Chapter 3: Let me go.
~Lyra's POV~
" They are the ones that killed your mate, so why are you taking it out on me?" It was hopeless trying to reason with a broken man but I still decided to try anyway.
Ragel took one slow step closer to me. He was so very tall and wide that I felt like a tiny mouse next to him.
"I went to your land looking for revenge. I wanted to burn down everything your pack loved," he kept talking in that quiet, deadly voice that made my skin crawl.
"And do you know what your so-called good and honorable Alpha Lewis did when I got there?"
I pressed my lips together tight and looked at him with burning hate in my eyes. I would not play his sick, twisted games. I stayed completely mute, but Ragel did not need me to talk for him to keep talking.
"He gave you to me," Ragel said, and he sounded both disgusted and happy at the same time. "He handed over his fated mate like you were just a broken toy that he did not want taking up space in his house anymore."
A sharp, stabbing pain hit my chest. It was not because I still loved Lewis. I already cut that evil tie between us forever.
This pain was deeper and uglier than just having a broken heart. Lewis really did want me completely gone from his life forever. Maybe he just wanted to keep my family's money and power without having to deal with me anymore.
If I went back to my father's pack, they would take everything away from Lewis. All the valuable land, all the businesses, all the power that made him important.
His precious Allora could never bring the wealth and important connections that come with the famous Lyra Ellis's name.
I lifted my chin up high and spoke with all the strength I had left in my tired, hurt body and taunted him.
"And you, such a big, powerful monster king, took another man's unwanted garbage?" I laughed to make fun of him, making the sound as mean and cutting as I could. "How truly great and mighty you must be."
Ragel moved faster than I anticipated and grabbed my chin hard enough to leave dark purple bruises.
"Be very careful, little wolf," he said in a voice that was soft but more frightening than being screamed at.
"I knew the exact moment he offered you to me that you meant less than nothing to him. He would have killed you with his own hands if I had not taken you away from that place."
I jerked my head away from his painful grip, and my jaw hurt badly. "Then maybe I should get down on my knees and thank you," I said in the sweetest voice I could make while my eyes burned with pure hate. "Oh great and kind king, how wonderful of you to feel sorry for a poor, thrown-away wolf girl."
Ragel's dark eyes got even darker. "Not sorry," he said slowly, choosing each word carefully. "I do not take what nobody else wants. I take what other people are too blind and stupid to see as special and valuable."
My heart skipped a beat when he said those unexpected words.
His voice got even lower and filled with a dark promise that made me shiver even though I did not want to. "And I will treasure and take care of what Alpha Lewis threw away like worthless trash."
I laughed in a harsh way to cover up how his words made me feel confused. "How very romantic, is this the part where I am supposed to fall down at your feet and be grateful?"
"No," Ragel said, and his smile turned hungry. "But you will fall into my bed, little wolf. I promise you that will happen."
My whole body went stiff with anger and fear. "I will never, ever give in to you. Not ever!"
His smile got even bigger and more frightening. "I know you will not give up easily," he repeated. "That is exactly what makes breaking you so much sweeter and more fun for me."
I pulled back as far as the heavy chains would let me, breathing hard, but I hid my growing fear behind angry eyes full of hate. "I do not care about Lewis anymore. Whatever he is, whatever he did to you, we are nothing to each other now. That connection between us is completely dead."
Ragel nodded, looking very pleased with my answer. "Good. Very good. That means you will not cry any tears when it is time to completely destroy him."
I could not breathe for a long, scary moment. He was actually giving me a choice. A real chance to get revenge on the man who hurt me so badly.
"Whatever you decide," he continued in that smooth, deadly voice, "if you want to watch him suffer and beg, or if you want to kill him yourself with your own claws, I will make it happen for you."
For just one second, I felt something dark and hungry grow in my chest. A terrible but wonderful desire for revenge against Lewis. I wanted to reach out and take his hand.
But then he leaned down close, and his lips almost touched the soft skin behind my ear.
"But, little wolf," he whispered, and his breath once again made me shiver against my will, "sharing my bed is not something you get to say no to."
"I do not care what you think or say, you arrogant monster," I cried out, taking a step back from him.
He nodded like he understood my defiance, but I could see amusement dancing in his dark eyes. He thought this was all just a fun game to him.
"I have always liked my women strong and fierce," he said back, sounding entertained by my hate and anger. "The fight makes winning so much more satisfying."
My fists clenched and the chains cut into my wrists painfully, but before I could say anything else, Ragel stood up to his full, scary height and turned away like he had already won this war between us.
"Let me go, king of the underworld," I called after him, putting every bit of defiance I had left into my voice. "I will never lay with you. That is a promise I will die keeping."
He did not say anything back to me. He just walked out of the cold stone room like my words meant nothing at all to him, leaving me completely alone in the darkness.
He has no idea who he is really dealing with! I will never give in to him, no matter what terrible things he does to me.
I am Lyra Ellis, proud daughter of the most powerful Alpha in all of Manhattan. I belong to myself and nobody else! I will never, ever belong to him.