~LEILANI RAVENWOOD~

There was evil in my world.

Men and wolves had always found reasons to fight, spill blood and to claim power over the other. I had grown up knowing violence wore many faces, fangs, claws and crowns. But now, I had come to understand that there was a greater evil. One that slept dormant for decades and awakened only to tear the world apart piece by piece. To tear my world apart, piece by piece.

And the name of this evil of Sebastian Kol.

As promised, he showed me no mercy. I remained hung with the chains for what felt like an eternity, my feet barely grazing the cold stone floor. I was suspended like meat. No food. No water. No one to answer my cries. Thirst burned at my throat until swallowing felt like tearing flesh. The pain felt as though I was being flayed from the inside, as if something was slowly peeling my soul away from my body.

Not even prisoners were treated like this in the western district tribe.

I had begun to wish for death.

The thought came quietly at first, then louder, more persistent. Death would be mercy. Death would be rest. Death would free me from the beast who had claimed me as his spoil. But even that escape was denied to me.

The enchanted chains suppressed my wolf, muffled her voice until she was nothing but a distant echo. I could not shift. I could not heal properly. I could not even muster the strength to slam my head against the wall hard enough to end it.

I was helpless.

That was the cruelest part.

When the iron lock finally rattled, the sound scraped against my nerves like a blade. Footsteps followed. Measured and unhurried. I couldn't tell if hope or dread settled heavier in my chest.

It was the same woman. The one who had come before with the male executive. The one who I fought with.

Her mouth curled up in a smirk when she reached my front, slow and deliberate, like she was savoring the sight.

Another woman stood beside her this time. Broader, stronger, and her presence felt wrong too but it differed from the male. Her scent wasn't as tainted as his was.

"Well," the first woman drawled, circling me. "Look at you."

Her fingers brushed my arm, not gentle, not curious. Mocking. "The great Ravenwood heir. Reduced to a hanging carcass."

I swallowed, my throat raw. My lips cracked when I tried to speak, but no sound came.

She laughed softly. "What's wrong? No fight left in you?"

The second woman didn't wait.

Her fist slammed into my stomach with brutal force.

Pain detonated inside me. I choked, coughing violently as something warm filled my mouth. Blood spilled down my chin, splattering onto the floor beneath me. My vision flashed white, then black, and I sagged against the chains.

Fight back.

The thought screamed inside my head, but my body didn't respond.

Panic surged, hot and suffocating. I tried to draw my knee up, tried to swing, tried anything. Nothing worked. My limbs felt like they no longer belonged to me.

I forced my mouth open. "S-stop... please..."

The first woman clicked her tongue. "Still begging."

The second woman stepped closer, holding a syringe filled with clear liquid. "Hold her still."

I thrashed weakly as the needle was plunged into my shoulder. Fire raced through my veins, followed by a cold that spread too fast, too deep. My muscles locked instantly, every nerve screaming as my body went rigid.

I couldn't move.

Not my arms. Not my legs. Not even my fingers.

The chains loosened.

The sudden release sent a jolt of relief through my shoulders as my arms fell limply to my sides. However, I collapsed instead, my body feeling useless and paralyzed. My face hit the stone floor, cheek scraping painfully.

Tears blurred my vision.

"Please," I whispered, my voice slurred. "I need to speak to your master."

The woman laughed. "The only thing you'll be speaking to is water."

Hands grabbed my hair, forcing my head up and a huge bowl was shoved underneath me. Within mere seconds, my face was shoved into the massive bowl filled with cold water. Panic exploded instantly within me. I tried to scream, but the water rushed into my mouth, my nose and my ears. It burned. It invaded every space, stealing my breath.

I thrashed, but my body wouldn't obey.

I was drowning.

My chest convulsed violently. My wolf howled weakly, trapped and suffocating alongside me.

Darkness began to creep in heavily and my body was mere seconds away from giving up. My struggles slowed as I began to accept my fate. This was the death I had wished for. Finally, I was going to get it.

"She's gone silent." I heard the second woman mutter. "If she dies, the High King will be furious."

My head was yanked up violently, water fallinh from my hair and I was thrown against the wall in one push. Pain flared through my spine, but air rushed into my lungs in a desperate gasp.

I coughed uncontrollably, dragging in breath after breath like it might be taken again at any moment.

My father's council was right. Those that tasted Sebastian's blood couldn't be sated. They were far stronger, ferocious and mad. My experience with this two female and the other male had proven that correct.

I had to do something.

