Kael
The dungeon air was bone-deep cold. The kind of cold that settled into your marrow and stayed there.
I welcomed it. Needed it to freeze the chaos still raging through my blood, to cool the beast's hunger.
The guards snapped to attention as my boots echoed on stone. Of all the places in my fortress, the dungeon was my favorite. Here, violence had purpose. Here, the beast could feed without consequence.
Five prisoners sat in separate cells. Silas had already done a pretty good job on them and my beast stirred with satisfaction, pushing harder against my control. Finally, something we could tear into without guilt. Something that might sate the hunger still burning through me.
I stopped at the first cell. The stench of sweat and filth hit me hard. The keys clanked and the lock groaned as I turned it open.
The man inside looked like a brute with a piggish face. Dried blood caked his temple from earlier, but I didn't waste time with questions yet.
My hand shot out and grabbed his collar. I dragged him from the cell and slammed him against the damp wall. Before he could process it, I let my claws extend and sink into his side.
His scream was pure agony, echoing beautifully through the stone.
"Where did you get them?" My voice was low, but the man before me began to quiver the moment I spoke.
"I don't know," he sobbed. "We were just paid to move them. I swear."
I raked my claws across his stomach. Not deep enough to kill right away, just enough to draw blood in steady streams. He screamed higher, more desperate. I asked again, but got the same useless answer.
I snapped his neck clean, then lowered my mouth to the still-warm wounds. The blood was bitter with fear, but it fed the beast. My control strengthened as I drank, the hunger backing off slightly.
The second prisoner tried to bite off his own tongue when I dragged him out, but I pried his jaw open and kept working until I knew he was worthless too.
I moved to the third. He babbled about buyers in the Black Sands, but his words meant nothing useful.
With each one, I let my fury spill while feeding the beast what he demanded. The blood helped. It always did. The curse's grip loosened with each life taken, each drop consumed.
But none of them told me what I needed to hear. None had information worth anything.
Until the last one.
He was different. Scrawny, didn't have the build like the rest of them. His skin was pale, almost see-through, and his pupils were way too wide, swallowing everything until only black remained. Something was wrong about him.
The moment I got close to his cell, he grinned. Yellow teeth flashed in the dim light.
"You're too late," he rasped, his voice too deep for his thin body.
I backhanded him hard. The crack echoed sharp through the cell.
"Too late for what?"
He spat blood on the floor, still grinning.
"She's already inside," he muttered. "You let her in. You brought her here yourself."
Cold dread cut through the bloodlust. I grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground.
"Who?" I snarled, getting in his face. "What're you talking about?"
He started laughing. A dry, sick sound that irritated me even more.
"The little wolf," he whispered. "She's the key."
My heart slammed once against my ribs.
"What key?"
His smile widened impossibly. "You brought the key right into your kingdom. And she'll destroy everything. She'll burn it all down from the inside out. This—"
I drove my claws into his chest. The wet tearing barely registered as I ripped out his heart and threw his body against the far wall. It hit with a crunch and slid down, leaving a dark smear.
But his blood, when I tasted it, was wrong. Tainted with something bitter and toxic that made even the beast pull back in disgust. Whatever he'd been, he wasn't a trafficker.
I stood there for several moments, chest heaving. Blood dripped from my claws and stained my mouth. As I stared at the dead eyes, I finally saw how young he really was. Barely more than a kid.
So who was he? I couldn't figure out if he was talking about the omega or her child. And what'd he meant by calling her a key?
I walked slowly from the cell back into the corridor.
"Burn the bodies," I told the guards
I stepped out into the night air. The blood had helped. The beast had backed off, satisfied for now. I moved towards the fountain in the center, but the rustle of bushes behind me made me freeze. No one should be walking around the castle at this time.
Every sense went on alert. I turned just in time to catch movement at the edge of my vision. In the darkness, I saw two shapes moving along the far wall. And almost immediately that sweet scent came flooding back.
You've got to be fucking kidding me.
Did she really think she could escape this fortress?