Chapter-HundredTwentyOne, Part Two
Chapter-HundredTwentyOne, How Was I Caught
Gemma’s POV
Triggering my vampire side was the biggest mistake of my life.
Nobody warned me how bad it would be.
The hunger wasn’t normal hunger. It was torture. It clawed at my throat, burned through my veins, and consumed every thought in my head until blood became the only thing that mattered. Maggie had told me I would crave it, but she never explained how unbearable it truly was.
Every heartbeat around me sounded like temptation.
Every person smelled like prey.
And after killing those people… after feeling their fear and pain… I couldn’t take it anymore.
So I shut it all off.
No emotions.
No guilt.
No remorse.
Humanity off.
Simple.
The triplets kept saying they loved me, but deep down, I knew the truth. They wanted the power I carried. A tribrid mate. A weapon. A queen to strengthen their pack.
Well, they didn’t need to worry.
The second I turned eighteen, I would reject every single one of them.
And I wouldn’t lose a second of sleep over it.
I was finishing feeding from a human woman when Sean mind-linked me.
Gemma, can we talk?
I almost ignored him.
But curiosity got the better of me.
After draining the woman dry, I dropped her body onto the pavement and wiped the blood from my mouth before using my magic to teleport straight into the forest.
Sean jumped slightly when I appeared beside him.
“Hello, brother,” I said with a smirk.
Relief flashed across his face instantly.
“Gemma… you came.”
He stepped forward like he wanted to hug me, but I quickly moved back.
“Don’t,” I warned coldly. “I don’t trust myself around you.”
Pain crossed Sean’s face, but he respected my distance.
“Let’s walk,” he said quietly. “Come to the lake with me.”
We started walking through the trees in silence before he finally asked, “How are you really doing?”
I laughed bitterly.
“You want the truth? Fine. I want to rip your throat out. That’s how I’m doing.”
Sean sighed heavily.
“Sis, we can help you.”
“No one can help me now.”
“You shouldn’t be going through this alone.”
“I’m not alone,” I snapped. “I have myself. That’s enough.”
Sean stopped walking for a second before speaking again.
“Do you remember Carla? My first mate?”
I nodded once.
“She came back,” he whispered. “And she tried to kill me.”
For a split second, I genuinely felt sorry for him.
“What?”
“Mum put her under a sleeping spell.”
I frowned slightly. “I can get rid of her if you want.”
Before Sean could answer, I suddenly felt someone tap my shoulder.
The second I turned around—
Cold metal snapped around my wrists.
Pain shot through my body instantly.
The black magic shackles.
“What the hell?” I snarled.
My magic vanished completely.
I spun toward Sean in disbelief.
“You set me up?”
The triplets stepped out from the trees.
Jayden looked tense.
Logan looked guilty.
Asher avoided my eyes entirely.
Rage exploded inside me.
“You pathetic traitor,” I hissed at Sean. “Your mate should’ve finished the job.”
“Gemma,” Jayden said carefully, “this is for your own good.”
“My own good?” I laughed darkly. “What’s the plan? Lock me away because you can’t control me?”
“You’re killing innocent people,” Logan snapped. “You’re losing yourself.”
“I already lost myself.”
Asher stepped forward slowly.
“This isn’t you, Gemma.”
I glared at him.
“No. This is exactly who I am.”
Maggie suddenly appeared from behind the trees, tears filling her eyes.
“My darling,” she whispered. “Please forgive us.”
I stared at all of them with pure hatred.
“You want forgiveness?” I spat. “Here’s what I want instead.”
I lifted my chin proudly.
“I, Gemma Star, reject Alpha Jayden, Alpha Logan, and Alpha Asher as my mates.”
The bond pulsed violently around us.
But Logan only shook his head.
“We don’t accept.”
My jaw clenched.
“You can’t reject us until you’re eighteen.”
The way he laughed like this was some joke made my blood boil.
I tried using my magic again, but the shackles burned against my skin, blocking everything.
Maggie had prepared them well.
Jayden suddenly lifted me over his shoulder while I kicked and fought violently.
