Chapter Four

The opulent villa may have screamed luxury, but the ostentatious decor did little to disguise its cloying air of captivity.

 Sure, the sleek furnishings and polished surfaces exuded sophistication and wealth.

But the reinforced windows and security monitors tracking my every move were unsettling reminders that this gilded cage was still very much a prison.

I'd been settled into my new "home" for three days, and the initial confusion swirling through my mind had only intensified.

 Flashes of deeply unsettling visions plagued my tenuous grasp on reality - scenes of violence, blood, and forms that defied the natural order lurking beneath the full moon's eerie crimson glow.

Were these glimpses of my supposed supernatural past as Luna resurfacing?

Or was I simply cracking under the psychological strain of being held captive by these delusional - yet insanely attractive - men?

The sound of the suite's door disengaging drew me from my brooding reverie.

I tensed, watching warily as a beautiful woman with long chestnut waves and scrutinizing hazel eyes swept into the living area.

 Although her expression remained coolly impassive, I couldn't shake the sense that she was studying me with intense scrutiny.

"Luna! So good to see you again. I thought you were dead." She greeted hugging me, arching one sculpted brow as she glided to the leather sofa and seated herself with fluid grace.

My instincts immediately went on high alert at her presence.

While nowhere near as overwhelmingly dominant as the three men, she exuded a subtle, predatory undercurrent of power that set me on edge.

"Your 'Alphas' have a funny way of making friends," I replied, unable to keep the bite of sarcasm from my tone as I crossed my arms over my chest. "You know, the whole kidnapping and imprisonment deal isn't exactly great boyfriend material."

Something flickered in Valerie's eerily calm gaze, a hint of derision twisting her full lips. "I see they've filled your head with fanciful tales to account for your...condition."

She leaned forward, fixing me with an intent stare that felt as though she could see straight through to the vulnerable depths of my soul.

"Don't be so quick to judge the situation, little luna. You've been missing for weeks, presumed dead. We've all been quite concerned for your well-being while you were...indisposed."

Something in her words sent an ominous chill slithering down my spine. Missing? Dead? What the hell was this woman talking about?

"Look, I have no idea what web of insanity you've all been spinning, but I'm not this 'Luna' person you seem to think," I replied, injecting as much conviction into my tone as I could muster. "My name is Keira Evans, and until a few days ago I was a normal high school teacher living a perfectly mundane life in Brooklyn. Then your boyfriends showed up, spouting all this bullshit about me being their werewolf mate and part of some sort of psychotic pack."

Valerie's mask faltered for a heartbeat, something dark and calculating flickering across her elegantly sculpted features as she absorbed my vehement denial of the increasingly disturbing situation I'd been thrust into.

"Is that so?" she mused, tapping one ruby-tinted nail against her full lips as she studied me with considering eyes. "Tell me, Keira...have you experienced any...strange visions? Sensations or memories that feel like they shouldn't be your own?"

My breath hitched in my throat as unsettling flickers of blood, fangs, and full moons assaulted my psyche, foreign and terrifying yet laced with a disturbing undercurrent of violent exhilaration.

"How...how did you...?" I stammered, recoiling instinctively from the wolfish glint in her calculating gaze.

"I thought as much," she purred, utterly focused in a way that had the hairs prickling along the nape of my neck. "Which means your condition is even more...fortuitous than I dared hope."

Rising with predatory grace, she crossed the room towards me with the languid, controlled strides of a lioness zeroing in on vulnerable prey.

 Despite her lithe figure, she suddenly radiated a sense of power and menace that had every primitive instinct urging me to run, to flee from her presence before it was too late.

"You claim ignorance, yet the signs point to your true nature resurfacing whether you wish it or not."  Valerie's tone took on a sly, conspiratorial edge as she studied me with intense focus. "I can help you unravel the truth of what you are, little luna. If you'll let me."

I skirted backwards, unnerved by her unblinking stare and undercurrent of lurking power. "I don't want any part of your psycho pack mentality. I just want out of this nightmare!"

"Ah, but we both know it's already too late for that." Valerie smirked knowingly. "Your Alphas have awoken the realms of your feral power - the moon's crimson fury coursing through your veins. You're one of us now, like it or not."

My head swam as a torrent of fear, confusion, and sick realization crashed over me in dizzying waves.

I didn't understand what sort of deranged reality I'd become entangled in...but one thing was horrifyingly clear.

There was no more denying the darkness awakening from within.

"You claim innocence, yet the ancient power stirs within you, clawing to be set free."

Valerie's words hung heavy between us, suffocating in their stark certainty. I shook my head, recoiling from her intense stare and the insidious suggestion it carried.

"I don't know what you think you see, but I'm not this 'Luna' person. I'm just..."

"An ordinary human?" A deep, masculine voice cut me off in sardonic tones.

I whirled to find a tall, powerfully-built man with striking features lounging against the doorway.

 Though he lacked the overtly menacing aura Valerie exuded, an undercurrent of darkness and cunning bled from him in dizzying waves.

"Who are you?" I demanded, internally cursing my trembling voice.

"Damien Blackwood." His lips twisted in a mocking semblance of a smile. "Zane's younger brother...and the rightful Alpha heir to this pack."

Valerie scoffed as he prowled into the room, a sleek panther staking his claim on new territory. "Technically, perhaps. But you and I both know the full truth, don't we?"