99 Times He Left Me Mid-Moon for a Fake Omega – The 100th? I Marked His Rival Alpha Chapter 19
They threw me into the punishment pit like I was garbage.
Silver bars hined the edges, glowing faintly in the dim light.
The water inside was black and freezing, rising up to my collarbone. Something slithered past my leg-snake, rat, I couldn’t tell anymore
Warren stood at the edge, holding a sack of rock salt.
“Time to cool off, princess,” he said, grinning like he’d just won the lottery.
He dumped the entire thing into the water.
It hit the whip wounds on my back and I saw white. Literally. My vision went blank. My mouth opened but nothing came out-just a dry, choking sound that wasn’t quite a scream.
I bit my lip until I tasted blood.
Don’t give him the satisfaction.
Don’t.
Don’t.
Warren watched me for a full minute. Waiting. Hoping I’d break
I stared back. Didn’t blink. Didn’t cry.
Then he spat into the water and walked out.
The second the door slammed shut, I let myself breathe.
I had to get out of here.
Okay, I told myself. Okay. Think.
Ronan always said I was the smart one. The planner. He’d handle the fists, I’d handle the strategy. Team effort.
Except Ronan wasn’t here.
So I’d plan for both of us.
Slowly, carefully, I reached out and touched one of the silver bars. Pain seared through my palm.
Pure silver. Designed to keep werewolves trapped.
I pulled my hand back, hissing through my teeth, and used my feet to search the bottom of the pit instead.
My toes hit something solid.
I fished it out. A rusted piece of scrap metal, sharp on one end. Not much, but it was something.
For the next three days, I worked in silence.
The bars were thick, but the gaps between them were wide. If I could cut through just one, I could squeeze out.
On the third night, the bar finally started to give.
I felt it shift under my hand, and for the first time in months, I let myself hope.
That’s when the door opened.
Warren walked in. His eyes went straight to the bar I’d been working on, and his smile stretched wide.
“Well, well. Look at you.”
He snapped his fingers, and two guards hauled me out of the pit. I hit the stone floor hard, water streaming off me, shaking so badly I couldn’t stand
Warren crouched down in front of me.
“Guess the pit didn’t teach you anything, huh?”
He stood and walked over to a brazier in the corner. Reached in and pulled out a branding iron, glowing red-hot.
Stamped into the metal was a number: A456.
My mine ID. My new name. Because Thalia Pembroke was dead, apparently.
“Hold her down,” Warren said.
The guards pinned my arms and legs. I tried to fight, but without my wolf, I was useless.
Warren pressed the iron to my lower stomach.
The pain was instant. Blinding. I heard myself scream before everything went black.
When I woke up, I was lying a filthy pile of straw. My stomach throbbed with every breath, the brand still burning.
The door creaked open.
A thin female werewolf walked in.
I flinched, but it was just Quinn. One of the camp workers. She was thin, pale, and looked like she hadn’t slept in weeks. She was holding a bowl of
water.
She knelt down beside me, eyes flicking to the fresh burn on my stomach. Something soft-pity, maybe-crossed her face.
She held out the bowl.
I didn’t take it. Just stared at her.
She swallowed. “It’s clean. I promise.”
I searched her face for a long time before I finally took the bowl and drank.
After that, Quinn started sneaking me extra food. Clean water. Once, she slipped me a pill-anti-inflammatory.
I grabbed her wrist.
“Please,” I whispered. “I need to get out of here. My brother-he came with me, but now he’s gone. I have to find him. Please.”
She shook her head, eyes wide. “I can’t help you escape. They’ll kill you.”
“Then tell me something. Anything.”
She hesitated. Glanced over her shoulder. Then leaned in close, her voice barely a whisper.
“Warren didn’t plan this. Someone else is pulling the strings.”
Then she was gone.
I sat there in the dark, her words bouncing around my head.
Someone else.
Not Warren. Someone bigger. Someone who had me sold and dumped here like I was nothing.
And if they had me… did they have Ronan, too?
I had to know.
Over the next few days, I begged Quinn every chance I got. And finally-finally-she caved.
“I’ll create a distraction,” she said quietly. “But you only get one shot. Warren’s office is on the east side. If you’re gonna look for answers, that’s where they’ll be.”
I nodded.
One shot.
That’s all I needed.
