Chapter 3
Serena wasn't finished with me.
Early the next morning, she arrived with a dozen guards and kicked the door to Victor's private wing open.
I was nibbling on some stale bread from the day before.
She walked toward me, her heels clicking hard against the floor.
She bent down, grabbed a fistful of my hair, and hauled me up off the ground.
"So you're the tramp who's been hanging around Victor for three years?" she sneered.
My scalp felt like it was on fire, but I didn't make a sound.
She reached under my collar and yanked out a wolf fang pendant.
Victor had given it to me three years ago. It was a trophy from his first kill.
She held it up, looked at it, and smiled. "This belongs to Victor. What makes you think you have the right to wear it?"
"He gave it to me!"
She slapped me across the face. Her nails tore into my cheek, and blood dripped down my chin.
"Stealing from Victor and still running your mouth?" she said.
She turned to the guards. "According to pack law, stealing a sacred relic carries a punishment of losing a hand."
That was when Victor appeared in the doorway.
He wore a black shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. His face showed no emotion.
He saw me pinned to the ground, my face covered in blood.
My lips trembled as I tried to speak, "Victor..."
He looked at Serena. "What's going on here?"
"She stole your first kill trophy," Serena said, holding up the pendant. "I was about to enforce pack law."
Victor walked over and took the wolf fang pendant from her hand.
He glanced at it for a second and then tossed it onto the ground in front of me.
"Give it to her," he said. "This was never meant for you."
I froze.
Everyone else froze, too.
Serena smirked, her eyes bright with victory. "You heard Victor. Hand it over."
I lowered my head and stared at the pendant on the floor.
Three years ago, he had bitten his own finger, smeared his blood on that pendant, and told me, "This is my promise to you."
Now, he was saying it was never mine to keep.
I picked it up and closed my fist around it.
Then I looked straight into Victor's eyes.
I slammed the pendant down onto the ground as hard as I could.
With a crash, it shattered into pieces.
Shards flew across the floor and landed on Serena's dress. She screamed.
"Are you insane?" Victor shouted.
"I'm not insane," I said, meeting his gaze. Each word came out slow and sharp. "I just don't want any of it anymore. Not you. Not your stuff. Not your worthless promises."
The backlash hit me again the moment I finished speaking.
I doubled over, and blood poured from my mouth.
Victor clutched his chest, his face as white as a sheet.
"Throw... throw her in the dungeon," he stammered. "Put her under heavy guard."
The guards grabbed me and dragged me out.
I looked back at him one last time.
He stood in the doorway of his private wing, one hand pressed to his chest, his golden eyes locked onto me.
There was something in his eyes that I had never seen before.
But I didn't care what it was anymore. Not ever.
*****
The dungeon was dark and damp. I couldn't see my own hand in front of my face, and rats were crawling everywhere.
Serena didn't go easy on me.
She brought in three guards who were built like oxen and made them take turns watching over me.
No one gave me any food. All I got was a bowl of spoiled slop.
I got so hungry that I started seeing spots. I crawled on the floor and licked rainwater out of dirty puddles.