Episode 4

That night, in the coldest and dampest dungeon cell, the extremely thin body of a young girl huddles on a dirty mattress. She is freezing to death, but that is the least of her concerns. The pain in her back and face is unbearable. The guards have whipped her back and delivered several blows to her face, betting on who can knock her out with a single punch.

Her beautiful face is covered in bruises, and her back bleeds from the terrible lashes she received, which also leave aconite in her wounds, slowly poisoning her. This is why she cannot heal quickly with her Wolf abilities. But Thesai is even more worried about her little Wolf, Naru, who hardly connects with her, hardly sees her. In her mind, she sees the terrible state of the beloved wolf that is so dear to her. Her wolf is dying, Naru is suffering, and she cannot do anything about it.

While Tess tries to sleep, which she never successfully achieves, she hears growls outside the cell. Suddenly, without warning, in the gloomy darkness of the place, she sees the door swing open with a loud rumble. She cannot see well what is happening when she notices a large, strong male body quickly approaching her. He covers her mouth, positions himself over her, and bites her neck, causing her to shudder. When she least expects it, she feels the fangs sink deeply into her flesh, tears streaming from her eyes. The pain is unbearable, and being so weak, Tess faints, losing consciousness completely.

*_*

Hours later, Tess opens her eyes, still bruised and swollen, but she feels a sense of relief. As she looks around, the light blinds her a little. There isn't much light in the dungeon, but now she can barely make out her surroundings. When she tries to sit up, she feels two pains in different places: one in her neck and another in her arm. When she looks at her arm, she sees a cannula connected to an IV drip in her vein. Tess becomes somewhat scared; she doesn't understand what is happening. When she touches her neck, she feels the two huge punctures that will soon turn into a mark.

Tess turns pale; she has been marked, and that scares her. She almost hyperventilates. Roger is to blame, she thinks, her teeth gnashing with hatred and contempt. She overhears the guards mocking her, recounting how her mother died working in the mine and her father took his own life later on. All of this is Roger's fault. Tess feels that she can never forgive this, and if he believes that doing this will keep her, she will escape no matter what or, at worst, end her own life. He will never have her.

While Tess ponders what to do, a beautiful middle-aged woman enters with a warm smile, startling Tess. She immediately retreats to the corner to hide, leaving the lady petrified. She hadn't expected this reaction.

"Sweetheart, let me introduce myself. I am Talesa. I just want to know if you're okay. Also, if you tug like that, your IV might infiltrate, and the doctor will have to come to see you. Come here, I want to make sure your little drip is fine," she speaks gently and affectionately, leaving Tess bewildered. However, her kind approach makes Tess approach her. Tess gazes at her with suspicion until she asks with her raspy voice, "Who are you, and what am I doing here?" Tess is frightened; nothing good will come out of this, she is sure of it. (Why is she treating me so well?), she thinks, more than just scared by this.

*_*

In the Blue Moon pack, Roger wakes up happily. Everything is fixed now, and things will improve. But his Beta enters to talk to him urgently.

"Alpha, Thesai has escaped. She's gone, disappeared, and there are two guards dead. Someone has helped her escape," Carlos says, frightened. Tess is the cause of all the problems, and if they lose her, everything will remain just as bad or worse.

Roger burned with anger. Who could be so audacious as to take his Mate? To Roger, Tess was still his mate. She had to come back for him to redeem himself with the goddess Luna, but now everything was more than wrong. Lucia was growing increasingly insane, and his pack was in decline, so he had to bring her back, no matter what.

Tess looked at the woman expectantly and suddenly noticed something she had overlooked in her fear: the room was not just nice, but beautiful. Everything there was more than luxurious, and she was lying on a splendid, comfortable bed. It was then that she realized she was naked, blushing as she quickly covered herself. She didn't understand anything; it all felt like an overly realistic dream (maybe I'm dead), Tess thought without comprehending.