Chapter 3 Sienna:pov

My forehead struck the cold, wet marble.

I tried to fight it, but my body wouldn't listen. Ethan's Alpha command forced me down until my face was pressed against the dirty water I'd been using to scrub the floor.

The sharp smell of bleach stung my eyes, and I struggled to hold my breath. I wanted to lift my head, even just a little, but I couldn't move. I was completely trapped beneath the weight of his command.

Above me, Ethan didn't say another word. He didn't offer a single sign of mercy. I heard the heavy, dull thud of his combat boots as he simply stepped around my trembling body.

"Pathetic," Chloe whispered from somewhere above me. Her satin heels clicked against the floor as she happily followed him out of the foyer.

The heavy oak doors slammed shut.

The moment the door clicked shut, the pressure holding me down disappeared.

I lifted my head from the puddle and sucked in a breath, coughing as I tried to fill my lungs. My chest hurt, and my hands wouldn't stop shaking. I pushed myself away from the filthy water, but my arms were so weak I nearly fell back down.

My teeth began to chatter. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to stop the trembling, but it was no use. I was terrified. Even though Ethan was gone, I could still feel the fear he'd left behind.

I stared at the closed door, fighting the tears burning behind my eyes. What had I done to deserve this?

"Get up, you weak omega!" someone barked.

Before I could even catch my breath, two pack enforcers grabbed me by the arms and yanked me to my feet. Their fingers dug painfully into my biceps, and I winced, biting back a cry.

My legs were still shaking, and I struggled to keep myself upright. I wanted to pull away, but I knew better than to try. They'd only make things worse for me.

I lowered my head, swallowing the lump in my throat as I fought to keep the tears from falling. I was tired, sore, and sick of being treated like I wasn't even worth a little kindness. But around here, showing weakness only gave them another reason to hurt me.

Helena stepped out from the hallway shadows. She didn't look angry. She looked utterly, terrifyingly bored.

"Lock her in the servant's quarters,"

Now

she ordered, adjusting a diamond earring.

"And do not open that door until the coronation is over. I don't want her ruining my daughter's night."

Go now.

They dragged me up the back staircase. I was too stunned, too completely shattered to fight back. They threw me into my tiny, windowless bedroom and slammed the door. The heavy deadbolt slid into place with a sickening clack. I fell to my knees in the dark. Hours passed, but I barely not iced. I sat on the rough wooden floor, hugging my stomach as hunger gnawed at me. My eyes stayed fixed on the wall, but I wasn't really seeing it. I was too tired to think, too hungry to care about anything else.

My stomach growled again, and I pressed my arms tighter around it, hoping the ache would go away. I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten a proper meal.

Tears welled up in my eyes, but I was too exhausted to even cry.

I just wanted to close my eyes and forget, even for a little while, that this was my life now.

The floor beneath me began to shake as the party downstairs got louder. Music pounded through the packhouse, mixed with the clinking of glasses, bursts of laughter, and the wild howls of the Red-Dust pack.

The coronation banquet had begun.

I sat there on the cold floor, listening to them celebrate while my stomach twisted with hunger. Everyone was happy. Everyone was downstairs, drinking, dancing, and cheering for their new Alpha King.

Ethan.

And tonight, they were celebrating his chosen Luna, too.

I swallowed hard, my chest aching as I imagined them standing side by side, surrounded by people who adored them. She would be wearing a beautiful dress, probably smiling as he held her close, while I sat alone in a filthy room with an empty stomach.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips, but it quickly died in my throat.

He had everything. Power, respect, a pack that would do anything for him, and a woman he had chosen to stand beside him.

And what did I have?

Nothing but an empty stomach, aching arms, and the painful reminder that I was the one person he never wanted.

Outside my tiny window, the mating moon was rising.

The moon hung huge in the sky, its silver light shining through the dirty window.

For most wolves, the mating moon was a blessing. It was the night when the pull between fated mates grew stronger, making it almost impossible to ignore the person the Moon Goddess had chosen for them.

For them, it was a night of love and happiness. For me, it was just another painful reminder of what I could never have.

For me, it was pure torture.

