Page 72 of Raven

My heart rate spiked, a toxic mixture of dread and defiance. Every muscle in my body tensed, ready for fight or flight. "Whatever he wants, I'm not interested."

There was something sadistic in the way he looked at me, a cruel glint in his eyes that matched the cloud of malice emanating from him. He was enjoying this, savouring every moment of seeing me caged. His emotions rolled off him, a sickening cocktail of glee and anticipation that made my stomach churn.

"He will break you down, you know that, right?" Rick taunted, his words dripping with venom. "He didn't get to be alpha just by looking pretty. No one does."

I pushed my tray aside, the metallic scrape against the floor grating on my nerves. Shuffling back to the bed, I stared at the opposite wall, my jaw clenched so tight I thought my teeth might crack. I could have turned away from him completely, but that felt like cowardice. Instead, I chose silence. The more I said, I'd learnt, the more shit would pour from his mouth.

"I believe it's your birthday. Eighteen, right?" Rick's voice was sickeningly sweet, mocking.

My hidden fist clenched tighter, nails digging crescents into my palm. "Well, happy birthday to me. Unless your gift is to open that door, then I'm not interested."

"Oh, we do have a gift for you." He leant to one side, cupping his ear for effect as the door opened in the distance. "In fact, I believe your gift is heading right this way."

My panther sensed her before I saw her, and my insides roiled and soared at the same time. I sat up straighter, everynerve in my body on high alert. Tia came into view, standing beside Rick. My heart leapt to my throat, hope and fear warring within me.

"Tia ..." I breathed, rushing from my bed to the barred cage door. "Tia, are you okay? The baby?"

But there was something different about her, a glow I hadn't seen before, a smile that pulled those red lips I'd kissed so many times. It was wrong. All wrong. I took a tentative step back, my instincts screaming danger. "What's going on? Tia?"

Tia leant into Rick, pressing against his side with a familiarity that made my stomach churn. He obliged, looking like a cat that got the fucking cream, as he lifted his arm and draped it over her shoulder.

My panther lashed inside me, twisting and writhing. Everything, every fucking thing she'd ever said to me came crashing down. No. No ... fucking no. I balled my fists at my sides, trying desperately to keep my breathing in check, to put up shields so I wouldn't feel the suffocating emotions filling the room.

"Did you enjoy my mate, little prince?" Rick's voice dripped with venom. "She's got a nice pair of tits on her, right?"

But my eyes were locked on hers. I couldn't speak, wasn't sure I could even form words if I tried. I licked my dry lips, heaving in a ragged breath.

"It was all a lie," I finally managed

I heard my father's steps then. He came to stand beside Tia and Rick.

A low rumble started in my throat, and I had to swallow back my panther. He didn't understand, didn't get what this was. Oh, we knew, we figured it out pretty fucking quickly. But the animal inside me wanted blood, wanted retribution.

Tia stood there with a mask of indifference. Gone was the warmth, the vulnerability I thought I knew. In its place was a stranger wearing her face.

"We thought you might like a little reunion," my father said, his voice sickeningly casual. "I thought maybe it was about time you stopped worrying about your little girlfriend."

I couldn't move. Couldn't speak. My mind refused to accept what it was seeing, what it knew to be true. Every touch, every kiss, every whispered promise—all lies. The memory of her in my arms, of the life we'd planned together, shattered, cutting me to the core.

"Come now, Raven," Rick taunted. "You didn't actually believe you could get a girl like this, did you?"

My father stepped forward, his voice softening. "I'm sorry we had to go to such lengths to get to you, Raven. I know this will be hard for you to swallow. But I also know it was the only way to get to you. Your mother had you locked down pretty tight."

"It was all a lie?" I lifted my gaze to my father, searching for any hint of remorse and finding none. "All of this? You ... you set me up?"

"I wanted to get close to you, Raven, to learn about you." He gestured to Tia. "Tia was wonderful, don't you think?"

The world around me blurred, sounds becoming muffled as if I were underwater. My legs gave out, and I stumbled back, collapsing onto the hard cot. The cell walls seemed to close in, suffocating me. A roar built in my chest, primal and raw. Before I could stop it, it tore from my throat, echoing off the concrete walls. My panther clawed at my insides, desperate to break free, to lash out, to make them feel even a fraction of the pain coursing through me.

"You bastards," I snarled, my voice barely recognisable, thick with rage and anguish. "You fucking bastards."

The pain in my chest was physical, a gaping wound where my heart was. Every memory, every moment I'd shared with Tia, was tainted now, poisoned by this revelation. I'd given her everything—my trust, my love, my future. And it had all been a lie, a carefully constructed trap to lure me in.

I met Tia's eyes one last time, searching for any hint of the girl I thought I knew. But there was nothing there. Just cold, calculated indifference.

THIRTY-THREE

They didn't break me. Not in the way they wanted or had intended. Not in the way that would make me bend to their will. No. But they had broken parts of me—my heart, my panther, some deep part of me that trusted her, that had believed.

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