Chapter ten

Lana

My eyes flutter open to the dim, oppressive surroundings of the cell. The stench of dampness and Silver hanging heavy in the air feels too suffocating as events of the past days crash against my consciousness, each one more brutal than the last.

I gather my strength and voice my desperate question into the cold, damp air of the cell. “Did Hunter die again?”

The words escape my parched lips, and I close my eyes briefly to prevent my mind from recalling the blood that pooled around him before he was dragged out by the Black Pack Alpha.

Suddenly, the sound of the cell gate grating open sends a shiver through me. I lift myself weakly to see Alpha Damon stride in, with a woman whose striking uncanny eyes trigger a distant memory.

I scoff inwardly when I acknowledge she must be his first mate. Alpha Damon and I lock gaze, and for a fleeting moment, I believe I glimpse a flicker of pity in his penetrating eyes. No, it probably isn't.

I look away from him as another figure follows, a man holding a magical container, and a gnarled staff crowned with a glowing crystal.

“That must be the wizard.” I shiver as recognition dawns on me, and panic sets in. The magical container looks radiant with glowing runes and his staff!

“Has she been eating well?” Alpha Damon asks the guard beside him as he throws a glance at my scrawny body.

“Yes, she..uhm, she’s been eating.” I hear the guard reply and I chuckle softly at his blatant lie.

“Good then, you can leave.” He dismisses the guard before he continues. “Lohan, begin the process.” He says to the man, I identify as the wizard, and I tremble visibly.

“Alpha Damon, this is a misunderstanding. Please, don't extract my blood,” I beg, tears welling up in my eyes as the wizard approaches me.

“He isn’t taking your blood for nothing, Princess Lana,” the woman, who I assume to be his first mate, speaks for the first time since they arrived. She smirks, adding more salt to my injury. “If you’re truly Damon’s second chance mate, he’ll keep you. Perhaps as his sex slave, given the exchange you’ve made to spare Hunter’s life.”

My ears perk up the moment I hear Hunter’s name. “Hunter..he isn't…he’s not dead?” I ask in disbelief and Alpha Damon’s cold eyes abruptly snap at me.

“No, he isn't. You begged me to save his life, and in return, you will be anything I want.” He reminds me, and the malicious intent in his voice sends shivers down my spine.

“Alright. You can do anything you want with me if Hunter is alive.” I reply to him in a firm tone despite the weariness in my voice.

“You’ve sealed your fate, Princess. It doesn't matter if you are my second chance mate or not. Once the bond between me and Sera is restored, you will be anything I want.”

His indifferent tone unexpectedly makes my heart tighten with ache, and lift my head to meet his penetrating gaze. I stare into his dark amber eyes and the dominating glint in them makes me concede that I am in trouble.

Why did he look so obsessed with me when he clearly has a woman he can do anything for? Is this his way of punishing me for almost sleeping with his Beta? Is being in the dungeon for days not enough? Is being a blood bank not enough?

“If my blood rekindles your bond with her, why will you still want anything to do with me?” I raise a question abruptly and Alpha Damon's glare intensifies after my question, his dark eyes piercing into mine.

At that moment, his gaze ignites a sizzling sensation that burns deep within me.

Why is he looking at me like he has to have me by all means?

An unspoken tension hangs heavy in the air as I, his first mate, and the wizard, await his response.

Sensing his internal struggle, the Black Pack Alpha’s first mate steps closer, her fingers tracing a teasing pattern on his chest. “Because she’s your prisoner, right, Damon?” Her whispered words echo in the small cell, reaching my ears.

“Right,” he responds and a short delirious laugh escapes my dried throat at the irony despite the pain in my heart and the constant discomfort in my stomach.

“You can begin, Lohan,” Sera instructs the wizard, her eyes revealing a glimmer of fury that I can't comprehend. I should be the one boiling with rage that they're using me as a lab rat to rekindle their bond.

As Alpha Damon nods at the wizard, he unexpectedly raises the staff at me. Soon, the cell begins to crackle with arcane energy, the air itself seemingly responding to the mystical invocation coming from his mouth.

Chained and vulnerable, I feel a subtle tug at my essence. I watch as the wizard’s eyes gleam with otherworldly light as he chants ancient magic words that resonate through the stone walls.

As if I'm just finding out what's about to happen, I jolt and lock eyes with the Black Pack Alpha. Panic sets in when I discover my inability to speak. “Please, don't let them do this to me,” I plead desperately with my eyes for his mercy.

