Chapter 8 CHAPTER 8
He stopped there.
His hand hovered, then pressed lightly, testing, as if confirming something. He was careful with his touch, and it confused me more than anything.
I did not understand what he was doing.
I did not understand why he had not hurt me yet.
My body tensed as his claws extended longer, and sharper, catching the firelight as they moved. Fear gripped me instantly, my heart pounding harder as I braced myself for what would come next.
He reached for my tunic.
My breath hitched as he pulled it free from my waistband, the fabric shifting under his hand.
Suddenly I was just one big ball of panic, my mind racing racing with different kindsof horrible things he is going to do to me. I tried to pull back despite the chains holding me in place.
This was it. My worst fear.
I squeezed my eyes shut, tears slipping free as I waited for it.
But what came next was not what I expected.
The fabric gave way with a clean slice as his claw cut through it, opening the front just enough to expose my ribs. The air hit my skin, sending goosebumps across my skin as a breeze of cold air touches the bare skin.
I forced myself to look at him, only to realize that his eyes were no longer roaming my body, but frozen on the bruises.
Dark marks spread across my skin in uneven and discolored marks, a clear sign of what had been done to me. His eyes darkened as he took them in, his expression chaged in a way I couldn't understand.
Not hunger, nor was it desire. It was something colder.
His hand moved again, slower this time, hovering just above the worst of the bruising, careful not to press too hard.
And in that moment, through the fear and the confusion, a single thought broke through.
He had not done this to me.
Someone else had.
And he knew it.
I did not understand this beast.
He was ruthless, yet there was something else beneath it, something I could not explain no matter how hard I tried. It was as if he understood that I was in pain, the way his hand hovered over my injuries without pressing down.
His expression shifted again. It happened so suddenly it made my breath catch.
A low growl rose from his chest, but this time it was different. It was not controlled, but something darker in a dangerous way. The look in his eyes made my whole body tense.
Then it broke.
A deafening roar tore from him, loud enough to shake the air in the room and make my ears ring. Before I could react, he dropped down onto all fours, his body shifting back into something more animal than man.
Fear gripped me instantly.
He moved through the room in a burst of sudden violence, his claws tearing into whatever was within reach. Old furniture was shredded under his strength, already worn pieces breaking apart completely as he threw them aside like they weighed nothing. Wood cracked against stone, the sound sharp and violent, echoing through the large space.
He ripped at the walls, dragging his claws across them with enough force to leave deep marks behind. Anything loose was thrown, scattered, destroyed in moments as his anger filled the room.
I froze where I was, my breath shallow, my body too weak to move as I watched him.
This was the monster everyone feared.
Not the controlled creature that had carried me here. This was something else entirely.
He stormed out of the chamber without another look at me, the heavy door slamming shut behind him with a force that echoed through the stone walls. The sound lingered in my ears even after he left.
I lay there for a moment, my chest rising and falling quickly, my body still tense as if he might return at any second.
I was relieved to see when he didn’t. I was alone.
The realization hit me slowly, then all at once.
This was my chance.
I forced myself to move, ignoring the sharp pain in my ribs as I pushed up slightly. The chains rattled with the movement, the cold metal biting into my wrists as I pulled against them. I gritted my teeth and tried harder, twisting my hands, pulling with what little strength I had left, but they didn’t budge.
“Come on…” I whispered under my breath, my voice tight with frustration.
The chains held firm.
Panic began to rise again, as I looked around the room, searching for anything at all that I could use.
That was when I saw it, near the edge of the bed, half-hidden in the shadows, a small piece of metal caught the faint light from the fire. I moved slightly, my eyes narrowing as I focused on it.
A nail.
It must have come loose when he destroyed the furniture.
a Flicker of hope grew inside me.
I stretched as far as the chains would allow, my fingers reaching for it, but I was just too short. The metal dug deeper into my wrists as I pulled, pain flaring through my arms, but I didn’t stop.
I couldn’t.
I shifted my body, inching closer, ignoring the pain in my ribs as I reached again, and this time my fingers brushed it.
I held my breath and stretched just a little more, my fingertips finally closing around the small piece of metal as relief rushed through me.
I tightened my grip around the small piece of nail, my fingers trembling slightly as I brought it closer to the chain locked around my wrist.
The metal cuff is tight against my skin, already rubbing raw from how much I had pulled against it before. I forced myself to slow down, knowing that rushing would only make more noise, and noise was the last thing I needed right now.
Carefully, I pressed the tip of the nail into the small gap of the lock. It scraped lightly against the metal, the sound sharp in the quiet room, far louder than it should have been. My breath caught instantly, and I froze, every part of me going still as I listened.
Nothing.
Only the faint crackle of the fire and the distant, steady drip of water echoing somewhere beyond the walls.