Chapter 2 Chapter 2

Anya’s POV

Alpha Kai. The name slammed into me, stealing what little air I had left.

The stories. The curse. The women found dead in his bed, shattered and broken. This was him. The man who had kissed me... he was the monster I'd heard whispers about my entire life.

The Beta dragged me, stumbling, across the compound and into the main hall. He shoved me through a heavy wooden door into a dark room and slammed it shut behind me. The thud of the heavy bar sliding into place echoed like a coffin sealing shut.

"Now," a low voice purred from the shadows. "Here you are."

Alpha Kai emerged from the darkness near a fireplace, his features cast in sparkling, demonic light. He was the only one in the room, and he was watching me as if I were a curiosity... or his next meal.

My legs gave out. I collapsed to my knees, the rough-hewn floorboards biting into my skin. "Please," I wept, the word a desperate, familiar prayer. "Please, don't kill me. I just want to live. I'll do anything."

He took a slow step toward me, an animal circling its prey. He crouched, his face inches from mine, his eyes black and bottomless. A cruel, terrifyingly beautiful smirk touched his lips.

"Who said I want to kill you?"

I looked up, my gaze trapped by his dark, bottomless eyes. I was cornered. A trespasser in his territory, a human facing the most notorious Alpha in the land.

All I wanted was to run—to find some dark corner of the world where neither human nor werewolf could ever find me.

But I was here. Kneeling on his floor, a pitiful, crying wreck, my entire life hanging by the thread of his decision.

"Please..." I whispered, the word broken and soft. "Please... don't kill me."

Before I could flinch away, his finger pressed against my lips. It wasn't gentle. It was a command for silence.

"Ssshh," he murmured, his gaze intense, as if he were trying to see into my very soul. "I'm not going to kill you." He paused, his finger tracing the outline of my mouth, and my breath hitched. "I want to know where you came from. And who you were running from."

What if I lie? Will he kill me then? I bit my lower lip so hard I tasted blood. Bracing myself, I forced out the truth, my voice trembling.

"Alpha Borin. I'm running from Alpha Borin."

Kai's expression didn't change, but his eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. "Why?"

"Because I'm... I'm his bride."

A fresh wave of sobs overtook me, and I fell forward, my hands pressing flat against the floorboards as if I could hold onto the solid ground. The thought of being sent back, of him... it was worse than death.

"Please," I begged, the words tumbling out in a desperate, pathetic rush. "Don't return me to him. I'll be your slave. I'm useful, I'm a good servant, I can work. Please... I'm begging you... just don't send me back to him."

He was quiet for a long time, just staring at me. I could only hear my own desperate breathing. Was he enjoying watching me beg? Or was he just deciding what to do with me?

Finally, he stood up and stepped back. "What’s your name?"

My name came out on a shaky breath. "Anya. Anya River." I had to make him understand I was nobody. "I…. I-I'm an orphan. I don't have anyone. I grew up in an orphanage, and I just turned eighteen." My voice became frantic as I explained my biggest fear. "I don't want to be his bride! I don't want to be Alpha Borin's... breeder!"

Kai's mouth curved into a slow, cruel smirk. It wasn't a friendly smile at all. He tilted his head, and his dark eyes looked me up and down, making me feel naked and afraid.

"And what," he asked, his voice low and threatening, "makes you think you’re safer here with me?"

I struggled to my feet, my legs shaking so badly I could barely stand. What should I do? Is he worse than Alpha Borin? I tried to take a deep breath to calm the panic that was making my chest tight.

It felt like I could die just from the terrible, intense way he was staring at me.

He stepped closer, and I stumbled back. His gaze moved over my face, and a familiar, bitter feeling rose in my throat.

It was my face. I hated my face.

It was this face that made all the boys at the orphanage act like they had a crush on me. It was my face and my long hair that made them want to protect me, like they were heroes in some story. It was this same face that made Alpha Borin look at me like I was a toy, something to use and break.

It was always about how I looked.

"P-please," I whispered, my voice trembling. "Don't hurt me."

Alpha Kai stopped, his head tilting again. He looked almost... surprised. "I just saved your life," he said, his voice low and flat as he stared directly into my eyes. "And you're thinking I'm going to hurt you?"

My apology came out as a broken whisper. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry if I offended you." Fresh tears streamed down my face, and he moved his hand. He slowly, almost gently, wiped a tear from my cheek with his thumb. The touch was terrifying.

"Listen very carefully," he said, his voice dropping low again. "I'm going to keep you here—for a while. But nothing in this world is free. You're going to be one of the servants... and you will be the one to serve my food. Every day… especially at midnight."

Midnight? My blood ran cold. The same hour I met him. The hour when the rumors said he turned into a monster. The stories claimed that it was when his curse was strongest, when he became a beast that killed any living thing that came near him.

My eyes widened in pure terror. This wasn't safer. This was a death sentence!

A dangerous smile touched his lips. "And don't worry," he said. "I'll talk to your fiancé tomorrow morning. I'm sure he'll be looking for his bride."

He said it with a finality that dismissed me. I stumbled out of his room, crying in fear.

What had I just done? I had run from one monster straight into the arms of another.