I lifted my head with what little strength I had left. Blood and water dripped from my chin as I met their gazes.

"Tell your master," I rasped, my voice barely holding together, "that I have something he desires."

Both women paused.

I swallowed painfully. "A way to tame the wildlings he's created. The ones he can't control." I finished, referring to their kind.

Silence stretched thick between us.

I couldn't believe the words coming out of my mouth. The bargain I was offering. The risk I was taking. But my pack was ruined. My friends were captives. And a lifetime of chains awaited me if I did nothing.

Rashidat's voice echoed in my mind, soft and grave.

I could reverse what Sebastian had corrupted. I could undo him.

He was building an army of tainted wolves corrupted by his blood, but they appeared to be out of control. Perharps that was an inconvenience to him.

And if my blood could calm his monster... maybe it could do the same to them.

The women narrowed their eyes, a chuckle escaping their lips. "It appears your time here has driven you mad if you believe that you're in any position to bargain with the High King. You don't set the rules, he does. And just in case you haven't noticed, there is nothing you can offer him to buy your freedom. He owns you now. Everything you have belongs to him, including your precious blood and he will do with it as he pleases." One said to me with a cruel sort of delight.

~LEILANI RAVENWOOD~

I was no longer bound by chains or hung from the ceiling within the prison gates, but it made no difference. I was still without food. My stomach walls had grown sensitive and painful, the kind of pain that came from a burning, acidic hunger. That was how starved I was.

The headache never left. It throbbed relentlessly, splitting my thoughts in two, and the cold, damp prison floor only made everything worse. I couldn't sleep, yet I couldn't bear being awake either. Death hovered at the edge of my thoughts, but even that was denied to me.

My wolf remained dormant, suppressed and silent, and I no longer had the strength or the courage to slam my head against the wall and end it.

I heard the metal door opened and I sat upright. The same females that had nearly killed me by drowning approached. I recoiled inwards instantly. They hated me, and I had begun to detest their visits.

They stopped at my front and one tossed something towards me.

Bread. Stale and hard enough that it made a sound when it dropped to the ground.

"Well?" she said, amusement dripping from her tone. "Eat."

My hands shook as I grabbed it. Shame burned hotter than hunger, but my body betrayed me anyway. I devoured it in seconds, crumbs sticking to my lips, and my throat working desperately to swallow.

They laughed.

"Must be your lucky day." She said. "The High King wants to see you."

My heart stuttered.

Chains were clasped around my wrists before I could react. The cold iron bit into my skin that was already bruised raw. They hauled me to my feet and dragged me from the cell, down the corridors that smelled of blood, burnt flesh, and something awful.

As we passed other cells, my eyes caught sight of persons that were familiar. My friends. Jeremy and Layla. Their scent were unmistakable.

They hung by chains the way I had been hung before, beaten almost beyond recognition. Their faces swollen and their bodies limp.

"Jere? Layla?" I called out their names, tears rolling down my cheeks instantly in agony.

Their eyes found me and I could see a glint of relief in them.

"Leilani?" Jeremy croaked out.

I lurched toward them instinctively, but was struck at my stomach with a staff held by one of the females. Pain exploded through me to the point I almost lost my balance and fell to the ground.

"Behave." She warned.

Layla was crying while Jeremy tried to pull against his chains. It was useless.

Guilt tugged at my heart. They were in that position because of me. Because of a prophecy that followed at my birth.

I was dragged from the prison and into the halls of whatever building that held me captive. It felt like a castle that had learned how to survive the modern world. Marble floors stretched beneath my bare feet, smooth and cold, reflecting the soft glow of grand chandeliers suspended high above. The walls were layered with artistry. Ancient murals preserved behind polished finishes and modern lighting. They depicted wars, bloodshed, and submission. Crowned wolves kneeling before a single towering figure.

We reached the end of the hallway and a massive door stood before us, the kind that a giant could possibly walk through. And when it opened, I saw first a huge throne at the far end of the room. And seated on it was Sebastian Kol. He wore silk trousers and a loose robe that draped over his shoulders revealing his chest down to his abdomen.

The room was lit up by chandelier, and his skin glistened under the light. The same with his eyes that shone blue from a distance, but dimmed slightly as I was dragged closer, seemingly being controlled by him.

I hated that my heart stumbled at the sight of him. Hated that my body reacted at all. I blamed it on whatever treacherous bond the goddess had placed between us. That had to be the only reason why my body found the monster of a man before me attractive.

I noticed a few others in the room. His executives. One male was situated at the door, two females at both sides of his throne, one other male seated on a couch at the side of the room, then the two females who pulled me into the room.

