Novel's POV

I was still coiled up in a ball when I opened my eyes again. I wanted to think of this as a nightmare, but as I tried to push myself up, a white-hot spike of pain shot through my ribs. I collapsed back onto the cold floor, sobbing.

“Alexei, where are you?” I whispered, the words catching in my throat as hot tears tracked through the dirt on my cheeks.

The heavy thud of a deadbolt sliding back echoed in the small room. The door creaked open.

“Now, how are you, princess?”

It was him. Alpha Draven. I tried to crawl away, my fingers scratching uselessly at the...