BellaI gasp for breath as I sit up. My eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness. Faint sobs echoed around me.I was in some sort of cage. A dungeon maybe. Groaning, I push myself to my feet. My entire body ached. The last thing I remember is the clawed hand around my throat. Squeezing until I couldn’t breathe.“Bella.” My name is whispered in the darkness.Turning to my left, I see Aiden’s mother, Lilah, staring back at me. Her hands gripped around the bars that separated our cages.Even in the darkness, I could see how tired and ill she looked.As I turn my head, I see that it isn’t just us. There are dozens of women, some are barely women at all. Just children, who cowered away.“How long?” I mutter, rubbing the side of my head“They dumped you in there a couple of hours ago.”“Hours?” I was surprised it had taken me so long to wake up. But that wasn’t the main thing puzzling me. There were no scents down here.“They inject everyone.” Lilah whispers as my eyes scan the darkness.“Wit
Aiden“You need to get a grip!” I glare at my father. We had waited hours for him to sober up. Halle, forever being the good girl, had stayed by his side, dabbing his forehead with a cloth.When he woke up, the first thing he asked for was for someone to bring him a bottle of whisky. Halle had quickly disappeared. But I made it clear if she brought him another drink, she would be out of the house.My father glares back at me with his blue eyes. “You haven’t got a clue what this feels like.”“I haven’t? Bella is missing too.”“She is?”I nod“It’s not the same. You haven’t confirmed your bond. You haven’t marked her.”“You don’t remember?” I thought he had seen her mark. We had been to see him since I had marked Bella. But he had stunk of alcohol then.“How much have you been drinking?” I mutter.“It doesn’t matter. Your mother is gone.”“I don’t believe that. And as a King, you shouldn’t either. Not until we have proof.”“Forever the optimist.” He mutters with a shake of his head.“I
BellaEvery inch of me hurts. I hurt more than I have ever hurt before. My bones, my flesh and yet, somehow, I couldn’t remember anything that had happened to me. Before waking in my sister’s room. The last thing I could recall was being dropped back into that dungeon. I hadn’t been beaten then. I had just been dropped. A girl spoke to me and then everything went dark.I smell his warm chocolate scent like I had when I woke in Darcy’s room. I let my eyes creep open. The bright light giving me an instant headache.“How are you feeling?” He presses his lips to my cheek.“Sore.” I hated it. Out of all the things that had been done to me, this was the worst. They had made sure I was unconscious for it too. Was it Christian or had he asked someone else to beat me to a pulp?I try to move. At first it felt like there was something wrong with me. Like my body was fighting against me. It took me a second to realise I was tied down again.My chest pounded as I scanned the room.“Bella, you’v
Aiden“Well, where is she?” My father mutters as I enter the office alone.“She’s freaking out. Halle’s calming her.”“Halle? I take it that you told her about Myra then?”“I didn’t get a chance. Halle will probably tell her. It seems she has a way of telling Bella things before I do.”“Maybe Halle just hates the fact that you are keeping secrets. Whatever the reason is, I still need to talk to her.”“Dad, you know what she’s been through. Do you really want her to try and remember what they did to her? Would you make mum do the same thing?”He glares at me with his brilliant blue eyes.“I just need to give her a little bit of space to breathe.” I mutter. Otherwise, she will shut down. And we will be right back to square one, where I could barely get a word out of her.“Are you sure that’s what she needs?”“Yes.” I say confidently. “I may not be able to sense her at the moment. I have to trust what I see with my eyes. And I see her.”“How are you so calm?” He quizzes me. “You know wha
Bella“Order me to do something else!” I beg the King“Did you know?” Aiden questions me.I shake my head. “Not until you told me your father wanted me to speak to him. Then I felt it, the drive, the order, the need to fulfil it.”I look back at the King who is watching me. He seemed fascinated rather than angry. I was doing everything in my power to resist the order. To keep my ass in the chair.“Is that how it’s always been? You’ve been ordered to kill?” The King questions me“Not at first.” My grip on the chair tightens so much that it physically hurts my hands. “As I got older.”“When you started to rebel?” Aiden asksI nod. “Please, break the order.”The King was the only one who could. He was the only one who held power over everyone. But he just watches me.“You have your Wolf.” He mutters, rising to his feet. He moves around the desk until he is in front of me. “Somehow, you still have your Wolf.”“That’s what we came to speak to you about.” Aiden tells him. “She can still sce
Bella“You don’t need to…”But he removes the remainder of his clothes and gets in the tub at the opposite end to me.I could feel the heat on my face as I look away“This way I can make sure you’re not going to do something stupid.” He flicks the water at me.Pulling my knees to my chest, I refuse to look at him.“Why did you lie?” He murmurs. “You told me you weren’t a liar, so why did you lie?”I glance up to his grey eyes. He wasn’t going to let this go. Not until he was satisfied with my response.“I feel…..“Violated.” He finishes the sentence for me.“It’s more than that. Before, when it happened, I was conscious but I made it as difficult for him as possible. This time—I couldn’t even fight it. I didn't even know, not until you confirmed it.”I hug my legs tighter.“He made me—vulnerable and weak.”I felt sick and disgusted. I had been trying to focus on other things. But in the silence, all I could hear was my own mind.He slides forward in the large bath towards me. “You ca
AidenHeading towards the forest. Halle comes charging towards me from the trees. Several guards are close behind her, including a couple who had shifted into Wolves.“What the hell are you doing?” They stop the moment they see me and Halle plonks herself behind me. Her hands hold on to my arms as she tries to use me as a shield.“They wouldn’t believe that I’m a Wolf. They wouldn’t believe who my Dad is!” She whines from behind me.“Of course they won’t, that’s why you have strict instructions to stay near the house.” I growl, annoyed with my sister.The guards are glaring at me. “Hand her over, she doesn’t belong here!”“Fucking idiots. She’s the King’s daughter. You should all know this.” I snap“I haven’t seen her before.”. “Well I can confirm exactly who she is, so back the fuck off”There are mumblings between the unshifted guards, something about the wrong girl.The guard at the front silences them."What are they talking about?"“It doesn't matter. She doesn’t smell anything
BellaI keep my eyes closed as Myra continues to rant at Aiden. She calls me vermin.Vermin. I had been called worse. But I wondered if she would have said it if I had been awake. She had put on a nice act when I saw her in the pack hospital.Myra makes another strange comment. Something about how I no longer belong among Wolves and Lycans. That Aiden should get rid of me as soon as he could.Aiden somehow keeps his cool. His fingers may have squeezed me a little but his tone remains the same. Even when Myra starts swearing at him.“Is there something you need to tell me?” Aiden asks her.“I've told you everything that I needed to say. But Aiden, you should watch your back.”I hear the click clack of her shoes as she walks away.Opening one eye, Aiden shakes his head at me. “You need to stay asleep.”He starts walking as soon as I close my eyes again. He makes several turns before climbing the stairs.Eventually he tells me that we are alone and I can open them.He lowers me to my fee