mother's eyes, Marilyn and Kate seemed confused, and my father lay discarded on the floor at Silviu's feet. A surge of despair filled my chest, and I knew that I had to find a way to save my family.
Becoming Alexander’s Luna was out of the question. Death seemed like a much more preferable fate but if I were to die, it would be alongside Alexander.
With seething, hate-filled eyes, I glared at Alexander's back. Memories of our life together flooded my mind, reminding me of the countless ways he had tortured and taken advantage of me.
I couldn't let him win, not this time.
The ritual required us to encircle the fire twelve times, symbolizing the twelve full moons, starting from the Cold Moon and concluding with the Wolf Moon—the first moon in the Earth's cycle.
I was going to make my move during the Wolf Moon.
My heart thundered in my chest, and I longed for Natalie's presence. She seemed like she would know exactly how to deal with this situation but my sister was far away, searching for our uncle who was right here. I had no choice but to face this without her.
“All hail the Goddess who illuminates the night," I muttered each time we made a turn, Alexander's enthusiasm-filled voice drowned out mine.
I noticed Marilyn's gaze fixed on Silviu, filled with raw rage. I glanced in his direction, and to my horror, I saw Silviu casually resting one leg on my father's body.
Before anyone could stop her, Marilyn launched herself at Silviu, catching him off guard. She managed to strike him fiercely in the chest before his warriors could get to her. In an instant, Silviu’s expression held irritation before he delivered a forceful blow that sent her crashing to the floor, her face colliding with the stair nosing.
"Marilyn!" I cried out, attempting to move towards her. But Alexander swiftly pivoted, grabbing hold of me and wrapping his hand around my midsection, stopping me.
"Let me go, you bastard!" I screamed, jerking my head backward, connecting with his nose. I heard the satisfying crack of something behind me just as he released his grip, allowing me to fall to the floor.
I scrambled back to my feet, in time to witness the clash between the three warriors we had brought and Alexander's men, and as apparent as it was that this was a futile fight, I felt a flicker of relief that we were making an effort.
Silviu seized my father by the collar as if he weighed nothing, pressing a blade against his neck, just as Isla had done to me before.
I froze; we all did.
Though as an Alpha, Silviu shouldn't be capable of killing my father, it was evident that his current weakened state would prevent his wolf side from even manifesting. Silviu had done this to him, making him a shell filled with nothingness.
"Silviu, please. Why are you doing this?" My mother's voice quavered when she spoke. "He is your brother, you can't possibly—"
"Shut up!" he barked. "You've always thought of me as dirt, haven't you? You believed yourselves better than me, never deeming me worthy of being an Alpha myself."
"That has nothing to do with us and everything to do with the Goddess," I retorted.
"Well, she is wrong!" Silviu's eyes filled me with dread. I could see the venom and insanity lurking within them, the madness his insatiable desires had led him into. I knew my mother's attempts to reason with him would be utterly useless.
This was the moment Silviu had longed for, lived for.
This was his moment.
He was going to kill my father regardless, it was the only way he could ascend to the position of Alpha—by killing the previous one and forcefully taking his power.
Silviu continued his rant. "I have made worthy men Alphas and watched them flourish. I have also witnessed the Goddess bestow the same coveted position upon undeserving individuals." His sinister gaze trailed down to my father, reflecting in the vile tilt of the corners of his mouth.
"Just like your sister, Sephora. An example of the Goddess's poor judgment, perhaps that is why she is now dead. Good riddance!"
"What?" my mother whispered, stepping forward. "What did you just say?"
"Mom, please, stay back," I pleaded.
Silviu threw me a twisted grin. "Ah, I see you never told them. My sincere apologies."
And with a snarl, Kate charged at him, drawing a small blade from her waistband. But before she could reach him, Silviu, his dusty grey eyes fixed on me, made a slicing motion with the hand holding the knife against my father's throat. For the first time, my father made a sound.
I watched in horror, collapsing to the floor as my father gurgled, his frail hands reaching to grasp his wounded neck, when Silviu let him go.
Kate faltered, halting suddenly as our father collapsed, his lifeless body between her and Silviu.
"Elton!"
And for the rest of my life, my mother's broken scream would forever echo in my memory as she crumbled beside my father. At that moment, something inside me snapped, and all I could see was the death that hung around me.
Sephora, and now my father.
I cried out, reaching desperately for a spear from one of the guard's hands, but Alexander blocked me before I could grab it.
“You stupid bitch!” Alexander snarled behind me before snatching me by the hair. My eyes caught Kate as she shifted into her wolf form, Marilyn following suit while my mom kept crying at my father’s side.
She pressed his bloodied hand to her cheeks begging him to stay with her.
“You can’t escape this anymore, Sophia,” Alexander said, pulling me toward the fire but then he hesitated when he noticed my sisters engaged in a battle with his warriors.
“Shit! Shit!” he swore and began dragging me away from the room by my hair, a fistful of it clenched in his hand.
Pain shot through my skull stinging me whole and as hard as I struggled, his hold only became tighter and the harder I tried to fight him off, the more the scalding pain in my skull intensified.
I attempted to shift, internally, I cried out to my wolf, begging desperately but it didn't matter how much I pleaded because still, silence met me from her end.
We left the room behind, the sounds of cries and pain fading into the background the farther Alexander dragged me off.
Finally, he stopped and brought me into an upright position only to slam my head against the wall.
A tear rolled down my eyes when he brought his rough palm against my neck, pinning me to the wall, my legs dangling just above the floor.
“I gave you everything,” he growled. “I clothed and fed you, and you couldn't remain loyal to me, you stupid fool!”
His hand tightened around my neck as he spoke. “This is all your fault. All of this is happening because of you. Don't you realize that? Don't you see how much I love you? We belong together, Sophia. You are nothing without me!” he screamed, his voice ricocheting in the empty hallway.
Alexander let go of my neck, his eyes blazing when he noticed something ingrained in the skin. I knew what it was immediately, and out of reflex, I reached out my hands to cover the spot Callan had marked me.
“Marked but not mated,” he let out in a low, dangerous voice. “Let’s see if being marked changes anything if I mate you first.”
And with that, he pushed me to the ground and grabbed my shirt, ripping it off me just like he had done that night.
Roughly, he began to kiss me all over, leaving wet, sloppy kisses on every inch of my skin. His mouth was on my bare breast and stomach. Revulsion coursed through me and I fought against him, kicking and screaming out as loud as I could.
When he punched me, his fist connecting to my nose, I felt my world stop. Blood trailed down my nose and he didn't seem to notice as he hurriedly began to pull at my undergarment, fueled by his perverted desires.
My last attempt at saving myself was with all of the strength I had left in me, I shoved him off and when he grabbed me, pulling me back, my hand had grabbed a chest lying on the floor next to me.
I swung the chest, even though my arms cried in pain, smashing him in the face with it. He stumbled backward, falling to the floor with a roar, swearing, and cursing.
The chest was heavy, heavier than I thought but I crawled up to Alexander and once more brought the chest down on his face, the next time I hit him with it, I was atop him and he was groaning and writhing underneath me.
I brought down the chest again and slammed it on his face.
Again.
Again.
Again.
I continued to hit him until I no longer felt my arms. Until his face was unrecognizable, a horrifying mess of disfigured and darkened blood. Until I had blood splattered all over me and I could feel its metallic taste in my mouth.
I didn't stop, not until Alexander had gone still.
He was dead. I knew he was dead but still, I brought the chest down on his face one last time, the momentum so heavy, it jolted me off him and I fell to my side.
I lay there for the longest time, unable to move and simply staring into the bloodied mess that was once Alexander.