ANOKAI'S POV.

"Leave us." He said, his eyes still on me.

The guards exited the room, leaving me, him, and Aurelia inside. 

"Don't touch that filth, Ethan-

"Leave, Aurelia." He cut her off.

"Bu..but..

He removed his hand, walking away from me and towards Aurelia before putting his mouth on hers, kissing her passionately right in front of me.

"I have to do this alone, babe. Don't worry. She can't do anything to me. She's not that stupid to try anything, okay?" 

That seemed to appease Aurelia as she placed a kiss on his cheek, her eyes meeting mine and shooting daggers right at me, "We'll meet again, sister. And I'll repay you for this." She spat, touching the line on her face.

She closed the door as she exited, leaving Ethan to turn to me and the air in the room to go stale.

I looked at him as if wanting my eyes to pierce through him.

He is alive.

Ethan, the man I thought I had killed, labored over, spent three years in prison for, was alive, together with my sister.

My heartbeat increased as he walked towards me again and stopped, his eyes roaming my face like he was searching for something. 

He smiled, "I've missed you, my feisty Anokai. I've missed you so much." 

He leaned close, touching my forehead with his and nudging it.

Rage swelled within me. I pulled away immediately, disgust and pain etching my features, "How dare you touch me?" 

"Relax, Anokai. I brought..

"You brought...!" I cut him off, a scoff escaping my lips. "You brought? Three years in that cell and you've been alive? You left me there! You left me to rot, to suffer, to be tortured every single day, and you've been living!" 

He rolled his eyes like I was a child saying nonsense, "You tried to kill me. Get over..

"You cheated on me!" I yelled out, my voice filling the room. 

For three years, I had tried not to think about his betrayal because I had killed him in the process. But now... 

The weight of everything crushed down on my chest, constricting my lungs, my veins. 

"You cheated on me with my sister. You insulted me, called me a fool. We were mates, destined by the goddess. We had a bond, and you knew the horror I faced at home, and you still decided to cheat. You picked her over me like everyone."

Tears laced my eyes, threatening to fall out anytime soon. 

"Why?"

"Was I not worth anything that you decided to show me more of how worthless I was?"

My lips parted in shock as he replied, a tear sliding down my cheeks,

"Yes." 

I stared at him in disbelief as he scoffed, a low rumble of laughter escaping his lips, "Look at yourself, Anokai. You can't read. Your family doesn't want you. You're worse than an omega on the street. And what? What?"

"You were expecting to be my Luna?" 

This time he laughed more than before, the sound of it sinking my heart below and below my stomach,

"I was never going to mate with you. You're nothing. The only reason I've released you from your chambers is to atone for the careless mistake of trying to kill me."

He grabbed my jaw, forcing me to look at him with tear-stained eyes, "Refuse me or say anything stupid, and I'll kill your sister and entire family. I don't care for them. Just like I don't for you."

"Deny me, and I'll put you back in that cell. This time with no food, no water. I'll ask them to torture you every minute of the day, drive you insane and wild, and let you rot till your last day." 

My heart clutched within my chest. I wanted to laugh. To scoff. To do something, anything to let the pain out. 

Family? My family? The same one that had disowned me the moment they heard what I did without even listening? The same one that didn't care for me for three years, even after knowing they were alive? 

I didn't have a family.

I didn't have anyone.

I was a fool, just like I was three years ago. A plague. A curse.

No wonder my father hated me. 

He continued, "Do you remember the Shadowcrest brothers?" 

He didn't even let me speak, "of course you should remember them. I used to read everything to you since you can't read." 

"The council wants a King, Anokai. And I want to be King." He started, his eyes boring into mine lazily.

"But the Shadowcrest brothers are in my way, and I want you to destroy them for me. For years, no one has been able to figure out their secret, what makes their heart pump, what makes their pack flourish above every other one." He paused, "but not anymore. Because you'll find out for me." 

My eyes widened as I shook my head, "No. You won't do that to me. No.." 

The Shadowcrest brothers were nothing out of a novel. Or even out of the real world, either.

