Chapter 479

Enzo

I scrambled to my feet, my palms scraping on the icy stone floor. The swirling portal had vanished, abandoning me alone in this strange place. Smooth obsidian walls surrounded me, broken only by a high, domed ceiling. There were no visible doors or windows in the expansive circular room.

Except, I wasn’t alone. As I looked up, I saw them: the audience.

With growing unease, I slowly turned, taking in the faces that started at me from perches high above. Shadowy figures lurked around the room’s perimeter, partially obscured by tall black pillars.

I inhaled sharply. The scents of multiple animals—but something more, something...wrong. These weren’t just animals. They were shifters.

Mila smiled, baring a row of teeth that looked all too white in this dark place.

“Welcome, my subjects!” she called out theatrically, her voice booming and echoing through the high ceilings. “We have a very special guest tonight… my new mate!”

The word echoed mockingly in my head. Mate? Revulsion and fury churned in my stomach as the implications sank in. I already had a mate, and even if I didn’t, I would certainly never choose Mila.

“Like hell!” I snarled. But she merely chuckled again.

Suddenly, the creatures around us shifted. Birds, cats, reptiles, animals I couldn’t even recognize, turned into a sea of very ‘human’ faces. Their eyes glowed as they looked down at me hungrily, their mouths agape and their teeth bared.

And then they spoke.

“All hail the queen and her mate!” the people cheered.

A cold sweat began to take over me, and the hairs on the back of my neck began to raise. This didn’t make sense. I knew that there were different species of shifters out there, but there were a lot of them here. Way more than I knew existed, and all in one place, no less.

“Yes, worship your queen!” Mila cried out gleefully, holding her arms outstretched over her head, while I looked on in disgusted shock. The people prostrated themselves, bowing to her as if she was their sick, twisted goddess.

How was this possible? Mila, the team doctor of a hockey team, was some sort of barbarian queen? Where even was I? Was I even above ground? Was I in the human realm, or the supernatural realm? Was I in any realm at all, or was I hurtling through space?

Just then, furious drums and pipes suddenly echoed from nowhere and everywhere at once. The misshapen congregation of people swayed and chanted to the hypnotic rhythms.

“Mate… mate… mate…”

I felt as if I was going to vomit. “No!” I growled, straining against the silver ropes still holding me in agony. We had to get away from here!

Abruptly, Mila rose, and the music stopped. In the ringing silence she called out, “The claiming ceremony will occur at dawn!”

More ear-shattering shrieks and squeals and cries as the crowd cheered. “For now, let us feast!”

Before I could react, two hulking guards grabbed my arms, their hands crushing my flesh. I thrashed desperately against them, but the silver rope that they suddenly thrust around my neck made me yell out in searing pain, my limbs going weak.

They hauled me away while Mila’s terrible gaze bore into me. “Enjoy your accommodations, my love,” she cooed. “We have an eternity to spend together after tomorrow.”

Her maniacal laugh followed me into the dark tunnel. The guards carried me down, down countless stairs, their relentless grips bruising my skin. Finally, we emerged into a dungeon-like room lined with cells.

Rough hands suddenly flung me into them, and I hit the floor hard. The sound of the doors slamming shut was deafening.

Dazed, I peered around my prison. A simple bed. A wash tub in one corner. No windows, one metal door.

And not a fleck of anything but silver surrounding me. Escape was impossible.

For hours I battered against the silver bars, all to no avail. Every time I touched them, my skin seared from the silver that was wrought within the iron. Iron and silver; strength and magic. I was trapped.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I collapsed in a weakened heap on the cot. The silver rope was still bound around my wrists and my neck, a constant reminder. Every movement ached, and my wolf was nowhere to be found.

Some time later, the sound of iron jerked me out of a half-sleep. I forced my heavy eyelids open to see a petite servant entering my cell.

Wordlessly, the girl knelt in front of my cell and pushed a tray of bread, cheese, and water toward me. At least the food here was normal, or so it seemed.

I reacted instinctively, my hand shooting out to grip her scrawny wrist before she had a chance to pull away. She gasped. Despite my drained state I easily hauled her up against the bars.

“Tell me what’s happening!” I hissed. “Why have I been brought here?” The girl whined and winced, terrified, but I didn’t let go.

The girl grimaced, clawing at my hold. “I cannot—the queen—”

My fingers tightened until she cried out. “Tell me everything,” I growled, “or I’ll break your wrist, and then your neck.”

“Don’t!” she whimpered. I eased my pressure slightly and she sagged a little, letting out a heavy breath. “Okay, okay, I’ll tell you.”

I released my grip a little more, but not entirely. Even though the silver in the bars burned my skin, I held her fast, determined not to let her go until I knew everything.

And over the next several agonizing minutes, the servant girl told me what she knew…

Mila was the only remaining heir of an ancient shifter dynasty—dragons, which I had long thought extinct. I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard this; no, I refused to believe it. But the girl was adamant.

“It’s true, sir,” she said, still struggling against my grip. “Queen Mila is the last dragon. Our lady. Our fearsome queen.”

“A queen of what?” I scoffed. “I saw no other dragons in there, just different animals. Cats, birds, lizards…”

“She took us in,” the girl said softly. “Gave us a home. We haven’t got packs like you werewolves do. We were scattered, abandoned, afraid… but Queen Mila gave us a pack, a place of our own. She slaughtered our enemies and built our obsidian walls with her fire, and we worship her for it.”

I almost retched. Images of a blood-soaked queen filled my mind. The dragons had always been known for their brutality, which was part of why they had gone extinct. There was always infighting, hatred, no real sense of loyalty to their own kind. They didn’t evolve with the times like werewolves did, and they died out because of it.

But that had been a long, long time ago. Hundreds of years ago, if not more.

“I’ve never heard this story,” I said, grimacing. “You’re lying.”

“I’m not lying,” the girl insisted. “Most of us live underground, in the shadows, hidden from the world. Hidden from your kind.”

“So why, then, am I here?” I asked. “Why bring an outsider into your kingdom, if you’re so hell-bent on keeping it hidden? And what’s all this about a mate?”

“It’s Queen Mila’s ritual,” the girl explained. “She needs an heir, but there are no more purebred dragons. For decades, she’s been searching for someone with the blood of a dragon. Someone to save the dragon’s lineage…”

I released the servant as my blood turned to ice. “So what am I, then?” I asked. “Some sort of breeding stallion? I’m not even a dragon. I’m a wolf. This so-called ‘ceremony’ should be called off. Clearly your queen has made a mistake.”

The girl hesitated. Her eyes, filled with worry, darted down to the floor. In that moment, I felt my heart sink.

“It’s true,” she whispered. “You possess the blood of the dragons, my lord.”