Chapter 10

Chapter 10
I slammed the door behind me, heart pounding like a drum inside a steel cage.

I didn’t know where I was going. I didn’t care. I just needed to breathe without the scent of Vexx all over my skin. Without the sound of his voice curling around my name like a leash.

The penthouse tower stretched tall and cold above the city, but I took the stairs down, twenty-seven floors, feet moving too fast, too angry. By the time I hit the bottom level, my knees were shaking.

I slipped out through a back entrance.

No guards stopped me.

No one dared.

Even without the velvet choker, they felt me now.

Out on the streets, the city lights looked like fireflies trapped in glass. Sirens howled in the distance, real ones. Human ones. Nothing magical. Just more pain echoing through alleys and bullet holes.

It suited me just fine.

I walked for hours. Past the shifter clubs and smoke-filled bars. Past old stone churches that smelled like blood and incense. Past everything that looked like it belonged to a world I’d never be part of again.

I finally stopped in front of an old music school.

The windows were cracked. The lights flickered.

My fingers trembled as I pushed open the door.

It smelled like dust, wood polish, and old secrets. Familiar and not.

I walked past broken violins and tilted chairs and slipped into the practice room where I used to give piano lessons, before my voice meant anything, before I was bought, before my name turned into a prophecy I didn’t ask for.

I sat at the dusty baby grand and touched the keys.

Then I sang.

Soft. Lonely. Raw.

No command.

No violence.

Just pain.

And I didn’t know it yet, but someone was listening.

Across the city…

Vexx stood at the edge of the penthouse balcony, eyes locked on the skyline, fists clenched so tight his knuckles cracked.

“She’s gone,” Drekk said from behind him, arms folded, expression unreadable. “You let her go. Again.”

Vexx didn’t answer.

“You built an empire of wolves,” Drekk continued, “and you’re letting a siren unravel it.”

Still, silence.

Drekk leaned in. “You’re losing your edge.”

Vexx turned slowly. His golden eyes flared.

“No,” he said. “I’m hunting something worth bleeding for.”

Then he pointed toward the map on the wall.

“Double the guards at every entrance. If Grell’s men are moving, they’ll come for her soon.”

Drekk raised a brow. “You’re planning on bringing her back?”

Vexx smiled darkly.

“I’m planning on burning down anyone who thinks they can keep her from me.”

Back in the music school…

I finished the last note, breath shaky. My voice had cracked halfway through.

I didn’t care.

For a few minutes, I’d felt human again.

Whole.

A soft noise behind me made my spine go rigid.

I turned.

And there he was.

Not Vexx.

Not a wolf.

But a man in a green suit, eyes dead gray, lips curled in something that wasn’t quite a smile.

“Hello, little songbird,” he said.

My blood froze.

Grell.
I didn’t move.

Didn’t breathe.

Didn’t blink.

Grell stepped further into the room, his shoes quiet against the dusty floor, like a predator who knew exactly how long he had to play with his prey.

“How long has it been,” he murmured, eyes sweeping the space, “since someone let you sing without wanting to use you?”

I backed away from the piano slowly. “What do you want?”

“Oh, come now,” he said with mock offense. “After all your brother did for me, I’d think you’d be a little more polite.”

My stomach flipped.

He smiled wider. “Don’t look so shocked. You didn’t think Vexx was the only one with ears on the inside, did you?”

“What do you mean?”

He pulled something from his coat pocket, a small silver recorder.

He pressed play.

My voice filled the air. The forbidden hymn. The same one I sang in Vexx’s penthouse that had brought the pack to its knees.

Grell tilted his head, letting the sound wash over him like it was wine. “Beautiful. But raw. Untrained. You’re powerful, Kessia, but messy. That’s what makes you dangerous. And useful.”

I gritted my teeth. “You’re not taking me.”

He chuckled. “I’m not here to take you. Not yet.”

“Then what...”

“I’m here to offer you a choice. Vexx thinks you belong to him. But we both know wolves get sloppy when they’re in love.”

I flinched.

He caught it instantly.

“Ah. So it is love. How sweet. How… weak.” He took another step forward. “You’re not meant to be someone’s mate, Kessia. You’re meant to be a queen. A voice that brings kingdoms to their knees. Come with me, and I’ll give you control over your gift. No collars. No cages. No chains.”

My back hit the wall. “And what would you get in return?”

His voice dropped to a whisper. “Just a song. One little song. Directed at the right wolves. Ones I need gone.”

I stared at him. “You want to use me as a weapon.”

He shrugged. “Everyone already does. I’m just the first one honest about it.”

I clenched my jaw. “Get out.”

He didn’t move. “You’re not safe here, Kessia. Vexx’s enemies know what you are now. They’ll come. They won’t ask. They’ll rip your throat out just to bottle what’s inside.”

“I said get out.”

He studied me, then gave a slow nod. “I’ll give you time to think.”

As he turned to go, he tossed something onto the floor.

A photograph.

I picked it up with shaking hands.

It was my brother.

Strapped to a table. Mouth gagged. Eyes full of something worse than fear, guilt.

Grell’s voice echoed behind him as he left. “He wanted power too. And look where it got him.”

The door shut softly behind him.

And I was alone again.

Alone with a photograph.

A piano.

And a choice that would destroy someone either way.

Meanwhile…

Vexx stood in his office, two fingers pressed to his temple, head pounding.

“She’s close,” he growled to himself.

The scent of her lingered on his skin, in his memory. Her voice was still in his bones, scratching at his control.

He stared at the broken choker in his hand.

Then he turned to his guards.

“Get me everything you have on Grell’s movements. If he’s touched her… I’ll skin him alive.”