Chapter 3-My eyes slowly fluttered open. He was right beside me, skimming through the pages of a novel.

As you can guess, I wasn't too pleased. Once again my escape plans were ruined. Was it so hard to just let me go?

I glanced out the window to see what speed we were going at.

Yes, I was considering jumping out the car if the coast was clear but when I tried to move my hands, I realised I was cuffed to the seat belt and there was no way to get out of it even if I unbuckled it.

I glanced at him but he didn't even bother to look at me, just concentrated on whatever he was reading.

“Let me go,” my voice came out barely above a whisper.

He didn't respond.

“I said let me go!” I raised my voice a little higher.

“No,” he said simply without sparing me a glance.

“Why?” I questioned. “You don't even know me!”

He didn't respond to that.

“I don't care if you are a prince or not but I will not be anyone's sex slave. I'll fight you to my last breath if I have to,” I stated. That finally caught his attention and his eyes flickered to me.

My breath caught. I keep forgetting how beautiful they were.

“Who said anything about sex?” He asked with genuine puzzlement that caught me off guard.

“It's not?” I asked in disbelief. “Then why else did you pay that ridiculous amount of money for me?”

He let out a sigh, seemingly exhausted with the conversation. I shot him a death stare. All he did was say one sentence. Why was he sounding so tired?

“You don't think I deserve an explanation?” I demanded.

“Do you always talk this much?” He asked instead and I blinked. He picked up his book again but I wasn't about to let him have his way when he was restricting my movements.

“Can you at least take the cuffs off?” I continued. “They are really uncomfortable.”

He reached for something beside him and for a second, I thought that it was the key but it turned out to be a tape. Before I could even say anything, he taped my mouth.

He was even more annoying than I imagined.

Soon enough, we arrived at his pack and I thought he might let me go at least but all he did was uncuff the belt and cuff me to one of his guards so I wouldn't escape.

I couldn't even complain because I was still taped. That aside, WhiteFang was a little heaven. It was way more advanced than the werewolf packs and the Lycans were simply regal and majestic. Even the air around them was superior.

The maids bowed as he walked in. He barely responded to them while they gave me sting eyes.

From a distance, I could hear things crashing from a distance. Someone barking at someone and the other begging. My steps began to slow. What the hell was going on there?

Prince Kael glanced back at me, “Are you coming or not?”

The guards opened the double doors and a vase came flying towards us. Kael simply tilted his head and the vase came speeding to me. In my attempt to turn away, I accidentally dragged the guard I was cuffed to forward and the vase shattered on his head.

Well shit!

He staggered around and even though I felt a little guilty, I kind of hoped that he would pass out so Kael would be forced to release me.

From inside the room, a woman’s voice shrieked, “I SAID I wanted the silver one, not the gold! Are you all deaf or just stupid?”

Another crash followed, this time, the sound of something much heavier hitting the wall.

The guard gave me a glare sharp enough to cut glass before yanking me forward so hard I nearly tripped. We stepped inside.

The room was chaotic. A long dining table sat in the middle, its surface half-covered with plates, spilled wine, and a fruit arrangement that looked like it had lost a war.

Standing at the head of the table was a tall, beautiful woman in a gown that probably cost more than my life. Her hair was an elaborate waterfall of braids and jeweled pins, and her lipstick was the same shade as fresh blood.

She froze when she saw me.

Kael didn’t miss a beat. “Mother,” he said flatly.

Mother.

My stomach dropped.

Her gaze swept over me like a measuring scale, starting at my tangled hair and torn dress, lingering at my face, and ending at the cuffs still chaining me to the guard.

“This is her?” she asked, the words tasting sour in her mouth.

Kael didn’t answer. He just moved past her toward a high-backed chair, tossing his book onto the table.

The queen, because I had no doubt that’s what she was, clicked her tongue softly. “She’s… plain.”

Excuse me?

I tried to say something, but the tape was still stuck to my mouth. My glare, however, was working overtime.

Kael ignored both of us, pouring himself a glass of water like the room wasn’t buzzing with tension.

“Plain,” the queen repeated, tilting her head. “But… the hair is real. The eyes too?”

