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Nina

Weeks crawled by in silence, each day without a word from Jack leaving me weaker. The guards’ sporadic meals – mere scraps twice a week – barely kept me alive. My body had become a hollow shell of what it once was.

I huddled in the corner, gnawing absently at my fingertips when footsteps echoed down the corridor. I didn’t bother looking up, expecting another cold-faced guard.

But then his scent hit me – that familiar, intoxicating aroma that made my mouth water. I raised my head to find Jack looming over me, his face twisted with contempt.

I scrambled to my feet, my heart surging with a desperate joy. Something stirred deep within me, electric and primal, awakening every dormant cell in my body. The wolf inside me howled in recognition. I felt alive.

“Jack,” I breathed. “Is it really you?”

“Does seeing me make you this happy?” His voice was ice.

“Yes,” I whispered, drawing closer. “I’ve missed you so much, honey.”

His eyes blazed with such fury that I staggered back. This wasn’t the Jack I knew – the man who had held me tenderly, who had whispered sweet declarations of love against my skin. This was someone else entirely, someone carved from stone and spite.

“Why are you looking for me?” he demanded.

“I’m sorry,” I choked out. “Please, find it in your heart to forgive me.”

“Tell me,” he spoke, his voice carrying the very weight of hatred directed at me. “Why should I forgive someone who tried to kill me?”

I collapsed to my knees, tears streaming down my hollowed cheeks. My wolf’s warning echoed through my mind: only Jack could free me from this prison.

“I know what I did was unforgivable,” I pleaded, “but please don’t leave me here. Please don’t abandon me.”

The cell door creaked open with a sound of hope, hope that shattered instantly when Jack’s fingers locked around my throat. His grip was familiar, but this time held none of the former tenderness.

“What did I do to deserve this?” The words scraped past my constricted airway.

“You think you deserve my attention? My mercy?” His fingers tightened. “You tried to kill me, and now you expect compassion?”

“Please,” I gasped. “Spare me, please.”

Jack hurled me to the ground like discarded refuse. With deliberate slowness, he pulled out a pristine napkin, methodically wiped his hands as if cleaning off something filthy, then let it flutter down onto my crumpled form.

The gesture hurts so much. I was nothing but dirt to him now. But I hadn’t even succeeded in killing him, didn’t that count for something?

“Drag her out,” he ordered, his voice devoid of emotion.

The guards swarmed in like vultures. Their rough hands seized me before I could gather my wits.

“Let me go!” I thrashed against their iron grip. “Let go of me, you bastards!”

My screams bounced off the stone walls, echoing back to mock me. But they died in my throat when they dragged me into the open chamber. My blood turned to ice.

The entire pack stood waiting, their faces a sea of cold judgment. They had come to witness my shame.

Pain.

It was the first thing I felt as the guards forced me onto my knees before the entire pack, my wrists bound in iron shackles that burned against my skin.

The pressure of their stares pressed down on me like a crushing force, hatred, disgust, and cruel satisfaction gleamed in their eyes.

Jack stood before me, the man who had once loved me, once sworn to protect me. But now, that love was gone, replaced by something cold and merciless.

His once-gentle eyes were hard as stone, his lips curled into a smirk that sent a shiver down my spine.

He was enjoying this.

“You think I still love you?” he murmured, crouching in front of me so only I could hear. “That I still feel anything other than disgust. But I need you to understand something, Nina...”

His fingers gripped my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze.

“You are nothing to me now.”

I clenched my jaw, refusing to let him see how deeply those words cut. “You’re a fool, Jack,” I spat. “You think this makes you strong? Torturing me in front of your pack?” I let out a cold laugh despite the fear creeping into my bones. “You’re proving that I still have power over you. That you still care—”

Pain exploded through my side as his fist collided with my ribs, knocking the air from my lungs. I gasped, doubling over, but the chains kept me from falling.

“You lost your power the moment you tried to kill me,” Jack growled. “Now, it’s my turn.”

He straightened, turning to the pack. “This woman thought she could betray us, that she could poison me and walk away unpunished.” His voice rang through the hall, powerful and commanding. “But we do not show mercy to traitors.”

A deafening cheer rose from the crowd, their bloodlust thick in the air. My heart pounded against my ribs. I couldn’t let them break me. I couldn’t—

“Begin.”

The first strike came without warning. A lash of fire seared across my back as the whip cracked against my skin. My body jolted forward, a choked cry escaping my lips before I could swallow it.

Again.

Again.

Each strike sent fresh agony lancing through me, tearing through flesh, ripping away whatever dignity I had left. I bit my lip until I tasted blood, refusing to scream.

But then Jack stepped forward, holding something in his hands.

Silver.

My wolf whimpered inside me as he slowly dragged the silver dagger along my arm, just deep enough to send fire coursing through my veins.