Gwen's eyes shone in horror at my violent words, and she ran to the cell door, smacking on it in desperation. "Let me out of here! She's a psycho! This wasn't part of the deal!"

Within seconds, none other than Alpha Cain himself opened the door. "What are you doing, Gwendolyn?" He demanded assertively.

She bared her neck in submission and breathlessly told him, "She's going to wait until someone lets her out and she's going to kill them, their mates, and their pups! She told me herself! I looked into her cold dead eyes as she threatened it!" She wailed, tears streaming down her face. I smirked.

"You are dismissed, Gwendolyn. I will speak with you later." Alpha Cain's eyes shone with fury, and I swear I could see the fire in his eyes. Gwen ran out of the cell immediately, and I could hear her sobs as she crossed the hall.

His whole body shook with anger as he approached me in my corner. I wouldn't have been surprised if he shifted into his wolf right then and there.

I kept smirking at him, knowing there was a dangerous glint in my eyes as my own inward anger threatened to spill out.

"You think threatening the lives of my pack and pups is funny?" He roared, grabbing my hair and smacking my head into the cell wall. Blood matted my hair instantly.

I laughed sinisterly. You really thought I would tell my escape plan to your undercover planted prisoner?

His anger quickly turned into confusion as he realized that I had played him.

You have a really bad habit of underestimating me, mate. Do you remember what my position in my old pack was?

He didn't answer me, and just continued to hold my head against the wall by my hair. The smell of my own blood overwhelmed my senses.

I was the Gamma. Do you know that Gammas run the prisons in my pack too, Alpha?

He sharply inhaled, realizing his mistake.

Pretending to throw a pack member into the jail cell with the prisoner and hoping they talk to the pack member? That's one of the oldest Gamma tricks in the book, Alpha. You should really play smarter next time.

I smirked again at him as his hand released my hair. He looked genuinely surprised I had sussed him

out.

I'll admit Alpha, I really thought we were starting to trust each other. I mockingly told him. I will say though, it's interesting that you believe I would behead innocent pups. I guess I know what you really think of me.

Guilt flashed in his eyes momentarily, and I could feel regret through the mate bond. I will admit, a small part of my felt hurt that he believed I would murder innocent pups. I may be a killer, but I only kill those who deserve it.

"You haven't given me any reason to trust you," he muttered.

Have you?

He ignored my question, and I took his silence as confirmation. He was right not to trust me, and I'm sure I was right not to trust him. That was confirmed today. We both were playing each other like fiddles, and neither of us were winning.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, and I wondered why he wasn't leaving. Suddenly, he spoke.

"Please submit," He begged, and I was shocked that his implicit Alpha dominance allowed him to lower himself by begging. "I don't want to do this anymore, Ares. We keep hurting each other, and I don't want to hurt you anymore regardless of how much you may want to hurt me. The Blood Moon is in twenty days. We are having a huge celebration, the whole pack will be there. We can induct you into the pack, and you will officially be the Luna. What more do you want from me?"

I considered his words momentarily, weighing my options. I would consider your offer if you hadn't just doubted my integrity and honor by assuming that I would have murdered Blood Lake pups. It's quite clear what you think of me. And you know what I want? My freedom. Not to be the Luna of a pack with an Alpha who locks his mate in a house all day, not letting her leave or even WALK on her own. I suggest we break the bond and go our separate ways, and you can find some other submissive she-wolf who would love to take my place.

He snarled loudly at my words, and harshly grabbed my jaw. I could feel the bone beginning to shatter. "You can rot in here for the rest of your life if that's what you choose, but you are not leaving this pack and we are not breaking the bond." Blood pooled in my mouth from his lethal grip on my jaw. I spat the blood at his face, and he made no attempt to wipe it off, or loosen his hold on me.

"You are the Luna the Blood Lake pack needs. Strong. Tough. Aggressive. My wolf is already attached to you, there is no way I can let you go now. If you were more connected to your wolf you would understand. If you submitted to me as your Alpha and as your mate, there is not a thing in this world you would desire and not have."