They were evil, merciless, cruel, wicked. Any word one can find that means devil. 

They killed as they wanted. Ate as they wanted.

They were devils in our clothing. Monsters in the werewolf world. 

No one, not a single soul who has ever broken into their pack, has come out alive. 

It was a death sentence, merciless and quick. 

For years, every alpha has wanted their power, to get a taste of whatever they had and make it theirs, but all of them have always been killed.

To hear about them gave me chills, not to mention being near them, to be sent to them.

"They don't accept anybody into their pack. How do you expect me to do that?" I asked, tears dropping from my eyes.

"Don't worry, my beloved." 

He walked away from me to his table, picking up a paper, "In the three years that you've been in the cell, the brothers have opened their pack up only to women. It seems their women are no longer enough to sate their hunger. But none of these women have made it back alive."

My heart sank further, "You're sending me to die." 

"You're already dead, Anokai." He turned back, the words leaving his mouth casually. 

"You leave in two weeks. And I want you to survive, or else your life here will be done. Maybe if you survive, I'll make you my Luna. Isn't that what you've always wanted?"

I eyed him with disgust. How had I ever liked him?  How does Aurelia like him? 

"I'll rather die than belong to you."

He was in front of me in no minute, his hand gripping my jaw forcefully, "I don't care how you do it. Use your body, your soul, anything. That's all you have. Make sure you learn them. Make sure they like you. Let them fall in love with you. When you're dumb, people like you. Be dumb. Be stupid. I want them destroyed." 

He dropped his hand and brought out a handkerchief, cleaning his hand with it as if he had just touched dirt. When his eyes snapped to mine again, it wasn't the eyes I was used to.

It was pitch red, an alpha's eyes, "do not test me, Anokai. If you don't succeed, I'll reveal you to them, and I'll make sure they hunt you like sport. You remember how they hunt, right?"

I remembered. Because when he used to tell me, his eyes would gleam with excitement. Back then, I had thought it was nothing.

But now I could see it clearly. Because he was like them,

Mad and evil. With no care in the world.

"Take her out!" He yelled as the door opened.

But I will succeed. I have to.

Not because of my family. I had no family. 

Not because I cared who would become the alpha king.

Or because of any stupid secret.

I refuse to be his pawn, his plaything, something at his beck and call. 

And I also refuse to let him live. 

My life won't be a novel like the other girls who would let the man go after treating them horribly. 

I'll succeed, and I'll come back to kill him. I'll make sure to tear his bones from his body this time. 

Even if it means the brothers killing me first. 

Even if it means facing whatever horrors with them. 

I'll face them, and I'll come back to kill you, Ethan Silvermoon. 

I promise myself that.

EMIRIEL'S POV.

Monsters.

Gods.

Devils.

Those are the names we've been given and called over time. Since we were six, we've been branded as 'the mad brothers', alphas of the shadowcrest pack, the unattainable, the undetectable.

It should be something to be proud of, to revel in, to boast and shout about. 

But instead, it's a shame.

A plague. 

A curse.

A disaster. Because every good thing comes with a price, and hunger is our price to pay for whatever good we have left in us.

My eyes flicked to where Rowan was seated, a woman maid was pleasuring him, his hand on her ass as she bounced up and down on his cock, her moans mixed with pain. I looked over at Malakai, Melissa, his personal favorite, bent back as he pushed in and out of her, spanking her as she pleaded for him to go faster.

It has always been a shock how Melissa could handle him, and that's why he liked her.

I looked at Nikolai, our above-and-beyond. His hunger was insatiable, unmatched. We were all cursed, but his hunger knew no bottom.

Three women were on him, two on their knees, taking turns kissing each other, fondling each other, and sucking his dick. 

The last one was on his face, feeding him all sorts of small fruits while burying herself right in his mouth. 

This was our shame, our harem, our dirty little secret. 

Never to be told.

Never to be seen.

It was our hunger, unreached, unmatched, insatiable. 

