Aria’s POV
I woke the next morning to the sound of heavy footsteps outside my door. The sunlight that streamed through the window was mocking-bright and warm-while the cold, hopeless feeling inside me spread like ice.
I knew what was coming. I had barely slept, haunted by the previous night, my mind spinning in circles. I didn’t know how much more I could take. I didn’t know how long I could hold out before I cracked completely.
A loud knock shattered the silence, and before I could answer, the door opened. Two guards stepped inside, their faces as blank as stone.
“Alpha Logan requests your presence.”
I felt the dread coil tighter in my chest, but I forced myself to stand, my legs shaky beneath me. There was no use resisting. I had no choice but to follow.
As they led me through the winding corridors of the pack house, my thoughts flickered to Edward. My little boy. What was Logan doing to him? What if he was hurting him right now?
The guards stopped in front of a large door and knocked. A voice from inside responded. Logan’s voice.
They opened the door and pushed me inside. The room was brightened only by a few candles. Logan was sitting in a high-backed chair at the far end of the room, a cruel smile playing on his lips as he looked me over.
“Good morning, Aria,” he greeted, his voice smooth and casual, as if we were old friends meeting for tea.
I didn’t respond. My hands trembled at my sides as I stood there, staring at him, trying to read the malice in his eyes.
He rose from his chair and walked slowly toward me, the sound of his boots echoing on the ground.
“I’ve been thinking about our little conversation last night,” he began. “You’ve got quite the temper, don’t you?”
I said nothing, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a reaction.
He chuckled darkly, digging his hands into the pockets of his cloak as he stared at me. “But you see, Aria, this is a lesson you need to learn. You need to understand what happens when you defy me.”
Without warning, he struck me across the face, the impact sending me stumbling to the floor. Pain exploded in my cheek, but I bit my tongue, refusing to cry out.
Logan crouched down beside me, his fingers gripping my chin with bruising force, forcing me to look up at him. His eyes were cold, clear of any compassion.
“This is what happens when you slap me,” he hissed. “This is what happens when you think you can stand up to me.”
He let go of my chin and stood up, signaling to the guards. They grabbed me by the arms, hauling me to my feet. I struggled against them, but they were too strong.
Logan smiled cruelly. “Let’s see how long it takes to break you.”
The next hours were a blur of agony.
Logan took his time. The guards obeyed his every command, dragging me from one corner of the room to the other, holding me down as he tortured me. His methods were precise-calculated to inflict the most pain without leaving permanent marks. He would burn me with silver, the sizzling sound of it against my skin like a demon’s whisper, then watch me writhe in pain, laughing softly as I tried to hold back the screams.
I refused to cry. I refused to give him what he wanted.
But every time he found a new way to hurt me, I felt another part of me crumble.
“You will learn to submit,” he growled, pressing a heated iron against my side, the searing pain tearing through me like wildfire.
I gasped, my vision blurring, but still, I didn’t scream. Not for him. I wouldn’t.
But the worst part was not the physical pain. The worst part was the helplessness. Knowing that no one would come for me. Knowing that he held my son’s life in his hands, that he could snuff it out with just a single command.
I bit down hard on my lip until I tasted blood, clinging to the thought of Edward. I had to survive for him. No matter what Logan did to me, I had to endure.
But then everything shattered when the door opened, and I saw her.
Erinne.
She stepped into the room, her expression cold and indifferent. Logan let me go immediately, and I collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. My body ached with every breath I took, my vision swimming, but I forced myself to focus on her.
And then I saw what she was holding.
Edward. My son.
He was cradled in her arms, his tiny form still and quiet, his face pale and innocent.
My heart stopped.
No.
This couldn’t be happening.
“Edward!” I screamed.
I stood to my feet, but my joints and bones screamed in protest, making me collapse back to the ground.
Logan watched with amusement as I thrashed, his arms crossed over his chest. “You should have just listened, Aria,” he said coldly. “Now you’ll see what defiance costs you.”
I barely heard him. My eyes were locked on Edward, and all I could feel was rage. Blinding, furious rage. How dare he? How dare he bring my son into this?
“You promised!” I screamed. “You said you would protect him!”
Logan’s smirk only deepened. “Promises change. You should have learned that by now.”
I felt my entire world tilt, everything I had fought to protect now dangling on the edge of destruction. Logan wasn’t just cruel, he was merciless, willing to use my son to break me in ways no torture ever could.
All of this, just to have sex with me? How twisted was this man?
“Please…” My voice cracked, the plea falling from my lips as I crumbled to my knees. My skin sizzled with the burns that Logan had inflicted on me. My head throbbed with migraines. My eyes felt as though they were melting from the inside out.
I hated myself for begging, but for Edward, I would do anything.
But it didn’t matter. Logan had already made up his mind. He looked at Erinne, then back at me, and his smile twisted into something dark and sinister.
“Take her back to her room,” he ordered the guards. “Let her think about what happens next.”
The guards yanked me up roughly, dragging me toward the door, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Edward. His little face. His tiny hands. I could barely breathe through the panic clawing at my chest.
He was so close to me, and yet I couldn’t reach him.
My eyes caught Logan’s as I was dragged out, and I knew one thing for certain:
Soon, I’d make sure it was his turn to feel the pain.