CHAPTER 12. Is this my end?

**— VITA.**

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I look directly into Derek's eyes, and something is breaking inside me. Funny, I didn't even know there was anything left to be broken.

Derek pulls away from me and lets it fall around his body. He looks at Mr. Raven with sharp, angry eyes, adding with a harsh tone, "Hands off."

Mr. Raven releases me slowly, and I breathe a sigh of relief at not feeling this man's disgusting touch. I look over my shoulder, casting angry eyes that I swear would cut him if I could, and he takes three long steps back, looking at me with malice that I now understand... That was his intention all along.

"Is there even a clue?" I ask him quietly, my mouth bitter.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, miss." Mr. Raven smiles cynically, and that's all I need to know that they have, in fact, set me up once again. But... who is doing this? What is the intention of making me suffer when I have already spent the last three years in Wolf Jail?

Do they really want Derek to end my life?

Derek slowly moves away, and I carefully watch as he goes over to the table full of drinks and picks up a bottle of whiskey. I look at him with strangeness because he's never been a drinker, but apparently, a lot of things have changed since Alice was killed.

He pours himself a generous dose and downs the whole drink in one gulp. I grimace because I imagine it must be bitter, but he doesn't even blink... in fact, he pours another shot, more than half the glass, and walks back without looking at me.

To my surprise, Derek sits down on the leather sofa and stretches an arm across it. His eyes are cold on me, and I shiver like I'm naked in the middle of winter. The way he looks at me... I feel like I could melt right now.

"Derek." I take a step towards him, calling his name softly...

But his harsh, cold voice cuts me off, "Take off your clothes, Vita. You miss being with a man, don't you? So go ahead, take off your clothes, show how eager you are to feel a dick."

I grit my teeth, looking straight into Derek's eyes... "I'm telling you that this man is lying. Are you really not going to believe me?"

"Believe you?" Derek laughs sarcastically, then takes a sip of his whisky, his eyes still on me. "How could I believe my sister's murderer?"

I look away, staring at the exact spot where I saw Alice's dead body. That is something that only I know... Me and the real culprits behind Alice's death.

But Derek... of course, he doesn't believe me, even after three years. I was a fool to think that this would change with time.

Now, more than before, we're just strangers. It's not just our appearances that have changed, Derek... but our souls.

After all, what does he want from me? Does he want me to kneel at his feet again, beg forgiveness for something I didn't do?

"My clothes, do you really want me to take them off?" I ask Derek firmly and notice that his eyebrows frown even more. "All right, Alpha. Your wish is my command."

I sigh slowly, gathering all the courage in me, and finally reach for the zipper on the side of the dress. I'm scared, really scared, I confess. My breath is short, and my heart is beating so fast it could tear my chest apart, but... I unzip it, slowly revealing marked ribs and my pale skin.

Derek's eyes are intensely on me, burning with something I'm not sure what it is... but it doesn't seem like anything I've ever seen. I mean, it's not like we didn't have sex in our two years of engagement... we did, but it used to be tender, soft, loving. Derek always made sure it was pleasurable for both of us but also passionate. He never hurt me or roughly touched me before.

But now... he looks at me with such intensity that I find myself holding my breath... It's almost like he really wants to devour me.

I think Derek will stop me from finishing, but he remains silent, drinking and staring at me without even blinking. I can also feel Mr. Raven's eyes burning into my back, but I prefer to ignore his presence.

This time, I reach for the strap and slide it down my left shoulder slowly, with my eyes never wavering from Derek's... Until I finally lower the other strap, allowing the dress to fall and tangle around my hips, but with a little push, the cloth falls to my ankles, revealing my white lace lingerie, almost transparent.

Derek grunts from the back of his throat; his eyes glow an intense yellow that burns with lust, and he throws his head back. "Damn it, woman."

Suddenly, he squeezes the glass so hard that it shatters in his hands. A few shards fly around, and they even pass close to my face, leaving a scratch on my cheek, from which a trickle of blood runs.

His hand is also bruised and bleeding, with a large shard going through his palm.

I take an intuitive step toward him to reach him but give up when he lowers his chin a bit, showing his eyes again, making me swallow hard.

"I imagine you're really missing a man since you wore something so provocative under a modest dress," Derek says hoarsely, and I feel a shiver run through my body, with a strange warmth in my lower belly... perhaps because Derek's scent is really suffocating and intoxicating right now.

"Derek..." I press my knees together and bite my lip, trying to hug my body and hide my breasts, especially the nipples that are protruding through the thin fabric.

What is this feeling? Why is my entire body on fire, like it wants to be touched more intensely? My mouth is watering oddly, and it feels like the middle of my legs are getting wet as well.

"I told you to take it off," Derek says harshly, his breath short.

"I did what you said, Derek. I took my clothes off..."

"Really? Funny, I think I'm still seeing some piece of cloth in your body."

I can no longer hold my desperate, trembling voice... Being like this in this place, after everything... It tears me apart.

"Why are you doing this to me, Derek? Isn't it enough already? You put me in jail, you hurt me, and you betrayed me-"

"I betrayed you?" Derek shouts and stands up abruptly, making me flinch and take a step back, "You killed my sister! You betrayed her!"

I swallow back the tears, forcing them down my throat as Derek circles the room impatiently... "You really have the nerve to continue this facade, hmm? Maybe you lack motivation?"

Derek turns sharply and points his bloodied hand at the man, who stares at me like I'm a juicy piece of meat, ready to be taken.

"You — what's your name?" Derek asks him, his voice harsh, pulling out the huge shard of glass from his hand like it's nothing... like it doesn't hurt even a bit.

"You can call me Mr. Raven, Alpha."

"Well, you followed her here because you wanted to fuck her, didn't you?" Derek smiles with something broken in his eyes. "Go on, don't let me stop you... I won't spoil your party."

"Derek!" I shout and try to reach him, but he pulls away and walks back across the room.

Before I can try to follow him, I feel a firm hand on my arm pulling me away. My body crashes into Mr. Raven's, who quickly caresses the curves of my body, grabbing my waist from behind. His touch and smell are so disgusting that my stomach twists, and I try to fight back... "Get your hands off me!"

"Are you playing the tough after openly seducing me?" Mr. Raven says against my ear and slides his tongue down my neck... "If you put something like that on, it's for someone to see, isn't it?"

Derek continues to walk across the room, his back to me and his hands gripping his hair tightly, almost like he wants to pull it out. He's wetting the black strands with blood from the wound that has already started to heal.

"Leave me alone!" I scream, feeling Mr. Raven's tongue slide down my nape... "Get your hands off me, you beast!"

"Beast? You're quite witty... I wonder if you'd still be so wild if I mark you-"

Suddenly, Derek shifts in front of me in a single flash, turning into a huge black wolf — and in the next moment, he rushes toward me with yellow eyes and sharp, long teeth.

So... is this the end of me?

I close my eyes tightly, waiting for the lacerating pain that will tear my whole body apart.

Hah, it's funny... It seems that Derek will keep his word after all... My death really will be at his hands.