The Captivity

**Angel**

The journey back to the mansion was marked by an urgency that didn’t allow me to rest. The weight of the revelations my brother and mother had shared with me hung over my shoulders, driving me forward despite the exhaustion and fear that tried to creep into my mind. I needed to reach Dimitri, to tell him the truth about what was happening. But fate had other plans.

The forest seemed denser, darker, as I pushed forward. The familiar trees and pathways that once brought comfort now felt foreign and menacing. The feeling of being watched, of something being wrong, grew with every step I took. I tried to shake off the sense of paranoia, focusing on the goal ahead, but I couldn’t ignore the signs around me. The usual forest sounds—the rustling of leaves, the distant calls of birds—were eerily absent, as if even nature was holding its breath, hiding from the presence of something sinister.

I was nearing the border that separated my old pack’s territory from Dimitri’s when everything changed in an instant. A sudden movement in the shadows to my left made me stop abruptly. My heart pounded in my chest, and every instinct told me to run, but before I could react, something or someone struck me with surprising force, throwing me to the ground. The impact knocked the air from my lungs, and my vision blurred as I struggled to make sense of what was happening.

I tried to get up, to fight against whatever was holding me down, but pain exploded through my head as something hard collided with my temple. The world spun, and darkness began to close in. The last thing I saw before losing consciousness was the face of a man I didn’t recognize. His eyes were cold and merciless, gleaming with a malice that chilled my blood. I had only heard whispers of Lucian, but the cruelty in those eyes made me certain I was face to face with the rogue Alpha himself.

***

When I regained consciousness, I was in a place that reeked of dampness and decay. The air was thick with the smell of mold and something more metallic, like rust or blood. My head throbbed with pain, and my thoughts were sluggish as I tried to piece together what had happened. How long had I been out? Hours? Days? The disorientation was overwhelming, and panic began to bubble up inside me as I realized my hands and feet were bound.

I was trapped, confined in a dark, cold room with rough stone walls that seemed to close in on me. The floor beneath me was hard and cold, adding to the chill that seeped into my bones. My heart raced as I struggled against the bindings, but they were too tight, cutting into my skin and leaving me feeling even more helpless.

“Where am I?” I croaked, my voice barely more than a whisper, echoing weakly through the oppressive darkness.

Silence was my only response. The quiet was suffocating, broken only by the distant sound of water dripping somewhere in the gloom. The fear that had been simmering inside me began to boil over as I realized the gravity of my situation. I was alone, in an unfamiliar place, at the mercy of an enemy I barely knew. I had to find a way out, but the cold reality of my predicament was beginning to sink in.

As I fought to control my rising panic, I heard footsteps approaching—slow, deliberate, each one echoing ominously in the small, confined space. My heart thudded loudly in my chest, and I could feel the blood pulsing in my ears. The door creaked open with an eerie groan, and a faint light seeped into the room, casting long shadows on the walls. A tall figure stood in the doorway, his features obscured by the darkness that clung to him like a second skin.

“Finally awake, Angel,” the man’s voice was cold, calculated, and it sent a shiver down my spine. Though I had never seen him before, I knew instantly who he was. The name Lucian had been whispered in fearful tones among the pack, a rogue Alpha whose reputation for cruelty and cunning was legendary.

He stepped closer, and as the light fell on his face, I saw the sharp angles of his features, the coldness in his eyes that held no mercy. The cruel smile that curled his lips was a mockery of warmth, and it made my blood run cold.

“What do you want from me?” I managed to ask, though my voice wavered with the fear I was trying so hard to suppress.

Lucian chuckled softly, a sound devoid of humor. “You, my dear, are a valuable piece in a much larger game. Taking you weakens Dimitri, forces his hand, makes him desperate. And desperate men make mistakes. Besides,” he leaned closer, his voice dropping to a menacing whisper, “you might know things that could be... useful.”

Every word he spoke was laced with malice, and it took every ounce of strength I had to meet his gaze without flinching. “You won’t get anything from me,” I said, though my bravado felt hollow.

Lucian’s smile widened as if he found my defiance amusing. “We’ll see about that.” He straightened, looking down at me with an air of casual cruelty. “But let me make one thing clear—your loyalty to your pack, to your family, it could cost you everything. Are you willing to pay that price?”

Before I could respond, he turned on his heel and left the room, the door slamming shut behind him with a finality that echoed through the darkness. I was alone again, left to the suffocating silence and the oppressive fear that clung to me like a shroud.

Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, and I let them fall, feeling the hot trails they left on my cold cheeks. The reality of my situation was sinking in, and the terror of never seeing my son again, of never getting the chance to tell Dimitri the truth, was more than I could bear. I had to be strong, had to find a way out, but the more I struggled, the tighter the bindings seemed to become, trapping me in a nightmare with no escape.

The darkness around me seemed to press closer, wrapping around me like a suffocating blanket, and for the first time, I truly felt the weight of my situation. I was at the mercy of a monster, and there was no one coming to save me.