Ava POV
I woke to the cloying stench of mold and damp stone. My head throbbed in violent rhythm with my heartbeat.
I tried to shift my weight, but my legs screamed in protest. My knees were swollen, pulsing with an agony that confirmed they were fractured—shattered by the crushing weight of the Alpha Command.
"Ava?"
A whisper drifted from the bars.
It was Ben. His face was pale, eyes darting nervously in the gloom. He clutched a medical bag to his chest.
"Ben," I croaked, my throat like sandpaper. "Go away. If he sees you..."
"He's busy," Ben hissed, unlocking the cell door with a trembling hand. "He's calming the guests. Cleaning up the mess with the Rogue."
Ben rushed in and dropped to his knees beside me. He immediately began cleaning the gash on my head with efficiency born of panic.
"I heard what happened," Ben said, his voice thick with suppressed emotion. "He... he used the Command on you. To protect *her*."
"I know," I said. My voice was devoid of emotion. The pain had burned it all away, leaving only ash.
"We have to get you out," Ben insisted. "He's planning a public trial tomorrow. Chloe is demanding exile. Or execution."
"Let her demand," I rasped. "I'm leaving tonight."
"How? You can't walk."
"I'll crawl if I have to," I said, meeting his eyes. "Ben, did you bring the kit?"
He nodded, swallowing hard. He pulled a syringe and a vial of clear, viscous liquid from his bag.
"This will slow your heart rate to near-zero," Ben explained, his voice shaking. "It mimics death perfectly. It lasts for two hours. I'll declare you dead from your injuries, have your body moved to the morgue, and then smuggle you out the back entrance to my car."
It was a desperate plan. A dangerous plan.
"Do it," I said.
"Ava... the baby," Ben hesitated, the needle hovering. "This drug... it's risky for the fetus."
I pressed a hand against my stomach. Beneath the pain, I felt a hum of energy.
"We are strong," I whispered. "My wolf is healing me. She will protect the child."
Ben nodded, steeling himself. He tied a tourniquet around my arm.
"Wait," I said, gripping his wrist.
"What?"
"I need to see her," I said.
"Who?"
"Chloe."
"Are you insane?" Ben hissed, eyes widening. "She's in the Alpha suite."
"No," I said, shaking my head slightly. "She'll come here. She wants to gloat. She won't be able to resist seeing me broken before I 'die'."
I was right.
Ten minutes later, the sharp staccato of heels clicking on stone echoed down the corridor.
"Leave us," a female voice commanded the guard.
Chloe appeared at the bars. She was still wearing her pristine white gown, looking like a beautiful angel of death.
Ben shrank back into the shadows of the corner cell, making himself invisible.
"Look at you," Chloe laughed softly, the sound echoing off the damp walls. "The brilliant scientist. Rolling in the dirt."
I pulled myself up to a sitting position, fighting the nausea. I stared dead at her.
"You aren't pregnant," I said calmly.
Chloe’s smile didn't falter. "So? Ethan thinks I am. That's all that matters."
"He'll find out," I said. "Nine months is a long time to fake a belly."
"Oh, I have a plan for that," Chloe said, idly examining her manicured nails. "A tragic miscarriage in a month or two. Caused by the stress of your 'treason.' Ethan will be so heartbroken, he'll hate you even more. And he'll be bonded to me forever through our shared grief."
She was a monster. A calculated, soulless monster.
"Why?" I asked. "Why me? I never hurt you."
"Because you have what I want," Chloe spat, her face twisting into a snarl. "You have his respect. Even as an Omega, he listens to you. He relies on you. I needed you gone so I could be the only voice in his ear."
She leaned closer to the bars, gripping the cold iron.
"And besides," she whispered, her nostrils flaring. "I smell it on you. Under the dirt and blood."
My blood ran cold.
"You smell... powerful," Chloe murmured. "Ancient. If Ethan ever figured out what you really are, he'd never look at another woman again. I couldn't take that risk."
She knew. She suspected the White Wolf blood.
"You're pathetic," I said.
"I'm the Luna," she corrected, straightening up. "And you're dead."
She turned and walked away, her heels clicking a victory rhythm.
"Goodbye, Ava. I hope it hurts."
As her footsteps faded, Ben emerged from the shadows. He looked sick to his stomach.
"She's... evil," Ben whispered.
"She's a walking corpse," I said, my voice hard. "She just doesn't know it yet."
I held out my arm.
"Do it, Ben."
Ben positioned the needle against my skin.
"I'll see you on the other side," he said, tears welling in his eyes.
He injected the serum.
Cold.
Instant, glacial cold rushed through my veins, freezing the blood in my arteries. My heart stuttered. My vision blurred into gray static.
The darkness came rushing in like a tide.
My last thought was of Ethan’s face when he broke my knees.
*I reject you,* I thought, screaming it silently into the void as the blackness swallowed me. *I reject you, Ethan Reed.*
And then, nothing.
*
The monitor flatlined.
A long, high-pitched beep filled the cell, signaling the end.
Ben stood up, wiping his eyes, and opened the cell door to call the guards.
"The prisoner is dead," he announced, his voice breaking perfectly.
But deep inside Ava's cooling body, a spark of silver light ignited in the darkness of her womb—the White Wolf was not dying. It was waiting.
