"That's not me!" Liora screamed. "I don't know who that is, but it's not me!"
Thessian's hand moved so fast Liora didn't see it coming. He slammed his fist against the golden bars, and the entire cage shook. The sound of metal bending echoed through the penthouse. When he spoke again, his voice was no longer calm. It was raw. Broken. Furious.
"My mate died in my arms. She died protecting children from someone who wore your face. She died begging me to save them. And I couldn't." His amber eyes blazed with unspeakable rage and grief. "So don't you dare stand there and tell me it wasn't you when I have footage, DNA evidence, eyewitness testimony, and your own father's confession that it was."
He stepped back from the cage, his chest heaving, fighting for control.
"Alpha Thessian," Veyra said carefully. "What would you have us do?"
Thessian's jaw clenched. For a long moment, he said nothing. Then he turned to face his Beta, his back to Liora.
"Torture her," he said simply. "Bit by bit. I want her to feel every ounce of pain my mate felt. Every moment of terror those children felt. I want her to suffer the way my people suffered."
"No," Liora whimpered, sinking to her knees among the scattered photographs. "No, please....."
"Start with sleep deprivation," Thessian continued, ignoring her completely. "Then sensory manipulation. I want her to understand what it feels like to be helpless. Afraid. Waiting for death."
"And after?" Veyra asked.
"After, we see if she breaks. If she confesses." Thessian's voice was ice. "And when she does, when she finally admits what she did, then I'll give her the mercy of a quick death. Which is more than she gave my mate."
He turned back to the cage one last time, and the look in his eyes made Liora want to die right there just to escape it.
"You have three weeks until the full moon, Princess. Three weeks of paying for your crimes. And if by some miracle you still maintain your innocence, if you still claim you didn't slaughter fifty-three innocent people, then on the full moon, I'll rip your throat out myself."
He pulled something from his pocket, a small, delicate silver bracelet, and threw it into the cage. It landed among the photographs, glinting in the light.
"That was Aria's," Thessian said, his voice breaking for just a moment. "She was wearing it when she died. When you killed her. I want you to look at it every day and remember what you took from me."
He walked back to the elevator without another word.
"Veyra," he said as the doors opened. "Begin immediately."
"Yes, Alpha."
The elevator doors closed, and Thessian was gone. Veyra turned to Liora with a smile that promised pain.
"Welcome to the Shadowpine Pack, Princess. I hope you said goodbye to your sanity, because you won't be needing it anymore."
She snapped her fingers, and two massive werewolves stepped forward, cracking their knuckles.
"Let's start with something simple," Veyra said, pulling out her phone and setting a timer. "Seventy-two hours without sleep should soften you up nicely. Every time you close your eyes, they'll wake you. And trust me, they have very creative methods."
"Please," Liora begged, her voice breaking. "Please, I'm innocent....."
"That's what they all say," Veyra said coldly. "But by the time we're done with you, you'll be begging to confess. You'll be begging for death."
She walked toward the elevator, leaving Liora alone with the guards.
"Oh, and Princess?" Veyra called back. "Scream all you want. This entire floor is soundproofed. No one's coming to save you."
The elevator doors closed. Liora was left kneeling in her golden cage, surrounded by photographs of the dead, holding a dead woman's bracelet, with three weeks until her execution and two werewolves whose only job was to break her. She looked at the bracelet in her shaking hands, delicate silver with a small charm, a wolf and a moon, and felt her last shred of hope die.
Because she was innocent. She knew she was innocent. But in this place, with these people, innocence didn't matter. Only vengeance did.
And Princess Liora Ashenbane, the quiet one, the forgotten one, the girl who'd never been strong enough to stand up for herself, was about to learn exactly how much pain a person could endure before they broke.
The lights in the penthouse suddenly blazed to blinding brightness.
"Let's begin," one of the guards said with a cruel smile.
And Liora's nightmare truly started.