Clentine:
"Hushhhh! Nobody will find out. Just co with ," the old man said, raising his hand for to hold it, but I started shaking my head. He had an eye patch on, his old rusty clothes sll foul. He had so gray hair and the hand reaching was subtly shaking too.
"Fine, don’t co. But give him to . He needs care," he continued, pointing at the baby I held close to my chest.
"You will kill him," I uttered, my vision blurred.
"I won’t. Trust , I’ll keep him safe." his face started to contort into sothing uglier, his nails poking out like a monster ready to devour its prey.
"No! No! I won’t give him to you—not this ti!" I yelled. A hard rock hit my cheek and I broke awake, sitting up panting and covered in sweat.
The long brown oversized shirt with baggy jeans and no shoes made look holess. But that was how I dressed all the ti, it was my style. With a hat that covered my hair, I have prevented myself from n’s attention.
I looked around and found myself in an unfamiliar place. I was in a cage. There were many cages in the hall. The hall itself was huge, really—with high stone walls that looked like they were carved a long ti ago. Everything felt old. The air was cold and slled like tal and dust. It was quiet, the kind of quiet that made your skin crawl. The torches on the walls flickered weakly, casting shadows that moved like ghosts.
The cages were lined up on one side of the hall, each one divided by thick iron bars. The tal was scratched and stained, and I didn’t want to think about what had happened here before .
On the other side of the hall, more bars blocked the view outside. But through them, I could see where this hall was, probably in the woods. It was nightti.
The moon hung above the trees, glowing softly. The forest outside looked quiet and still, like it was holding its breath. Tall trees reached toward the sky, their leaves gently swaying in the breeze. And far behind them, mountains rose in the distance, dark and quiet, their peaks touching the stars.
It looked peaceful out there.
But sitting here in a cage, I felt like an animal who must be kept in chains.
"Thank you for waking up," I groaned tiredly, thanking the person sitting in the corner, barely responsive. He wasn’t hurt or anything, he just seed hostile. Dressed in all black, with tattoos on the backs of both hands and a head full of black hair—that was all I could see of him. But he wasn’t my focus of attention. I was grateful he woke up from a nightmare, but the real nightmare was still not over.
I had heard about this place. It’s called the Transition Stage. This is where they bring the candidates who are being difficult.
"What is your na?" I asked him, trying to fill in the deadly silence, "I am Clentine Stark." I introduced myself, realizing he probably didn’t want to be here either.
"Hey, can you get that thing—" I gulped, reaching toward his cage, gripping the bars with my hands and pointing at the small, very thin rod next to him. A small piece of broken debris from probably the cage had loosened over ti and fallen in front of his cage. It could work in our favor. But the guy was so odd. He sat with his legs bent close to his chest, arms resting loosely on his knees. His fingers t in the middle like they were locked in thought, and his head hung low. There was sothing quiet about the way he held himself—like the world could fall apart around him and he wouldn’t flinch.
"I can open these cages if you get that thin wire next to your cage," I whispered, making sure the others on the right were still asleep. It was just and the silent guy awake. I was not the type to wait for soone to lead the way. I mostly ca up with my own ideas and worked on them whether I had anyone on my side or not. But I needed his help tonight. He stayed quiet for a mont before turning his head to the left to look at the object I was pointing at.
"Listen, I can pick locks. I’ve done it my entire life. If you can help get that, I can get us both out," I whispered in urgency.
Not only was I still hurting from the arrows shot at earlier, but I couldn’t heal either as we have been given more wolfsbane after we were abducted from the comfort of our hos.
The silent guy finally stood up, and seeing how tall he was made thank the Moon Goddess for putting him in the cage beside mine.
He extended his arm out of the cage, and I was left with my jaw hanging at how long his arms were. He grabbed the wire and stared at it, head down, his hair hiding his eyes. He had a sharp jawline, so sharp I could’ve used his jaw to open the lock, a thin chin, and full lips.
His long neck had veins and an Adam’s apple so prominent. I had never seen a guy so godly before. I wondered what his eyes looked like. He didn’t lift his head as he strode toward .
