I was losing my mind faster than I could imagine. His warm breath on my neck, and every touch of his finger, beat the reality out of me.

I had never felt something so alluring, breaking all the self-resolve I had stored up.

“Elysian!!” Arlie’s voice echoed in my head, pinching me back to myself, but it was too little to overcome the devil bathing me with his sins.

“Elysian, get a hold of yourself!” I heard the loud wail in my ears. It wasn’t just her voice, but the force that came with it, pushing the devil away from me.

I couldn’t grasp the whole thing until it ended. The masculine wolf staggered in front of me, grunting in pain, while his left arm was outstretched, stopping his companion from launching an attack on me.

“I knew you were different, Elysian,” he chuckled with pleasure, hiding the pain hitting his chest.

“What just happened?” I threw the question more to myself than to anyone in the gathering.

“Seems you don’t have an identity. A fine pain in the ass…? You’re coming with me.” He landed the last words like some kind of mafia boss and turned to leave.

“Oh dear, I’m not. Look, I don’t know who you think you are, but you can’t just boss around here and command me like you own me. I’m not moving an inch, and that’s final.” I challenged him with my arms crossed below my breast in defiance.

I don’t know where I plucked up the courage from, but it felt good until he made a quick u-turn and his narrow gaze pierced my soul.

He walked slowly, but menacingly, toward me with a warning look on his face.

“You must think you really have an option here.” He snickered and hissed before grabbing my cheeks with his right palm and squashing them together, almost pulling out my gums.

“I’m the god here. Whatever I say is law. You have no privilege to say no or talk back to me. The only way to survive is to listen. This is final!” He yelled the last part, but I swear I didn’t hear him properly.

His fingers were reshaping my face into something smaller. My eardrums were about to burst from too much pressure when he finally tossed me on the ground, leaving me to gasp for breath.

“Pick her up. Let’s leave. Tonight’s hunt is over,” he yelled and spat.

“Sire, permit me to speak,” one of his companions finally found the courage to speak.

“What, Callum…?” He growled softly without turning or stopping, but his pace slowed.

“Forgive me, Sire, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to bring her with us. We don’t even know what she is or what harm she might bring to the pack. I suggest we just tear her apart before she becomes a threat. I mean… I know she's no good.” Callum’s suggestion shot the remaining air out of my lungs.

“Tear me apart…? How am I a threat when I’m not even holding a weapon?” I wanted to scream, but my cheeks were still hurting too badly to let any word slip out.

“Did you just try to override my command, Callum?” The devil turned, his glare fixed on Callum. His voice was heavy and threatening as he made his way back to us.

This doesn’t end.

“I’m sorry, Sire. I plead for mercy. I shouldn’t have brought up my stupid suggestion.” With trembling limbs, Callum sank prostrate, his face to the ground, begging the earth for mercy—but that didn’t stop the devil.

He marched to where Callum was lying and grabbed his long curly hair roughly, forcing his face upward.

“I don’t know who you’re working for, Callum, but I don’t pardon traitors. Don’t let me see a loophole.” The devil gritted his teeth while staring dead into Callum’s eyes.

I thought I hated Callum, but those eyes made me feel sorry for him. I couldn’t imagine them piercing me again.

“Bring her home. If she can’t walk, drag her through the woods.” The devil finally let go of Callum’s hair and blended into the woods.

I knew better than anyone that it was way past the stage of being stubborn. I picked myself up hazily before his companions could unleash their anger, and I started walking in the devil’s direction.

En route to wherever they led me, silence was my only companion. The beasts didn’t say a word to me. They didn’t so much as look at me. We all journeyed in silence, everyone lost in their own thoughts. But my stomach wouldn’t stop making funny groaning sounds.

“We’re close. Make sure not to stare at anything or anyone. Just stay close,” the beast I hadn’t heard speak before finally spoke up and pulled me by the wrist.

“Stay close, I said,” he repeated like a warning. But I preferred being pulled, since I had no strength left in me to walk on my own.

I wasn’t expecting much from where we were going, but I knew I wouldn’t be dying—at least not tonight.

Curiosity glued me to the sight when I finally started seeing buildings different from what I had imagined. I thought I would be meeting other pack members under some big trees, but it was way different.

The houses, though little, were arranged in a military structure, the edge of one touching the other. They all looked the same, except for the little outhouses in front of some.

“This is Sire’s turf. You won’t be attacked since you’re with us, and the Alpha has no say here. Sire Killian has utmost power around here. Listen to him and you will have nothing to worry about,” the beast I perceived to be the youngest broke the tearing silence.

“Stop giving away information, Harry!” Callum yelled, but a little grunt remained in his voice.

Of course he hates me.

“I like your name, Harry,” I managed to put the words in the air.

If I’m going to leave this hell, I need at least one person to be on my side, and Harry seemed to me like a nice guy.

He eyed me from the corner of his eyes and smiled without saying a word to my compliment.

“We’ve arrived, Elysian,” Harry announced, and my eyes caught the massive gate in front of me.

It loomed tall, dark, and unyielding like it had been built to keep secrets locked inside. The iron bars glistened under the moonlight, etched with symbols that seemed to squirm when I stared too long.

My heart sank.

I knew there was more to this gate. But I had no idea that once I crossed it, I would never be the same again.

Because behind those walls, my destiny was waiting.

And it wasn’t going to be kind.

A loud, painful cry echoed from the distance, shattering my thoughts; and not just mine, but my companions’ as well.

For the first time since Killian’s departure, fear returned to their faces, settling like a shadow that refused to lift.

“It’s Sire Thorne, he’s terrorizing again.”

The voice came from somewhere behind us in the dark, striking my already trembling heart and making it leap to my throat. Yet, buried within the message was something that seized me completely.

“Thorne…?” My head throbbed.

Just the beast I had been searching for.