Aria’s POV
My mind went blank. I stared at the lock of hair, my blood running cold. No. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t be Edward’s.
“He promised!” I choked out. “Logan promised not to harm my baby!”
I shook my head, trying to push the thought away, but Erinne leaned closer, her breath warm against my ear as she whispered, “Logan doesn’t keep his promises, Aria. You should’ve known that.”
“No…” The word barely escaped my lips, a soft, broken whisper.
Erinne straightened up, still holding the lock of hair between her fingers like it was a trophy. “You’re too late, Aria. There’s nothing left to fight for. Logan’s already taken everything from you.”
My vision swam, blurred by the agony that seared through my veins, the pain from Logan’s whip still fresh. But nothing, nothing, compared to the torment in my chest. That lock of blonde, bloody hair dangled in my mind, haunting me, ripping away the last shred of hope I’d been clinging to.
My son. Edward. My beautiful, innocent baby.
Dead.
I screamed; a primal, guttural cry that tore through my throat, echoing off the walls of the dungeon. My grief turned into fury, a wildfire consuming every corner of my mind. I tried to push myself up from the floor, but the chains held me down, mocking me, imprisoning me just as surely as Logan had. My body shook with uncontrollable sobs, the world around me spinning as my heart shattered over and over again.
“How could you!” I shrieked. “Logan! Erinne! You monsters! You took him from me! You-”
I didn’t even know what I was saying anymore, the words tumbling from my lips like venom. Every ounce of rage, every shard of my broken heart poured into that scream. But it didn’t matter. No one cared. No one ever cared.
Erinne’s laughter still echoed in my ears, cruel and heartless, as if my suffering was some sick source of entertainment for her.
How had I been so blind? How had I ever trusted her?
“Curse you both!” I roared. “I swear to the gods, I’ll make you pay! I’ll tear you apart for what you’ve done!”
But my words meant nothing to the empty dungeon, to the unfeeling stone, to the indifferent universe that had stolen everything from me. Erinne was already walking away laughing, untouched by my rage, while Logan… Logan had already stripped away every piece of me. I was nothing to him but a broken toy.
*******
I lay for hours-or was it days?-trembling, sobbing, my voice hoarse from the screaming. It felt like my body was collapsing in on itself, like the grief was pulling me under, drowning me. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping the darkness would swallow me whole, hoping I wouldn’t have to feel this pain for one more second.
But it didn’t stop. It never stopped.
My mind filled with images of Edward, the way he looked at me with those wide, innocent eyes. The way he gurgled when he laughed. The way he reached for me, trusting, believing I would always be there to protect him.
I failed him. My baby boy.
And now he was gone. Erinne’s cruel, mocking whisper echoed through my mind: “Logan doesn’t keep his promises.”
I wanted to rip her throat out. I wanted to see the fear in her eyes for once. I wanted to tear Logan limb from limb, feel his blood on my hands, and watch him suffer the way he had made me suffer. The way he had taken everything from me, my dignity, my freedom, and now, my son.
Revenge. It was all I could think about. But it felt so far away like a dream slipping from my fingers. How could I get it? How could I fight when I was shackled, bruised, and broken? How could I stand a chance when I couldn’t even protect my child?
“Edward,” I whispered through clenched teeth, “I’m so sorry…”
I wished, for a fleeting moment, that I could trade places with him. That I could be the one in the ground, lost forever, instead of him. But then… who would avenge him? Who would make Logan pay for the horrors he had wrought?
I wouldn’t let this be the end.
Suddenly, the dungeon felt too quiet. I forced my eyes open, blinking against the dim light filtering through the metal grates overhead. The other women, those chained to the walls, watched me with hollow eyes, fear ingrained into their faces. They weren’t just scared of Logan. They were scared of hope. They had seen too much, and suffered too long, to believe there could ever be a way out.
Sara shifted uneasily. Her lips trembled as she spoke. “I’m sorry for your loss, Aria. I know you tried to help us escape that pit in the forest, but there’s no escaping Alpha Logan, Aria. We’re all… we’re all going to die here.”
For a moment, I almost believed her. But I couldn’t give in. Not yet.
I pushed myself up as much as the chains allowed, gasping through the pain, the whip marks on my back screaming with every movement. “We can’t… we can’t let him win,” I muttered, more to myself than anyone else.
Sara just shook her head, eyes glassy with despair. “He always wins.”
“But not this time,” I murmured in insistence. I turned to the other women, hoping for some support, but all of them stared at me with the same glassy, dead look. The woman that had been experimented upon still lay on the table, but she was unresponsive. I feared she was dead already.
I could feel hopelessness seeping into my bones, into my very soul. But I refused to let it consume me. I couldn’t. Not when there was still a chance, however small, that I could fight back.
And then, from the depths of my delirium, I heard it.
Footsteps.
My head snapped up, my heart hammering in my chest as the sound grew louder. Heavy boots, thudding against the stone floor, coming closer, closer… I couldn’t tell if it was another tormentor or some twisted form of salvation, but every fiber of my being tensed.
I lifted my head, wincing from the pain as the footsteps stopped just outside the dungeon door. I held my breath, waiting, every muscle in my body coiled with tension.
Then, with a deafening clang, the door swung open.