Sharpness sliced down my arm. I woke with a startle, my eyes snapping open, and inhaled a lungful of urine stink. I gagged.

A guard stood in front of me, leering and gripping a bloody knife in his hand.

“What’s going on?” I lurched forward, but my arms remained attached to the wall by my wrists, as did my ankles. I was shackled.

Terror crept along my spine because I’d been caught by the one person I had to avoid.

Around us was a room with stained walls and cobwebs hanging from the corners. Light streamed in from a window above my head, and ahead lay an iron door. This had to be the dungeon under the priestess’ manor. And if the sun was now shining, had I been knocked out all night? The guys would worry, and what if in their panic, they rushed through town shoving people around, transforming? They’d get themselves killed.

My stomach locked up. I wanted to turn back time, drag the sun down from the heavens, and never leave home.

The snorting guard with thin threads of hair arching across his head threw a backhand, the hilt of his knife catching on my jaw. My face throbbed. I cried out as I tasted copper in the back of my throat. But the bastard grinned, so I spat on his boots.

“I demand freedom.” With my chin raised, I continued, “I’ve done nothing wrong.”

He grimaced, as if I were a speck of mud on his clothes. “You’re an illegal trespasser in our land.”

“What? Are you insane? I’ve been living in Terra my entire life. Ask anyone.” Trepidation sat on my stomach. Had the priestess seen me with the three men when they’d shifted in the forest? But that made no sense; the guards would have attacked us already. Meaning they’d only spotted me at the store. Unless they had followed us to Grandma’s house and each of my men were now in separate cells, being tortured—or dead?

I gasped and fought my restraints. “Release me!”

He pressed the tip of his blade under my chin, and I held my breath.

“All shifters will die.”

I couldn’t find my words, not when Grandma’s confession had revealed I carried wolf blood. But how did this donkey’s ass know? I never should have tossed the letter aside in the store. What if the guards had read it after capturing me?

“You’ve been spying on us.” His spittle sprayed my face, and I pulled away, feeling nauseous.

His weapon pierced my skin, and I held back the wince, refusing to let him see me whimper. “Not true.”

“Yes, it is.” His voice climbed. “So you can tell your inbred wolf friends where to attack first. What our weaknesses are.”

My response flat-lined when the door behind him creaked open. He backed away and lowered his head.

The priestess waltzed into the prison cell, her azure gown dragging across the grimy floor, but she didn’t care. Instead, she gripped her waist, drawing my attention to the line of tiny buttons running from her throat to her belly; more of them cascaded down her arms. It would have taken her ages to get dressed, but she probably had slaves to do the job. Dark hair cascaded over her shoulders, pushed off her face with a black band. But the wrinkles scoring her neck and the corners of her mouth reaffirmed her age of sixty. She’d been leading Terra for most of her life; surely, it was time for her to retire.

“Scarlet.” She approached, studying me with narrowed eyes. “What an interesting person you are.”

“Not really,” I responded. “I’m the most boring person in town. I don’t even socialize.”

She laughed, loud and all for show. “You have a sense of humor. Good. You’ll need it.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat, hating how her voice had darkened on those last few words. “What have I done? I deserve a fair trial to understand why I’m being held captive.”

“Silly girl.” She stepped closer and snatched a handful of my hair, forcing my head sideways.

I bit back the yelp that longed to release.

“You’ve fooled everyone long enough.”

“You’re mistaken,” I pleaded. “Please, whatever you think I did is wrong. I run a herbal store where I assist people. I even helped you once, remember?”

She nodded but wrenched my head harder, and that time a small cry spilled from my mouth.

“You fooled me, offered your tainted remedy. I should have suspected you hid a secret, but I let myself believe you were a good person. Because I have a heart.”

I almost choked on her delusion. Maybe a splinter of humanity remained in her soul, and she would show compassion if she found no proof of what she hinted at. Except she knew I’d seen her in the woods taking over wolf territory.

She shoved my head back, and I hit the wall, then cringed. Yep, not a smidge of kindness left. She paced across the room like a caged tiger, while the guard stood in the corner close by, eying me with disgust.

“When we met in the woods a few days ago,” she started, “you growled just as wolves do. Plus, the giveaway was your eyes had shifted to those of a wolf. And it got me curious. Who exactly was Scarlet?”

My eyes had shifted? My head screamed, well aware of where she was going with this. And I had to stop her. “That was me freaking out, nothing more. Everyone makes sounds.” I spoke so fast, my words blended together. “Take your guard over there. He’d been grunting like a pig before you arrived. That doesn’t make him suspect of anything. Except being in need of a wash.”

His lips warped, and he raised his blade, pointing it at me. But the real threat was the priestess. She approached her protector, seized his blade, and returned to my side.

I pulled away as much as my restraints allowed.

