ELENA

Fear gripped me. "Sacrifice?" I whispered.

He smirked, “Don’t worry, you won't feel a thing. We'll make your death quick.” He said and then, there was darkness.

When I came to, every where was still dark. In fact, the darkness was everywhere. Was this the end of me? Was death my fate?

I ran away from my husband only to end up here.

I didn't even know how I ended up here. The last thing I remembered was their voices. The voices of my supposed saviors. They had promised to help me escape my nightmare. But now, they were the harbingers of my death.

"You will be our sacrifice. The perfect sacrifice."

That was the last thing I heard before everything went black. Something must have happened after that but I couldn't remember. I just knew I was trapped.

I thought running away from Stephen was my chance to be free. But I had only run into deeper trouble. Maybe this was my destiny. Maybe my life was supposed to end in tragedy.

Maybe it was best this way. At least, in death, I wouldn't suffer from the hands of anyone. I wouldn't have fear or feel any pain. It was good.

I knew it was selfish to wish for my life to end like this. I knew how much it would hurt my family.

I perked up. My family! Now that I was gone, Stephen would do what he threatened.

But then, if I died, it would be better for them. If I was gone, there would be nothing connecting me and Stephen. He wouldn't be able to use me to hurt them anymore.

And if he tried to, maybe they could finally prosecute him.

Suddenly, it felt like I was falling. I fell into cold water. I tried to swim, thrashing in the water, but it didn't work My body was growing weak and I couldn't breathe. This was it. I would die down here in this dark water.

Help! I screamed in my mind. But there was no one to hear me. There was no one to save me.

"Wake up."

That voice… the command seem to pull me out from the water. "Open your eyes." The voice continued.

Slowly, I obeyed. Bright light blinded me and I rubbed my eyes with shaky hands. When I opened them again, the darkness and water were gone. Instead, I was in a room.

Everything was white, including the curtains, the bed, the walls and even the floor. There wasn’t a single speck of dirt anywhere. The room almost looked out of this world. Was I dead?

"How long do you plan to hold on to me?"

I turned my head to the voice that spoke up. A man stood beside the bed, looking at me with disdain. Then, I realized that I was holding his arm tightly like my life depended on it.

My cheeks warmed up in embarassment and I quickly let go of him. "I’m sorry," I said, lowering my head.

He tsked. "You’ve been out for a while. Come with me." He said, standing to his feet.

Go with him to where exactly? Was I about to be sacrificed now? I swallowed hard. There had to be a way out. I had escaped Stephen, hadn’t I? Certainly, I could also escape these men too if I thought clearly.

But something told me these men weren’t like Stephen. They were far more dangerous and if I was careless, I would die.

"Please," I begged instead. "Can’t you save me? I’ll do anything you want. Just help me."

He paused and turned back to face me. My heart raced in my chest. Was he considering me? Was there a chance that he might actually help?

He chuckled darkly, leaning back and shoving his hands into his pockets. "What could you possibly give to me that would convince me to help you?"

"Anything. I’ll do whatever you want.” I said desperately.

He came closer to me and lowered himself until he was eye level with me. He reached out and I flinched. His large hand held my chin.

"Wonderful, you’ll do exactly what I want. You’ll give us power." He said. I realized that he was one of them.

“I'm not coming with you,” I said stubbornly. He grabbed my arm and began to drag me out of bed.

"Wait, please don’t!" I tried pulling back, but he was strong.

He pulled me with him, outside the room. Even though I begged and cried, he ignored it. He took me down a spiral staircase. But, I was too terrified to notice my surroundings.

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, I saw three men waiting for us. My heart sank. It was Ryan and the guy with brown hair and eyes. The third guy was equally handsome with black hair and blue eyes. Ryan’s eyes met mine briefly before he looked away.

The other two stood in silence, watching me.

"The full moon is in an hour. Is everything ready?" Blue eyes asked.

"We’ve been preparing for this moment," the man who had dragged me out said. He pushed me to the center of the room.

I stumbled into the middle of their small circle. My legs shook and I hugged myself. I prayed to the goddess that someone would show mercy. But their faces were as cold as ice.

Blue eyes was the tallest of them. He stepped forward. He carried himself with an intimidating authority.

"Thank you for willingly becoming our sacrifice," he said. There was no emotion in his voice.

My stomach turned in disgust and fear. These men were delusional if they thought I agreed to any part of this.

He continued, "Before you die, you should know the names of those who will benefit from your sacrifice."

He pointed to each of them in turn. "Ryan. Liam–” Liam was the man who had dragged me out. “–Caleb—” he was the guy with the brown hair.

His hand rested on his chest. "—and I, Julian.”

I contemplated running but these men had me surrounded. I ran in the direction between Caleb and Ryan. Caleb didn't even break a sweat. He wrapped his hands around my waist and pulled me back into the circle.

“Escaping is useless,” Julian said.

I began to cry. My fate was sealed.

"Gentlemen,” Julian began, looking up at the sky. It was only then that I noticed that the roof was glass. “The full moon is here. Let’s begin.”

I began to notice more people in the shadows. And as if on cue, the eyes of these four men began to glow. It was a deep red.

I gasped. They were Alphas, all of them.

But, they were strange. They weren't like other Alphas.

Liam grabbed my arm, dragging me to a chair in the center of the room. He tied me up with ropes under the full moon. The men circled around me.

Julian raised a silver dagger above his head and it reflected the moon. "Your sacrifice will be received by the heavens," he said.

Just as he brought the blade to my throat, I screamed. "Wait!” I said. He didn't wait. I felt the tip of the dagger on my throat and closed my eyes. “I'm pregnant!”

The whole room froze.