CHAPTER NINETY
+25 Bonus
CHAPTER NINETY
Talia’s POV
I woke up in darkness. I tried to sit up, but my wrists and ankles burned every time I moved. The pain shot up my arms and legs. I knew the pain immediately. I was shackled in silver chains.
My head throbbed. I looked around to see that I was sitting on a grimy floor of a dungeon cell. How in the hell did I get here?
I closed my eyes and reached inward. I called my wolf. I desperately needed her right now.
‘Please. Please wake up. I need you right now. I don’t know what to do,’ I called out within me, but I received no response. The emptiness I felt only made my anxiety increase.
“Focus. I need to remember how I got here, so I can figure out how to get out,” I told myself.
I remembered the Hunting Rite gathering. My brother was at my side and then I noticed a flash of movement outside the banquet hall. It was the silhouette of a person that was familiar. A face that I will never forget.
Viki.
I told myself I was mistaken. She was dead or at least supposed to be dead. I excused myself because I had to be sure and crossed the courtyard with a guard at my shoulder. Solon had insisted I keep them close since the night in the library. With my wolf silent and my healing slowed, I knew I needed them. I told myself that this was Silverfang land and that nothing would happen to me with patrols so close.
“If something happens, I need you to alert the Alpha King and Prince Solon as soon as possible,” I told the guard. If this was Viki, she probably did not have any good intentions for being here! 1
“Yes, Princess,” the guard confirmed.
I followed the silhouette into the forest. The music from the hall was long gone now replaced by the creaking of branches in the night breeze. I kept going until the trees grew dense enough to block the last of the lights from the pack house. That was when I saw her.
Viki was tied to a tree. Her dress hung in shreds; her hair was matted against her face. She still had on the dress from her failed Luna ceremony. She looked like someone who had drugged her a long distance.
I hated her, but Viki didn’t deserve this. No one did.
“Viki,” I said, standing in front of her. “Look at me.”
Her eyes fluttered open and focused on me. She winced like her entire body hurt. “Help me,” she whispered. Talia Please. They thought I was a rogue. They tied me up and ran. Please.”
It did not make sense. Guards in Silverfang did not abandon a tied rogue in the dark. They did not leave women bound to trees. Every instinct I had told me to wait and call Solon or Beta Logan,
Viki swallowed and tried to lift her head. “Please, Talia.”
I looked at the guard beside me. He did not like this either. He stepped forward to check the knots and then flicked his gaze at me for a decision. I hated that I could not ask my wolf if this felt wrong. I hated doubting every decision I made. 1
I knew one thing was that I was not leaving her tied to this tree.
“Hold her steady,” I said to the guard. I worked at the knots. They were tight and dug into her skin.
1/2
CHAPTER NINETY
+25 Bonus
“Let me do it,” the guard suggested.
“The knots are too tight. You risk cutting her with your claws. I almost have it,” I said. The knots came loose a few minutes later. Viki leaned onto me, and she was shaking. I awkwardly patted her on the back.
“Thank you. I knew you would not leave me.” She said and giggled.
Something pricked the side of my neck and at first it felt like a bee sting. Then the burn hit. It spread fast and hot under my skin. My knees gave out as I gasped in pain.
I saw the metal glint as she pulled her hand back. She held a small syringe in her hand. Viki grinned down at me. “Go! Alert the Prince,” I tried to say, but I barely managed to get the words out. My vision began to blur from the pain.
“You were always so predictable,” Viki taunted.
The guard turned toward me. I heard him shouting and then a cry of pain. There was nothing I could do. I can still remember the color of the dirt against my cheek and the way I tried to push to my feet only to slam back on the ground. Then everything went black.
“That bitch,” I muttered as I tested the chains. I had been poisoned with wolfsbane. That was what it had to be, as wolfsbane would’ve killed me. The dose was enough to keep me weak. If I had my wolf, I would have purged it from my system by now.
Anger pushed up through fear. I had fallen for another one of Viki’s tricks again. I had let her take advantage of the leftover pity I had for her. If I had waited half a minute and called for backup, she would be in the dungeons, and I would be in this situation. 1
“Stupid. Stupid. I had to be better than this,” I muttered to myself.
Then, I heard footsteps approaching. They didn’t sound like footsteps of a guard, but of someone who wanted to be heard without hurrying. The person stepped up to my cell.
Viki looked nothing like the beat down woman that I took pity on. She was dressed in a simple black dress. Her hair was neatly combed and pulled back. Her skin was clean and no longer bruised. There was color in her cheeks. She looked nothing like the woman dying from the Redbone Flower.
She wrapped her fingers around the bars and smiled like we were old friends meeting after a long trip.
“Hello, Talia,” she said. “Did you miss me?”
Comments
Support
Share
2/2
