MIA

"What do you mean Caspian?" questioned Lorenzo harshly, his teeth gritted, and I sniffled, dropping my head.

"I...he...um..." I stuttered, struggling to get the words out. I knew it would crush Lorenzo. Caspian and him had been good friends for a long time, and we both trusted in him immensely, a part of me concerned that Lorenzo wouldn't actually believe me.

I had grown quite a connection to Caspian, and I was devastated that it had all been fake. Although I did notice that he was fighting with himself on whether to actually give me up to Ophelia, he had decided to go through with it, something that was unforgivable.

My mind was also wandering to Martina, who I was extremely concerned about. Had Ophelia's spell killed her? Had the pain been too much to bare? Had Caspian finished her off? Or was she okay?

My pain had subsided when Ophelia had lifted the spell, but I was unaware if the same had been done for Martina, or if she was still writhing on the forest floor, screaming in agony with nobody to help her.

"Mia, amore mio," sighed Lorenzo, gazing at me sadly, noticing my tears. "Please answer me, baby."

I exhaled loudly, sniffing, and I wanted to wipe my nose. However, the chains were stopping me from doing so, the snot dribbling out of my nostrils causing discomfort, and I pulled my knees to my chest, using them instead.

"Caspian took me to her," I whispered, swallowing a few of my tears back, cringing at the foul taste as I did so. "He betrayed us. They made a deal."

I waited for my mate's response, however, I didn't get one, which only scared me more. I had fully expected him to scream and shout, but he was weak, and he didn't have the energy to flip out much like I had expected.

Lorenzo's eyes were distant, and I cleared my throat to try and get his attention, practically seeing the cogs working in his brain as he tried to come up with a reasonable explanation as to why Caspian would betray us like this.

"What about Martina? Did she have anything to do with this?"

I widened my eyes at the lack of faith Lorenzo had in his sister, but, I understood why he doubted her, her previous alliance with the witches making her a dead ringer for a traitor.

However, Martina had been the one who was trying to save me. She looked as shocked as I had been when it came to light that Caspian was actually giving me up.

"She was trying to help me, but Ophelia cast a spell on her. I don't know if she's still alive," I admitted, and I watched Lorenzo's face fall, his eyes becoming hazy for a few seconds before he growled angrily. His wolf clearly wanted out, but the silver was stopping him from shifting.

His eyes were pitch black, and his limbs were shaking, making me concerned for his wound, the blood seeping through his shirt faster than before.

"Are you talking about me?"

I snapped my head to the spiral staircase, watching as Ophelia practically floated down them, her feet gracefully gliding across the slippery moss and mud with ease, and I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Leave us the fuck alone," grumbled Lorenzo, who leaned his head against the wall, panting heavily, sweat dribbling down his forehead and neck. I could tell that he was in severe pain, his body looking feverish.

"That's not very nice," Ophelia said scowling, turning away from Lorenzo, making her way over to me and yanking me up into a standing position by the back of my neck, evidentially her favourite place to grip.

I pulled myself away from her, tired of her freezing cold touch, expecting her hands to be warm like any normal person. However, the dark magic lived within her fingertips, and I guessed that the blood struggled to reach them.

"Do you want to know how it felt to kill your mother?" taunted Ophelia, and I took a step back from her, pushing my back into the wall. The condensation soaked through my sweatshirt, and I shivered at the temperature.

"No," I responded quietly, shaking my head. That was the last thing I wanted to hear about.

"It felt great," she said, laughing. "It also felt great to plant her screams of torment into your pathetic little mind. How did that feel? Seeing your own mother beg for her life covered in her blood? Did it hurt you? Was it painful?"

Tears overflowed, and I longed to cover my ears with my own hands, but again, the chains restricted me from doing so, forcing me to listen to every word falling out of Ophelia's sadistic mouth.

"Ophelia, I'm warning you. Shut the fuck up!" roared Lorenzo from behind us, but, Ophelia paid him no attention. She continued to mentally torment me, telling me the horrible things she had done to my mother and how she enjoyed watching the life drain from her body in the form of blood.

The activity was a great source of entertainment for her.