The bond between Ethan and me pulled so hard it took my breath away. It felt like something was tugging at my chest, dragging me toward the main wing of the house. Every breath hurt, and I pressed a hand against my ribs, trying to ease the pain.

My wolf was restless inside me. I could feel her pacing back and forth, whining and scratching at the back of my mind. She wanted Ethan. She wanted to be near our mate, no matter how badly he'd treated us.

I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting back tears. Even my own wolf seemed to have forgotten how much he'd hurt me.

He's hurting, she whimpered, pacing in circles. Go to him. He needs us.

My wolf screamed at me

Tears falling from my face.

I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my dirty hands over my ears. "He looked at me like he wanted to kill me," I whispered out loud, my voice cracking in the empty, freezing room.

"He didn't even know me."

But my wolf wouldn't listen. And the longer the moon hung in the sky, the more my own logic began to crumble.

I couldn't just sit here in the dark. I couldn't let Helena win without a fight.

I can't, I cried.

Something had changed in Ethan. Maybe it was the things he'd seen at the border, or maybe Helena had been filling his head with lies. I didn't know anymore. All I knew was that the man who once cared about me was gone, and I couldn't understand why.

But I held on to one thing: our mate bond. It had to mean something. The Moon Goddess wouldn't have chosen us for each other by mistake. She couldn't have.

I cried.

If I could just get him alone, away from Chloe and away from my stepmother's influence, I could reach him. I could remind him of who he was before he turned into this monster.

I have to make him remember. He is my mate, he has to remember me.

I pushed myself off the floor, my bruised muscles screaming in protest.

The door was locked from the outside, but I wasn't staying in that room for another minute. My window was on the second floor, right above the sloping kitchen roof. It was risky, but I didn't care anymore.

I pushed the stubborn window open, wincing when the freezing night air hit my wet dress. My whole body shivered, but I climbed out anyway, gripping the window frame tightly as I eased myself onto the roof.

My heart pounded as I looked down into the darkness. I was scared, but staying meant spending another night trapped in that room. And I couldn't take it anymore.

I crawled across the sloping roof, trying not to slip on the wet tiles. My bare feet were freezing, and my heart pounded as I glanced down at the courtyard. One wrong move, and I'd land right in front of the guards patrolling below.

I pressed myself against the cold brick wall, barely daring to breathe. My hands trembled as I slowly made my way toward the Alpha's private wing. I was terrified someone would spot me, but I couldn't turn back now. I'd come too far, and this was my only chance to get to Ethan.

The loud music from the banquet hall masked the sound of my scraping footsteps. Why wasn't Ethan down there?.

The Alpha was supposed to be the center of the party.

As I reached the stone balcony of his private study,

I got my answer.

The heavy glass doors were cracked open. The smell pouring out of the room hit me so hard I actually gagged, nearly losing my grip on the iron railing. It was that same sickening, toxic scent from the foyer. Rotted fruit, rusted metal, and burning chemicals.

I pulled myself over the stone ledge, dropping silently onto the balcony. I crept toward the cracked doors and peered through the glass.

The study was completely destroyed.

Heavy mahogany bookshelves had been ripped from the walls, splintered into pieces.

Books and shredded paper littered the expensive rug. The glass liquor cabinet was shattered, brown whiskey pooling into the hardwood floor. Ethan stood in the middle of the wrecked room, pacing back and forth like a wild animal trapped in a cage.

His shirt was torn off, leaving his scarred chest bare. Each breath came hard and fast, his chest rising and falling as sweat covered his skin. The veins in his neck and arms stood out, looking almost black in the faint moonlight.

Something was terribly wrong with him.

He dug his thick fingers into the center of his own chest, scratching violently at the skin right over his heart right where the mate bond connected us. He was bleeding from his own claws, letting out low, guttural groans of pure agony.

My breath hitched. He was feeling it.The mate bond u could feel it.

The mating moon was forcing the bond to the surface, and his soul was fighting a violent war against whatever dark drugs were in his system.

I think so.

I didn't think so. I just pushed the glass door open and stepped into the room.

The sound of broken glass crunching under my bare feet made him freeze.

