44

I slowly came to and could hardly breathe or swallow, my throat hurt so much from that bastard's grip. Before I opened my eyes, angry and full of fear, I realized that I was lying on one arm and that there was also an arm around my waist. I felt a chest tremble behind me and my eyes widened in panic to realize I was still trapped between the cold stone walls.

My breathing quickened and I carefully tried to free myself from the hug and only half sitting did I realize that it was Ethan who had held me tightly. I tried to calm myself with a hand on my neck and Ethan half sat up as well. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get too close to you, but I thought you-" I cut him off by turning towards him on the cramped couch and cuddling into his chest, crying.

He hugged me tightly and hugged me to his strong body while I made pained noises and clutched at his shirt.

As intimately as we lay there, one could have thought all sorts of things, but there was no tension between us, no love, no feelings. We were just hopeless and exhausted and needed to comfort each other not to be tempted to betray our alpha.

It felt good when I felt his hands caressing my back gently and protectively, while I slowly calmed down against his warm chest and the whimpering from my mouth eventually stopped. "We can do it," he whispered and pulled me even closer, which just did me good.

I needed this security at that moment and still I had to admit that I never expected such sympathy from Ethan and exactly this thought scared the shit out of me.

As long as Ethan's arrogance exceeded everything else, as long as he cursed and was ignorant, I knew there was hope. But now he was lying there, holding me, a fragile creature, in his arms and all hope seemed to have been blown away.

I wanted to banish the thought that one of us wasn't going to make it out of here and even if we both did it would mean that Jayden had been betrayed. Angry at all this, my body started shaking again, so Ethan started stroking my back again, but I pulled myself out of his arms and stood up, cursing.

"Stop it!" I hissed at him, scrambling over him to stand up. He looked after me, startled, and sat up. "You won't give up, Ethan! Don't stop fighting, please," I pleaded, seeing the surrender in his eyes.

"I can't let anything happen to you," he whispered, and I knew from those words that he was ready to betray Jayden, which drove me completely insane. "We have to find another solution," I said desperately, but he didn't answer me, just got up to pull me into a hug. "I'm sorry," he breathed in my ear and at the same moment, I heard footsteps coming down the hall.

I turned to the bars and looked squarely at the grinning Darius as he stood there, convinced he was one of the good guys. Before I could throw any insults at him, Ethan broke away from me and approached the door, which Darius opened for him.

As if in slow motion, I understood that he had broken with Ethan's threat to my life. He was really ready to lure Jayden into a trap, which made me run after him, but Darius slammed the door in my face and locked it.

"Ethan! Ethan!" I kept saying his name in desperation, but he didn't turn back to me and disappeared around the corner with his head bowed while Darius got close to the bars and gave me a satisfied smile. "You'll be free soon, and if you survive the loss of your mate, I'm keeping you. I'm a strong alpha too, and I've loved seeing what you're hiding under your nightgown."

I spat furiously in his face and tried to grab him with the bars, but he laughed and took a step back, wiping my spit on his face. "I like women who have to be tamed first. That makes things more interesting."

"I'm going to kill you!" I growled, shocking myself at my words because I meant them. If he killed Jayden or Ethan, I wouldn't rest until that killer was dead. That was my companion he wanted to take out. My beta he broke and my pack he wanted to destroy and I wouldn't let him just get away with it.

I was back on the couch now, not knowing how long it had been since Ethan had left the dungeon with Darius, leaving me alone with tormenting thoughts.

I had lost all sense of time and I despaired of the question of whether Ethan would still be alive and whether they had already reached Jayden.

I thought about my life, how easy and carefree it was before. Money worries have always been my biggest problem, now what? Now that I knew there were werewolves and angels, and if that wasn't shocking enough, I was locked in a dungeon by another pack.

"Get up!" A loud voice suddenly snapped me out of my deep thoughts and I realized that it wasn't Darius. This guy standing at the bars must have been two heads taller than anyone I'd seen up to that point. He was not to be trifled with, that was already expressed by his malicious eyes staring at me.

Frustrated, but also full of hope to get out of here, I slowly got up and walked towards him. "Don't resist!" he commanded and I noticed his funny accent but he didn't give me a chance to study him further as he stepped through the door behind me and blindfolded me so that I started shaking completely blind.

"Darius will be here soon, then we'll go!" he instructed me and pressed my face and upper body against the bars to tie my hands behind my back.

Only when he broke away and I heard his footsteps, which were getting further and further away, did I try to take my chance. I groped barefoot for the open door and carefully walked through it. Tried to remember roughly where the stairs were and then crept along the wall in her direction. I just had to get out of here and find someone who would help me, but before I could even reach the stairs, I suddenly felt someone watching me.

"It really is an enchanting sight," I heard Darius' voice in front of me, whose footsteps slowly got closer and closer. I wanted to run away, but I only saw black, didn't know where to go and desperately started to press myself against the wall behind me.

I felt his breathing on my face, his warmth around me, and I wanted to scream for help, but I only took a deep breath until he clamped his hand firmly over my mouth. He didn't say anything and I couldn't move for fear. If only I had lived with my grandma all my life, I would certainly have grown into a courageous woman who would have fought back, but I was frozen.

His hand still clamped tightly over my mouth, I felt his other hand on the inside of my thigh slowly sliding up, causing me to whimper in desperation. To my astonishment, before he touched my most intimate place, he let go of me and took a few steps away to let me catch my breath.

"His mark stinks so badly," he fumed. "I guess I'll have to wait for his scent to wear off." His words made me nauseous and I wished for nothing more than to get out of this hell and as if someone heard me, he grabbed my arm and pulled me up the stairs behind him so roughly that I tripped several times, breaking my legs it started to hurt.

I saw nothing, just black, and felt only fear and panic as we approached the sound of a running engine. "Where's Ethan!" I asked loudly and got a slap in my face that made me take a deep breath. Shocked, my heart was pounding so fast my ribs were about to break.

Darius pushed me into the car and I sat up, shaking, only feeling the desperation inside me. I heard the doors slam, soft music from the radio, and felt us start moving.

My heart was in my throat and I was about to go insane when I felt a hand on my thigh. He sure was, and in disgust I pushed my legs to the left against the door, but he slid even closer and ran his fingertips over my skin, making me so nauseous I was gasping for air to avoid it to hand over. "Don't worry. I have another surprise for you," Darius whispered in my ear and then let go of me completely.

"Where's Ethan?" I asked again, after which I heard his laughter and the anger rose in me again.

"He's fine. He's nice and comfy in the trunk, where he belongs." While I was annoyed at his words, the relief that Ethan was near outweighed everything else.

When the car came to a standstill after what seemed like ages, panic took over again and I heard the others get out before my door opened and I was roughly yanked out to be thrown onto the hard forest floor with no compassion whatsoever.