Connor stayed for a bit. We tried to talk about anything except the planned uprising and Leo, but it was hard to avoid it. Like ignoring a herd of elephants in the room.
Eventually, he had something to attend to, and I was left all alone. I fell flat on the bed and stared at the ceiling with a heavy sigh.
The past thirteen years of my life had just been regurgitated in front of me, and the father I thought to be dead was planning to kill my mate and destroy my pack.
There was also the grief, shock, and utter terror of the Halimede attack to deal with. And Connor had a son. And I was being held prisoner in a castle run by exiled rebels.
And when was I going to see Leo and my children again, if ever?
It must have been three hours and a lot of tears later before I finally remembered who I was. Ella Loren didn’t cry and wait to be rescued. I was my own hero.
The window, although large enough to climb through, was three tall stories up and situated on a face of stone with a sheer, gripless drop.
Connor had locked the door on the way out, but that was nothing I couldn’t pick... but with the two guards I could hear on the other side of the wall, maybe not. Well, not unarmed anyway.
I rustled through every drawer and cupboard, searching for something, anything, to use as a weapon. The best I could find was a particularly heavy book and a pen. I shook my head before taking a deep breath.
Worth a try, right? But as I turned toward the door, my foot caught on a lip in the rug, and I was sent thudding to the floor.
I groaned as I lifted my face off the hard stone, but I soon forgot about the pain when I saw what I had uncovered. With the rug folded over, a small hatch in the ground was revealed.
I lifted it and peered into the echoey darkness. I guessed someone up there was on my side, even if they did make me face-plant to find it.
After taking one last look around the room at all the pieces of my childhood, I slipped through the hatch and fumbled my way through the narrow passageway.
Water dripped from the ceiling, sending shivers down my spine with every cold droplet to touch my skin.
It was the sort of darkness down there that leeched into your mind, disorientating you, grasping you, consuming you. The air was thick with damp and mold, and I soon lost track of how long I’d been down there.
The place was like a maze of passages. Even turning back wasn’t an option; I had no idea which way was back.
My fingers traced the stone walls, guiding me forward, until the stone turned to wood. A door. Stiff but nothing that wouldn’t open with a hard kick.
When the door swung open, light poured into the tunnel. I squinted and grimaced as I cowered back into the darkness. The light came from a corridor with the stone walls and floors of the castle.
After all that, we were still in the castle?
But sometimes you just had to work with what you were given.
Wiping the sticky damp from my arms, I tiptoed down the hallway. Having been brought here unconscious, I had no idea the size of this place until I was trying to get out of it. Spoiler: it was huge.
After scurrying down countless hallways, I was forced to dart behind a corner. Two deep voices in a whisper. I could make out three heartbeats. If I could hear theirs, they could hear mine.
Shit.
I just pressed myself against the wall and hoped they’d head the other way before I fell unconscious from holding my breath.
I guess I was not that lucky.
“Do you hear that?” one said to another. “A heartbeat from over there.”
Fuck.
“I can smell someone too,” the other replied. “Smells like…Loren…”
Double fuck.
With nothing to lose, I turned to run down the hallway to the passage. What’s that saying? You can run, but you can’t hide.
Turns out that saying wasn’t always true. Sometimes you couldn’t do either.
“Guard, get her,” one ordered, and I immediately heard a set of heavy footsteps come my way.
I spun around a corner, hoping to lose him, but instead, I found myself faced with another man.
“Do you have permission to be here, miss?” he asked.
“Yes?”
The guard soon turned the corner too and seized my arm. The two other men weren’t far behind him either.
“My guess would be she doesn’t,” one of them said.
I’d put him at about thirty, give or take a few years, and he was a Stella. I could tell by the blue shade of his eyes and fair hair.
“You’re Alpha Loren’s Luna, aren’t you? Jones’s little girl?”
“And you are?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
He grinned.
“Definitely Nicolòs’s daughter,” he said. “Take her back to her chambers.”
“Wait, why?” I questioned as the two guards took an arm each.
“Prisoners don’t get to walk around here alone, sweetie,” he said as I was dragged away. “And you are far too important to risk losing.”
I scowled and let the two guards lead me down the hallway.
I waited until we had turned a corner before effortlessly freeing myself from them. I hadn’t had to fight in years, but it was something I’d never forget.
One let out a loud groan as I elbowed him in the stomach, and he stumbled back. The other fell to the floor with a thud.
“Could you at least be quiet?” I whispered before hearing the heavy footsteps of the other men. “Now look what you have done!”
Before I had the chance to get far, I felt myself being thrown against the wall—quite literally. I groaned at the impact as someone grabbed my wrists.
“Find some more guards. I can handle her here,” he said to the other man who ran down the hall.
“From what your father has told me, I thought you were intelligent. Obviously, I was wrong,” he sneered. “You’re here because we want Loren, and he’ll come whether you are dead or alive.
“The reason you are still alive is the king took mercy on your father and brother. So tell me, why are you acting like you’re more bother than you are worth?”
“What have I ever done to deserve to die?” I asked, trying to push him off me.
He must have had a position of power in the pack because he was far stronger than me, and I couldn’t fight him off—something I wouldn’t expect from an ordinary man.
“It is what your mate has done,” he spat. “Nine years ago, I was a commander in his army and got involved in a small uprising. He responded by taking everything from me. My parents, my mate, my pups.
“He killed them all. The only reason he kept me alive was to watch me suffer. There are hundreds here with similar stories, so why shouldn’t we do what he did to us?”
“Because that would make you just as bad as him. I know he can be an evil man. I’m not an idiot. And you have every right to want him dead. I can only imagine the pain my mate has put you through.
“But killing me will bring you no peace because you know I am not responsible for what he did before I even met him.”
He glared at me for a few moments, filled with anger, but deep down, he knew I was speaking reason.
The other man soon returned with three guards.
“Take her to the throne room. Let the king decide what to do with her,” the man said as he let go of me.
He then marched down the hallway without looking back. I watched him and pacifically allowed the guards to grab my arms and drag me in the opposite direction.
