They were incredibly fast.

She'd give them that.

Angelina had only taken five steps when the first sounds of paws hitting mulch speared through the air as if a pistol had been blasted. The silence shattered in that moment, forcing birds from their peaceful perches within the trees.

Angelina drew to a pause as three wolves lunged from a gap in the tree line, perfectly landing a few metres from where she stood.

Her eyes trained on the biggest of the three, the only male among the wolves. His coat was a rustic deep maroon.

She felt compelled to pet him.

Oh Goddess, she was being unreasonable.

There was no doubt she would get her finger bitten.

Her heart thundered in her chest. She was sure they could hear it and taste the genuine fear she couldn't shield completely. It was difficult considering she was setting herself as bait to a perilous Pack.

People would consider it a fool's mission to infiltrate the Silver Dawn.

The wolves quietly transformed into their human forms.

For a second, she was surprised by the inky black suits that immediately wrapped around their bodies to keep their bare skin hidden from the elements. Now that was a neat trick. There was no doubt a witch had helped with that.

When shifters changed forms, clothes were always inevitably destroyed from the transition.

Some wolves had piles of clothes dotted through the Pack for convenient purposes when they needed to be in their human forms and covered.

While she had been perched up on the tree, she had absently noted that there hadn't been a single stitch of clothing scattered at the foot of tree trunks from her earlier scan of the Pack.

Now she knew they had no need for it.

The three shifters regarded her with solemn expressions. They looked more annoyed by her presence than angry.

"How did you get in?" The man- a beefy guy with large, muscled limbs and storm cloud eyes demanded.

His voice sent the birds into a startling quiet. Not even the trees swayed.

The woman on his left had bright, fiery hair- the shade of an untouched ruby stone. Her feline eyes took her in, studying her like an intriguing museum piece. She took a deep inhale, smirking. "You smell almost human, but you're clearly not." Her voice was silk. Pure seduction.

"You're a shifter." The quiet female muttered. She sported a sharp jet-black bob.

Angelina braced herself, wondering if she'd somehow identify that Angelina had association with the Blue River Pack.

When she didn't say more, Angelina inwardly sighed in relief.

She shifted on her feet, finding a better grip on the ground. Bob Hair immediately saw the little shuffle, and although her expression remained stoic, there was a flare of amusement in her expression.

"I think Mason will have fun with her." Red Hair said, more to herself than anyone else.

"He'll destroy her Riley."

Red Hair was Riley according to Bob Hair.

"Oooh goodie." Riley practically shivered as if pleased by the concept.

"Shut it Riley. We need to take her to Mason."

"You're always ruining the fun Drake." Riley frowned. "And you're no fun either Dani."

Angelina analysed their stances. They appeared non-threatening. The fact they hadn't remained in their wolf forms said enough. They didn't think she presented any sort of danger, but they were wary by her presence judging by the way they hadn't once diverted their attention from her since they'd stopped her.

"You will either follow us to our Alpha or you won't like the way we take you to him." That warning came from Drake.

Angelina didn't exactly want to be led away like a prisoner, but she had no choice. Eris would be laughing in glee if he saw her now, cornered.

Dani approached, slipping on leather gloves as she wielded something into sight she hadn't seen earlier.

Silver cuffs.

Angelina stared at the glinting metal, "I'm not going to cause any danger. There's no need to use those."

Pure silver was hazardous for wolves, and they planned to use it, on her.

Dani resumed her pace towards her, unfazed. "This is protocol. We don't trust you. You're the one who came into our Territory without permission."

Dammit. Her words merited credit. She indeed was the intruder on their lands. If roles were switched, she would have no problem clamping the cuffs on anyone who dared to step foot on claimed grounds. She deserved those cuffs.

"It's not pure silver. It only has enough embedded into the cuffs just to restrain you."

Angelina clenched her jaw shut, holding out her wrists.

The three wolves shared wary glances.

Before she could utter a single word, she noted Dani's gaze peer at something over her shoulder.

"Casper, no. I got it-"

Something pricked her neck before she felt her body fall.

***

"Where is he now?"

"On his way. Maybe three minutes."

The voices sounded far away, but that didn't seem right.

Angelina's eyelids were pulled down like leaden weights.

Where was she?

Her brain was muddled to the point she couldn't hold a single thought for long. She fought to open her eyes again, only managing to see a slit of blurry images.

"Someone untie her. That has to be uncomfortable with the way her neck is angled."

"No, leave her. We don't know how much danger she could be."

A snicker sounded. "Your concern is wasted. Even I could tell from a distance she wields no skill in combat. She didn't even sense me when I approached." Snark weighed on that particular voice.

"Who gives a shit Casper? It doesn't matter if she has no skill of combat. She somehow managed to come through the barriers. There has to be a brain in that head of hers to accomplish that."

Only silence answered.

Angelina forced her eyelids to open. They flickered and finally peeled open. The sudden light made her eyes sting with tears, but she kept them open, trying to make sense of her surroundings.

"She's waking." A voice she barely recognised as Dani's quiet one whispered.

Movement stilled as her sight steadily adjusted to the sharp light.

She tried to wipe the side of her cheek, but she couldn't. Her hands were tied with rope and the cuffs- they had actually clasped the things onto her! The skin burned. She clamped down a groan, moving herself into a sitting position. They hadn't even bothered to sit her up but just left her in a sad lump on the ground.

Her head was spinning, and nausea twisted in her belly. She breathed slowly, trying to calm herself.

She barely had her sight adapted when a firm hand abruptly gripped her chin, jerking it up.

