Chapter 5: Death Lurks.

MIA.

"Alpha Ezra" His name escaped my lips, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. He masked a smirk, inching even closer to me. I felt my heart drop but I couldn't move. Kyra had shut the door behind me.

I threw a look back at her, stung by betrayal. But she darted her face to the side. My heart stomped as I looked back at Ezra. His presence overwhelmed the room and fear crept up my spine.

"Did you really think you could escape me, Mia?" His finger curled a strand of hair that fell by the side of my face. He gently clasped it behind my ear. Each time his skin brushed against mine made me sizzle. I was defenseless next to him.

But I could sense the anger subtle in the sound of his voice.

I never thought I'd see Ezra again, not after running away on the day I was to wed him. I was only a wolfless omega, surely he was bound to find a better-suited wife. I expected him to forget me.

But as I looked at him, those eyes glistened as though they had never forgotten. They were filled with vengeance.

"Answer me, little one" He smirked. "Did you think I'd just let go of what was mine?" Ezra muttered. I swallowed a hard lump down my throat. "I was never yours, Ezra."

"I had no idea who you were, and that's not how I intended to spend the rest of my life—who I intended to spend the rest of my life with. I couldn't marry you, not when—" I paused to the deadness of his stare.

"Not when what?" His tone deepened with warning but the words were already on my lips.

"Not when I didn't love you."

Immediately, Ezra grasped my arm with force and flung me across the room. I fell to the knees but Kyra stepped forward.

"You said you weren't going to hurt her" Her voice was shaken with fear when Ezra hefted from his belt a sword. He grabbed Kyra to face me, holding the knife to her neck.

"Do you think I love you?" He gritted his teeth, his eyes red with disdain but locked into mine. "So what's the point of all this?" There was a crack in my voice as I stood up from the ground.

"Why are you doing this?" I looked to Kyra who trembled but she shook her head right at me. I inched closer to him.

"Don't hurt her, Ezra. Don't hurt anyone anymore. It's me you want"

"I'm the reason you've destroyed my Pack but not anymore. I'm here, take me!" I screamed. "You can have me, just let her go. Let them all go. I'll come with you." A tear escaped my eye.

Though hesitant, Ezra finally freed Kyra before he hit her with the head of his sword. Her temples oozed with blood as she fell to the ground. He stormed towards me, holding my wrists firm like a prisoner as he led me outside.

"You better tell Lucien to stay away. This time, I wouldn't spare anyone in my path." He pushed me down the corridor and as my eyes met the flickering lights above, my heart shuddered with fear.

"Lucien." I muttered quietly beneath my breath, hoping that he would save me, hoping that anyone would save me.

Ezra led me down the path away from the chaos above. There was no telling what he was going to do, or what he wanted with me. He did say he didn't love me which left only one other question.

Was he going to kill me?

My heart pounded against my chest with each step we took. This was it—it hit me. This was how I was going to die. Maybe I shouldn't have come back home. Maybe I should've stayed away. Because this wasn't home, this wasn't how I remembered this place.

I should've run away and never looked back. His name rested on my lips again—the man I loved. "Lucien."

Ezra's grip tightened around my wrist and I heard my bones cackle in response. There was a door ahead of us, a red one, and darkness that suddenly crept up to me. The hairs across my skin rose, triggering my fight-or-flight response at that moment.

I wasn't going to give up without a fight. So I clenched my fist tight and hit Ezra in his shin. Not that it was strong enough to hurt him, but at least that split second was all the distraction I needed. I shoved him away making my run for it down the hallway.

But he got a hold of my foot, tripping me to the ground. My head hit the floor and my pulse thundered in my eyes. "You're going to regret that." Ezra clenched his teeth together, hovering over me.

"What did I tell you?" He yelled, dashing a slap across my face. His temper soared as he held around my neck.

Every nerve screamed at me to move but I couldn't. He was choking me and I could hardly breathe. I struggled, Ezra, looking me dead in the eyes. "You disobeyed me, now you won't live." He thundered.

"I'll make sure of that." And in that moment, as my chest began to tighten and my vision blurred, it hit me like a strong wave.

"It was you." I whispered, breathlessly, gnawing my eyes open with as much strength as I could garner. "It was you in that forest that night. You said those exact words" I said. His grip loosened a little.

But he still held me down.

"But I didn't know because I had never met you. I thought it was a monster, I thought it was—but then Lucien came. Lucien saved me that night and you ran away. You never came back." I whispered.

"All this time, you knew where I was. You knew I was with him but you never came back. You waited for me to come to you. That only makes sense because now I realize that you're scared of him. You're scared of Lucien. I would be too if I were you."

"Because if he finds out that you have me, he's going to kill you, Ezra." He remained quiet but by his gaze, I could tell I wasn't far from the truth. He gnashed his teeth together before shoving me to the ground. He stood up with haste, letting me go.

But my chin was met with the sharp edge of a sword.

Shakily, I looked up at him. And Ezra's eyes were blazing red.

"None of that would matter if I killed you first." He threatened as he pressed the knife into my throat. My heart leaped into my throat the moment I felt my blood drip down my skin.

"Ezra." I trembled.