His massive back stiffened. The heavy muscles of his shoulders locked tight. Slowly, he turned around, his chest rising and falling with jagged, wet breaths.

His amber eyes were completely dilated, swallowed by pitch black pupils. Sweat dripped from his square jaw. He looked terrifying. He looked completely unhinged. But I forced myself to stand tall. I took a slow step forward into the dim light.

"Ethan," I whispered.

He didn't attack right away. He just stared at me, his massive chest heaving. The sheer size of him in the enclosed room was suffocating.

"Get out," he rasped. His voice sounded like grinding stones. He clutched his chest harder, his claws digging deeper into his own flesh.

"Get out of here." Now.

"I'm not leaving you." I took another step closer, my bare feet stepping on the torn pages of his books. My heart was beating so fast I was sure he could hear it.

"I know you're hurting. I can feel it too. The moon is trying to bring us together. Please, Ethan, fight it. Don't let whatever this is take you away from me."

His whole body suddenly shook. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head hard, as though he were trying to escape something only he could see.

"Ethan, please." My voice broke, and tears slipped down my cheeks. I slowly raised my hands to show him I wasn't going to hurt him. "It's me. Sienna. Look at me."

He opened his eyes, and the wildness in them made my heart ache. He still looked dangerous, but for a brief moment, I saw something else beneath the madness. Confusion. Fear. A tiny sign that some part of him might still recognize me.

I had to reach him. I can't give up now.

I won't give up, not at all, not when I have gotten this far.

"Do you remember the night before you left for the border?" I asked, fighting to keep my voice steady.

"We sat by the river behind the training grounds. I was freezing, so you gave me your jacket."

I swallowed hard, searching his face for any sign that he remembered.

"You promised me something that night, Ethan."

He took one slow step toward me, and I held my breath.

"You promised you would take the throne," I cried, taking a step toward him in return. The gap between us was closing.

The heat radiating off his body was intense, burning my cold skin.

"You promised you would get me out of the servant's quarters. You told me to wait for you. I waited, Ethan. For three hundred and four days, I waited for you to come home."

He stopped directly in front of me. He was so close I had to crane my neck all the way back just to look at his face.

The tension in the room was so thick I could barely drag air into my lungs. My wolf was doing flips in my chest, whining eagerly. We were finally alone.

He was right here.

Ethan slowly lowered his hands from his bleeding chest. He leaned down, his massive frame caging me in. He brought his face down to my neck.

I closed my eyes. I tilted my head to the side, exposing my pulse point to him. I waited for the feeling of his lips. I waited for the sudden, explosive relief of the mate bond clicking into place, washing away the dark magic and the poison.

He took a deep, dragging inhale against my collarbone.

I felt his massive body go completely rigid. The moment of silence stretched, tight and terrifying.

Then, a low, vibrating growl ripped from his throat. It wasn't a growl of recognition. It wasn't a desire. It was a growl of absolute, feral disgust.

My eyes flew open.

I barely had time to react before his hand shot out and closed around my throat.

A terrified gasp escaped me. His fingers tightened, and suddenly, I couldn't breathe. I grabbed his wrist with both hands, desperately trying to pull him off me, but he was too strong. No matter how hard I tugged, his grip wouldn't loosen.

Then he lifted me off the floor.

My heart slammed against my ribs. I kicked wildly, my bare feet searching for the ground, but there was nothing beneath me. The torn books scattered across the floor as I struggled, panic rising with every passing second.

I clung to his wrist, my fingers trembling as I fought to free myself. Tears stung my eyes, and I tried to speak, but all that came out was a weak, broken sound.

He didn't let go.

I couldn't understand how someone could look at me so coldly while I struggled in his grasp. I was terrified, and he could see it. He could see how desperately I was fighting, yet there wasn't even a flicker of mercy in his eyes.

The flicker of confusion in his eyes was dead. The boy by the river was gone forever.

He stared at me as I struggled to breathe, dark spots dancing across my vision. The bitter smell of the rage potion clung to him.

Helena's daily wolfsbane tea had buried my natural scent, so he couldn't recognize me as his fated mate.

"You stink of dirt and weakness, omega," he snarled, baring his sharp teeth.