I watched all of this with a bored expression, my eyes drooping, almost closing.  I was the only one who had grown past all of this. Our hunger knew no limit, from food to sport, to sex, we had to do it 100 times more than the average werewolf.

It was our curse and our life. 

A knock came on the door, halting every movement in the room. Malakai slid out of Melissa, spanking her one more time as she walked naked to the door before opening it. Our beta, Basil, worked in, nodding at me before pushing a woman inside the room.

"Another spy?" I asked, groaning as I did. 

When will they get the memo and stop sending them? 

"Yes, my alpha. She was fou...

He stopped as I stood up, stalking towards the whimpering woman on the floor, her hands clasped together.

"Pl...plea...please I beg you...I don't want to die...please.." 

I grabbed her jaw, my wolf coming so close to the surface of my skin. He wanted something. Anything. Even if it was this woman in front of me.

"Who sent you?"

"Pl...plea.." tears rolled down her cheeks, her lips quivering as she stared into my eyes.

"Who sent you?" I asked again, my voice low and calm.

I clenched my jaw, stopping the growl that was about to slip out.

"Ridgesaw pa..ridges...alpha Cole.." 

I released her from my grip, standing up as I stared at her, contemplating whether to kill her or not. How many of her have I killed?

Thirty?

Fifty?

Hundred?

I'd lost count at this point.

And I know exactly the moment her blood touched down, I won't be able to stop myself.

To stop my hunger.

I'd said Nikolai was the worst of us all, but I lied. I am the worst. Sex, food, sport, hunting, all those still satiated my brother.

But I needed something new. Something worth fighting for. Something that didn't kneel and beg. Something to challenge me. 

"What should I do with her, Alpha?" 

"Please, I beg you...spare me and I'll leave. I beg you...he...

In a flash, I was in front of her, my teeth sinking into her neck as her blood spilled on the floor. Her cries came to an end, life draining out of her body. 

I pulled back, wiping my jaw with my sleeve as I stared at her lazily. She was small. They were all small. And yet they still kept sending them in hopes that they'd figure out something about us. And they'll use that to destroy us, take our power.

But instead, we kept killing them or enjoying them. Some became too attached to leave, like Melissa, all in hopes that we might fall in love with her or keep her forever. Others tried to run, but most of them only ended up dead, unable to leave this place.

The minute you entered our world, it became yours too. We never forced them, so they never blamed us.

"Clean this up, and send a message to Cole. Tell him we'll be attacking in a week. Ask him to prepare." I said as I returned to where I was sitting, watching my brothers continue their actions.

"Yes, alpha. The priestess is outside. She said she has news."

At that, everyone stopped what they were doing, my brother's eyes snapping to Basil. 

Nikolai was the first to talk, "Everyone out!" 

The beta carried the dead woman off the ground, the other ladies slipping their clothes on as they exited the room. At their exit, the priestess, a middle-aged woman, walked into the room, scrunching her nose up at the smell of everything.

"Do you have news this time?" Rowan spoke first.

"Yes, your highnesses. I have come bearing news."

"Good or bad?" Malakai asked.

The priestess gulped down, her smile faltering on her face before she replied, "Bad. Very bad." 

I could already feel Rowan rolling his eyes, Malakai leaning back into a bored position, and Nikolai crossing his legs-their actions whenever they didn't want to hear anything.

"Go on Miasan." I said. 

"I have finally found her, your highnesses. Your mate. She has been found."

We all fell silent at her words. For years, we had thought ourselves mateless, another curse to add to our hunger.

Miasan continued, "But there's a problem, my lords."

Nikolai scoffed, "What problem can there be, Miasan? This is good news. She's our mate."

She shook her head, her white eyes full of pity. It was a wonder how she always seemed to know where to look without eyeballs,  "She'll be your doom or your making. She'll have the power to liberate you from your hunger. Or she can push you further into it. It'll be challenging, riveting, you'll reach a state you've never reached before."

I felt all my brothers sit up, their ears now attentive and intrigued. I met Nikolai's eyes, a small smile dancing on his lips.

They've also been bored, grown tired of the senseless killing and sex.

