The cell door creaked open at sunrise.
Vireya didn't move. Just sat in the corner, knees pulled up to her chest, the chain slack in her lap like it didn't mean anything anymore. She heard the boots first. Heavy. Confident. Voices low, but amused.
She waited for the fear to kick in.
It didn't.
Not because she wasn't scared.
Because fear felt useless now.
The Beta stepped into view like he owned the fucking world. Shirt half-buttoned, breath already thick with whatever he'd been drinking. His eyes landed on her like she was meat gone cold.
"Get her up," he said.
A guard moved to obey, grabbing her arm and yanking her so hard her shoulder crackled. She didn't scream. She didn't give them that. Her feet scraped the floor, skin raw from the shackles. She held her head high because it was the only thing she still had.
The Beta smiled.
"Morning, sunshine. Sleep okay?"
She spat blood. Right at his feet.
His smile didn't falter. Not even when he grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against the wall so hard her skull bounced. The air left her lungs in one cruel rush. Her hands clawed at his wrist, nails scraping skin.
"You'll learn," he murmured. "They all do. Some faster than others. But you? You look like you've got a little fight in you." His grip tightened. "I like that."
Her vision blurred. Her feet dangled.
Still, he smiled.
Still, she couldn't breathe.
She wanted to go still. To shut off. To float above her body like she used to when things got bad.
But she couldn't. Not this time.
He let her drop. She crumpled, coughing, vision spinning, lungs sucking in air like she'd been drowning. She heard the guards laugh outside the door as it slammed shut behind him.
Now it was just him.
And her.
He crouched in front of her, staring. Watching.
"Redheads don't last long in places like this," he said, voice low. "Too much heat. Gets them into trouble."
He stood slowly, knuckles dragging across her cheek, trailing down her throat, over the fresh bruise blooming there.
The smell of him made her stomach lurch. Sweat. Blood. Rot.
His fingers went to his belt.
"Don't worry," he said. "You won't have to pretend to like it. I like it better when you cry."
She stared past him, focused on a crack in the wall. Disconnected. Disassociated. Her mind floated above her body, like always. Like every other time.
Not here. Not now. Not again.
His hand yanked at her shirt.
The fabric tore.
Cold air hit her chest and her stomach dropped.
Then she saw it.
The hardness pressing against his pants.
He was already hard.
Already ready.
Like this was his reward for breathing.
Her breath stuttered.
Her skin crawled.
He shoved her harder into the wall, one arm across her collarbone to keep her pinned.
"Let's make this quick," he growled. "Got another one waiting after you."
His hands fumbled lower, catching the waistband of her pants. Ripping.
That's when it broke.
Something deep, buried, snapped like bone under pressure.
Her body moved without permission.
Her knee slammed up between his legs, fast and vicious. He crumpled with a snarl, hands scrabbling for her again. She didn't stop. Didn't hesitate.
She launched herself at him, teeth bared, rage unchained.
She bit.
Hard.
Her teeth tore into the side of his neck. Blood filled her mouth. He screamed, loud and wet.
Fists pounded her sides. She didn't care. Her jaw locked. Her hands clawed for anything soft, anything breakable.
He went down.
She went with him.
She didn't stop when he stopped moving.
She kept biting. Kept clawing. Kept tearing at him like he was the only thing between her and hell.
By the time the guards burst in, she was covered in blood and barely breathing. One of them screamed. The other tried to pull her off.
She didn't let go.
Not until a metal baton cracked against her spine.
Then she collapsed.
Face-first in a pool of blood that wasn't hers.
Not all of it, anyway.
She coughed. Laughed. Choked on it.
The Beta wasn't moving.
She didn't care.
She smiled.
Teeth stained red. Eyes glassy.
Not because she was proud.
Not because she felt strong.
Because she was still alive.
And for the first time in her life, he wasn't.
She didn't even remember blacking out.
Just the bite. The blood. The way his body had gone limp under her hands.
The way she couldn't stop.
Not even when it was already over.
When she came to, she was somewhere else. The stone was colder here. Rougher. There was no window, no light, just stale air and a buzzing silence that pressed against her skin.
She was alone. Chained again.
Tighter this time. Metal bit into her wrists and ankles. A thick collar pressed into her throat.
Her shirt was gone. Replaced by something rough and oversized that smelled like old piss and mold.
Her lip had split open again.
Her ribs screamed every time she breathed.
She didn't know how long she'd been out, but her skin was dry now—flaking with blood that wasn't hers. Her fingers were stained. Her hair stiff.
She felt like she was rotting from the outside in.
Outside the door, voices whispered. Not to her. About her.
"She's not right."
"Did you see his face?"
"She wasn't even shifted, man. She fucking chewed through his throat."
"No one's touching that freak."
"She's cursed."
She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall.
Not in triumph.
Not in peace.
Just to stop the spinning.
She wasn't proud of what she'd done.
She wasn't sure she'd even done it. Not really.
It felt like it had happened to someone else. Someone with teeth and fire and nothing left to lose.
But now... she was just cold.
Cold and shaking and empty.
They didn't come in again. No one did. Not to clean her up. Not to feed her. Not to talk.
Just whispers. Just fear. Just the kind of silence that wrapped around your throat and squeezed.
Once, she heard someone try to open the door.
Then a pause.
Then footsteps backing away.
She smiled at that. Not because she felt strong.
Because she didn't.
Because if they were scared of her... maybe they'd leave her the fuck alone.
But they didn't.
Later, hours? maybe days? Someone slid a tray under the door. Water. Food. She ignored it.
A guard's voice. Nervous.
"She's not normal. I think we should put her down before someone else ends up like Rake."