“He will only take a tiny bit of your blood. It won't hurt you. I promise…” Alpha Damon says in a slightly rough voice like he could read my thoughts.

I whimper softly as a soft glow envelopes me, and a spectral thread connects me to the wizard’s staff.

The wizard, with a calculated gesture, draws the staff closer to him. As it nears me, an ethereal stream of blood, shimmering with an otherworldly aura, flows from my veins. The process is strangely painless, as the Black Pack Alpha assures, yet I can sense the profound magic at work.

“You’re drawn to her, Damon. Admit it.”

Alpha Damon’s first mate's words hit me like a cold breeze, and I almost thought I misheard her. My heart tightens, and a mix of emotions floods through me as I process what she just said.

I slowly lift my head to gauge the Black Pack Alpha’s expression, but all I glimpse is his stoic formidable back view as he slams the gate, leaving the dungeon in a quick stride.

The wizard opens the magical container with his free hand, and it absorbs the enchanted blood. The cell pulsates with magical energy as the extraction concludes, leaving me drained and weak.

Little footsteps approach me, but I feel too weak to lift my head again.

“What is the…essence of ….rekindling your bond with him, when he can't.. let me go?” I stutter weakly when my eyes fall on pretty feet in heels.

A soft chuckle resonates in the cell a minute after a stuffy silence. “It doesn’t matter to me whatever you are to him. As long as you are not his mate,”

I notice the edge in her voice as I feel a hand slowly lift my head. I lock my weak eyes with Alpha Damon’s first mate, her hazel ones, the little light from the window flashing on her impressive skin.

Her eyes glint with what I don’t want to tag as jealousy, but it’s so apparent as she speaks.

“Damon belongs to me. I found him first, and I will not let him be taken away from me.” She declares firmly.

I want to scream at her that I also don't want to be here, but the realization that I am somehow caught up in the web of their toxic relationship makes a surge of pain course through me, both physically and emotionally.

“Take all her blood. Don't stop until she's pale with little to no blood on her body.” I hear the Black Pack’s first mate orders the wizard coldly and I tremble as I shake my head vehemently.

“No…you can't do this… you're supposed to take only a tiny bit.” I argue when I discover I've regained my voice.

The wizard once again aims his staff at me and Alpha Damon's first mate laughs sinisterly. “This doesn't look familiar to you? Ah- you were unconscious back then.”

A sudden flashback floods my mind and I recall that I've endured this before. This wizard has extracted my blood before now, but when and how?

Once more, a gentle glow surrounds me, and the painless yet otherworldly flow of blood from my veins resumes. As the wizard drains my life force, I resist the encroaching darkness.

The perky voice of Alpha Damon’s first mate breaks through. “Before you die, let me tell you a secret. I got to be Alpha Damon’s first mate because of your scent.” she confesses with a sinister chuckle.

I feel the cold cell tighten around me, and I struggle to grasp her words in my weakened state. Exhaustion and tears blur my vision, my body succumbing to the relentless extraction of blood.

As the soft glow gradually disappears, I barely hear the receding steps of the wizard and the Black Pack’s first mate as I slowly lose consciousness.

Suddenly, my senses sharpen, and a familiar scent envelops me. I assume it’s Hunter, not daring to believe Alpha Damon has actually come to save me.

My eyelids, heavy with weariness, struggle to stay open as the potent fragrance on his body becomes a bittersweet reminder of what had caused my misfortune.

Distant shouts echo in the cell, masked by chaos. and his urgent powerful voice demanding my release.

“Unchain her, you fools! Move quickly!” His authoritative voice pierces the air, “If anything happens to her, I will bury all of you with her!” His threat hangs heavy in the air, punctuated by the clattering of chains hitting the cold floor.

He swiftly lifts me up, his movements filled with desperation. “Get the hell out of my way!” He yells, his words cutting through the tension.

His hurried steps echo in my ears, but my head rests heavily against his comforting chest, seeking solace in the rhythmic beating of his heart.

I flutter my eyes open when my mind keeps telling me it's Alpha Damon who saved me. Doubts linger in my heart until I catch glimpses of his perfect jawline and penetrating gaze. I want to touch him to confirm the reality, but I can't even keep my eyes open.

“Get me a fucking healer! I need the best one in the Pack as soon as possible!” He yells again as he rushes through the dim corridors.

I fight to remain conscious, but soon, everything becomes a blur of feeling images and muffled sounds.