"If she's your making, your highness. It'll be something to celebrate. But if she's your doom.."

She shuddered, the rest of her words dying in her throat.

"What would happen if she's our doom?" Malakai asked. 

She shook her head, a distraught look on her face, "I don't know either, my majesties. I was only shown. It'll be everyone's undoing if not taken care of."

Something rippled in my chest. Sweet. Charming. A challenge. Just like I've always wanted. 

"And when is she to arrive?" Rowan asked.

"Soon. Soon." The priestess said as she bowed and exited the room. 

I closed my eyes, savoring her words all over again. I could feel the blood of the woman I just killed trickling down my throat, tangling with my excitement. 

For years, it has been a senseless hunger, killing, maiming, claiming with nothing to look forward to.

Now there was something to look forward to. My wolf growled inside of me, whining and snarling. Red flashed in my eyes as I shut it, calming myself down.

When I opened them, I met my brothers, and I could tell we were all thinking the same: "I want every woman prepared. We're going to have lots of fun."

ANOKAI'S POV.

Two weeks had suddenly passed in a blur, with little to no word heard from Ethan. The only thing I had heard from him was the note I had gotten from the guard as he dropped me in front of the van that was to take me to the Shadowcrest pack. A van that smelled of dogs and a week's worth of sweat.

It was a simple note, "Don't fail me, Anokai." It said, 

Now I was on my way to the Shadowcrest pack with some other girls from the Pack. Some were omegas, others from the Pack's sluthouse, all of them with a mission and with their thoughts. Even in the dark hole of the van, most of them have been talking, speculating on different things they've heard from the brothers.

"I heard they're monsters." One had said.

"I heard the pack is like a fortress, beautiful and rich."

"I heard most women who go in don't make it out."

Most of them were words I had heard from Ethan, so I said nothing, listening and storing all their words inside. After listening for a while, stopping when their stories got too personal, I fell asleep. 

My eyes opened as the van stopped, and the chain rattled from outside before the door opened. The evening moonlight poured in. We've been traveling since morning, and now it is evening, yet no one has known. 

"Come out, a single line, all of you," the man who brought us said, and we all assembled out, filing into a line. 

The other man beside him was dressed in a black guard uniform with a gold plate on his right chest bearing some words that were swirling around it. I clenched my jaw at my uselessness. Only if I knew how to read, then I would at least be able to know his name.

He stalked past each of us, assessing us like a hunter assessing his prey, his black eyes cold and ruthless. I gulped down, refusing to let my fear or my fast beating heart betray me as he passed by me. He halted, his eyes squinting.

"What is your name?"

"Anokai," I replied with all the courage I could muster.

"Hmm." 

He reached out for my face, and my heart skipped a beat, tipping it back and forth with his forehead creasing. I held my breath as the lines got deeper, his eyes squinting further and further.

No...No...I can't be caught now. 

 I released my breath as he let go of my jaw and returned forward, giving a single command, "Follow me."

We were all bundled into another van, this time not as dark as the other one. My eyes scanned the thick bushes we passed through, devoid of any moonlight, and the branches as thick as the brothers.

What was I to expect?

What if the rumors were true? What if they tore me apart even before doing anything?

I pushed the thoughts out of my head, bringing Ethan's image into my head as I imagined his throat slashed for real this time, blood gushing out of it.

I will survive this.

Then I would go back and kill him no matter what it takes.

The van stopped after ten minutes, and the door to the van opened, everyone filing out again, only to be met with the most heart-shattering image.

No. 

The packhouse wasn't a house.

It was death itself.

Guards stood at every side of it, donned in black just like the other man, with hardened expressions. They didn't even blink as we walked past them and into the palace. If the outside had looked like death, the inside smelled like the devil himself.

The air inside was stale and cold, as if no one lived there. There was no guard, no maids, no omegas in sight. The only person in sight was walking towards us and, in stark contrast to the boring walls, wearing a red, tight-skinned dress that left nothing to cover and a red robe that wiped the ground she was working on.