I felt their gazes crawl over me. Sebastian included. His gaze was unwavering and too intense, forcing me to look away from him. The male executives were far worse. I noticed black veins appearing on their skin as they watched me in a predatory manner. The same attitude the other male had exhibited at my nakedness back then in the prison cell. Their lust was evident, their restraint hanging on a thin thread, and that thread seemed to only exist because of Sebastian's presence.

I couldn't help wondering then. His executives clearly desired me, likely because they were fed with Sebastian's blood, whose fate was intertwined with mine. If they could barely control themselves in my presence, why then did Sebastian, the full entity that embodied the curse show none?

I was relieved however. I hated to imagine what would happen if he did desire me in the same manner his male executives did.

I decided to break the silence first.

"T-thank..." I paused. Was I really going to thank him after all the evil he's done to me? Oh well, anything for freedom.

"Thank you for giving me audience." I said, but a strike to my legs sent me crashing to my knees. One of the females had hit me with her staff again.

If I ever get the chance, I'll kill them first. I thought.

"He is your high king. You will address him as such." She hissed.

Then the other stepped forward and said to Sebastian.

"She claims she has something to offer. For her freedom and the release of her people."

Sebastian's mouth curved. Not into a smile, but something malicious.

"Interesting." He murmured, "Everyone wants freedom."

I heard chains rattle behind me and when I turned, I saw Rowan. My bethrothed, before all of these life changing events started.

My breath left my body in a soundless rush.

He looked broken, bruised and barely conscious. His eyes found me instantly and he whispered. "Leil?"

I reached for him, and he did the same but we were both dragged back by the executives.

"How touching." I heard Sebastian say. "You came to bargain for your friends and he came to beg for you."

My voice shook. "Please don't hurt him. I'll do whatever you want."

That finally earned a reaction.

Sebastian tilted his head, studying me as though I'd just said something fascinating.

"Anything?" He asked, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.

Oh gods, I shouldn't have said that.

Knowing the little I did of the man in front of me, I certainly shouldn't have said that. Still, I was willing if it meant Rowan and the others would be free.

Slowly, I nodded.

Silence stretched. Then, he stood.

The room seemed to shrink around him. He descended the steps slowly, stopping just a few feet away from me.

"I will give you a choice." He said.

My heart pounded so loudly I thought it might rupture.

"If you stay," he continued, "submit to my authority, and serve where I see fit, your pack will be spared further punishment."

Hope flared, fragile and desperate.

"And Rowan, here will be set free." Sebastian added.

Rowan's breath hitched. "Leil-"

"I accept." I cut Rowan off with no hesitation. I knew he was about to discourage me from it.

Sebastian nodded once. "Very well."

The chains around Rowan loosened.

Relief crashed through me so hard my knees nearly gave out.

Rowan staggered toward me.

"One last thing." Sebastian said mildly, already returning to his throne.

Time slowed.

"I said he'd be free." He continued. "I never said in what realm. Some tend to find freedom only in death."

There was an instant gush of wind. His executive that was situated at the door was now behind Rowan. A blade flashed and Rowan's head hit the floor, his blood splattering everywhere.

A scream tore out of me before I could stop it. Rowan was dead, his head decapitated. He had killed him!

I lunged, rage ripping through my pain and hunger. I felt my eyes change colour, my wolf fighting desperately for release.

"I'll kill you!" I screamed, hurling my chains at Sebastian with everything I had, aiming for his neck.

He caught them easily. With one pull, he dragged me forward, his fingers closing around my throat. My feet left the floor, and air vanished from my lungs as he suspended me effortlessly with a tight grip at my neck. I felt the bond flare violently between us. Dark veins flickered beneath his skin like his executives now. Touching me clearly made him uncomfortable, but he didn't falter still. He didn't let go of me.

"Fiesty." He murmured. "Good. It'll come in handy on the bed when you fuck my executives."

He released me, and I crashed to the ground.

"Take her to the Elysium for training." He said coldly. "I've been searching for a female capable of curing the lust of my men, and considering your connection to me, you'll do just fine. If your blood can undo my effect, then sex with you would surely sate them." He continued, very casually as though he wasn't talking about forcing me into one of the whores at his pleasure house.

"I will not." I replied, firmly.

That mischievous smile returned to his face.

"I must have missed the part where that came out as a request." He said. "You wanted to bargain, little wolf," he continued, a glint of triumph in his eyes. "Welcome to my terms."