Caged Luna

Valerie POV

I stare at the reinforced steel-core door Darius just slammed shut, my mind reeling in shock. The heavy metallic click of the deadbolt echoes down the stairwell, sealing my fate like discarded luggage in a dark cellar. My chest heaves with ragged breaths. Scrambling to my feet, I race up the carpeted stairs and throw my entire body against the solid oak wood. I pound with both fists until my palms sting, the dull thuds vibrating painfully up my forearms.

I scream, my throat burning from the effort. “Hey! Open this door! Let me out of here!”

A low, cruel chuckle filters through the thick wood. “Not a chance, Luna.”

My stomach drops into my shoes. The sneering voice belongs to Barton. He is an elite enforcer whose deep disgust for a human Luna has terrified me since the day Darius brought me into the pack. He has always made me feel small and unworthy.

His deep voice rumbles with sick amusement. “Alpha’s direct orders. You stay put.”

Defeated by the basement’s heavy commercial security locks, I retreat into the shadows of the lower level. I pace the length of the plush carpet, my bare feet sinking into the fibers. The finished basement boasts a home theater and a gym, but without a single exit, it is nothing more than a high-end prison. The small, half-sized windows are set far too high into the walls. Even if I managed to stack heavy furniture to reach them, the reinforced glass would never break. I am trapped.

Hours drag on into an eternity of silence. As late evening settles over the estate, the intense caloric demands of early pregnancy take a vicious toll on my fragile human body. A hollow, gnawing hunger twists my stomach into tight knots. My vision blurs, swimming with dizzying nausea every time I move. I wrap my arms around my middle, terrified for the fragile life growing inside me. I have to eat. I muster what little strength remains and drag my trembling frame back up the staircase. I lean my heavy weight against the wall and knock weakly on the wood.

The door cracks open an inch. Barton’s hulking frame crowds the threshold, his broad shoulders blocking the hallway light. His face twists in obvious annoyance.

He snaps, crossing his thick arms over his chest. “No one said you were allowed to eat.”

I swallow my pride, clutching the doorframe to keep myself from collapsing. “Alpha Darius didn’t say I should starve either. Please, Barton. Just call him on the radio. He would never order you to deny me food.”

Barton narrows his dark eyes. Fearing the severe consequences of defying Darius directly regarding my physical welfare, he grunts. He pulls his heavy black radio from his tactical belt and steps away to place the call.

I slide down the wall to a crouch, resting my feverish forehead against the cool drywall. I wait in the dim stairwell, praying for salvation. When he returns minutes later, his expression is carved from vindictive ice. He glares down at me with unabashed hatred.

“Alpha Darius is at the hospital attending to Giselle and isn’t to be bothered with the likes of you.”

The crushing finality of his words shatters my remaining dignity. Desperate tears spill down my cheeks, blurring my vision.

I clutch his pant leg, begging with pure desperation. “Please, Barton, listen to me. I am pregnant. I need nourishment, or the baby will not survive.”

Barton’s sneer instantly curdles into murderous rage. He pushes the door fully open, looming over me like a predator cornering wounded prey.

“You lie through your teeth. A fragile, defective human could never carry a werewolf child. If you truly are pregnant… it obviously isn’t Alpha Darius’s blood. Pack betrayer. Whoring around behind our Alpha's back! You deserve whatever punishment he gives you.”

Before I can scream for help, his heavy, calloused hand clamps down around my wrists with bone-breaking force. Agony shoots up my arms. He drags me ruthlessly down the carpeted stairs, my knees banging against the wooden edges. I thrash and kick, but his steely grip does not yield a fraction of an inch. He hauls me across the basement hall, tossing me into the concrete utility storage room at the far corner of the basement.

I scramble backward across the floor, but he grabs a spool of rough industrial rope from a metal shelf. He pins me down, binding my wrists and ankles so tightly that the rough fibers bite deep into my flesh. The coarse strands slice through my skin, drawing hot beads of blood that trickle down my palms. I thrash against the bindings, the rough ropes tearing away layers of my flesh. He ignores my frantic sobs, his face twisted into a mask of sadistic pleasure.

He shoves me down onto the freezing cement floor with ruthless force. My head strikes the unforgiving stone with a sickening crack. White spots dance across my vision. Intense abdominal cramps tear through my lower belly, sharper and more agonizing than the hunger. The pain is blinding, stealing the breath from my lungs. I curl into a tight ball, wrapping my bound hands over my stomach in a desperate bid to protect my unborn child. A terrifying darkness swells in the corners of my eyes, rushing inward until it swallows my consciousness whole.

Darius POV

At the hospital clinic, I push open the door and reenter Giselle’s private room just as she is hastily hanging up my personal cell phone. A guilty flicker passes across her eyes before she composes her features into a mask of exhaustion.

