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Karina is no longer smiling now. Her eyes are dark, glittering with fury. “Your father was different. He threatened my stepfather. He was the King of the North Alliance, and he noticed me. He demanded my hand in marriage, and he told me he would rescue me. For two years, my stepfather was too scared to touch me. And then your mother came into the picture, they were fated mates. She was the love of his life. And where did that leave me?”

Karina spits out, “Suddenly, I no longer mattered. Nothing mattered to your father anymore but your mother. All his promises, all his vows—he forgot them all. He left me in that hellhole and thought a measly apology would be enough. I loved him and he didn’t care for me.”

“My mother was his fated mate. Did you expect him to walk away from that?” I demand.

Even as I say the words, I feel a stab of guilt for the girl she must have been.

“Yes! He should’ve chosen me!” Karina hisses. “I needed him more. I loved him more. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t have done for him! But he didn’t choose me. Instead, he offered his own brother as a consolation prize. ‘You just need to be able to leave your pack, don’t you?’ That’s what he said to me. ‘Just marry James’.”

I had seen Karina angry before, but never like this. Her chest is heaving, her eyes wild with rage and pain.

“You should’ve taken that offer.” I don’t understand her problem. “No man in his right mind would leave his fated mate. But he still gave you a way out.”

The woman stares at me before letting out a cynical laugh. “You’re just like him. That’s why I hated you. But that’s not all. I hated you because you were their child. They loved you beyond anything. So, I made sure you suffered. I turned your father down. It was either him or no one. He told me he wouldn’t leave your mother. I knew he was just like my stepfather. In that moment, I knew. So, I decided to change my own fate.”

Her lips curve in a smile so evil that my blood turns cold. “I seduced my stepfather. I told him that if he wanted me, he would have to kill my mother. And he did. I watched. He wanted me to come to him willingly, and I did. He was getting old.”

Karina lets out an amused laugh. “And the older he got, the more control I seized of his pack. By the end of it, I was running everything and he was a puppet. That is when I killed him. And as the new Alpha, your father was bound to invite me for a feast. He thought I had forgiven him. I never did. I promised him before I cut his throat that I would make the thing he loved the most in this world suffer. And that was you. I would’ve sold you to Julia, but my pack was resistant to the idea.”

She runs her fingers through her hair, sighing. “And then you started becoming a threat to me. A mild threat, but a threat. I knew getting rid of you was important. But not by killing you. There were other ways of getting rid of you. But I’m glad that didn’t work out. Because now, what I’m going to do is going to crush your spirit. You will never see Sophia again. At least, not in person. Or maybe I’ll bring her to you. We’ll see.”

She tosses a leash and collar in front of me. “Look at that. If she wants to save you, she will come to me on her own two feet and put the collar around her neck. And she will hand me the chain. And after that moment, she will always remain my faithful dog. Not Sophia, but a dog. This collar is enchanted, you see. She will become mindless over the years, just like a trained animal. The woman you love will be nothing more than my pet. I can breed her, I can have my men do anything to her, and she will obey because, in the back of her mind, she will be protecting you. That is all she will know.”

Laughter spills out of her mouth as my blood turns to ice. “I will humiliate her in every way possible. And you know how far I can make someone fall, don’t you, Alex? Do you remember what I did to the women of your pack? The girls? My men ruined them, broke them. That is what will happen to your mate. You will be put in a small box, deep inside the ground. A place where only I can visit you. Maybe if I’m in a good mood, I’ll bring my men along with me and force you to watch as they humiliate your very willing mate. This is how my revenge will be completed. I’ll break your mind. And your father will toss and turn in his grave as you go mad.”

I stare at her. I’m horrified by every word coming out of her mouth. She reaches out and grabs the collar, putting it in the small leather pouch in her hand. “In a few days, you will be transported to the underground cell I’ve built for you. You don’t like dark spaces, do you? You never did as a child. But this will be smaller. And it will make you very uncomfortable. Welcome to the rest of your life, Alex.”

Laughing, she walks away.

I pull at the manacles, hissing as they tighten around my wrists, piercing my skin. I have to shift. But I can’t find my wolf. Whatever she’s done to these chains, they’re blocking my animal self.

Then I’ll break my wrist. But the manacles have become so tight that it is impossible.

The more I pull, the tighter they become, and at some point, I’m worried that they will constrict my blood flow.

The guards facing my cell watch in silence, not a word leaving their mouths. They don’t bring any food or water, not that I’m surprised. Karina would prefer to starve me. The last time I was in a cell, I was fed once a week, and even that was a sparse meal. It was simply given to make sure I didn’t die. I’m used to starving.

But what I am worried about, is Sophia. If my mate thinks for even a minute, that the only way to save me is to give herself up, she will do that. I cannot let that happen. I have to find a way out of here.

I try to search for the bond between us and when I can’t feel it, I realize something is distorting it. I have felt something similar before, but I can't put my finger on it.

As the time passes, I notice something.

The manacles are easing.

It's almost as if when I don't move, they begin to loosen up.

Hope ignites with me. I have to be patient.

It's not an easy feat, but I try to calm down. I just have to stay still for a couple of hours. That should work. I’m certain of it.