Chapter 5

Boris didn't hesitate. With a vicious snarl, he pounced on Damien, knocking him to the ground. His fists landed hard and fast, each blow fueled by rage and cruelty.

"You fucking coward!" Damien growled, struggling beneath him.

Raven watched in horror. If Damien had been at full strength, Boris wouldn't have stood a chance. But poisoned and weakened, he could barely fight back.

Boris's lips curled into a sickening smile as his hands wrapped around Damien's throat, tightening with brutal force.

Raven's breath caught. "No! Boris, stop!"

Damien's gaze flicked to the side, landing on a vase sitting on a nearby table. His eyes snapped back to hers, sharp with meaning.

She understood instantly.

She grabbed the vase and threw it at him, but missed. Boris threw another punch, Damien let out a deep, pained groan, and something inside her snapped.

Boris grabbed Damien by the collar and hurled him across the room. He crashed hard into the far wall, his body hitting the ground with a thud.

"Damn," Damien muttered, coughing as he forced himself up.

Boris grinned, predatory and smug. "Go on, try to run. It'll make the hunt sweeter."

Damien didn't hesitate. He pushed off the ground, grabbed Raven's hand, and bolted for the hallway.

"You won't make it far!" Boris's voice boomed behind them.

Heavy footsteps thundered against the floor as the pack gave chase.

Raven's pulse pounded in her ears. She clenched Damien's hand tighter and ran, her breath coming in sharp bursts.

She cursed under her breath, forcing her legs to move faster.

They darted around the corner, their footsteps echoing against the stone floors as they pushed forward. Raven spotted an open door and yanked Damien inside with her. It was the wine storage. A vast room lined with towering wooden racks filled with aged bottles. Without hesitation, she threw the door shut behind them, scanning the room for something. Anything. To block it.

"There," she gasped, pointing at a heavy wooden slat resting against the wall. Together, they shoved it into place, barricading the door just as the sound of approaching footsteps filled the hall outside.

Raven pressed her palms against the door, her heart pounding. "Hopefully, that holds."

Damien leaned against the wall, his breaths coming in short, ragged bursts. His skin was slick with sweat, and when he lifted his hand to cover his mouth, another violent cough shook his body. Blood splattered against his fingers, the dark crimson stark against his pale skin.

"Damn it," she muttered, stepping closer. "You've got to power through this. We need you."

His gaze locked onto hers, filled with determination despite the obvious agony tearing through him. He nodded grimly, swiping the back of his hand across his mouth. "I won't give up," he rasped. "I'm not going to let that bastard hurt you. Either of you."

The words hit her like a spark in the dark. Either of you.

Their baby.

Something shifted inside her. A new kind of resolve. The fear loosened its grip, replaced by a sharp, calculated focus. If they were going to make it out of there, she had to think. Fast.

She glanced around the room, her mind racing through every possible escape route. Then her eyes landed on the far wall, the one Damien was slumped against.

"Move," she ordered, already stepping forward.

His brow furrowed. "Why?"

She gestured to the paneling behind him. "Because Boris is cheap, and this wall is the worst quality in the entire base. He hasn't replaced it in years. If we can break through it, I think I can get us to an escape route."

Damien didn't question her. He pushed off the wall, shifting his weight onto his unsteady feet. As soon as he was clear, Raven lifted her foot and slammed it against the wooden panel. The impact sent a dull vibration through her leg, but she gritted her teeth and kicked again.

The second blow cracked the wood.

The third splintered it.

Then, just as she drew back for another, a voice drifted through the barricaded door, thick with malice.

Boris's voice slithered through the wooden door, thick with mockery. "Raven, you didn't really think you could hide in there, did you?"

Raven gritted her teeth, her heart hammering against her ribs. "Boris, piss off."

A deep, menacing chuckle echoed from the other side, followed by a sudden, earth-shaking boom as Boris slammed his weight against the door. The entire frame trembled under the force, dust shaking loose from the wooden beams above.

"Oh, you're just making this more fun," Boris taunted, his amusement only fueling Raven's desperation.

She turned back to the rotting wooden panel they had been kicking, her breath coming fast. Splinters littered the floor, and cracks had already begun to web through the surface. If they could just get through it...

"Just a little more..." Damien rasped beside her, his voice strained with pain. His body swayed slightly, his strength waning fast. Whatever poison they had given him was eating away at him from the inside, but he still pushed himself to keep going.

Then, it happened.

Boris's voice rang out again, but this time, it wasn't a taunt. It was something far worse.

"Raven," he commanded, his tone layered with power. "Stop this now. Let me in."

A sharp tremor shot down Raven's spine as an invisible force wrapped around her limbs. She went rigid, her breath catching in her throat as her body betrayed her, her feet instinctively shifting toward the door.

Panic flared in her chest. No. Not now. Not when they were so close.

"Raven, no!" Damien barked, snapping her out of her daze. "Don't listen to him!"

She gasped, trying to fight against the pull, but her Alpha's command was already coiling around her, sinking into her bones. It was the same power that had controlled her for years, forcing her obedience no matter how badly she had wanted to resist.

"The pull... it's too strong," she choked out. "He... he's my Alpha."

Damien's jaw tightened. "I'm an Alpha too. Focus on my voice. Not his."

His words cut through the haze, steadier than her own heartbeat, but it wasn't enough. She wasn't bonded to Damien, not yet. Boris's hold on her was absolute, and every second she hesitated, his command tightened like a vice around her mind.

"Reject him," Damien said, his voice low and firm. "Reject Boris and accept me as your Alpha."

Boris snarled from the other side of the door. "Raven! Do not listen to him! Open the door. Now."

A sharp, unbearable pressure crushed against her skull. It was as if claws had wrapped around her brain, squeezing, suffocating her with the need to obey. Her body jerked forward. She tried to dig her heels into the ground, but it was like moving against an unseen current, pulling her closer and closer to the door.

Damien's grip tightened on her arm. "If you reject him, you'll break free of his command. He won't be able to control you anymore." His voice dropped into something softer, steadier. "You and I will be able to mind-link if you accept me."

His words washed over her, soothing and certain, like a promise of something safer. Freedom dangled right in front of her. All she had to do was reach for it.

Her lips parted, the rejection ready to spill out. But just as she was about to, his voice rang out again.

"Raven!" he thundered, his Alpha's power crashing into her like a tidal wave.

Her entire body jolted, and before she could stop herself, instead of kicking through the weakened wooden panel, her foot slammed against the slat blocking the door.

The barricade crashed to the floor with a loud thud.

"No!" Damien's roar of fury was the last thing she heard before the door burst open.