The door was thrown open.

Kane stormed in. When he saw Fiona on the ground and felt the unfamiliar energy radiating from me, his face twisted into a snarl.

"What have you done?" His voice was a low growl, laced with a fear he couldn't hide. It wasn't concern for Fiona. It was the shock of seeing a power in me he couldn't control.

Fiona lay weakly on the floor, a trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth.

She looked tragic, if you ignored the flicker of triumph in her eyes.

"Kane..." she whispered, tears instantly welling up. "Elara... she used some strange power on me..."

"I didn't—"

"Shut up!" Kane's roar made the glass in the room vibrate.

He knelt to check on Fiona, his movements as gentle as if she were made of spun glass.

"Where does it hurt?"

"My chest... and my head..." Fiona pointed weakly, her voice a mosquito's buzz. "I just wanted to apologize to Elara, for dancing with you last night... but she suddenly..."

"She's jealous of me," Fiona said, as if it took all her strength. She looked at me, her eyes full of provocation. "She's jealous of us last night... she said she wanted to destroy me..."

"Enough!" Kane stood, his Alpha's dominance flooding the room.

He looked at me, wary of this unknown power. "You think I can't see it? The traces of a mental assault are all over her! Were you trying to kill her?"

Kill her?

I looked at Fiona, the Oscar-worthy actress on the floor, and I wanted to laugh.

Her injuries looked dramatic, but I knew it was just minor backlash from my own power. With the kind of strength she'd used to create that mental barrier last night, this little push wouldn't have hurt her at all.

Her performance was flawless.

"Kane, don't blame Elara..." Fiona "struggled" to sit up, her face pale as paper. "She's probably just... in a lot of pain... the after-effects of the wolfsbane..."

Such a kind sister.

Such a perfect victim.

"No." Kane's eyes burned with a cold fire.

He couldn't tolerate it. His "property" now possessed a power beyond his comprehension and control.

It made him feel threatened.

"This was a deliberate attack. As Alpha, I will not tolerate it."

He turned to me, his voice pure ice.

"I, Alpha Kane, hereby declare Elara's power unstable. She is a danger to this pack. Lock her in the Silent Prison, effective immediately! No one is to go near her until I discover the source of this power!"

The Silent Prison.

The pack's deepest, darkest dungeon, reserved for traitors and mad wolves.

Hearing the sentence, I didn't panic. Not like Kane expected.

Instead, a flicker of relief went through me.

The Silent Prison. It was the most isolated, secure place in the entire territory. No Fiona. No distractions. Just me... and my interrogator.

If Kane came to question me himself, that would be my chance to strike.

Guards swarmed in, clamping silver shackles around my wrists and ankles.

I held out my hands and let them take me.

But the shard of crystal from my sleeve was tucked safely against my skin.

As they dragged me from the room, I heard Fiona's weak voice.

"Kane, the fireworks display tonight... can I still go?"

"Of course," Kane said gently. "To celebrate our success, the fireworks will be especially grand tonight. Anything for you."

A fireworks display?

As I was hauled away, I saw servants setting up massive firework launchers.

The whole pack was busy preparing for a celebration.

While I was being thrown in a dungeon.

"Luna..." a young guard whispered to me. "The Alpha announced tonight's celebration for the new human corporate partnership. Miss Fiona specifically requested the most spectacular fireworks... He's prepared a three-hour show just for her."

Three hours of fireworks.

For her.

On the day I was imprisoned.

The Silent Cells were three levels underground. Damp, cold, and pitch-black.

Ancient runes were carved into the walls, designed to suppress a werewolf's power.

I was thrown into the deepest cell, my shackles chained to the wall.

"You have a visitor," a guard said before leaving.

A stooped figure entered. It was Balthus, the pack's old physician.

"Elara..." Pain flashed in his eyes when he saw me. "Child, how did it come to this?"

"After-effects of the wolfsbane," I said flatly, leaning against the wall. "What are you doing here?"

"Kane sent me to check on you," Balthus said, taking out his medical kit. "He said your power... is unstable."

Unstable power.

That was his diagnosis for me.

Balthus began his examination, but his expression quickly changed.

First confusion, then shock, and finally, terror.

