Page 14 of The Red Moon

It’s a valid question. One I’ve asked myself countless times since I found myself in a dungeon across the world. I have no idea if he will come. If Nikolai will just cut his losses and leave me here to be food for the pack he’s deserting. All I can do is hope Dimitri wasn’t wrong about the man he said Nik is. That every word, every touch, every hint of pure desire in his eyes when he looked at me wasn’t some lie like the human skin hiding his true self underneath.

Viktor brings his face inches from mine. “But if you’re that desperate to be bitten …” he says, letting his long fangs rest on his lower lip. “It would make the red moon more … interesting.”

I step back, and his sadistic smile grows larger.

“Ahhh. So you are afraid of something.” The eerie screech of his nails grating the metal forces not only me, but the entire cellar to wince. “What’s the matter, Natalia? Scared to become the same monster you fucked in my club?”

Whispers fill the silence behind me, and when I turn around, my eyes land on Veronica, her gaze wide and incredulous.

“Stay the fuck away from me,” I say through gritted teeth.

“One bite. That’s all it would take. What would my brother think about you then, hmm? His little pet becoming the one thing he hates most about himself?”

Nausea builds in my stomach, sloshing and begging for a sudden escape. I take another step back, and two more for good measure. It doesn’t matter, though. I’m trapped in this cage, surrounded by people that would happily push me Viktor’s way if it meant they’d live to see another bucket of water brought down to them. Something chilling takes over his features now. Pure. Fucking. Enjoyment.

“Sergei!” he shouts, his lethal eyes starting to glow in a way that ices my bones. The door atop the stairs peels open slowly. Much too slow for Viktor’s liking. “Get the fuck down here and open it.”

No. No, no, no. He’s going to bite me. He’s going to turn me. I peer from one captive to the next, my tear-filled eyes silently pleading. No one says a word. No one even acknowledges me as Sergie limps down the staircase one painful step at a time. Sergei won’t even meet my gaze when he reaches the cage door and twists the key in place. The cellar is spinning now. Casting a blur of disinterested faces and the unmistakeable glow of Viktor’s deadly glare.

“Move,” Viktor snarls and shoves Sergei aside, knocking him into the wall. Then, he ducks through the opening and horrified screams echo throughout the small cellar. Every single captive clings to the back, some even curling into the fetal position to make themselves as small as possible. I can’t breathe. No, every breath I choke in is stagnant air. I keep looking at the staircase through the tears in my eyes, pleading for Nik to magically appear.

He doesn’t.

Hands, too many to count, meet my back. These people aren’t pulling me toward them to safety. No, they are keeping their arms extended. An offering to the monster stomping forward. I try to squeeze through the crowd but only find myself cast farther to the front of the captives.

“Natalia …” he says, his voice unnaturally low. “It’s not going to hurt.”

My breath hitches. The tears filling my eyes begin to spill, slowly at first until they cut off at my chin. Sergei hasn’t moved from the corner Viktor threw him in. He won’t even glance in my direction. No, the wounded wolf simply stares at his outstretched feet.

Viktor pauses halfway between us and sniffs the air. Small inhales at first followed by one long drag. His eyes brighten a shade. And just when I think he’s about to lunge the final few feet, he turns his head to the group at the side of the cage. Tongue gliding against his teeth, he peers back to me, features tightening in a way that knots my stomach.

“She’s unimportant,” he says, but more so to himself. “We can after—” His words cut off and Viktor stares at the ceiling for a moment. No one in the cage says a word. No one moves or releases the collective breath we all hold in. “Da.” It comes out short, almost submissive with a single acknowledging nod. Then, Viktor smiles again, and this time it’s sickening. “Excuse us for a moment, Natalia.”

He steps toward the sideline and reaches into the crowd. Captives scurry away from his grasp, at least everyone he wasn’t after. There’s one woman among them, frozen in place as his palm wraps around her throat. He grabs her with the ease of plucking an apple from a low-hanging branch and brings her shoulder blades to his chest.

My heart rate spikes. Excuse us for a moment. Us. This isn’t Viktor’s call. He isn’t pulling the strings right now. Something far more dangerous is.

A disgusting chuckle and his attention returns to me. “This is familiar, isn’t it?” he asks and tightens his grip on her neck. Tangled black hair sways down both sides of her terrified face. From her forehead to her cheeks, each muscle strains in fear. She tries to scream but only strangled gasps escape her. Viktor doesn’t dig his nails into her flesh, though. He only drags his free hand down her chest, her stomach, and finally reaches the waistband of her sweatpants.

My eyes widen. “What—what are you doing?”

Viktor smirks again. “The alpha is hungry.”

He shoves his palm downward, and his lips part to reveal a disturbing row of teeth. The woman writhes under his grip but can’t fight the incredible strength keeping her still. She slams her eyes shut, tears spilling down both sides of her face. Courtney. I can’t shake the images blending together in one seamless memory. My best friend in this monster’s grasp while I watch helplessly. Every time her mouth wrenches open whether to breathe or whimper, I see the friend who was ripped apart because of me. More tears fill my eyes now, and it doesn’t matter how many times I try to yell for him to stop, nothing comes out.

A deep red bleeds through the gray fabric of her sweatpants, and when he removes his hand, each digit is coated in enough menstrual blood to drip off his fingertips. Viktor licks his knuckles first, then sucks whatever he can from his cuticles, leaving a clean fist ready for another stomach curdling taste. He does. And each time this monster brings his palm to his lips, everyone in the cage covers their mouths whether it be from shock or to keep their insides from spilling to the concrete.

Her features twist in pain and terror but I can’t manage to peel myself away from the unspeakable thing playing out right in front of me. I have to do something. But how can I stop him? How can I stop this monster three times my size from throwing me to the fucking wall the same way he did Sergei?

He sucks on his finger again, letting the blood paint his lips red. The woman continues to fight against him. Twisting her shoulders and back to no avail. Viktor only tightens his hand at her throat, letting his long nails bite at her skin as blood trickles down her collarbone. Gasps and dry retches fill in the background silence, not enough to drown out the muffled cries of the woman being ravaged, or the sound of Viktor’s smacking lips demanding more.

“Stop it!” I finally scream. “Take me. Do whatever you want but let her fucking go!”

Viktor’s tongue stops inches from his ring finger, his cold, insatiable expression going slack. I see the hunger in his glowing eyes. The vile pleasure he has holding her like she’s nothing more than a snack he found in the pantry. Then, as if at war with himself again, his damning glare darts toward the ceiling.

“Not until the hunt. My father⁠—”

All eyes in the cage, even Sergei’s, dance between me, Viktor, and eventually the woman too afraid to move.