The carriage ride felt endless.

Every bump in the dirt road jolted my body, the chains bruising my wrists and ankles raw. Outside, laughter and voices drifted like smoke, but in the small, dark space where I sat hunched, there was only silence…and the wild, frantic beat of my heart.

I pressed my forehead to my knees, trying to breathe, but every inhale tasted like iron and filth. Jenny’s scream still echoed in my head. The pack’s betrayal burned hotter than the chains biting into my skin.

They gave me away like I was trash. Like I was nothing.

I didn’t realize we’d stopped until the door flung open and harsh hands dragged me out. My bare feet scraped against stone steps as they hauled me into a sprawling mansion carved from black marble. It smelled of smoke and spice, and something else…decadence.

Lord Calderon was waiting in a room dripping with gold and velvet. He lounged in a massive chair, a goblet of wine in his hand, watching me like a predator watches a cornered rabbit.

“Untie her,” he said smoothly.

The guards obeyed, and the weight of the chains fell away, leaving angry red welts across my skin. My arms trembled as blood rushed back into them.

“Come here pretty little slave” Calderon said, curling his finger.

My feet stayed rooted. His smile widened, slow and cruel. “Don’t make me repeat myself” he repeated, voice like silk stretched over steel.

I moved. Not because I wanted to, but because something in his tone made the air heavy, like it would crush me if I disobeyed.

When I stood before him, he set down his goblet and reached out, his fingers grazing my cheek. I flinched.

“Mmm. Such fire in those eyes.” His hand slid down, gripping my chin hard. “I like that. For now.”

His mouth crashed onto mine before I could breathe. I jerked back, but his grip was iron. His other hand fisted in my hair, yanking my head back so hard tears sprang to my eyes.

“No…stop!!” My voice broke as panic surged like lightning through my veins.

“You think you have a choice?” His laugh was low, dark, the sound of someone who’d broken too many souls to count. His hand roamed lower, and something inside me snapped.

“Let me have a taste of you”

I wasn’t going to let him. I wasn’t going to let anyone break me.

My fingers closed around something cold on the table behind me a pair of ornate scissors. Before I could second-guess, I drove the blade into his hand.

Blood spurted. He roared, the sound shaking the room, and flung me across the floor. My head slammed into the corner of a table, white-hot pain exploding in my skull.

“You filthy little bitch!” Calderon’s voice thundered as he clutched his bleeding hand. “You dare lay a hand on me?!”

I crawled backward, my breath ragged, vision swimming. My hands were slick with his blood.

“I’ll kill you for this,” he hissed, his eyes glowing like molten coal. Then he stopped, and his lips curved into something far worse than rage. A smile.

“No… death is too easy for you.” He strode toward me, his boots leaving crimson prints on the marble. “You want to be defiant? Then you’ll burn.”

“W-what?” My voice trembled, my body shaking so hard my teeth clattered.

“Tomorrow is the Festival of Shadows,” he said softly, almost lovingly. “Every year, we offer the flames a gift. This year… you’ll be the main event! The flames delight!”

“No…please!”

“GUARDS!” he bellowed, the sound like a blade ripping through the air.

The doors burst open, and two wolves stormed in.

“Take her to the cellar” Calderon snarled. “Chain her. Keep her alive. She burns at dawn.”

I screamed as they seized me, their claws digging into my arms.My nails scraped uselessly at the floor as they dragged me away, my cries echoing down the gilded halls. I kicked, thrashed, begged but my words shattered against their laughter.

As they dragged me out, I looked back one last time. Calderon stood in the firelight, smiling as blood ran down his wrist and dripped onto the floor like a promise.

“You’re going to regret this little bitch”

——————————————-

I’m going to die.

The wood beneath my feet creaked. Dry. Hungry. It was stacked so high I could feel the height in my stomach…a dizzying drop if I fell. Not that it mattered. Falling wasn’t how I was going to die.

I was going to burn.

The ropes cut into my wrists and ankles, tightening each time I trembled. My heart was pounding, but the world around me seemed… slow. Blurred. Like I wasn’t fully inside my body anymore.

The square was overflowing, faces packed shoulder-to-shoulder, glowing with savage excitement. Mothers hoisted their pups onto their shoulders so they wouldn’t miss the show. Laughter, jeers, and chants pulsed like a drumbeat, rattling in my skull.

“Burn the witch!” someone screamed.

“Light her up!” another voice roared, and the crowd answered with wild howls.

I tried to fight the ropes until my wrists bled, but it was useless. They’d tied me like an animal for slaughter. My chest heaved, lungs clawing for air that tasted of smoke and hate.

Please, Goddess. Please, don’t let me die like this.

Tears blurred my vision, streaking down my filthy cheeks. This wasn’t supposed to be my life. I wasn’t supposed to end like this…alone, humiliated, burned alive while strangers cheered.

Jenny’s face flashed in my mind. My pack. My family. They had all left me. No one was coming.

The Fire Priest stepped onto the platform. His crimson robes billowed, and he lifted his arms like he was summoning gods.

“Tonight, under the blood moon, we gift the flames a soul! May the fire cleanse her sins!”

The crowd roared. My stomach lurched as the first torch was lit. The flames hissed, hungry and bright, reflecting in a thousand eager eyes.

“No! Please!” My scream cracked like glass, but it only made them laugh louder.

The mob roared in agreement.

“Burn the wolf!”

“Burn her!”

“Let her scream!”

A Priest climbed onto the platform, holding the torch high. The heat radiated against my skin, sharp and searing, though the fire hadn’t touched me yet.

“Let this sacrifice please the gods!” he bellowed.

The torch dipped lower. The crowd leaned in, hungry for the moment flesh met flame. My heart slammed against my ribs so hard it hurt.

I could hear the wood crackling already. I could smell the oil.

This was it.

This is how I die. Alone. Dirty. Afraid.

My body shook violently, my knees threatening to buckle under me. My lungs refused to work. My thoughts splintered.

Then someone in the crowd whistled. High and cruel.

“Show us your wolf form, witch!”

Laughter followed.

Then the chant began:

“Let her burn! Let her burn! Let her burn!”

The priest leaned down with the torch. His face was serene. Like this was holy. Like I deserved it.

The fire kissed the edge of the wood.

I screamed.

But Then…

A sound cut through the air.

A voice. Low. Cold. Timeless.

“Stop”

One word. That was all. Yet it rolled through the square like thunder tearing the sky apart.

The torches froze mid-air. The laughter died. A hush swallowed the crowd so fast it stole the breath from my lungs. Even the flames seemed to bow to that voice.

I opened my eyes, my heart was pounding so loud I could hear it in my ears.

At the far edge of the square, black carriages loomed like beasts of shadow, their iron wheels gleaming in the moonlight. Soldiers in dark armor surrounded them, their swords catching the glow of the flames.

The carriage in the center was unlike anything I’d ever seen…etched with silver sigils that pulsed faintly, like they were alive.

The door never opened.

But I felt him.

I couldn’t see his face, yet his presence coiled through the air, thick and suffocating. Every instinct in me screamed predator. King. Monster.

“Untie her” the voice said again. Louder now. Laced with steel sharp enough to slit throats.

“She belongs to me.”