"How did you do that?!" I shouted, furious. I wasn't some doll that she could play with.. "I never visited the cavern. How did you get into my head?"

"The cavern isn't the only way to get into your head, Mia," Ophelia chuckled, shrugging. "Do you remember Greg regularly taking your blood when you were in the lab? I used it as an anchor. Then I caused you to see and hear things I wanted. Did you hear any voices? Have any hallucinations at all?"

I widened my eyes, my hands shaking, memories filling my mind.

"You bitch," grunted Lorenzo, struggling to control his breathing, and I felt my fury take over me. I saw red, the anger I felt towards everyone consuming me.

Lunging forwards, I used as much force as I could to kick Ophelia in the stomach, sending her stumbling backwards, her eyes wide and shocked before she composed herself and stalked back towards me. She grabbed me by the hair and slammed my head into the stone wall, causing me to groan in pain.

I grabbed her hand, prying it off of me, noticing how her eyes turned dark as she clutched me by the throat. She pushed me upwards, purple light emitting from her hand, trapping me and blinding me momentarily.

"Ophelia, put her down!" begged Lorenzo as my face began to turn red, a gargling sound escaping my mouth as I attempted to claw at her hand that was wrapped around my neck, the oxygen quickly leaving my body.

"You stupid wolves underestimate me," warned Ophelia, cocking her head as she smiled to herself, watching me suffer, my head becoming fuzzy and eyes suddenly hazy.

Everything was blurry, and it sounded as if I was in some glass tank, everyone's words bouncing around inside of my head and causing me to flinch. The pain became almost unbearable as I attempted to gasp for breath.

"Ophelia, put her down! Please! I'll do anything you want! Just please stop!" Lorenzo yelled, his voice desperate, the tone breaking my heart, my eyes watering.

"You're begging now? That's a change of tune," teased Ophelia, and I was suddenly dropped, air whizzing past my ears, my body landing in a crumbled heap on the floor. I clutched at my searing neck, the feeling of Ophelia's cold hand wrapped around my throat imprinted in my brain.

I still felt as if I was being choked, it taking more than a few seconds for me to begin inhaling oxygen again.

"Mia, Mia, look at me," Lorenzo said, peering around Ophelia in order to get my attention, dipping his chin at me to check that I was alright.

It felt as if I had burst a blood vessel in my eye, and I wouldn't be shocked to learn that they were now red and bloodshot. My vision was still blurry, having to blink a few times to re-gain sight of where I was.

"Do that again, and I swear I will slit your neck and heal you over and over again until your body is drained of blood," growled Ophelia. I glared at her, saliva dribbling from my mouth as I spat out blood, ashamed of how weak and pathetic I looked.

I didn't want Ophelia to look at me as the fragile mate of the Alpha, however, that was exactly how she saw me.

To her, I was just a pawn. I would be used to torture Lorenzo, because that was all that Ophelia really wanted.

Revenge.

There was nothing we could offer her that would get her to stop or let us go.

"I wanted to have a conversation, but I see that you aren't in the mood," Ophelia spat, turning on her heels and making her way towards the spiral staircase, her eyes cold. "I'll try again later. I have something big to do for a dear friend of yours."

Lorenzo growled at the nod towards how Caspian had betrayed us, watching Ophelia intently as she disappeared up the stairs, the sound of the door slamming filling the room. She left Lorenzo and I staring at each other in shock, my breathing slowly steadying.

I really thought she was going to kill me.

"Mia, are you okay?" Lorenzo asked, worry straining his voice.

"I think so," I mumbled, tilting my head back and leaning up against the wall.

"I'm going to kill Caspian," Lorenzo gnarled, clenching his fists, shaking, and I sighed.

I was too forgiving, and I always saw the best in people, which I was aware was a downfall of mine. I couldn't help but allow my mind to wander to possible reasons as to why Caspian had turned on us in such a way.

The thought of Lorenzo ending Caspian's life hurt me. I didn't want him to die, still remembering him as my lonely friend who was always there when I needed cooking advice or to bitch to about my therapist.

However, I had to shift my way of thinking. Caspian wasn't who he said he was, and I needed to realise that we had been played.

I had trusted too easily.

•••

Ophelia has some serious issues.

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