Kaela's POV.

I wake up to a pain so agonising I wish the earth would swallow me whole. Tiny needles prick my skin, an inconvenience I've never encountered before.

I snap my eyes open, a gasp caught in my throat at the sight of a menacing man. He's dressed in a cloak, and I shift my gaze to my surrounding—a dimly lit, inauspicious room.

"H-hello." I'm strapped to a platform suspended mid-air, a large steel bowl beneath me... and that freaks me out even more.

My throat! Painless. Does this mean I'm dead? There's no way I could heal from such deep cuts.

"Fuck. Where the fuckity-fuck are you?" The man shuffles from one ominous book to the other. He stops at one and flashes a smile.

"Good sir?" He avoids me again. "Hello, if you can hear me, plea—please, help me!"

Footsteps click closer, and my breath seizes. My dread worsens when I see it's Caius. No! No! No! It can't be real!

Goddess, please wake me from this haunting nightmare!

"How's it going?" Caius grabs the cloaked man so hard the book in his hands drops.

"Uh, I-I got the spell, Your Highness. It's going to work. I'll not fail you, sire."

Caius grunts a hum and steps back.

"Caius? What is this?" My voice is dying and Caius ignores me too.

He folds his arm across his chest, his eyes stirred at me but he's different: scary and sinister.

"Caius! Talk to me! This isn't you!" This isn't the man I married just hours ago.

Realising my situation, I turn my face to the moonlight above and sob into pressed lips. What's happening? Why is he hurting me?

The cloaked man speaks a foreign language and suddenly, a wrecking punch slams into my sternum before a white light emits in the middle, each burst leaving a twinkling glow. My eyes shift to the man as he falls to the ground, an immense shock in his eyes.

"You did it, Your Highness! You unlocked the Aetherblood's gifts against her wishes. This has never been possible."

"When you play your cards right, anything is." Caius speaks proudly.

"She's given you a direct claim to her innocence...all of them: her body, her knowledge, her blood. And with them, her gifts." The cloaked man remains stunned.

"What next, mage?"

My senses fail me, their voices distant. But a mage? That's a fairytale Magic doesn't exist.

"Bleed her out, sire. Her blood is the last ingredient." His words are followed by my wailing so sharp my throat gives up. I feel hundreds—no, thousands of sharp metals digging into my skin and drawing out blood.

My blood is being drained into the large bowl beneath me. I badly want to beg Caius to stop all this madness. I gave him everything because I trusted him, so why is he doing this to me? But then, my consciousness fades off again.

~~~

"Caius? Is that you?"

"Of course, it's me." He breathes into my neck and my nerves calm down. I close my eyes and recline, trusting him to hold my weight. "They said you came here to hide."

"I'm tired of their negligence, Caius. They only think me feeble, but I want to be more. I wish destiny allows me prove how strong I can become someday." His strong arms wraps around me to reassure me.

"Face me." As bid, our foreheads meet and he continues. "I'm here for you, you know."

I groan, wanting to step back but Caius keeps me in place. "I do everything a queen should do, but the council want an Alpha apparently. I wish the lowlifes were the royals, at least they see me for who I am."

"The council only wants you to be ready to protect the pack when threat comes. Makes me wish you had met your mate. He could..."

"Then, be my mate." The idea pops in like a stone thrown into still water.

"What?"

"Your sole enemy as a White-Fur Lycan are the Black-Fur Lycans as well as werewolf's. Cursed beings who've been threats since the dawn of time. If we perform the mating rituals, our love will be enough to gain the moon's blessings."

I briefly pause. "My armies will become yours as well as my Throne. I believe that'll give you more power to destroy the enemy. Our names will be written in history."

"The queen who saves EmberFang without her wolf." He completes and I smile. "You'll do this much for me?"

I nod my head without a second thought. "I don't want to have a mate if it isn't you."

Our foreheads meet and his voice changes eerily. "Such a dumbass."

"What?"

"You're a desperate fool. You'll give away everything just like that?"

"Caius? What are you..." My chest tightens from fear. His eyes are quick to change, emitting a red glow, bare fangs and talons aiming for my neck.

"A fool! Naive! A stupid queen! I'm going to kill you!!!"

~~~

I scream like I've seen a ghost. Against the cold floor, I trash aimlessly for a moment before my senses return and I realise it was a dream.

"Goddess." I press my forehead while trying to remain calm but Caius's voice behind me stirs my fear again.

"That must be a crazy nightmare."

"Where..." My words cut off.

Am I in a dungeon?

Wait, I am in a dungeon, and Caius is on the other side of the bars. I'm the one locked behind a metal cage.

"My wizard tried to heal you but the scars can't exactly fade away." He sounds nonchalant.

My hands check my throat, feeling the deep scars on the skin just in time my eyes capture the horrific sight of blisters on my arms. I gag instantly as my stomach churns, the scars unable to overwhelm Caius's betrayal.

"Why are you doing this?!"

"Would you like to eat first? This will be an interesting conversation." He asks and I run to the bar, banging and spitting but not enough to stain him.

"Fuck you!"

"Fine, since you're so angry, let's get to business." The way he stares at me is different. The care and affection he once capture my heart with are all gone, like someone else is wearing his skin.

Standing up, he begins. "You wanted this as much as I do—to destroy the Black-Fur Lycans, and that's what I'm doing...yes, you may not approve my approach, but it's the only way possible."

The crease on my forehead deepens. "Your blood possesses qualities: can destroy or redeem the Black-Fur Lycans. Can't allow you to mistakenly do the latter. On your behalf, I'll be doing the former."

"Bullshit. This doesn't even make sense." I mean, that can't be the reason why he did all of this, right? "You're a bastard. How dare you do this?"

"Wow. See how quick you turn to hate me. That's life, Kaela. Tables turn quick. Unfortunately, it's currently against you." He points his finger at me, tsking. "I was forged into this because of your species. You know nothing about my suffering, but you and your stupid pack of mongrels only want us to protect you, seeing it as our calling. White-fur Lycans against Black-Fur Lycans. And now that I'm doing that, you dare curse me?"

I spit on the floor. "My people will come for me." Just then, the door creaks open. As if my heart hasn't been broken enough, Seraphine graces me with her presence, a devilish smile on her face when she sees me behind bars.

"Did you hear her?" Caius asks and Seraphine giggles before she kisses Caius, her eyes on me. She's doing this intentionally.

But I don't understand!

"Oh, she doesn't know you've overthrown her reign." She turns to me. "Caius rules EmberFang and its people now, and I am his Luna."

"You...bitch! Our parents will never allow that!"

In response, Seraphine bursts out laughing the best laugh she's probably ever had. "Darling, you know nothing. You are an orphan."

"Lies!"

"Your real parents died since you were little." She continues, my chest tightening.

Her next words knock the air out of my gut.

"And yeah, Caius murdered them."