“Funny thing is that when I dug deeper, I discovered your parents were killed by wolves. Sixteen years ago.” She tapped the side of the knife to my cheek. “And you know what else? I keep a record of every wolf I encounter and where. Sixteen years ago, I found a wolf shifter on our land with his wife, insisting he was human.”

I trembled, and fiery rage soared through my veins. In my mind, I kept remembering Grandma’s words. Hatred surged on the back of my throat, but I held it tight or I might as well have signed my own death warrant.

“I…I doubt it’s the same people. I watched my parents get torn apart by wolves near the border. I buried them with my grandma in the yard behind my shop. Dig up the ground, and you’ll see.” Hopefully, I’d buy myself time to escape with that lie, yet I kept thinking, if she hadn’t mentioned my three shifters, they must still be safe, right?

Dagen! If you can hear me, run to the Den. Take the other two with you. Please.

I couldn’t risk them coming here, getting caught and butchered.

The priestess flicked the blade toward me and sliced my cheek.

I flinched.

“No more lies. Your dad was a wolf, and that makes you one too.”

I gnawed on my lower lip, fear leeching into me at what she’d do next. “I don’t know what you want from me. I’ve never harmed a soul.”

“Yes, well, that’s the problem.” She dug her fingernails into my neck, breaking skin, and I tensed against her, my breaths spiking.

“You may not have attacked anyone yet. But it’s only a matter of time before the beast inside you escapes. I won’t risk the safety of my people.”

“Your people hate you, loathe everything you do.”

Her slap across my face came fast and left me dizzy. “Enough. Now show me your wolf side.”

“Fuck you! I’m not a shifter. You kill innocent people all the time. The real monster here is you.”

She didn’t respond but swiped the blade between us, the sharp tip biting me across the stomach, fabric torn.

I winced aloud that time and hunched forward as much as my shackles allowed. The cut throbbed. Death flashed before my eyes. Earlier I’d held on to the slim chance I’d survive, but I’d been a fool. An idiot. And now I’d perish like my parents. Leaving behind my three wolves, the men who’d made me realize there was so much more in life. And I yearned more than anything to enjoy my future with them, maybe even have a family.

But those stupid desires washed away as I faced the devil herself.

My throat thickened. “Please. I’m no different than you.”

“You’re nothing like me,” she barked as she cut me across my collarbone in slow motion.

I yelled with pain, feeling as if a fireball had exploded in my innards. Every move felt like rusty nails digging deeper.

“Bring him in,” the priestess spat. The guard rushed outside.

My heart froze, and I couldn’t take a breath. Was it Nero? Oryn? Dagen?

Santos stumbled into the prison, his face ashen, his clothes torn and cuts snaked down his arms.

“No!” I cried. “He has nothing to do with this. He’s my assistant at the store.”

“When we spotted him at the markets yesterday, I figured he might tell us where you were. But this is so much better. The more people who see evidence of what you really are the better. Word will spread and everyone will start to see I’m was telling the truth about shifters infiltrating our land.”

“Let him go. Please.” Tears drenched my cheeks, the earlier cut stinging as if acid coated me. I wasn’t sure which injury hurt worse. But I already knew the answer. My heart splintering for Santos.

The priestess smirked. “I’ll release him when you reveal your wolf.”

I boiled with anger, every inch of me shaking.

“Set him free, then I will give you everything you want.” I stared at my assistant, giving him a look that demanded he run as far from Terra as possible when he got out of here. Of course I was lying, but with my fate sealed, I wouldn’t allow Santos to suffer.

The priestess glanced over at Santos, who held himself high, considering our situation, and I admired his strength. Please goddess, protect Santos. Please let the priestess free him.

But she turned with a frown, and my stomach dropped to my feet. She would never keep her word.

She shook her head and jabbed her weapon into my shoulder, the blade sinking deeper. Blood spurted across my face.

I screamed, convulsing. Shards of piercing pain shot through me, my vision blurring.

“Leave her alone,” Santos bellowed. “She’s not a shifter.”

“Now!” she belched the word in my face and twisted the knife into my shoulder. “Let’s show your little friend how wrong he is.”

I shuddered, the rest of my body numb. My shouts were a racing stream, and tears soaked my face. Death. Was this what the end felt like—my soul ripped out of my chest?

“Hurry up, or Santos is next.” She stabbed the knife deeper.

I jerked, my breaths panting, when a zap of energy clasped around me, sizzling over my skin. When I refocused on the priestess, the surrounding room sharpened in colors. A tiny rodent cowered in the corner where I hadn’t seen anything but shadows before. I smelled the guard’s stinky perspiration. And a growl rolled through my chest.

Heavy. Guttural. Threatening.

Revenge coated my thoughts. I’d never felt like this before. Was it my wolf?

The priestess gripped my chin, squeezing. “There you are.” She shoved me back and waved a hand to the guard. “Bring her. I have all the evidence I need. We end this now!”