That very moment I bolted into the house, shutting the door behind me as my heart raced and roared in my head. His gaze had been one devoid of any human feeling, and with just one look at him I knew he hated me to the bone. He was an Alpha, and even with the distance between us I could feel just how much he hated me to the bone.
My legs shook as I headed up the stairs before heading back down, pacing around the house as I looked for a way out. A window I could jump out of and escape through. Running wouldn't save me, but maybe it would put some distance between me and him.
I was terrified and the reason was obvious. I had broken the oath, and the consequences meant that until I died, Rex had complete and utter control of my will. I was a slave in all but my mind.
I need to run! No, I need to flee.
Dashing towards the back door, my heart pounding wildly in my chest as I pushed it open and peered out, only to be relieved to see nothing as I dashed out. Picking up the skirts of my red gown as I began to run, never hating how weak I was until that moment.
Realizing that compared to a wolf I was slow.
But I had just taken a few steps in the direction of the forest when I froze. Something was wrong. Where previously there had been shouting and screaming with people shifting into their wolf forms, there was nothing.
The silence was so eerie that I could feel the fear embedded in my heart even more than before. A second's pause was enough as I picked up my skirts again and dashed into the forest, my need to escape much greater than the need to understand why my entire pack felt like a silent grave.
But I had just gotten to the borders of the trees when I heard a voice that sent shivers down my back and straight to the very core of me.
"Stop!"
He spoke and my body froze before I was even aware of what was happening. I struggled, but my legs might as well have belonged to someone else as I stood there, rooted to the ground.
I could hear footsteps behind me as I turned my head and body, realizing that I could move—although I could no longer take a single step. My eyes widened as I saw Rex approach, and right beside him was Axel whose red hair I recognized. Axel was naked just like the first time I saw him, his hands and mouth covered in blood. So much blood that it sang of murder and slaughter.
Rex was still clothed, but in his hands was a sword, and I felt the weight of his gaze as he fixed it on me. They both did, but beyond that was the rage and anger that seeped out of them in waves. I didn't dare to meet their gaze as I simply dropped to the ground.
Yes, I had somehow hoped that Rex had died in the attack! It was cruel, but was it cruel to not want to be a moon-bound slave?
Quietly I fell on my knees as my entire body trembled and I began to speak.
"I…I was forced," I said, surprised by the tears that slowly flooded down my face as I began to speak.
"…I would never have given up your pack! But they…they," I struggled to speak, sniffling as I felt Rex step closer to me until he was only a foot away, bending at his knees in front of me. Even then his entire body towered over mine. His voice was gruff and filled with nothing but anger as he spoke.
"They forced you? I see no scars!"
He pointed out in such a cruel tone that said he would like nothing more than to carve them out of my skin himself. A scoff left him as I felt his huge hand grab my jaw, wrapping itself around my neck and forcing me to look into his eyes.
Eyes that had the shine of a true Alpha, something that was already rare. I didn't doubt that he could see me clearly even in the dark as I was forced to meet his gaze.
More tears fell from my eyes, but all I stared into was the cold and dark soul that was bent in front of me. An unfeeling gaze that showed it wanted nothing more than to tear me apart.
"I see no missing fingers," he continued, squeezing my jaw so tightly I gasped until my mouth hung open, "…your tongue is still intact. Nails… nothing about you shows that you have suffered," he continued.
And I could hear the pain in his voice, so palpable that I could almost feel it as he looked deep into my eyes while continuing to speak.
"…I come here and I expect that at least you would give me the decency of the truth! Yet all I hear is lies!"
His voice became louder as he spoke.
"You look soft and weak, but that's all a mask! You have a dirty soul!"
He continued, words that made more tears stream down my face as the pain in my jaw increased with the tightening of his grip.
"You are the most disgusting woman I have ever met!"
He spat the words and I could not refute them. He looked like he was in pain, and I knew that he must have lost family members—family that would have lived if I had kept my mouth shut.
I was not forced, and the truth was that I was too stupid, too trusting to have fallen for a lie. And somehow that was much worse.
"I deserve to die!"
The words flowed out of my mouth when he suddenly pulled away. The bruise that would form on my jaw was bound to be nasty, but I didn't try to touch it.
Instead my voice cracked as I spoke again.
"…I deserve to die."
My heart wrenched painfully in my chest as I realized that I truly meant it. Lifting my head, I bared my throat, asking him to get it over with.
But Rex simply straightened himself back up while letting out a laugh that was so dark and inhumane it sent shivers to my core.
"…How will that bring my mother back?"
He asked, his gaze fixed on me as he bent down and suddenly pulled me up by my hair. I shrieked as pain shot through my scalp.
"…By the time I'm done with you…"
He leaned closer, his voice low and venomous.
"…you'll wish you were dead."