"Impossible..." His hands trembled as he stared at the readings. The diagnostic tool shrieked, the needle flying wildly off the charts.

"What's impossible?"

"Moon Goddess preserve us..." He looked up at me, his eyes wide with a terrifying awe.

"Moon Goddess... Your bloodline... This power... You were never an Omega. You are something else. Something more."

After the examination, Balthus said nothing else.

He snatched the report, his face a grim, almost fanatical mask, and rushed out.

I knew where he was going.

He was going to present his astonishing findings directly to Kane.

And Kane would be coming for me very soon.

I touched the sharp shard I'd hidden in my sleeve. Outside, huge fireworks exploded.

Good, Kane.

This whole sky full of fireworks... I'll just call it an early funeral for our bond.

There's no concept of time in the Silent Prison.

But I know I've been locked in here for two days.

Tonight is the blood moon.

I can feel it. My blood is starting to boil—the sign of my bloodline awakening.

Suddenly, the cell door swings open.

"Elara."

Kane's voice.

I finally lifted my head. He stood in the doorway.

There were faint shadows under his eyes. He looked tired, and his gaze held a frustration and confusion I'd never seen before.

He walked in and got straight to the point, his voice laced with pressure. "Balthus's report makes no sense. Elara, who are you? What secrets have you been hiding from me?"

This was it.

The chance I’d been waiting for. To finally take his blood.

I sagged against the damp wall, letting my breath hitch in my throat, playing the part of the exhausted prisoner.

"Who am I? I'm just... the useless thing you called me, right?"

"Don't play games with me!" Kane snarled, stalking forward to grip the iron bars. "Admit you were wrong, tell me the secret of this power, and I'll let you out."

"You want to know?" I looked up, my eyes hazy with feigned weakness, and crooked a finger at him. "Come closer..." I whispered, a ghost of a smile on my lips. "And I'll tell you."

Kane’s eyes narrowed with suspicion, but greed won the battle.

He unlocked the door, strode in, and yanked me to my feet by my collar.

"Talk!"

Now!

My hand shot from the shadows. The razor-sharp crystal shard I’d hidden for two days sliced across the back of his hand.

Kane roared in pain, recoiling instantly. A cut, deep enough to show bone, gaped open. Rich, red Alpha blood welled up.

"You bitch!" he bellowed, raising his hand to strike me.

I didn't flinch. I lunged, my own bloody hand clamping down on his bleeding one.

Our blood mingled in the air.

At that exact moment, a spectral crimson light bled through the high air vent.

The blood moon had risen.

"By this blood, I bind you! By my soul, I sever!" I chanted the ancient words, my eyes locked on his terrified ones. "Every debt is paid! Every bond is broken! Now and forever, we are nothing!"

"What are you doing?!" He felt it now—the terrifying pull of the ritual. He tried to yank his hand free, but my grip was iron.

The red light flooded the cell, turning it into a blood-red chamber.

"Argh—!"

Agony.

A soul-deep agony ripped through us both at the same time. This wasn't the pain of torn flesh. It was the feeling of a living connection being violently shredded at its very root.

"BREAK!" I screamed, pouring every last ounce of my will into that single word.

CRACK!

A sound like shattering glass echoed in our souls.

In that instant, Kane choked on a mouthful of blood. He collapsed to his knees, clutching his heart, his face ashen with shock.

The mate bond that had chained me to him was gone. Utterly and completely destroyed.

"You... what have you done..." Kane stared at me in horror, as if I were the monster.

"I gave you back to her, Kane."

I wiped the blood from my lips and stood tall. My body was screaming in protest, but for the first time in ten years, my soul felt light.

BOOM!

A massive explosion blew the far wall of the prison wide open.

Through the settling dust and smoke, a tall, imposing figure strode in, silhouetted by the blood moon. His golden eyes burned with a desperate fury.

Drake.

He kicked Kane’s kneeling form aside like he was trash and caught me in his arms as my legs gave out.

"I'm late," he rasped, his voice thick with a fury I knew was born from terror.

"No. You're right on time." I sagged against his solid chest. I held up my bloody hand and looked down at Kane, who was gasping on the floor. A smile of pure, unadulterated relief spread across my face.

"Take me away, Drake. I'm free."