Amarah's POV
The cold night air stung my skin the moment I stepped out of our hideout but it wasn't just the wind waiting for me.
A group of armed men stood outside, as if they'd been expecting me, and from the looks of it, they had already searched every house before arriving at mine.
A man stepped forward. My heart sank at the sight of him. He looked exactly like the one I'd escaped from earlier.
"You can't run again, Lovie," he murmured in his deep voice. "Even though you want to, you still can't run away from your Fate. "
He grabbed my hands and tied them tightly behind my back. Before I could scream or struggle, he shoved me into the trunk of a vehicle where the other captives were crammed.
My thoughts raced to Grandma.
I would never forget how she died… or why she did betray me.. The strangest part was how I suddenly gained the ability to mind-link with her in her final moments.
Mrs Evangeline wasn't actually my biological grandmother at least not by birth—but she raised me like I was her own. I was everything to her
Everyone called her a witch. By extension, I became the witch's daughter. I never cared much about that because it was clearly a rumour. Grandma never cast any spell. But sometimes... , I wondered. Not if she was actually a witch, but if she was something even more powerful—something beyond a werewolf.
The boy that saved me years ago had given me to her to raise as her own.
Tears welled in my eyes, blurring my vision. I tried to hold them back, but it was useless.
The thought of being totally alone now was too much for me to bear.
I buried my face in my lap and sobbed silently, ignoring the others in the cramped space. For a while, I stayed like that—until it hit me. The Lycans guarding the back of the truck might see my weakness and assume I was Vulnerable, just another broken girl abducted from her home.
I wiped my face with the back of my hand and stared blankly ahead, forcing the rest of my tears to stay hidden.
Then one of the guards approached. He was ordered to inject something into each of us.
I watched the others fall asleep almost instantly after the injection. I refused. I twisted away, shook my head—but a sharp slap landed on my cheek, stunning me. My body grew weak. I couldn't fight back.
The needle went in.
And darkness swallowed me whole.
***
I woke to cold water soaking through my clothes and chilling me to the bone. My body shuddered, and I flinched, blinking through the sting of freezing droplets.
We were lying on a bare floor about ten of us soaked and half-conscious.
This monsters are surely pretty smart. I planned to keep track of the route to their pack but they outsmarted me.
I hadn't even noticed when we were moved inside. If I'd stayed awake, I might've memorized the path, planned an escape. If I ever got the chance to live.
My throat burned with thirst. Water had become a rare luxury in the town. That entire container they dumped on us? Grandma and I could've survived three days with it.
The Lycans must've diverted all clean sources of water to themselves, leaving a single, filthy dug well for the rest of Vexmoor.
"Now welcome to Nightshade pack fellows. On your feet!" a deep, commanding voice boomed.
I turned slowly to see a figure who looked different from the others, stronger, colder and older.
Twenty of us were lined up in a long row, humans and werewolves alike, spaced about six meters apart. .
I scanned the room. It was cave-like, dimly lit by scattered oil lamps that cast flickering shadows on the stone walls.
"Strip," the man ordered.
My heart plummeted to my stomach. Murmurs spread among us, but I instinctively gripped my clothes tighter. I had never been naked in front of anyone. Not even Grandma.
"I said strip! " another guard barked. "Are you deaf? Or do you want to die?"
The authority in the first man's presence made me suspect he was a Beta. Or worse.. the Lycan King himself.
The others hesitated, then began to remove their clothes one by one—m except me.
I stood frozen, heart pounding. Over my rich hot dead body would I do that.
But then he raised a hand, signaling them to stop.
He was on the far end of the line thank the Moon Goddess.
"You," he said to the girl in front of him. "Strip."
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she obeyed, trembling, her bare skin prickling with fear.
He inspected her, then shoved her to the ground. She crumpled, covering herself with shaking arms as she sobbed.
"It's not you!. Next " He growled
That's when I realized something terrifying.
They had only taken girls.
Not a single boy among us. Were they into human trafficking for sex?
Then came the third girl.
She hesitate kept her underwear on, covered her chest with her hands.
"Kill her," the man ordered. "You are not even the one and you want to stress me?"
My stomach churned. One of the vampires stepped forward, his canines already protruding. The girl begged, screamed, pleaded but he sank his teeth into her neck without hesitation and hungrily soaked out the whole blood in her until she collapsed and died.
The room erupted in panic. People sobbed, others trembled violently. I couldn't feel my legs anymore they'd gone numb from the cold and fear. The rest scrambled to remove their clothes. Shame and horror filled the room like smoke.
I wanted to help them. But I couldn't even help myself.
Two more girls were killed. Too young. Too underdeveloped. They didn't spare them. They didn't care.
Then it was my turn.
A heavy slap knocked me to the ground. Pain exploded across my cheek, and for a moment, I couldn't breathe. My vision blurred. My heart stuttered.
But I didn't cry.
I pushed myself up, gathering the strength I had left.
"How dare you defy my orders?" the Lycan growled. "If death is what you crave, you'll get it. But disobeying me will make your death worse"
He yanked me to my feet with one arm like I weighed nothing. I didn't flinch.
"Rip it off," he barked at the vampire beside him.
The vampire approached me, his canines gleaming, and his eyes fixed on my throat.
"I meant her clothes, you fool!" the man snarled.