"Goodbye, Mia. I'll make sure to send Lucien right after." His voice deepened yet again with vengeance. But alas, as he was about to kill me, Ezra suddenly halted, staggering a moment before falling to the ground. And his sword crashed next to him.

I lifted my eyes to a woman standing behind him and an empty syringe in her hands. She tossed it to the floor before rushing to me. My mind raced with a million questions but the scent of wolfsbane was pungent in the air.

"Come on, I'll help you. I don't know how much time we have until he's down." She held my hand but my brows still arched puzzled. I'd never seen this woman before.

Red-colored hair, sharp eyes, and a jaw that could slice through paper. She noticed my hesitation and then paused.

"I know a way out of here." She said.

"Why should I trust you?" My voice broke and her eyes darted to Ezra on the ground. "Are you seriously asking me that?" She asked.

My hands clutched my chest as I nodded, reluctantly following her as we ran down the corridor. I kept throwing my head over my shoulders, paranoid that he was following us. I did almost die so that haunted me with every step I took.

"Who are you? I don't know you" I blurted out. She looked at me for a second, a smirk curling her lips. "But I know you."

"I'm Alice." She muttered. I came to a halt, holding her hands firm.

"Why did you save me, Alice? What do you want?"

She stopped in her tracks too and a hard lump slipped down her throat. As she looked at me, terror darkened her gaze, turning her eyes wild and desperate. She squeezed my hand.

"Just get me out of here. Please."

"You were lucky enough to get away from his hell. All I ask is that you save me. Please, before he kills us all. We have to escape." Alice whispered just as a shadow staggered from the corner. My heart skipped until I realized it was only Kyra.

"There is no escaping this hell." She muttered under her breath.

I rushed to help her. Her head was still bleeding and her eyes were dazed like she suffered a concussion.

"I'll help you out of here." I whispered to her. She chuckled. "You don't understand, do you?" She replied. "You might think that you're escaping him. That you've found a way out but that's the biggest lie you could tell yourself. Because he's Ezra."

"And he'll find you. He'll always find you. You could wait a year, or two, or even six. Once you think you've finally escaped him, he'll come back and he'll kill you. He will kill you" Kyra let go of my hand.

"He'll kill us all. So just let me die here." She fell to the ground before lifting her eyes to me. "Just go."

"She's right. We don't have much time." Alice squeezed my hand and I looked back and forth with tears in my eyes. "You go" I looked at her. "Take the back out, there's a car waiting for me. Tell them that I sent you. That I'm behind you." I said.

Alice arched her brows.

"Where are you going?" She questioned. "If I can't save anyone, I'll make sure I save my father." I said. "I'm going back to the chambers to get him and once I do, we'll be on our way out."

"What if—" Alice stopped herself. I held her face with my hands.

"And if I'm not out in fifteen minutes, you have to go. You have to tell them that I said they should leave. It's the only way you get out of here." I muttered to Alice. "Thank you."

"Thank you for saving me." I continued. Her eyes watered.

"Go!" I yelled before letting go of Alice's hand and watching her run. My eyes settled on Kyra before I left too. She nodded her head with not much faith in her words and she said, "I hope you save him."

"I hope I do too." I whispered before bolting down the narrow hallway in the direction of the Pack chambers. My heart pounded, my muscles strained and adrenaline fueled my every step. After what felt like running forever, I finally halted in front of the door.

My fingers grazed the cold metal of the door handle. I twisted it but it was locked. "Dad!" I called out to him. "Dad!" There was a shrill silence. "Dad, I've come to get you out of here."

"Come on, Dad" My eyes scanned the door as I banged against it. I glanced around frantically, there was nothing I could use to break in. So I pushed the door, with every ounce of strength I could garner. I pushed and pushed until it was enough to knock it down.

l flung myself inside but immediately came to a halt. My heart sank deep inside my chest and it was like a knife had sliced through me. The first thing that caught my eye was the pool of blood.

His blood.

"Dad?" An impossibly hard lump went down my throat. I fell to the ground, clawing my way to him. I held his body in my hands. "Dad!" I yelled. His eyes were barely open but his lips parted.

"Mia" He called with his very last breath. "My Mia." Then he was gone. He was still, breathless. Tears filled my eyes but it didn't cloud my vision when I saw him. He was standing over me with a silver sword in his hand. I stood up from the ground, disbelief in my voice.

"Lucien." I called.

"Mia." He inched closer to me but I took a step back. My eyes fell to the knife in his hand, coated and dripping with my father's blood. It was like I couldn't breathe at that moment like my chest was closing up. This was worse than when Ezra had his hand around me.

"What did you do?" The tears fell down my face and he shook his head. "I didn't do this, Mia. I don't—I don't know. I don't know what happened. I can't—" I watched Lucien as he dropped the knife.

Shaking my head, I clutched my lips.

"You were holding the knife, Lucien. You killed him."

"You killed my father, Lucien." And those were words I never thought would come out of my mouth. Still, Lucien shook his head.

"Mia." His voice broke.

"I'm a fool. All this time, I thought you had changed. All this time, I thought that I'd changed you. But you're still a ruthless monster" I looked him dead in his empty eyes before taking off my ring.

His ring.

"Mia, wait. Please, I can explain."

I tossed it to the ground, stained with my father's blood. My heart shattered as I said my next words.

"I never want to see you again, Lucien."