Chapter One

Part One

^~Hardships often prepare ordinary people for extraordinary destiny—C.S. Lewis ~^

^~2 Years Later~^

Ellie

I woke up with the sunrise. My body had adjusted to this new routine. The days of sleeping in until my father woke me were long gone.

But I didn’t think of him as my father anymore. He was just Gabriel. Another person who had let me down with broken promises. Sometimes, I dreamt about him. Or rather, I had flashbacks.

He had promised me that no one would take me away, that he would always protect me. Both were lies. He didn’t even try to find me. None of them did.

Not even my own brother when I crossed the border. That felt like a lifetime ago.

Samuel had been right about so many things. When I told him that Gabriel would find me, he almost laughed. Almost, if his face hadn’t been so battered and bruised.

And when he called me stupid, he wasn’t wrong. I was stupid to trust anyone.

The only comfort I had was that I was taken, while poor Sammy was given away. Given to a monster who reveled in other people’s pain. Jackson was partially right.

There were monsters here, but there were also monsters back home.

I wasn’t wrong when I thought he reminded me of the commander in the punishment block.

Of course, he rarely did the dirty work himself. He had Dante for that. If anything, Dante seemed to enjoy it more than Zagan.

We weren’t allowed to call them by their names, though. It was always Beta this, or Alpha that. After two years, neither of us had earned that privilege. I doubted I ever would.

I nudged Sammy on the shoulder.

“You better wake up before Beta comes,” I whispered.

I wasn’t about to get a beating for saying his name, just in case he was listening. Two years in this hellhole could make you paranoid.

Sammy stirred and opened one eye.

“Is it that time again, already?”

I nodded. He wasn’t talking about the dawn. Another month had passed.

Sammy sat up and looked at me.

“I don’t know why you just don’t agree to join the pack. It would make your life much easier.”

That must have been his idea of a joke. A not-so-funny one, but a joke nonetheless. When had my life ever been easy? Oh yeah, before the idiot upstairs kidnapped me.

I rolled my eyes, “and leave you all alone down here, to live a life of luxury as the Alpha’s daughter!”

Sammy smirked.

“Maybe in your dreams.”

“More like in my nightmares,” I shot back.

I’m not sure I would have survived the last two years without Sammy. I thought he hated me, but it turned out it was his wolf.

His wolf pretty much hated everyone that didn’t let him do what he wanted.

I still missed Nix. I searched for her in my mind every day, but she was nowhere to be found. Sammy said it was the Wolfsbane. They had somehow gotten it into our systems.

Sammy was kind of glad—he didn’t miss his wolf, not the way I missed Nix.

At first, they kept our chains short. They thought Sammy would try to kill me. They planned to use that hatred to turn us into fighting machines.

When that didn’t work, they made us train every day. They punished us if we didn’t work hard enough, which was most days, according to Dante.

Today was a special day, though. It was the same every month. Dante would fetch me from the dungeon and take me to the Alpha’s office.

He would offer me to join his pack, I would refuse, then he would hit me. Then Dante would drag me back to the dungeon and chain me to the wall.

He would starve me for a couple of days, then I would resume training.

I kept track of how many times this had happened. That’s how I knew I’d been here for two years.

Soon, I was going to get out. One way or another. I would either survive or die trying. If I survived, I would come back for Sammy. I’d promised him that.

***

^~Seven days ago~^

We sat in our cell, the moonlight streaming through the window. We ate the meager rations they had given us. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.

A stale piece of bread, a moldy piece of cheese, and a cup of water. At least the water was fresh.

Once the cell door slammed shut for the night, we were usually left alone until morning.

A few months ago, I realized that if I wanted to escape this hell, I could only rely on myself.

“Sammy?” I started, whispering, “how does a werewolf become rogue? You know, break the pack link.”

He looked at me, frowning, as he chewed on a tough piece of bread.

“Why?”

I sighed, “just tell me. The less you know, the less likely you are to get hurt.”

Sammy shook his head.

“You have to break the link. Once you’re out of your pack territory, you say, ’I, Samuel of the Blood Fang pack, reject the pack and accept rogue status,” he sighed, “I’d fucking do that if I could.”

