Chapter Eighty

The air in the cell was thick with the scent of despair and damp stone. A single, flickering oil lamp cast long, grotesque shadows across the cold, bare walls, dancing in the faint breeze that seeped in through the barred window. Jessica sat huddled in the corner, her back pressed against the rough stone, her eyes fixed on the flickering light.

Outside, the world was a cacophony of noise, a constant reminder of her imprisonment – the howling of wolves, the guttural screams of men, the clang of metal against metal. But inside the cell, there was only silence, a chilling silence punctuated by the rhythmic drip of water from a crack in the ceiling.

Two days. Two days until Alpha Landon would claim her as his mate, two days until he would break her spirit, two days until she would face the ultimate betrayal – the choice between her humanity and the beast within.

Every flicker of the lamp, every creak of the cell door, sent a shiver of fear down her spine. But those fears were dwarfed by