11

Aprils POV
The silence in the dungeon stretched on, thick and oppressive. It clawed at me, burrowing deep into my chest, filling every hollow space with bitterness and pain. I leaned back against the cold stone wall, letting the damp chill seep into my bones, trying to numb myself to the whirlwind of emotions inside me. But no amount of cold or silence could ever drown out the rage and grief that tore through me.
It was the look on their faces that haunted me-the last expressions of my parents etched into my memory. I saw them every time I closed my eyes and heard their voices promising they loved me even as the Alpha ordered their execution. My fists clenched, my nails digging into my palms, a poor distraction from the agony that burned in my chest.
Jake’s visit a few days ago was still raw in my mind, each word he spat at me cutting deeper than any blade. I remembered his audacity and absolute disdain, even as his wolf-the very spirit inside him-had pleaded for him to stop. I remembered the tension in his eyes, the fleeting moments when his wolf would fight to the surface, only to be crushed by Jake’s own heartless will.
I had told him off and shouted every piece of truth I had at him. And he’d just laughed, sneered, suggesting that we could “say goodbye to each other properly by sleeping with each other,” That offer-that twisted, disgusting offer-made my blood run cold even now. I was so fucking angry.
“He has no heart, April. He’s empty.” Snow’s voice was a balm, her anger mirroring my own. “Our mate would never treat us like this. That man is no mate of ours.”
That is precisely what I said; I am so glad Snow is slowly regaining her strength.
But even with her words, the anger inside me festered, raw and jagged. “Jake is still the reason our parents are gone, Snow,” I whispered, my voice barely audible. “If only… if only it hadn’t been him. Maybe they’d still be alive. Maybe we wouldn’t be here.”
Snow was silent for a moment, and I felt her sorrow merge with mine. Finally, she spoke, “We can’t change the past, but we can decide what we’ll do next.”
Her words were a grounding force, but the anger in me wouldn’t quiet. I could still see Jake’s mocking face and hear his cold, biting tone. He’d suggested that we should “embrace our fate,” that maybe, deep down, I’d always known I was never enough for someone like him. It stung, but there was truth in it-I’d given him too much power over me and let his rejection define my worth. And now, I would take that power back.
“You are right, Snow,” I say.
“When am I not?” She asks, faking offense.
After a couple of minutes of silence I found myself talking to Snow, needing her in this moment. I felt really low, the lowest I have ever felt since I was locked up in this place. The anger had subsided a little, but I kept on going through a whirlwind of emotion, angry one minute, hurt the next, grieving the next. Ugh! It’s tough getting a hold of your feelings when so much shit is going down. Have you ever felt like that?
“How could he?” I whispered, my voice tight and strangled. “How could Jake do this to us?”
Snow stirred within me, her presence a gentle but fierce warmth, grounding me. “He’s a coward, April. He couldn’t bear to face the truth of who we are, of what we meant to him,” she growled, her voice filled with a fury that mirrored my own. “Our parents are gone, and it’s his fault. He betrayed us.”
Our parents. Snow had claimed them as her own because, in truth, she had loved them as much as I had. She had been there, in my mind, as they raised me, as they loved me unconditionally. They were her parents, too, and I could feel her grief mingling with mine, her anger just as raw, just as unrelenting.
“Jake rejected us, he betrayed us, and they’re gone because of him,” I spat, the words barely escaping my clenched jaw. The weight of betrayal pressed down on me, squeezing the air from my lungs. “He dared to throw us aside like we were nothing. And now, I’m here, broken and alone, because of him.”
Snow snarled, her fury flaring through me. “He’s weak, April. He couldn’t even give us a chance. So he discarded us, thinking it would break us.” Her voice softened, but the anger remained. “But we’re stronger than he knows.”
“Are we?” I questioned, bitterness coating every word. “Because I don’t feel strong, Snow. I feel… I feel shattered.” My voice cracked, and I felt the familiar sting of tears, though I fought to hold them back. I didn’t want to cry-not for him, not for someone who had stolen everything from me.
“He watched them die for nothing, Snow. He just stood there, watching. How can one be so evil?” I said, choking back tears.
Her sorrow mingled with mine, her anger fierce and unwavering. “One day, he’ll regret this,” she murmured, her tone dark and foreboding. “He’ll realize what he lost when he cast us aside.”
A bitter laugh escaped me, and I shook my head. “By then, it won’t matter. They’re gone, Snow. They’re never coming back. He took them from us, and there’s nothing we can do to change that.” The reality settled over me like a suffocating weight, and I pressed my hand to my chest as if that would ease the pain.
“Don’t let him take more from us, April,” Snow urged gently, her voice a soothing balm to my frayed edges. “He took our parents; he tried to take our spirit, but he doesn’t get to take our strength.”
“But what do I have left?” I whispered, my voice thick with grief and anger. “What am I supposed to hold on to when everything I loved is gone?”
“You have me,” Snow said, her tone unwavering. “We’re still here, together. We may be broken, but we’re not defeated. Not yet.”
I took a shaky breath, letting her words sink in. She was right. Jake had taken so much from us, had stolen a piece of my heart I’d never get back. But he couldn’t destroy what was left of me, what Snow and I still shared. The fire inside us hadn’t been entirely extinguished, even if it felt like a dying ember.
“We have to hold on, April,” Snow whispered, her voice soft but firm. “We have to survive this. Not just for us but for them. For our parents. They believed in us; they loved us. We can’t let Jake’s betrayal be the end.”
I clenched my fists, and a new wave of anger surged through me. “You’re right. I won’t let Jake break us. I refuse to give him that satisfaction.” The thought of Jake thinking he’d won and that he’d destroyed me entirely fueled a fierce determination within me. He might have taken everything I loved, but he couldn’t take away my will to survive.
Snow’s presence warmed a gentle strength that wrapped around me. “We’ll make it through this, April. And one day, we’ll make him pay for what he did to us, for what he did to our family.”
I nodded, the fire inside me rekindling. “For them,” I whispered, my voice filled with a resolve I hadn’t felt since I’d lost them. “For our parents.”
And though the darkness in the dungeon pressed in around me, I felt a spark of light within, a flame that refused to die. Jake’s betrayal might have broken me, but it hadn’t destroyed me. And as long as Snow and I had each other, I knew I could survive this. I would survive this.
Because I owed it to them.