“Put me down!”
Asher grabbed my legs to stop me thrashing.
I struggled harder as they carried me deeper into the woods.
Then I saw it.
An underground bunker.
Fear flickered inside me for the first time.
“No.”
Jayden carried me down the steps and placed me carefully on a bed inside the bunker.
The walls were covered in glowing protection symbols.
Magic.
Spells.
A prison.
“The bunker is protected,” Jayden explained quietly. “You won’t be able to escape.”
My breathing became uneven.
“You’re locking me underground?” I whispered. “After everything Richard did to me?”
Pain flashed across all three of their faces.
But none of them stopped.
“Until your humanity comes back on,” Logan said softly, “you’re staying here.”
The heavy steel door slammed shut.
Then the lock clicked.
And just like that…
I was trapped.
Hours passed.
Maybe longer.
Time didn’t feel real anymore.
The hunger grew worse by the minute.
I could hear everything outside.
Animals moving through the forest.
Voices above me.
Heartbeats.
Blood.
Every sound drove me insane.
I tried breaking the shackles until my wrists bled, but nothing worked. My magic was completely gone. Even Emma, my wolf, felt distant and silent.
I screamed for a while.
Nobody came.
Eventually, I gave up and sat curled on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
I hated this place.
I hated them.
And most of all—
I hated myself.
Footsteps echoed outside the bunker door.
I immediately sat upright.
The scent hit me first.
The triplets.
The door opened slowly.
Logan stepped inside first.
“How are you feeling?”
I laughed bitterly.
“How do you think?”
Jayden tossed a half-filled blood bag onto the bed beside me.
“That’s all you’re getting.”
I stared at it in disbelief.
“You’re starving me?”
“We’re trying to help you,” Asher muttered.
I stood slowly, glaring at all three of them.
“When I get out of here,” I whispered darkly, “I’m going to enjoy making you suffer.”
Logan smirked slightly despite the tension.
“You’re terrifying, babe. Really.”
“I hate you.”
“You don’t mean that,” he replied softly.
“Yes, I do.”
Silence filled the bunker.
Then Asher spoke quietly.
“You’ve become cruel, Gemma.”
“Good.”
None of them answered after that.
Eventually they left again, locking me back inside alone.
The second they were gone, I grabbed the blood bag and drank every last drop desperately.
It barely helped.
I still wanted more.
Needed more.
A while later, another scent reached me.
Sean.
The door opened again.
He stepped inside cautiously.
“Hey, sis.”
I glared at him instantly.
“You should’ve let Carla kill you.”
Pain crossed his face, but he hid it quickly.
“You don’t mean that.”
“Yes, I do.”
Sean crouched slightly in front of me.
“Turn your humanity back on.”
“No.”
“Gemma—”
“I said no.”
His expression hardened.
“Then don’t blame me for what happens next.”
Before I could react, agony suddenly ripped through my body.
I screamed.
It felt like my blood was boiling beneath my skin.
I collapsed onto my knees shaking violently.
“STOP!”
“Turn it back on!”
“No!”
Then Sean did the unthinkable.
He grabbed my arm—
CRACK.
I screamed as pain exploded through me.
My arm hung broken at my side.
Before I could recover, he stabbed silver into my leg.
Another scream tore from my throat.
Blood poured down my skin.
Tears burned my eyes from pure pain and rage.
“You’ll pay for this,” I hissed. “I swear to the goddess, Sean… when I get out of here, I’ll kill every single one of you.”
He looked devastated for a moment.
But he didn’t back down.
“This isn’t you talking.”
“It is now.”
Sean stood slowly.
“You can end this anytime, Gemma. Turn your humanity back on.”
I glared at him with pure hatred.
“You’re not my brother anymore.”
The words clearly hurt him.
Good.
Without another word, Sean walked out of the bunker and locked the door behind him.
I curled forward slightly, shaking from pain, fury, and hunger.
The darkness inside me burned stronger than ever.
And one thing became painfully clear.
The second I escaped—
I was going to make them all regret locking me in this cage.