You're wrong. There's nothing I want more than to be far away from this hellhole, and most importantly, you.

He snapped my jaw as easily as a leaf crunches under footfall during Autumn. I growled and threw a punch, hearing his nose break with a satisfying crunch. I swung again, blackening his eye.

He stood up, and I followed suit, spitting more blood to the side. I rebroke my jaw, making sure it was aligned this time so it wouldn't heal crookedly.

I sank into a fighting stance, and was confused when he didn't mimic me, as I was sure we were about to engage in another fight. He looked at me sadly, and left the cell without saying another word.

I smirked after spitting more blood out. Mate or not, I wouldn't hesitate to hurt him. I ignored the guilt that tugged at me from the mate bond, knowing that it was only the the bond that made me feel that way, as I personally felt no remorse for beating him bloody.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

To my surprise, for the next twenty days, Alpha Cain stayed away. I tried scoping out how he was feeling from the mate bond, but he completely blocked me out.

Every day was the same, and I began to grow restless. I knew patience was crucial in order for me to escape. I just had to wait for the right time.

To my surprise, on the twentieth night, Alpha Cain meandered into my cell, cool as a cucumber.

"The Blood Moon celebration is in two hours. Would you like to accept your role as Luna and join us?" He asked, no inflection marring his voice.

I would rather rot in here indefinitely.

He shrugged, and left without another word. I was surprised, certain that he was going to try harder to convince me, maybe even try beating me up to coerce me into going.

A few moments later, he returned with another vial of wolfsbane and another silver chain.

I raised my eyebrows. Is that really necessary? I haven't attempted to escape and even if I wanted to, I couldn't.

He looked at me in exasperation. "I'm done underestimating you. I can't take any chances tonight since all of your guards and myself will be at the celebration."

He chained up my other leg to the wall and shortened both of them, making it so I could only walk half the distance of the cell, unable to reach the door, but still able to reach the toilet.

"Drink the wolfsbane, Ares." He commanded, but his voice lacked any kind of emotion. I truly had taken all of the fight out of him.

I was already given my daily dose. I made it sound like I was panicking, even though I knew I could handle another dose with no problem. I usually drank my own wolfsbane after being injected with it just to truly keep my resistance.

"You were the one who told me to stop underestimating you. Drink the wolfsbane or I'll burn your hands. Either of those options will prohibit you from summoning weapons and I win whichever you choose."

I rolled my eyes, but opened my mouth regardless. He poured the liquid in the vial down my throat, and I swallowed, wincing and coughing the whole time, making it believable.

I groaned in faux pain, clutching my throat as if it seriously wounded me.

I coughed so hard I made blood come out, and made sure Alpha Cain had seen the blood spatter out as I choked.

"Oh, Ares," He murmured and reached out, holding me in his arms as he sat on the cell floor. I kept coughing up the blood, and he wiped it off my mouth with his wrist. "I wish it didn't have to be like this."

I made my eyes water as if I was truly hurting from the wolfsbane, as I knew that the two doses he gave me would hurt any wolf extremely bad. It was shocking he was willing to go so far as to give me so much wolfsbane when he didn't even know that I was resistant. He really was worried about me escaping.

He stroked my hair for a few minutes as I pretended to settle down, and then eventually pretended to go to sleep. I forced my heart rate to slow down as if were asleep, and took deep breathes. He kissed my forehead, and I felt sparks where his lips assaulted my skin. Wretched mate bond.

He inhaled my scent deeply. "The day you submit will be the happiest day of my life, my little spitfire." He mumbled softly, not knowing I was awake and could hear him.

Alpha Cain removed me gently off of his lap and back on the cell floor, and I still pretended to stay asleep, feeling the effects of the wolfsbane.

Before leaving, he covered me up with the fur pelt and kissed my exposed cheek.

When he closed the cell door, I let a malicious smirk overtake my face. I was getting out of here, and this time, he wasn't going to catch me.