She stepped closer, reaching for my chin like I was a puppy at a market. She seemed so comfortable with having my mouth taped that it seriously began to bother me. Was this a regular occurrence?

“Do you think your brother would be interested in her?” She went on.

He has a brother?

“I'll just have to show her to him first then,” Kael said. “I know for certain that this time, it will work. She has to be the one.”

The one who did what? Could they speak a little more clearly?

The woman seemed thoughtful as she gave me another once over as if deciding if I was worth giving it a shot.

“Fine but if it doesn't work, dispose of her immediately before he loses his temper, I already have a lot on my plate,” she instructed and my skin went cold, as if someone had pulled all the blood from my body.

I wished she would just say dismiss instead of dispose. That word gave me serious anxiety.

“Yes, mother and please stop hurling things at people when you're angry.”

After that, she dismissed us and just as Kael walked out of the room, she resumed yelling again. This time we went further down the hall all the way to the West Wing before the next set of double doors appeared.

The guards opened it and I walked in behind Kael. The sight before me made me freeze. The room was a mess with broken pieces of glass everywhere. Crumbled sheets of paper, blood.

The servants on cleaning duty all had bandages on at least one part of their body. I was dumbfounded. I found myself shrinking behind Kael.

“Sorry for the mess, my brother has quite a temper,” Kael told me. Right, it seemed everyone here had anger issues but there was something about this one that seemed a lot worse than the Queen's.

The servants quickly cleared the path so he could walk in.

“Where is he?” He asked one of them.

“His… study…” her voice quivered from head to toe. She was shaking like a leaf and the fear in her eyes sped my heart rate. The way I really wanted to leave this place.

Everyone seemed gloomy and looked like they were about to die.

Kael didn't give me any time to think about it as he continued walking towards a door. He opened it and the moment he stepped in, a gasp fell off my lips.

The walls were all covered with images. Images of red hair and sapphire eyes but there were no faces on any of them. So it was impossible to tell if he was drawing a male or a female.

But that wasn't the most terrifying part of it all. It was the white-haired boy on the desk drawing and the fact that he was very hideous. His face was heavily scarred and from the marks on his wrist, it seemed like he was restrained very often.

“Kael…” His voice was deeper than Kael's and almost velvety. “What are you doing here?”

“Brother,” Kael's tone was surprisingly soft and chatty. “I brought someone you might like. A beauty with red hair and sapphire eyes. I'm sure she will help lift your mood.”

He didn't even spare me a glance. His gaze remained on the sheet of paper he was drawing on.

“She has no wolf, she's practically useless to me,” he simply replied. “Throw her in the dungeons, she'll probably starve to death after a few days.”

“Come on, brother. I promise you that this one is different. You haven't even glanced at her…”

“I don't need anymore of those lousy desperate girls, Kael. I told you chasing the fickle of a dream was useless but you keep insisting on wasting your time and pissing me off. Take her away or I will kill you both myself.”

My fists clenched by my side. I was irritated that someone like him who wasn't even worth looking at had the audacity to put value on someone else's life. When he couldn't even appreciate what others did for him, it was no wonder he practically reeked of misery.

The pencil suddenly stopped moving.

Who cares what he thought about me? Like I needed his damn validation! It's not like I wanted to be here anyways. With how arrogant he sounded and how pathetic his servants looked, I would much rather clean the dungeons with my tongue than spend any more time with him.

“I guess you're right,” Kael let out a sigh. “I'm sorry, I will take her away now. I just got a little desperate to see you healthy and happy again.”

I was more than happy to leave with him until I heard the white-haired boy Prince,

“Wait!”

For some reason my stomach churned.

“I have a more suitable job for her,” he said suddenly. Kael and I turned to him. His gaze slid toward me, sharp and too knowing, like he’d just overheard a secret I hadn’t spoken. My heart skipped a beat as I quickly averted my eyes from those mysterious silver orbs.

“What is it?” Kael asked curiously.

“Let her clean the dungeons…” he paused, a cold smirk playing on his lips. “... With her tongue.”

My blood immediately ran cold.

Did he… did he just read my mind? My stomach twisted in dread. Does that mean he heard everything I said about him?

Oh Rinata! You are screwed.