Chapter 3
I drifted in and out of consciousness, the wolfsbane making it impossible to distinguish between reality and hallucination. The damp stone beneath me was the only constant, cold and unyielding against my feverish skin. How long had I been here? Days? A week? Time had lost all meaning in this windowless prison.
The sound of the dungeon door opening barely registered. They had come so many times with their poison, their false concern. I kept my eyes closed, bracing for another forced dose.
"Sophia Bennett."
The voice was unfamiliar—deep, commanding, yet somehow gentle. Not James. Not my father. Not the healer with his bitter concoctions.
I forced my heavy eyelids open. A tall figure stood silhouetted against the torchlight, his features obscured in shadow. But even in my drugged state, I could sense something different about him—an aura of power that made the air itself feel charged.
"Who...?" My voice was a broken whisper, my throat raw from disuse.
He moved closer, kneeling beside me with a grace that seemed impossible for his size. As his face came into view, I found myself staring into the most piercing blue eyes I'd ever seen—eyes that seemed to look straight through me, past the layers of wolfsbane and years of suppression.
"Alexander Sterling," he said quietly. "Lycan Prince of the Royal Court."
A Lycan. Here. In our dungeons. I tried to sit up, but my limbs refused to cooperate.
"Don't move," he commanded softly, placing a hand on my shoulder. "They've given you enough wolfsbane to subdue a pack of Alphas."
"You... know?" I managed to rasp.
His expression darkened. "I can smell it. Just as I can smell your true scent beneath it."
My heart stuttered. "My... scent?"
Alexander leaned closer, inhaling deeply near my neck. The intimacy of the gesture would have been shocking if I'd had the strength to react.
"Winter roses and steel," he murmured, his eyes flashing with something primal. "A powerful combination. They've tried to bury it, but it's unmistakable."
Tears welled in my eyes. Confirmation from a stranger of what I'd only just discovered myself—I wasn't broken. I wasn't wolfless. I was simply betrayed.
"Why are you here?" I whispered.
"I came for diplomatic meetings with your pack leadership." His mouth twisted with distaste. "I didn't expect to find a prisoner with royal bloodlines being poisoned in the dungeons."
"Royal...?" The word seemed absurd. I was an Omega, the lowest of the low.
Alexander's eyes narrowed. "Your wolf's aura is unmistakable, even suppressed. Someone has gone to great lengths to hide your true nature."
I closed my eyes as another wave of nausea hit me. "My sister... my mate... my parents... they all knew."
"And they will answer for it," he promised, his voice a low growl that resonated with authority. "But first, we need to get you out of here."
"How?" I asked. "They'll never let me go."
A cold smile played across his lips. "They won't have a choice. As Lycan Prince, I have the authority to transfer any wolf I deem in need of specialized care to the Royal Court's healing facilities."
Hope—a feeling so foreign it was almost painful—flickered in my chest. "They'll know it's a lie."
"Of course they will," Alexander agreed. "But they won't dare challenge me. Not if they value their standing in the werewolf world."
He reached out, brushing a strand of matted hair from my face with unexpected gentleness. "Can you trust me, Sophia Bennett? I know trust doesn't come easily to you now, but I need it if I'm going to help you."
I searched his face, looking for signs of deception. I'd been fooled by those I loved most—how could I trust a stranger? And yet... there was something in his eyes. A certainty. A promise.
"Why would you help me?" I asked.
"Because what they've done to you is an abomination," he said simply. "And because I believe your wolf has a greater destiny than scrubbing dungeon floors."
I felt Aria stir within me, weak but present, reaching toward Alexander's energy like a plant seeking sunlight.
"Yes," I whispered. "I'll trust you."
He nodded once, decision made. "Then rest now. When dawn comes, your life changes forever."
As he stood to leave, I caught his wrist with what little strength I had. "They'll try to stop you."
Alexander looked down at me, and for a moment, I glimpsed something ancient and terrifying behind his human facade—the true power of a Lycan Prince.
"Let them try," he said softly.
And for the first time in four years, I fell asleep with something other than despair in my heart. Something that felt dangerously like hope.
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