Nina's Pov

The gates opened and just like that, as if we were vermin in a barn being let out for the hawks to feast on, we ran.

Girls screamed, sobbed and one even pissed herself. I tried to help her, but time wasn't on my side and I didn't have nine lives, so I whispered an apology and bolted.

I had barely jumped past a rock when a sickening whistle cut through the air and an arrow hit a girl's back.

She screamed once and then… nothing. Her blood soaked the ground and every girl around me finally got the message : we were going to die.

I didn't wait for an arrow to hit me before I realized I should run.

I fucking ran.

The trees swallowed me, my feet thudding against dirt and roots, breath ragged, my dress catching on bark and thorns. I didn't look back. I didn't need to. The scream from earlier was enough.

My lungs burned, and my heart raced so fast it threatened to burst, but it wasn't just fear keeping me going. It was a memory.

The Alpha Hall was set ablaze. Father lying in a pool of his blood. Alpha Nero laughed as he cut my mother's words short with an axe to her head.

A raw scream escaped me as I ran. I did not survive that night to die like this. Not for some twisted royal game. Not for their fvcking amusement. Not again.

If I make it out of this alive, I swear by the bones of my parents that I'd burn this whole kingdom to ash. And if that included the princes? So be it.

I ducked behind a fallen log, my chest heaving.

Voices carried in the wind. The crazy prince was near. I could smell his arrogance from here. He was taunting the others, laughing when one tripped. The bastard was enjoying this. And me? I was getting damn tired of running.

My fingers curled around a stick. It wasn't much, but it'd have to do. I wasn't going down quiet. If I died, someone would lose an eye.

I crept deeper into the woods, feet soft on the moss.

And that's when I felt it.

A presence.

I turned fast and he was there.

Cloaked in the shadows, but I could see him. Broad shoulders, sharp jaw, eyes dark like a storm. Not hungry like the others. Just watching.

I raised my makeshift weapon. “Don't!”

He didn't move. “Alright. You win. Just ... hear me out.”

“Why?” I bit out. “So you can play the nice prince before putting an arrow in my back like your brother did to that girl?”

“I didn't shoot anyone,” he said.

“That makes you a coward. Not a saint.”

A low whistle cracked through the trees. The crazy prince. He was getting closer.

I turned to run again, but he moved fast, grabbing my wrist.

“Wait - stop.”

I turned around, nearly slashing his throat with the stick. He caught it midair.

What the —

We stared at each other for what felt like hours and suddenly something shifted.

The air between us snapped, thick and hot like lightning before a summer storm. My pulse stuttered.

My vision blurred for a second, and then I felt it.

The bond.

No.

You have got to be fvcking kidding me.

“You can't be..." My voice hitched as I stared at him in shock.

He nodded slowly but certainly. "I am."

No. Hell no.

I stumbled back a step, away from his touch.

This cannot be!

“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “It can't be. You — you're the worst of them.”

He was. The guards had called him ‘The cruel one.’

He took a step closer and I yelled.

“No,” I lowered my voice. Shit! The crazy prince would hear me. I had to get out of here.

The prince took another step closer, and I glared, finally. Fvck the goddess and whatever plans she has for me. I want no part of it.

“I will never be yours! I reject you!”

Then I turned and ran, praying he wouldn't come after me.

A sharp voice tore through the air, sharp and bloodthirsty. “That gingerhead bitch! She's making a fool out of me! I want her head, Dexter! Bring her to me, dead or alive!”

That bastard!

He was putting a bounty on me.

I ran as fast as I could, not caring where I was headed.

I needed to escape this hell!

The air escaped my lungs when I found myself running towards the arena. I had been running in circles the whole time?! All this time there was no way out?

A blaring horn cut through my thoughts and the people cheered.

What was going on?

“The hunt is over!” The announcement came in a loud voice. “We have a winner!”

Winner?

I had won?

Was I the last girl standing?

The princes emerged. The crazy one looked furious, the second one, calm. And my mate… I froze. I shouldn't call him that.

Our eyes met again and I nearly stiffened. He looked like he wanted to drag me out of there.

My eyes were still on him when a different voice echoed across the stone and sand.

“You survived!”

A tall man stood at the edge of the arena, his golden robes gleaming like fire under the sun. His black hair fell in waves over his shoulders and a crown of obsidian rested on his brow.

The king.

“That was impressive,” he said, his voice laced with steel as his eyes locked on mine.

Then came the twist I didn't see coming.

“You belong to me now,” a smirk played on his lips. “I'll take you... as my slave.”

My heart stopped.

What?