The man in front of her had shoulder-length hair, the hue of ice-kissed frost. Even his brows were the same colour. Unlike his companions, there was something almost frigid in the way he coolly examined her with his almost pitch-black eyeballs.

This had to be the person who crept up on her and pierced her with a needle. It was his scent that gave him away.

"You're awake." He muttered, his voice a whisper.

There was ice in his tone.

This man was different.

"Ease up Casper. Let Mason do the rest."

Casper reluctantly released her chin but not without a firm squeeze that made her eyes brim with involuntary tears.

"He's here." Drake suddenly announced, standing.

All of them shot up in unison. Their eyes swung to the door just as it was shoved open. A blast of chilly air whirled into the room, ruffling her hair.

Angelina blinked the water from her eyes.

A man stood in the frame of the doorway, dressed in a simple black tee and grass-stained trousers. There was a leather holster strapped across his wide chest with a series of handles protruding from the leather clips that lined the material. Her gaze drifted to his chin and jaw, covered in stubble. She studied the perfect slope of his nose, moving higher until hazel eyes, more green than brown stared back. The weight of his gaze made the breath in her lungs stutter.

"Mason, we found her near the barriers." Drake informed the man.

She didn't move a single muscle as he took a step into the room.

Her eyes were trained on the piece of dark brown hair, the rich shade of mahogany, that dangled between his thick brows. He had nice hair. It probably felt like silk.

She held in a gasp as he crouched in front of her. His bent knees almost brushed against her. His elbows rested against his thighs as he examined her like a sad lump of turd he found stuck to the flat side of his boot.

Well, wasn't that every girl's dream.

Up close, she could register the thickness of his lashes. Rosie would kill for those.

He didn't touch her or try to. His gaze dragged past her shoulder to the others in the room who watched silently from their corners. "What is she doing here? The dungeons are below us." His voice was rough. Dismissive.

She sensed the surprise of his Pack mates.

"She is no threat." Riley spoke up. "We thought it would be stupid to put her down into the dungeons where the others are. They'd get to her."

The man in front of her slowly stood. His height was taller now that he was closer to her. Dominance poured from him as he took in each stark expression of his Pack mates. "Put her in the dungeon."

He didn't spare a single glance back as he left the room. His boots left a haunting tune against the floorboards.

Drake and Dani gripped her elbows, tugging her up until she could get a hold of her balance. Her head spun again; dizzy with whatever drug they'd shot into her bloodstream.

She opened her mouth to speak, but it felt like there was something trapped in her throat.

The others didn't utter a single word as she was dragged to the dungeons.

***

There were cold puddles in the cell block they dumped her in. Veins of cracks slid through the ceiling, lined with water. A trickle of it would drop every few minutes, adding to the shallow puddles forming near her boots.

In the last hour, someone had thrown a boiled potato into her block. The thing was still piping hot with steam gathered around the edges as she plucked the skin off with cold fingers.

The others in their cells received the same, although they scrambled for their treat with more zest before hungrily gnawing on it.

Water came soon after. A mere cup full that didn't satiate the dryness in her throat.

The others beside her rattled the bars of their prison cells, clearly raging for more.

The place smelt like piss, shit, and wet mould.

The mixture of the scents proved too potent for her shifter nose. She had to filter the smell by tucking her nose in her shirt.

How many hours had it been since she had been dragged inside the cell?

Angelina had to think about Evie. It was the only thought that kept her awake for as long as she could.

***

"She doesn't look like a threat. Look at her, it has only been two days."

"What do you expect? She came here without permission."

"The Alpha should do something though. She doesn't look like she'll make it another day."

"Hmm, she doesn't look like the type to give up."

"We'll see how much longer she can pull it off."

***

Angelina blinked awake as something hairy brushed against her foot. Right near her foot sat a plump rat, chewing on a piece of bread that must've been thrown in at some point while she had been dozing off.

The rat paused.

"That's my bread you sucker." She slumped forward. The thing was fast, dashing off into a hole in the cell, with her piece of bread. "You cock-sucker!"

Laughter spilled into her cell. Standing outside, she vaguely recognised the man.

Was his name Drake?

He glanced at the spot where the rat had jumped into. Mirth lined his expression as he heaved himself off the metal bars, "I'll get more bread for you." He offered.

"I'm fine."

Her stomach let out a hideous grumble.

"That says otherwise."

He vanished. She shifted back against the wall, pulling her knees closer to her chest. She didn't believe that he would do something like that. They were keeping her in here like a prisoner.

Why offer her a crumb of food when they planned to let her rot in this block of nothing to die?

It was a surprise when he came back with two buns of bread in his palms. He held them out, goading her like some animal. "I got you something to eat."

"Does your Alpha know you're here?"

"Probably."

"Yet, you're giving me food."

"A rat stole yours."

Gosh, her life was pathetic. She yelled at a rat. A rat! And for some sad reason, she had a witness to that.

In any other circumstance, she'd be tinged pink with embarrassment. However, she was still in the same clothes she had been wearing since she arrived, but the pungent smell of the cell block clung to her like second skin.

"How long has it been?" Angelina asked the man.

"A few days. Give or take."

Well, that explained why she felt like her stomach was eating itself up. "How long do you plan to keep me in here?"

"Until Mason gives us the green light. I wouldn't take this whole thing personally. He's just protective of the Pack. You intruded on our lands, so it was simple protocol to place you in here until he figures out what to do with you."

"Tell him I want to speak with him."

"I really can't do that, but I'll come by with more food or drink if another rat steals your substances."

Before she could thank him, he scurried off into the shadows that crept in.

This place reeked, and it was doing funny things to her head, but she had no other choice but to endure a little while longer.