Chapter 1 Four Years, Four Walls

Rosa's POV.

"It is time Rosa."

My heart gave a mad jump and I spun around from the window.

For the first time in nearly three years I had heard those words spoken directly to me. Sharp, clipped resonating like a war horn through the room's stale silence. I slowly turned away from the window gripping the faded curtains with my fingers.

The sunlight had long since started to feel cold and distant against my skin like the touch of a stranger. It had been since the end of the world that I had left this room, this gilded cage. Two unknown female gammas stood on either side of Lance, my ruthless brother who stood like a storm.

He wore ceremonial black squared, his broad shoulders and had a fixed jaw. Compared to my memory he appeared older. more irate. Or perhaps I had lost the ability to read his facial expressions.

My voice broke like parched leaves as I whispered "Lance..."I was more surprised than he was. "You're here."

He glanced at me, his eyes calculating and keen. "You look like a ghost."

"I believe I am one."

They looked away, the gammas. I was unconcerned. Let them see. Allow them to gaze at the girl who hasn't discussed anything in four years. I was that cursed girl, the girl whose scream was so loud that it shook the walls. The shadows darker than night had glowed in the hands of that person.

"You are no longer a prisoner." he declared. "You will be introduced at tomorrow's mating ceremony."

My chest was slammed with my heart. "What?"

"You heard me." His boots clicked on the polished floor as he took a step deeper. "You've spent enough time imprisoned. Now is the moment for you to rejoin the pack."

"No." The word was stifling and silent as it reverberated inside me.

My whole body shook. Not able to breathe. "No." I muttered out loud. "You can't be serious."

"It's been fixed,Rosa. Tomorrow you will be given to your mate."

I felt my blood freezing. "He's not even someone I know." Before I could stop myself I raised my voice. "You can't just share me like-like an offering!"

Lance's mouth formed a shape that was not quite a smile. "You have freedom my dear sister."

"Freedom?" I chuckled, arid and resentful. "Do you call this, locking me up for four years and then dropping me like a cursed relic into someone else's hands?"

He turned his gaze away from me and toward the window that I had been gazing out of all day. "On the day our parents passed away you locked yourself in."

"You did in fact." I took a step forward clenching my fists. "I was in mourning. I didn't understand. I was- I was hesitant."

I could still feel the memory of that day in my lungs like smoke. The power had emerged from me in a monstrous manner. Not under control. crazy. Terrible.

"I was the reason you were scared."

He did not dispute it. Any admission was overshadowed by his silence. He said icily "Remember what you did Rosa?. Because I do, do you recall what it looked like when you lost control? You were a freaking curse and you still are. I saw the shadows scuttling like poison from your skin as you screamed. You think I'll let that get away with it?"

My knees gave way under me. "It wasnt me" I trembled and whispered. "I didn't intend to. I had no idea what was going on."

He snarled his voice cutting through me "You never do. . You've been in here for that reason since the others didn't want to perish in their beds."

I gasped and my heart shattered into a thousand pieces as tears welled up in my eyes. His words struck like ice water to the face for their cruelty. He was terrified of more than just me. He detested me. He always had.

With tears in my eyes I choked out "I didn't kill anyone .I didn't-"

Lance cut me off. "But you could have" he remarked acerbically. "You're not even sure who you are. What is that thing within you? So don't lecture me about grief or fairness. When no one else was willing to keep you alive I did. And this is how you pay me back? By being weak and complaining?"

Then he looked at the gammas. "Prepare her. Get her ready for tomorrow."

With a nod they went to the closet and took out furs and silks. One of them with an unreadable expression threw a pale silver gown onto the bed. As if it were a noose I gazed at it.

Elira, my maid , had been my only companion for four years. We didn't even talk at that point. She would bring food, do some quiet cleaning and go. I wished she would not speak. Nobody should in my opinion.

After my parents' deaths words had lost their meaning. Everything was there. Just standing by that window would sometimes cause me to lose hours or even days. observing the forest that sways outside the pack's boundaries, pondering the sensation of freedom.

I'm unsure if I truly earned it. I had been alone both inside and out with only shadows. Every day got darker as I slept to my own thoughts and woke up to silence.

Occasionally the mirror would suddenly break. Things occasionally shook, floated or broke. My feelings had become angular. My claws, my thoughts. As much for their safety as for mine they had kept me in this room.

Just like that? They wanted to send me off to a stranger now? I choked back a sob.

I said "Please Lance."I was now trembling when I spoke. "Is it impossible for you to identify him? To whom am I being given?"

He was already walking to the door, with cruelty and power trailing behind him like a cloak, he was even more fearful than the past four years he'd shut me off from the pack and their hateful rumors.

Halfway to the door, he stopped and placed his hand on the frame. I thought for a second that he would ignore me once more.

He turned slightly. A cruel smirk appeared on his face as he glanced over his shoulder. Perhaps it was sympathy or victory. I was no longer able to tell.

"You'll find out soon enough, dear sister."