I nodded, “so I just say my name and my pack name?”

Sammy nodded, “either that or you get blooded in by another pack. Like what he did to me.”

Sammy frowned, “Oh fuck, Ellie, what are you going to do? You’re gonna break the link to Uncle Gabriel’s pack, aren’t you.”

I sighed, “when the time comes, yes.”

Sammy held his face in his hands.

“You’re gonna find a way to get out, you’re gonna leave me to rot here.”

He looked up at me. I saw tears in his eyes for the first time since I came here. The first thing he’d warned me about was crying.

I crept over and put my hand on his shoulder.

“No, Sammy, I wouldn’t do that. I’ll come back for you. It might take some time, but I will. I’ll keep a low profile, and when my wolf returns, I’ll come back for you. That’s a promise.”

He shrugged off my hand from his shoulder.

“Ellie, don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

^~***~^

I pushed myself up and leaned against the wall, my hands flat against the cold stone, legs slightly spread.

“He’ll be here soon,” I said, glancing over my shoulder at Sammy.

Sammy let out a sigh.

“It’s today, isn’t it? You’re going to do it today.”

I nodded.

“Don’t forget your promise, okay?” Sammy’s voice was barely above a whisper.

I swallowed hard, fighting back the lump in my throat, blinking away the tears.

“I won’t,” I whispered back, my voice breaking.

If I survived this, I would come back. Sammy didn’t need to know that my plan could very well lead to my death.

It all hinged on my hope that Zagan would believe I was his daughter, and the hope that there was something inside him that would prevent him from killing his own flesh and blood.

I was going to provoke him to the point where he wouldn’t be able to control his wolf. Then he would punish me. I’d either die or I’d make my escape.

If I managed to escape, I’d sever the link with Gabriel’s pack and go rogue.

I knew Sammy believed that if we ever got out of here, we’d return, but I couldn’t. It was clear to me now that I had been nothing more than a diversion, a little experiment. Let’s see what the half-breed can do.

I couldn’t understand why Sammy wanted to go back anyway. His family had abandoned him when he needed them the most.

When we finally got out, if he wanted to go back, he could. But I wouldn’t be going with him.

My plan, though, depended on Zagan losing his temper.

^~***~^

~One year ago~

The dungeon door was flung open. It was barely dawn, and Sammy and I were still asleep.

Dante stood in the doorway with two guards.

“Bring them,” he growled.

Fear gripped me, not for the first time, but I pushed it down. Sammy looked terrified.

The guards unshackled us, grabbed my wrists, and pinned them behind my back as they pushed me out the door. The other guard did the same to Sammy.

I squinted as the bright light stung my eyes. We were never allowed outside.

The entire pack was gathered, and as my eyes adjusted, I saw a man tied to a post in the center.

Zagan stood there, shirtless, wearing only shorts. He held a menacing whip in his hands.

“This worthless mutt has disrespected me for the last time,” he growled. “Let this be a warning to anyone who dares to cross me.”

The whip came down on the man. Zagan ignored his screams. The whip tore into the man’s flesh, blood splattering onto Zagan as he continued to strike the man, over and over.

Even after the man’s body slumped, he kept going.

I tried to look away, but Dante came and stood beside the guard holding me. He grabbed my hair and forced me to watch the punishment.

“No, you worthless runt, you look. You remember. Because if you keep disrespecting your Alpha, you’ll end up like that,” he growled.

When Zagan finally stopped, I saw his claw extend. It sliced through the rope holding the man up. The body dropped to the ground.

“This stays here until tomorrow. A lesson to you all never to cross me,” he growled, and stormed off towards the pack house.

***

The dungeon door creaked open. I heard Sammy shuffle back against the wall. If Dante saw him still lying down, he’d probably kick him.

I could feel Dante’s gaze on me. For some reason, he despised me more than Sammy.

He walked towards me.

I felt his hot breath on my neck as he whispered in my ear.

“Good,” he hissed. “Maybe today you’ll finally learn.”

He bent down, and I felt the shackle fall from my ankle.

Then he stood up and grabbed my wrists.

“Come on, the Alpha is waiting.”