Torture and search

Kelsey's POV 

Cassie stormed into the room, her eyes red and brimming with unshed tears. She tossed her purse to the floor, kicked off her heels, and crossed her arms, her whole body tense with anger.

“Cassie, what’s wrong?” I asked, stepping closer, worry tightening in my chest.

She looked up, her expression shattered. “I think… I think Talon loves someone else,” she whispered, her voice ragged. “He’s never looked at me the way he looks at her.”

I reached for her, my heart aching. “But, Cassie—I love you. Isn’t that enough?” The words felt weak, like a lifeline I couldn't hold onto.

She shot me a glare, sharp enough to cut. “And what does your love mean to me?” she spat. “You’re just a rogue. Talon is an Alpha. You’re not even close to his level.”

Her words struck deep, her rejection landing like a blow to the gut. Talon had taken everything from me—my place, my woman, my pride. Pain twisted in my chest, hardening into something darker.

I clenched my fists, pulled out my phone, and typed a message to my team.

“Start the revolt. Now.”

The text was sent with a finality I couldn’t take back. And as I looked at Cassie, I realized this would be the last time she’d ever turn her back on me or ever see me as someone insignificant.

Third-person POV

One of the men tossed a bucket of cold water onto Anthena's face, jolting her awake. She gasped for breath, her lungs burning as she blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of her surroundings—a dimly lit, cold stone room. Her pulse quickened as the faces around her came into view, staring down with cruel, hungry eyes, making her feel like a sacrifice, trapped and vulnerable under their watchful gaze.

Once she struggled to remember, but the recollection hit her like a wave, washing over her: the party, Talon confessing he was a werewolf and his warning about the enemies he had. It was no longer just faces she was seeing, and her heart raced. She needn't have heard their words to know they were indeed the very enemies Talon had feared. That was a punch to the chest.

She glanced towards the table beside her, at a collection of gleaming knives. It was then that panic filled her blood streams. Anthena looked at her chains strapped around her wrists and even though it felt like metal loosening its grip against her skin, she couldn’t break loose. As she moved, the chains burned her deeper and deeper.

The men shared hateful, knowing looks and grinned wickedly. One approached her and seized a handful of hair, jerking her head back. She let out a pained gasp, her body stiffening against the action.

They aren't coming for you, he said, breathing into her ear--hot breath. "Not even that bastard Alpha."

A sickening fear rolled through her, and she clenched her teeth to calm the racing thoughts in her mind. Alpha? Talon was a werewolf king, wasn't he? She was confused, scared her blood still boiling in her body as she tried to make sense of it all.

The man released her hair, throwing her head back with a mocking laugh. "What did you think? Did you believe he’d come for you? His kind never do."

The words struck deep, but her mind was a whirlwind, desperate to hold onto the sliver of hope that Talon might somehow save her.

"What do you want from me?" she gasped, her voice trembling from both fear and pain.

The men exchanged amused glances, their cruel laughter echoing in the chamber. One of them stepped closer, his voice low and sinister. "If we tell you, will you do it?"

She fell silent, every muscle in her body screaming in protest at the thought of what they might demand.

"Okay, then," the man continued, his eyes gleaming with malice. "We want you to kill Alpha Talon. Would you be able to do that?"

The words struck her like lightning. Talon wasn’t just a werewolf—he was an Alpha, the leader of their kind. Her thoughts tangled, her breath caught in her throat as the reality of the situation sank in. She could feel her heart pounding, but she held her silence, knowing there was no easy answer.

"Well, I guess I’ll take your silence as a no," the man sneered. Without warning, another man approached, a cloth in hand. He twisted it tightly, pressing it to her face, suffocating her. The panic overwhelmed her. Her chest heaved in desperate gasps, fighting for air, but the cloth smothered her, forcing the breath from her lungs.

The man took pleasure in her struggle, watching as she fought for each breath, her body rigid with terror. Just when she thought the darkness would claim her, the cloth was lifted, and she sucked in a desperate, ragged breath.

But it didn’t end there. The cloth came back again, pressing harder, tighter. Her body shook, her hands still bound, unable to fight back. Every breath was agony, her lungs screaming for air that wouldn’t come.

Finally, the man pulled away, grinning at her exhaustion.

Another man stepped forward, his eyes sharp with curiosity. "How could a human become a Luna?" he asked, his voice cold with disdain.

A Luna? The term felt foreign, yet it struck something deep inside her. Wasn’t a Luna the queen of the werewolves? Her eyes widened in shock.

The man saw the surprise flicker across her face and chuckled darkly. "I assume the bastard Alpha hasn’t told you yet."

She barely registered his words, the weight of his revelation too heavy to grasp. Her mind reeled, and through the haze of pain and confusion, she managed to ask, her voice shaky, "Why... do you hate your Alpha and me?"

"Because you both are a curse," he spat. "Just like his father, Talon will never be our Alpha."

The words rang in her ears, but before she could respond, another man picked up a knife from the nearby table, inhaling its sharp scent with a twisted grin. He drew it across the air, then, without hesitation, plunged it into her leg. The searing pain sliced through her, and she cried out, the agony tearing through her like a knife.

The man yanked the blade back, and her scream echoed through the room before everything went black.

In the distance, Talon charged his forces across the woods as though time was of essence; every muscle in his body driven by the single purpose of finding Anthena. The trees loomed tall and oppressive, casting long, dark shadows that swallowed them whole. His senses were on high alert, every rustle of leaves, every snap of a twig had him pausing, his heart racing. He couldn’t stop. He couldn’t fail.

"Spread out," Talon ordered, his voice tight with urgency. His soldiers immediately obeyed, fanning out across the forest, their torches casting flickering lights in the deepening night. His mind was consumed with thoughts of Anthena, her face flashing before him. They had taken her. He hadn’t been fast enough.

"Anthena!" His voice broke through the stillness of the woods, a desperate cry that tore through him like fire. "Anthena!"

The forest offered no answer, only the eerie silence of a place too vast to hold any trace of her.

Hours passed, and the weight of the search pressed down on him like a leaden weight. His heart raced with every footstep, every shadow cast by the trees. He could feel her—her presence, her energy, pulling him deeper into the woods.

By the time the moon reached its peak, the soldiers regrouped in a clearing, their faces drawn and tired.

"Report," Talon demanded, his voice tight, nearly choking on the words.

A soldier stepped forward, his expression grim. "Nothing, Alpha. We've searched everywhere. There’s no sign of her."

The ground beneath Talon’s feet seemed to give way, his chest constricting with the crushing weight of failure. He closed his eyes for a moment, fighting the surge of panic threatening to consume him.

"She’s gone," he whispered, barely hearing his own voice.

The cold realization cut through him like a blade, the darkness around him mocking him. He turned away, the heaviness of the moment dragging at his every step. The search had ended, but the battle was far from over.

Back at the camp, Talon sank down onto the couch in his tent, his mind numb. His fingers hovered over his phone, but the screen lit up with a message from Anthena’s phone. It was from Mandy.

“Hey, Anthena. Where are you? Are you safe?”

Talon’s chest tightened as he stared at the message, and for the first time in years, a tear slipped down his cheek.

Just as he wiped it away, his phone beeped. A picture. His heart stopped.

It was Anthena, bloodied, bruised, her eyes hollow. A message followed, sharp and cold:

“Come alone or she dies.”

Talon’s body went rigid with rage. His eyes burned with fury as his fists clenched tight around his phone.

They had her.

And now, the price of her life was in his hands.