Page 5 of Ruthless Reign

"Yep—whole lot of attitude," the younger man to my right adds with a sigh. "She told Ezra here to fuck off."

A few people around the table murmur with amusement. I throw my weight around to try to get free—either the chains snapping or the men letting me go—but nothing budges.

"Do you feel left out?" I growl, swinging my head to look at him. "Here—fuck you too."

His jaw tightens, the bored persona finally exiting the building as he shoots a death glare at me. "Shut your mouth, you little—"

"James," the man at the table chimes in, a warning to his tone. "That's not how we treat guests."

Now, it's my turn to be amused. I laugh dryly, eyes narrowing on him. "A guest? Really? This isn't a damn hotel. Last I checked, you don't chain your guests and strip their wolf abilities."

The older man looks at me curiously, eyes sparkling as he takes a moment to respond. Sitting back down, he gestures to a door on the other side of the room. "Take her to the cells for now. But I suspect Alpha Cade will be interested in meeting her soon. He should be back shortly."

"I have no damn interest in meeting your wrinkly, old alpha," I shoot back, letting out a yelp as they start to drag me toward the door and my feet catch on the rug beneath me. I stumble, hissing as I nearly lose my shoe. "Let me go!"

"Shut up," the younger one, James, whispers under his breath.

Oh, how I'd love to rip him to shreds. There's so much white in here that some color is needed—personally, I think red would look good.

I have to focus on not tripping when they don't bother to lift my feet any higher, my insult lost on the tip of my tongue.

We move into the next room, which appears to be the front entrance. There's a grand staircase leading up to a second floor, and it's eerily clean. Everything is white, which practically glows, and I can see my reflection on the marble floors.

Crossing the threshold, we come face to face with a door on the side of the staircase, and when they open it, more steps appear.My mortality crisis returns as we head down the spiraling metal stairs, my knees unable to bend. I'm tempted to flail around, to throw them down the steps with me, but as painful anddelightfulas the idea sounds, I decide to resist for now.

If it comes down to it, I have no issue ending my life. As morbid as it sounds, it's thebetteroption. If they start taking advantage of me, I'd rather die. It would still be painful for Lex, and Maverick, but at least they would probably survive. The problem with life is that death is a sure thing. Unfortunately, it's inevitable that someone will die before their mate. Horrible as it seems, a natural end is better than a forced severance of the mate bond.

I'm not sure why I decide against the stairs idea. So far, they haven't given me any comfort. It's clear that I am a prisoner, and they don't have good intentions. But something stops me, and before I can figure out what, we're at the bottom of the steps.

My eyes glance around, perplexed that this room is a stark contrast to all the white upstairs. Black and shades of brown, cells line either side of the room, large bars preventing escape.

I also realize that the witch hasn't followed us down here, but besides me, there doesn't appear to be a reason why she should. Not only are moonstones placed everywhere—on the ground, the walls, in cells—but it'sempty.

I thought for sure the cells would be full of stolen wolves—scared females being subjected to torture. Especially, since they asked which one I was, implying there were more of us. If that's the case,where are they?

The man, who I now know is Ezra, lets go of my arm as he opens a cell door with a metal key. Standing back, he motions for James to step forward, wholiterally throwsme into the cell.

My body smashes into the ground, barely missing the wall as pain shoots through me. My legs scrape on the cold concrete beneath me as the chains push into my body with the force of mydrop. A yelp and small cry manage to find their way out of my mouth, unable to hide the pain.

"Really?" Ezra asks James. "Was that necessary?" Nothing about his tone indicates that he cares either way, but James swings his head in my direction, giving a little shrug.

"I slipped," he offers poorly. "My bad."

Pushing myself onto my ass, I breathe a sigh of relief when it eases some of the pain and stops the chains from digging into my body.

"Just you wait," I threaten again, shaking my head. "They're going to find me any second now. And when I'm out of these damn chains, I'm going to kick your ass."

James smiles softly. "Big promises from a tiny wolf. But what makes you think they are going to save you? They couldn't even stop us on their own land, let alone facing our entire pack inourterritory."

"Enough," Ezra interjects, grabbing James' shoulders and pushing him toward the stairs. "Alpha Cade will handle it."

The two of them vanish out of sight, the sound of the door closing at the top of the stairs behind them.

I hate to admit it but he's right. They are big promises. But even though I mean them, they also raise a good point.

I'm no longer on my own land. How many of them are in this pack? Guarding their boundaries?

Even if my packs find me, people are going to die.

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