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."