My brow furrows in deep suspicion as I cross the sterile room. “What are you doing with my phone?”

She flutters her eyelashes with practiced innocence. “It rang. It was just Beta Garrick checking in on the estate.”

I stare at the blank screen in her hand, my wolf pacing inside my chest. I need to return home. I left Valerie locked in the basement, and the argument between us remains a gaping wound that I must close.

I turn toward the doorway, desperate to resolve things with my mate. “I am heading back to the estate.”

Giselle bursts into a fresh wave of tears. She lunges forward, clutching the sleeve of my shirt in a desperate grip.

“Please do not go! Do not abandon me and our unborn child in this cold hospital room!”

Her frantic sobs echo off the linoleum walls. Mentally and physically drained by the chaos of the day, I stare down at her trembling form. She carries the pack’s heir. I cannot leave her in a state of severe medical distress. I pull up a rigid plastic chair and sit beside her bed. It takes until well past midnight, coaxing and reassuring her, before she finally drifts into a medicated sleep. The moment her breathing evens out, I pry my sleeve from her limp fingers.

I sprint through the hospital corridors and speed into the cold night. The engine of my truck roars as I slam my foot on the gas pedal. The tires squeal against the asphalt as I tear down the winding roads toward the pack lands. The headlights cut through the darkness, illuminating the imposing structure of my home. My knuckles turn white on the steering wheel. A deep, primal unease settles in my gut, urging me to drive faster.

The moment I arrive at the estate and step through the heavy front doors, my wolf’s instincts flare into blaring alarm bells. The silence in the manor feels wrong, suffocating. I stride toward the basement door. Barton stands post at the threshold. His broad posture is relaxed, his demeanor smug and shiftless. He offers a mockingly respectful nod, acting as if he is a loyal soldier guarding a conquered enemy.

Pushing past his hulking frame without a single word, I hurry down the wooden steps into the basement living area. I scan the plush sofa where I left her. Empty. I check the home theater. Deserted. I stride into the gym, flipping on the harsh overhead lights. Nothing but cold equipment and mirrored walls.

Panic surges through my veins, hot and suffocating. I march down the narrow hallway toward the far corner. I throw open the heavy door to the concrete storage room.

My blood instantly freezes in my veins.

Valerie lies bound and motionless on the freezing concrete floor. Thick industrial rope wraps tightly around her pale wrists and delicate ankles. Her eyes are closed, her face devoid of color. Beneath her motionless body, a horrific pool of bright red blood is soaking through the fabric of her pants, spreading ominously onto the gray stone. The crimson liquid catches the harsh overhead light, a stark and terrifying contrast against the drab concrete.

My breath catches in my throat. The thick, metallic scent of her blood hits my nose, sending a shockwave of raw terror straight to my core. My knees go weak. For a second, the world stops spinning.

*God, is she truly pregnant? Has she been brutalized so severely that our child is dying right in front of me?*

A blinding, feral fury consumes my mind. My inner wolf claws at the walls of my chest, roaring to break free and exact bloody vengeance. I hear the heavy thud of boots behind me. Barton steps into the room, peering over my shoulder.

I whirl around in a blur of violent motion. I do not hesitate. I drive my fist with shattering force directly into his jaw. The loud crack of his mandible fracturing echoes off the concrete walls like a gunshot. The sheer impact lifts him off his feet for a split second before sending him crashing to his knees. He hits the floor hard, spitting a mouthful of blood and broken teeth onto the gray stone.

I roar, the sound vibrating with pure Alpha dominance. “How dare you!”

Leaving the elite enforcer groaning and clutching his ruined face, I drop to my knees beside Valerie. The cold dampness of the concrete and the slick warmth of her blood seep into my jeans. My frantic hands cup her cheeks, patting her cold, lifeless face. Her pale lips are parted, her chest barely rising.

“Valerie! Valerie, wake up! Look at me!”

She does not stir. Her skin is dangerously clammy to the touch, her pulse a thready, terrifying flutter against my fingertips. I fumble with the thick knots of the industrial rope, my claws extending to slice through the abrasive fibers binding her bleeding wrists.

Barton scrambles backward against the metal shelving units. He cowers away from my lethal gaze, holding his shattered jaw.

He stammers through bloody lips, his eyes wide with newfound terror. “I am sorry, Alpha! I was told by your family that she didn't matter! I thought she was lying about being pregnant!”

I cut his pathetic excuses short. I pivot on my heel and deliver a vicious, thunderous kick to his ribs. The sickening crunch of bone cracking fills the small room. He collapses into a heap, gasping for air. I fight back the ravenous, overwhelming urge to shift and rip his throat out with my bare teeth. He deserves to bleed out on this floor, but Valerie does not have time for my vengeance. The spreading pool of crimson beneath her demands immediate medical action.

I scream, my voice tearing through the basement like a physical blow. “Call an ambulance! Now!”