Chapter 2 THE AWAKENING.

CHAPTER TWO

Vivienne's POV

By Selmara's bloody fangs! What is this horrible smell?

It smelled like a mixture of damp earth, sweat, and something rotten I couldn't name. The stench clung to my senses until I could nearly taste it.

The sharp, foul odour jolted me awake.

I tried to move and pain bloomed across every inch of my body. A deep, bruising ache settled into my limbs, like I'd been trampled by a herd of wild beasts. When I tried to lift my arms, something bit into my wrists.

Hot, tight and heavy.

Silver chains.

I sucked in a breath, my eyes blinking open to weak light. Dull flames flickered from oil lamps dangling from the beams above, casting jagged shadows across cracked stone walls.

Whispers echoed and chains rattled. Someone sobbed quietly in the distance.

I wasn't alone.

Then came a voice, low and gruff.

"This one's dead, dispose of it. How many did they bring in this time?"

Dead?! My heart stuttered.

"Three last night," another replied. "But one of them seems... different."

Different? My pulse jumped.

I turned my head slowly, groggy and confused, and realized what I was in-

A cage.

Iron bars rusted but firm. One of dozens stacked and packed into this filthy place like we were livestock. Inside them, figures huddled or lay still-eyes hollow, spirits broken.

I pulled at the chains and pain flared again as the silver burned deeper into my skin.

"Don't bother," a voice rasped nearby. A woman, older maybe. "They don't break."

She flinched as I shifted to look at her.

I forced myself to speak. My throat was cracked, barely a whisper. "Where... where are we?"

She hesitated. Her eyes were glassy and empty. "The pits," she murmured. "An underground market. For she-wolves."

A cold chill swept through me.

I had heard the stories of wolves who vanished without a trace. Survivors who returned damaged, or never at all. I never believed I'd be one of them.

I yanked again at the chains. "How long-how long have I been here?"

The woman shook her head. "A day? Maybe two. Hard to tell in the dark."

Two days?

Panic clawed up my throat.

But then the memories hit.

Silas.

His cruel smile.

The vial of wolfsbane.

"You were a gamble," he'd said. "A bet that never paid off."

I had trusted him and believed him when he whispered, We're fated.

Lies.

Every touch. Every kiss. Every whispered promise. It was all manipulation. All designed to break me down. Now, the so-called bond between us felt like an anchor I needed to cut free of.

And worse?

I could still feel it. That lingering tether like some phantom limb.

His presence pressed against my chest like a fog but it wasn't warmth anymore.

It was poison.

He sold me.

The thought burrowed deep. Hot and vicious.

I clenched my jaw, pushing through the pain.

He sold me.

I won't let this bond tie me to him any longer.

I didn't know if I was strong enough but what was left if I didn't try?

I closed my eyes, ignoring the reek, the noise, the chains. I reached for the thread that tied me to him. That fake mate-bond. The thing I never truly felt but was made to believe existed and I began to speak-no, chant-the words my mother once taught me. Ancient, forbidden. A ritual of severance. My voice trembled but didn't break.

"By silver flame and blood shed, let this bond lie cold and dead. Flesh once sworn now torn apart, Rot the vow, erase the mark.

Selmara's moon, heed my call, strike this bond, let it fall. No more name, no more claim, burn it down with moonlit flame.

May the hunt forget your face, may the night erase your trace. By my will, by blood, by pain, you are nothing and so shall you remain."

Each word came with a tear, with grief and fire.

At first-nothing.

Then pain. White-hot and ripping. A storm through my bones.

I screamed, arching as my body convulsed.

Then-

SNAP.

The silver chains fell from my wrists and clattered to the floor.

Gasps rippled across the dark.

I dropped to my knees, trembling. My hands-no, claws-were covered in soft, shimmering silver fur. My body ached. I stared, breathless and shocked, as the markings along my arms and legs pulsed glowing blue runes, flowing like molten lava.

I had turned.

For the first time ever.

Gasps and murmurs filled the air.

"A rune-marked wolf."

"She'll fetch a high price."

A scarred trader approached, his face familiar. He was the one who had spoken earlier. His eyes glinted with a mix of fear and greed.

"What do we have here?" he said. "A rare sight indeed."

I growled.

He reached for me. I lunged, snapping my jaws at his fingers. He hissed and jerked back.

"Feisty," he said, laughing. "That'll cost extra."

The others laughed.

Then the laughter stopped.

Silence fell like a blade.

Everyone turned toward the entrance of the market.

Someone was coming.

A tall man entered dressed in tailored black. His walk slow, calculated. His presence demanding attention.

His gaze fell on me cold and intimidating.

I bared my fangs. He didn't flinch only smiled. A cold and knowing smile.

"Let's see what makes you so special," he murmured.

He gestured and guards approached my cage.

I braced myself.

The door opened.

I lunged again ripping through the first guard. The second stumbled. I was almost out. The second guard tried to grab me from behind, but I twisted, snapping my jaws at his arm. He yelped and ran away.

Shouts erupted."

"Restrain her!"

"Be careful, she's dangerous and expensive!"

I ran toward the exit, heart pounding. I could make it. If I could just-

A sharp crack echoed through the air.

A dart pierced my shoulder.

Pain exploded.

Moon'sbane.

My legs collapsed beneath me.

"Don't kill her!" someone shouted. "She's worth more alive!"

I heard laughter.

The man in black knelt beside me, his hand brushing the runes on my arm.

"So rare," he murmured. "So valuable."

He turned to the slavers. "Prepare her for transport."

"No-" I tried to speak.

But the drug pulled me under.

This time, I didn't wake in a cage.

I woke in a chamber lined with silk and gold.

But I'd never felt more imprisoned than now.