Chapter 5
FIVE
NATALIE
I have somehow managed to become a bigger enemy than the werewolves keeping us in this fucking cage.
Had I known one tipped bucket of water would cast me public enemy number one, maybe I would’ve hid in the back of this cell with the rest of them.
If they only knew what was coming. Seen the things I have.
Surely, water would be the least of their concerns.
Even Veronica, who clung to me the moment I woke up here, has taken it upon herself to create a little distance.
Not that I mind. To be honest, I’d much rather us be on different continents, let alone the far side of an enclosure that seems to shrink each time I survey the crowd.
It’s funny, she still has no clue why Nikolai brought her here, nor does she realize I know exactly what kind of monster she really is.
Before Viktor took control Volk and the Vostik farming, Nik made it a point to kidnap those he thought were irredeemable.
The worst society had to offer. She made the list, and I can’t say I’m not surprised.
“I will explain everything when I get back,” he had said, the confidence in his features visibly absent.
There was something else, though. Worry.
Panic. His golden eyes didn’t reflect that of the poised club owner, nor a werewolf finding peace in his own skin.
For the first time, that unnatural glow I was drawn to from the moment I met him was dim.
Flickering like the lights above us in this small room.
Volk. The hottest club in LA was merely a front to seduce people into becoming hors d’oeuvres for his pack.
A hunting ground for things that shouldn’t exist. I shoot another glance at Veronica, disheveled blonde hair falling down her back and dirt stains on each cheek.
Did he look at her the same way he saw me?
Saw through me? I’d like to think their conversations were short and somewhat vapid, but then again, everything I thought I knew about Nikolai Vostik was just another domino waiting to fall and reveal the horrible string of secrets.
He isn’t coming for me. No one is. I am going to die in some remote Russian compound, and the only thing left will be my bones should Viktor decide he doesn’t enjoy the taste.
The entire pack will shift and chase us through the Vostik property in less than three weeks.
And if I can’t find a way out of here before the blood moon, none of us will survive.
The staircase door creaks open, and a small sliver of light accents the cobwebs swaying in the sudden draft.
A shadow appears, and with it, a hunched, almost uncomfortable stature.
The first step downward stretches the wood with an eerie groan, and after ten agonizing seconds and a labored breath, they take another step.
Each movement brings a new notch of terror ticking in my chest like a bomb countdown nearing zero.
Sergei emerges into the light, pain etched on the hard lines of his slender face.
The limp is more noticeable than before, like each step requires all of his strength and balance to keep from tumbling down the rest of the flight.
I stagger to my feet and work my way through the crowd, feeling the weight of every disgusted glance in my direction.
He stands at the door, his back arched at an uncomfortable angle, and winces up at me.
Sergei coughs into his shirt sleeve and pulls something from his pocket.
Had he not been directly under the light, the darkness filling each corner of the room might’ve swallowed the object whole. The key. He has the key.
Excitement builds in my chest. Excitement and all the adrenaline I need to burst up those stairs and race the hell out of here before the Vostik pack even catches a whiff of my scent.
I glance backward at Veronica, still rocking in the fetal position and desperately running her fingers through blond, malnourished hair.
While a part of me would love nothing more than for her to see the monsters I have firsthand, there’s something else.
Sympathy? She may be a terrible person, but I can’t imagine a more horrible death than what they have planned.
Before I can whisper her name despite every inkling in my body screaming against it, Sergei coughs once more and clears his throat.
“The alpha has requested you,” he says in a thick accent, making it a point to look anywhere but at me.
I narrow my eyes. “What does Viktor want now?” Rage boils over in my stomach. I refuse to be his pawn. His way to ascend to the top of the fucking food chain. They will have to drag me out of here by my throat if Viktor thinks I’m stupid enough to let that happen.
Sergei inserts the key to the lock and a loud click shudders the room.
“Viktor is not alpha,” he retorts, his small voice waning.
The door swings open, screeching loud enough to unsettle every captive here.
He doesn’t move to grab hold of me. Christ, he still won’t even look me in the eyes.
No, Sergei simply waves me out with a shaky hand and waits.
Not Viktor. Not the animal that brought me here.
The alpha. The alpha to the Vostik pack wants to meet with me.
The same werewolf pulling all the strings at Club Volk from this compound.
Vomit heaves up my esophagus to my throat, leaving bile to burn the back of my tongue.
I am about to meet with Nikolai’s father, and if he’s anything like Nik described, I won’t have to worry about running.
I won’t make it out of this meeting alive.