He stopped right on the other side, and I gently stretched my hand out to take the wire from him. He towered over , his presence radiating such a strange and mysterious aura. He finally lifted his head, and I almost gasped at the color of his eyes.
They were a gorgeous shade of gray, like two glowing bulbs staring right at . His thick black eyebrows made him look even sexier. I couldn’t believe I was thinking this.
But Goddess, n are beautiful.
"Take it," he said, and I nodded. His voice sent chills down my spine. It was notably low, with a rich, husky texture that felt raw and edgy. I grabbed the thin wire and reached for the lock.
"Co on, co on," I muttered under my breath, pressing my skin against the cold bars, twisting the thin wire carefully inside the lock.
I could feel his eyes burning, steady, watching from the other cage. Part of wanted to glance up, to et that confident gaze. Instead, I straightened my shoulders and bit back a smirk. If I was going to be stuck here, I might as well get his attention. I wanted to impress him so badly at that mont.
The lock clicked faintly, and I held my breath. One more twist and freedom felt just within reach. The hero act wasn’t just for anymore. It was for him, to show that I wasn’t so helpless girl. I was the Alpha’s daughter. And I’d break out of this cage and save his gorgeous ass too.
And then it happened, I opened the lock.
"You’re good," he said, and the way he complinted in that deep, husky voice made my cheeks burn. I swear I was turning tomato red. I snuck out and stood in front of his cage, noticing how calmly he’d been watching . Even if he didn’t want to be here, and that’s why he was in the cage, he didn’t seem in a hurry to leave either.
"What is your na?" I asked in a hushed tone, opening his lock.
"Ian!"
That was all he said. Didn’t even ntion his rank or anything like most handso n would do. Or maybe he wasn’t trying to impress afterall.
Once I opened his cage, I stepped back and watched him get out. He was probably six-foot-seven, tall with broad shoulders and a slim waist, straight out of a manga.
He walked right up to my face, dipped his head low, and gazed into my eyes before stepping to the side and walking past . I followed him until we reached another set of bars to the outside.
"The keys are hanging over there," I said, pointing at the wall on the other side of the bars.
"But you’ll have to jump through the bars and open it for ," I added, and he turned to , scrunching his eyebrows.
"I have wolfsbane in my system and I’m injured. I don’t think I can crawl this gate like you," I uttered. Ugh! I hated saying it out loud, and hated asking for help.
It’s usually helping others. I’m the one every girl at school would co to when they needed help with the bullies. I’d help them deal with those damn losers and cocky playboy jocks too.
"Got it," he replied. He wasn’t very talkative. He started climbing the gate, and I got a front-row view of his ass. He was perfect.
The pants fit him so well. His long legs moved effortlessly as he scaled upward, and then he jumped down to the other side.
"The keys!" I called, impatiently jumping up and down, pointing toward the wall. He looked at , his gray eyes peeking through his ruffled black hair and then at the keys. There was a mont of pause in his body language where he was contemplating sothing and then, he turned around to run behind the wall instead of grabbing the keys for .
"Hey! The keys!" I hissed, frowning.
"He’s fucking leaving behind," I growled in disbelief, stunned and pissed.
"Hey!" I called again, this ti my patience cracking completely.
That asshole. He could’ve helped , but instead, he bailed? What a prick.
Anger surged through my veins. If I couldn’t leave, then I sure as hell wouldn’t let him leave either.
"Sobody stop him—he’s escaping!" I scread, running toward the right side of the hallway where so rooms housed resting warriors. I started banging hard on the doors, waking them up, before racing back to my cage to guide them toward the direction he ran.
The warriors rushed out through the side doors, but at the sa ti, I saw the silent guy again, running back toward with keys in his hand.
"Huh?" I blinked, stunned, as he approached and started unlocking the door.
"But the keys—" I pointed at the set hanging on the wall.
"They’re fake. The real ones were hidden behind the wall. I had to go get them," he explained in that sa deep, velvety voice.
"But I thought you had left behind," I murmured, covering my mouth when I noticed the warriors reaching behind him.
He stopped. Slowly, he turned around, then looked back at with betrayal burning in his eyes.
"You fucking bitch," he grunted just before one of the warriors slamd a rod against his head, knocking him out.
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