Her face was pulled taut as she reached us, disgust and distaste written across it. "You're late, Salman."

The guard opened his mouth to talk when she put a hand up, and he shut it, bowing as he took his leave. She turned to the rest of us, her red lips pulled into a very ugly line.

It reminded me of Aurelia and the evil she was.

"You will all be presented to the alphas tonight. The minute you are served to them, know that you belong to them. Everything that you hold dear, your body, your soul become theirs to use and do as they like." She started, stalking towards each of us.

"If they ask you to strip, you strip. If they ask you to suck them and please them, you do so. If they ask for your blood, to cut yourself and bleed to death." She paused, as if wanting her word to sink in, "You die."

Fear coursed through the air, every one of the girls inching towards each other for safety at her words, "If you have any plans of escaping or leaving this place, you should dead it tonight," she said, stopping in front of me as she eyed me down.

"And if you've been sent here to do anything stupid, then forget it."

I swallowed down nervously, my heart racing as I looked away from her, "Your life is theirs to use. Do not do anything stupid. Now follow me." 

We all followed her down the stairs, everyone's mind racing and thinking if it was a good choice to come here. She led us to a vast bathroom, bigger than anything I had ever seen.

"I'll be back in twenty minutes with your clothes. Do not delay."

******************************************

In exactly twenty minutes, according to the lady in red, we were all being led to the party room. When she had told us she would be returning with clothes, she had forgotten to specify she would come with flimsy materials that barely covered my ass and itched me as I walked.

I was dressed in sexy red pants with a matching bra that revealed all my breasts, leaving the nipples covered. She paired it with a red robe that stopped mid-thigh and red stockings, making me look exactly like her. Some girls were given black, others pink, and purple. 

The entire hallway was quiet as we all filed behind her back, following her through the staircase. We climbed three stairs before we finally reached a narrow hallway, this one filled with black-donned guards that told me we were near the alphas.

My heart skipped a beat at the thought of it.

I was close.

So close. 

Fear gnawed at my sides. Every new step I took felt more like an execution. 

What if I didn't survive? What if the alphas took one look at me, as the lady in red did, and figured I was a spy? And then I'll become their sport, hunted and torn apart?

The lady in red stopped in front of the door and spoke to the guard. She whipped her head back towards us, "The alphas are not here yet. You'll all go in and wait for them now. Do not do anything stupid."

She bowed and walked away, and the door opened as one of the guards led us inside. 

I let out a gasp at the sight in front of me, unable to stop my eyes from reaching their full socket. 

This was not a place for men. 

No-it was for gods, made to revel in and have their play. 

The room was expensively large, with a sofa running from one end to the other. A long table was in front, adorned with food, wine, and any fruits that I could think of. 

But it wasn't any of that that took my attention.

It was the bed at the back with the four gold poles holding it. It gleamed in the low light, making the entire room look like royalty.

At the sight of everything, my fear increased tenfold, pooling in my stomach.

These men weren't alphas. 

My thoughts were still spiraling in my head, leaking everywhere, when a door opened, and the sweetest, manliest smell wafted into my nose, filling my entire core. It smelled musky and heavy, bringing a flush to my skin.

And suddenly, they entered, and it felt like the world came to a stop. 

Every eye was on them.

Every girl's mouth opened wide, the fear that had once clung to our skin far away. 

They felt like a force, pulling them towards us with no regard for our well-being. 

I could not look away, not tear my eyes away from their brick muscle, from the way their jaws were so perfectly aligned and the cunning resemblance between the four of them. 

They were beautiful, made on a special day by God himself. 

If Ethan had thought he could be the king, he was wrong. 

He would be lucky if he were an ant beside them.

And now I was in their pack with no way to escape.

My heart quickened, heat flooding every part of my veins. I didn't even notice I was still gawking until one of them stopped in front of one of the girls, the other three sprawled on the sofa with nothing but their trousers on.

Every inch of fear, terror returned to my body at his words. My doom lies right in front of me,

"Kiss me." He prowled, "kiss me until you're tired of it. Kiss me and prove to me your body deserves my touch."