Page 56 of Claimed

“There’s been a breach. Stay here. Actually. No. Come with me. I don’t want you out of my sight. Take your wolf form. Now.”

I do as I am told, padding alongside my alpha as we move through the halls. I can feel his concern. Not fear. He’s not afraid of anything as long as I am with him. Alexei is one of the strongest men and wolves I have met, and I know I am biased in thinking that because he is my mate, but I also know him more deeply than anybody else ever could also because he is my mate.

He is steady, and he is ready to do what must be done.

But he is worried, because whatever has happened now has happened inside the castle. I can feel all his feelings right now. He is tempering his anger.

Vlad, Viktor, and Piotr come out of the side halls, all carrying weapons. They have an extra one, which they put into Alexei’s hands. Now the five of us proceed downstairs, to a dungeon I did not know existed. Alexei didn’t mention the dungeons before, but then again, why would he? I am sure this is one of many secrets I am yet to be a part of. I have barely gotten to know the castle, really. I’ve been far too busy being abducted, among other things.

But maybe I should have known. Maybe there’s no excuse for all this ignorance I keep encountering. Elena’s words ring in my ears.Spoiledandselfish, that’s what she called me. She held back from calling me stupid, but only just. I’ve got to get more on top of things. I have to be more responsible.

It’s harder to process these thoughts in my wolf form, but I feel them so much more keenly. I am the alpha female, and I am supposed to be responsible. I’ve got to start looking after the pack. I’ve got to start thinking about others who rely on me.

We go down the stairs and into the dark, which is quickly chased away in stages by lights being turned on one after the other. I start to smell something of great concern. Blood. Wolf blood.

Someone has been killed down here, and I already know who. Instinct takes over.

I let out a baying howl and run headlong into the darkness.

“Anya! No!”

The shouts follow me, but do not stop me. They can’t smell it yet. They don’t know it yet, but there’s a body down here.

My wolf form means I reach the scene much faster than the others are able to catch up with me. That means I am alone when I find her. It is too late to save her.

Elena lies slumped on the dungeon passage floor, her eyes open and staring into an abyss we will all one day face. The expression on her face is pained, but not frightened. She died resigned, accepting what was happening to her.

The vampire is gone, of course. His cell stands open. The UV lights have been smashed and the gathering shadows seem to wrap around me as a large, cold hand extends from the darkness and caresses the top of my head, scratching lightly between my ears as if I am a pet dog.

It is Dom.

I thought he was dead. I suppose, technically, he is. But this is not what I meant when I asked.

I stare up at him in shock, my animal eyes seeing him for what he is—an absolute apex predator. A perfect example of nature twisted by unholy forces into a creature whose sole existence is not to survive by taking lives where necessary, but to kill and kill and kill again, its existence entirely separate from its need to consume.

My animal brain tries to fight through the confusion and understand. Elena did tell me that Alexei had lied, but that was only an hour or two ago, and it’s something else entirely to find myself confronted with a disparate reality.

Dom is supposed to be dead. Permanently. Irreversibly.

But he is standing tall, naked, and muscular over me. He is a beautiful creature. He always has been. He could kill me in this moment, just as he killed Elena. To him, I am nothing but flesh and blood pumping through animal veins.

His stare makes me drop my wolf form, something in it compelling my human side to emerge. I crouch naked at his feet, vulnerable and eminently consumable. I imagine he must be absolutely ravenous with desire for revenge, and I would be the perfect feast.

“Hello, you,” he says, flickering a slight wink down at me. My blood rushes hotter, even as cold fear flashes over me. He has me in his thrall again, and I am almost certain that Elena’s potions and such have now entirely failed. I can feel him in my mind. I should be terrified, but I am not.

“Leave her alone!”

Alexei calls out as he finally reaches us and sees what is clearly not a shock to him. Dom’s presence in this place is a result of his actions.

Bright UV lights splash over the walls and floor as the guards open fire. They are terrified of the vampire and they have forgotten that UV bullets are still bullets. Lead is ricocheting dangerously close to me with every shot they take.

Moving with incredible speed, Dom stands in front of me, taking the barrage. They smash against his cold chest, burning him with every impact, but not making the same kind of destructive impression they would on a lesser vampire.

“Stop!” Alexei roars. “Anya is there!”

They hold fire, and by some miracle I am still unharmed. Dom pulls me out from behind him, and I see the places where the bullets struck already healing. They’re not going to take him down easily again. They might not take him down at all, not now that he has fed, and has me.

“Let her go,” Alexei says.

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