As soon as the words left my mouth, I sprinted out of the cell, slammed the silver bars closed to buy myself some much needed time, and ran out of the prison. Ares growled, the sound echoing deep into the night and sending shivers up my spine. I pushed through all of the guards who were rushed down the stairs to find him.

I sprinted as fast as I could through the woods, running, running fast, running as fast as I could. Needing to get away from him. Needing to go somewhere that he would never find me. But where did I have to go?

Not back to Mom's pack. She wouldn't have me... and if she would Ares would rip her to pieces to get to me. Not to Elijah's. That would be too obvious. Maybe to Hound Territory. He thought that I would never go there. Ever.

But I would... if I was desperate.

I must've been three miles from his property when I heard him growl. It ripped deep through the forest, warning me to run. To run faster. Because he was coming. For me.

My human legs wouldn't take me all the way to Hound Territory that quickly. And it would take a good ten minutes to even shift into my wolf. I had to be smart, but I couldn't think straight. So many thoughts were rushing through my mind, most of them being how he would kill me.

"Get back here, Aurora," I heard him call out through the mindlink.

My heart was racing harder than it ever had. My lungs felt so dry. I hid behind a tree—knowing that I would never be able to outrun him like this. And—even in dire situations, even when my life depended on it—I couldn't shift as quickly as I needed to shift.

I held a hand to my mouth, trying to calm my breathing and to quiet my cries. My mate was going to kill me. Just like Hounds killed my brother. Rip me piece by piece by piece until only the stone was left for him to have like the fucking king he was.

Twigs snapped around me. I curled my arms around myself. Don't make a sound. Don't make a fucking sound, Aurora. He will find you.

About twenty yards away, I listened to him shift into his humans. Those thick bones snapping loudly back into place. He walked around the woods, stepping on leaves and more twigs. This couldn't be happening. Goddess, I should've just went with Tony. Maybe I'd be able to use him as a human shield or something. Keep Ares distracted, instead of focused on killing me. His mate.

I held my knees to my chest and stopped breathing.

"Come here, Kitten," he said, his voice so dangerously daunting. I could hear the excitement in his voice. This wasn't the Ares that laid with earlier, nor the Mars who promised me that he'd never hurt me. This was terror. Complete and utter terror. I squeezed my eyes closed and shook my head. No. No. No. No. No.

One moment passed.

Two moments.

Three.

"If you want to make this a game, I'm happy to play with you." He walked closer, and I thought about Ruffles, the only thing that ever loved me. What would he do to her? Would he kill her too? Maybe he'd make me watch him kill her. Or make me do it. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes. She didn't deserve to die. I didn't deserve to die.

"Purr for me, Aurora."

This was all a game to him. All a fucking game.

He dropped down onto all fours and shifted again, his bones cracking. No matter how dirty I was from running, Ares's wolf would be able to smell me. I had to run. I had no other choice.

My wolf forced me onto all fours, wanting me to shift more than anything to get away from the man who was supposed to love her. I let out an ear-splitting scream as my bones broke yet I didn't transform into a normal werewolf.

Instead they snapped back and forth, unsure of whether they should continue the shift or stay human. Every part of my body hurt, and when I heard Ares growl, my heart broke. This was it. This was how my life was going to end.

I turned onto my back to find Ares's huge brown wolf standing over me. I stared up into his big black eyes and scurried away from him on my heels and palms. Tears streamed down my face. "Please don't kill me, Ares. Please. Please. I'll do anything."

My back hit a tree. I parted my lips, a weak cry escaping them. This was who I was. An embarrassing alpha. A weak alpha. A weak woman that was about to be killed by her mate.

He stalked forward with his head held low, as if he was stalking toward his prey. My fingers were trembling so hard. "Please. If you're going to kill me, make it easy. The stone is in my spine, near my neck. C7." I pulled my hair behind my shoulders to give him better access.

He stepped closer to me, growling more viciously than I had ever heard him, and stuck his snout near my neck. His teeth grazed against the back of it, and I tried to desperately still my trembling body. I curled my arms around myself, sticking my face into my knees and shielding myself from him, waiting for my mate to kill me.

"Pl-please don't tear me limb from limb, I don't want to end up like Jeremy."