Levi's POV

It was patchy, like a really bad cellphone connection, and it lasted less than a minute, but it was there.

I knew she was alive. And she was okay. For now.

Levi oh my god, her voice had filled my mind. I'm either crazy or this is something else unexplainable but right now I don't care. Are you okay? She'd babbled, sounding slightly crazed.

This is real. Are you hurt? Do you know where you are? This took a lot more concentration than the pack mind link, it almost hurt.

I couldn't make out what she said next, and my stomach dropped. She had to help me out here.

I don't know where I am... some kind of cell. But Levi, they say they're going to kill me. They say I have power they can take. Panic seeped throughout my body, and my skin went ice cold.

No. No they won't. I'm coming to get you. Just hold on. I was down the stairs in an instant and out the door. Just hold on, stay connected.

Levi I can't, I'm slipping. There's something about this place, I can't... And then she was gone.

All available patrols in the area were running up to the house, having heard my call.

"What happened? Do you know where she is?"

I looked at my pack, knowing that each of them were willing to lay their lives down for this.

"I think I have an idea."

Danielle's POV

When they came for me, I was surprisingly calm.

Sure, Levi somehow speaking to me (although part of me was sure that was a hallucination) had thrown me, made me hold onto hope that he would find me. But for some reason, I accepted that he wouldn't, and that I would be dying soon. At least I'd gotten to hear his voice one last time.

Very little light flowed into the room when they opened the door this time, so I assumed it was night.

The leader walked in slowly, looking at me proudly. "It's time."

"Julian, should we unchain her?" Another guy grunted, kicking the chains around my feet. Julian. Great, now I knew the name of the guy who would kill me.

"Are you going to lash out?" He asked me, the way a parent would tease a child.

I just stared at him, too tired to even respond.

Julian chuckled. "Good idea grabbing her ahead of time, she's had a chance to get rid of that extra energy. That will make this all a lot more pleasant."

I winced as the chains around my waist were untied and I was pulled up to stand.

"He'll come for you," I whispered in my broken voice. "He'll rip you apart."

"Now now, no need for hostility," Julian tsked.

I spat at him, and the two men holding me upright jolted me back, one punching me in the gut. I doubled over, groaning. Julian simply grinned, a dirty, evil smile.

"It really is such a shame."

My vision blurred as they half carried, half dragged me out of the cell. The air was damp down here, but it was fresh air and it reminded me I was still alive.

I faded in and out of consciousness, long hallways and steep stairs flashing in and out of my vision.

"Eyes open, darling. You need to be awake for this part."

I dragged my eyes open, gasping in shock.

We were in a room, a room I could only compare to a coliseum-type arena. Alcoves lined the circular walls, full of people hidden in shadows. I could practically feel the leering, the evil excitement exuding from these faceless bodies.

Were these people all here to watch me die?

This was beyond sick. What kind of archaic... Was I really there as some kind of ritual sacrifice?

"Your stage is set, m'lady," Julian leered, gesturing to a table in the middle of the room. Bile rose to my throat as I turned to look at a single white table.

That was when the panic began to set it.

I stepped back, trying desperately to twist out of the chains. Hysterically, I spun my head around, looking for someone, anyone who could help me. But there was no one. They were all there to see me die.

I dug my heels into the ground, putting up as much of a fight as I could, as they pushed me towards the table.

"Don't! You don't have to do this!" I screamed, my voice coming out strangled and scratchy.

Julian rolled his eyes. "Probably should have gagged her after all," he muttered to his men. "Let's try keep this civil, hmm?"

I threw my head back, smashing one of the men holding me in the nose. He swore and let go of me for a second. But not long enough. Tears streamed down my face as I realised there was no way I was getting out of this. Even if they did all suddenly let me go, there were too many people to fight off, especially tied up in chains.

I felt my body grow weak as I began to hyperventilate. They took advantage of this by dragging me to the middle of the room and throwing my onto the table. The cheering and chanting in the room got louder. I couldn't see anything except the bright white lights illuminating my 'stage'.

Whimpering, I tried to stop crying. If I was going to die, I didn't want to give them the satisfaction of seeing me weak. That was a lot easier said than done though...

They undid the chains tying my hands together, and tied each arm to either side of the table, while locking my feet into holds at the base of the table. Bile rose in my throat as I vainly tried to wiggle off.

Julian appeared in my vision, his head haloed by the blinding white light.

"Alright, let's begin."

Sheer panic hit me, and I squirmed, arching my back and thrashing around. I was so vulnerable.

"For god's sake, someone paralyse her," Julian demanded, impatience dripping from his words.

"No no no," I groaned, as a needle was plunged into my arm. Almost immediately, I lost movement of my entire body. I could still feel the cold chains, the slick table and the rough fingers on my arm, but I couldn't move anything.

This was it. There was officially nothing I could do.

"Quiet!" Julian yelled, silencing the crowd. "Our time has come, to rise to our rightful place as the most powerful pack in the world!" The room erupted in shouts and cheers.

"We all know suffering - each and every one of us has been exiled from a pack. Now, isn't that a pretty hard thing to go through?" Boos echoed through the room. How could these people all be okay with killing me.

"But tonight, tonight we are powerless no longer! With the sacrifice of a true human luna, we will be undefeatable. We will be eternal!"

I closed my eyes, trying to calm down. Think of Levi, think of Levi.

But that only made me desperately sad.

Julian appeared in my line of vision again, grinning evilly. "For what it's worth, I really do appreciate what you're doing."

I couldn't do anything other than stare at him. I hoped my eyes would haunt him for the rest of his life.

"And now, I will take her power!"

I felt his hands on my face, as they ran down my neck and to my shoulders. He pushed aside the strap of my dress, the same one I'd been wearing when I was kidnapped. His hands were cold and rough, and I could feel my skin physically hurt at his touch.

He ran his fingers down my shoulder, right down to my wrist, where my mark was, and picked it up.

"The mark of a luna!" He yelled to his crowd, holding my arm in the air, pulling so tight that I felt as if he would dislocate it.

He touched it, and pain shot up my nerves. I gasped, groaning. Every cell in my body was repulsed, but there was nothing I could do, no way I could fight back.

"And now, you die."

In one swift movement, he wrapped each hand around either side of the mark, and bit it.

White hot agony exploded from the mark, filling my body. It burned away every vein, every inch of skin, every bone. It took my vision, my breath, the last piece of sanity I was holding onto. It took everything and left only pain. Worse than pain. I didn't know there was anything beyond pain until that moment.

The fire lasted for an eternity, but I could feel myself slipping.

Let me die, was all I could think, begging in my mind over and over. That was the only thought that consumed me, as the pain ravaged my body.

Let me die. Kill me.

Eventually, my body gave in.