ROMAN's POV
My head spun, my brain drumming against my skull like it had been pounded on all night. My breath came in ragged gasps, my blood frozen from being in a position for so long.
I tried to gasp for air, but the movement sent a localized explosion of agony straight down my spine.
My arms were pulled taut above my head, the muscles screaming from holding my entire body weight. The clink of cold metal echoed in the dark space as I shifted, my wrists burning fiercely.
I blinked against the dim light of the room, my vision slowly focusing. The first thing I noticed was that I was hanging directly from a stone ceiling in a room that had beds scattered all around.
My feet barely grazed the cold floor.
Every time I tried to find leverage, the silver laced into the cuffs sizzled against my skin, sending shocks of liquid fire straight through my veins, paralyzing my wolf.
I stopped moving and stared down, expecting to be naked. Instead, a white robe was draped around me.
A tight scoff escaped my lips.
At least Alpha Gideon wasn't entirely without a heart.
'Where the fuck are we?!' My wolf, Ethan's panicked voice drummed against my head. He seemed restless, a yawn escaping his lips like he'd been plunged into an eternal darkness for quite a while.
'I don't know, Ethan. I was passed out.' My voice was riddled with frustration as I pulled at the chains around my wrist.
Sweat pooled down the side of my head as my teeth grazed my bottom lips in a tight bloody grip.
The silver burned my skin at the force, the electric sending shock waves down my spine.
I gasped, a low groan leaving my lips as I fell back in a defeated sigh.
'You're not strong enough. Let me take the reign.' Ethan uttered, his voice filled with taunting and a heavy bit of mockery.
He always loved a good competition.
Especially one that involved flaunting it in my face when he won.
'No.' My voice was cold, riddled with finality.
He was weak too.
Could barely hold himself after taking major blows, far more than I did.
But arguing with him always ended up pointless.
'I don't care, Roman. I'm doing it.'
Before I could retort, he started to push through. 'I'm also an Alpha, Roman! I'm stronger than you think. Let me out!''
I gritted my teeth against the internal pressure, my mental walls straining under his desperate need to take control.
'Listen to me!' I argued back, my thoughts heavy with exhaustion. 'We are dripping with silver! With poison capable of weakening, if not putting you back to sleep! If you force your way out now, we could lose the little strength we have left. Don't be stubborn, Ethan!'
'Stubborn?! You think the Alpha of Silver wolf cares about that?! Him harboring rogues only means one thing! Vivienne is in danger!'
My blood ran cold, my words freezing in my throat.
I wasn't the only one that heard it, he heard it too. Just outside of Crescent moon pack.
My heart thumped hard against my chest as my body grew rigid, the pain on my wrist dying down instantly.
He cleared his throat, the sound a blur. 'That about gives me the right to surface.'
Without waiting for my approval, he threw his full weight forward and pushed straight to the front, the toll hitting my body like a physical blow.
My eyes began to flicker…changing from blue to green as we fought for who would stay afloat.
My chest burned, sweat slipping down my throat as the momentum from switching between my wolf and human form clawed at my restraint.
''Fine!'' I murmured under my breath weakly, letting him take the reign.
He pushed through immediately, my bones cracking violently as the anatomy shifted.
A loud, raw cry of agony tore from my parched mouth, bouncing off the quiet room.
The sheer force of his arrival shoved my human awareness backward, dragging me into the dark abyss of our mind as our physical form rapidly expanded.
Thick, midnight-black fur erupted from my pores. Our muscles bunched, tearing and rebuilding into a larger, denser alpha frame.
The fabric of the robe tore into shreds, fluttering uselessly down to the floor.
When the dust settled, my wolf had fully surfaced, taking the reins of our physical form.
He hung from the heavy iron ceiling, a massive, powerful black wolf straining against the cuffs.
But the chains didn't give.
The heavy iron laced with silver bit viciously into our fur-covered wrists.
The moment my wolf yanked his massive arms forward, trying to use his raw strength to shatter the metal, the silver flared with a blinding, toxic light. A sickening sizzle filled the room as the metal burned through our fur, searing the flesh beneath.
A sharp whimper escaped our jaws, our massive body shuddering as the poison flooded our system all over again, rendering the extra muscle useless.
I sighed within our shared mind, leaning back against the mental link. 'Would you look at that…' I muttered, my voice dripping with frustration. ''The great Ethan still hasn't gotten us out yet.'
''Shut up!' my wolf growled back defensively, his breathing heavy and ragged as his hind paws screeded the concrete floor. 'Shut up so I can focus.'
Before I could reply, the room door opened with a loud bang.
Alpha Gideon stepped into the room alongside four massive scarred men and three women clinging to them.
Gideon's gaze flickered to my wolf for a few breathless moment then he broke into a loud laugh and pointed to the bed.
''All yours.'' He muttered under his breath.
My eyes left him and fell on the wolves who I could assume where his 'guests'.
One of them, a hulking brute with a jagged scar running down his throat didn't hesitate.
He grabbed one of the women and slammed her against the wall, right in my line of sight.
She let out a loud, breathless gasp, her hands instantly flying to his hair, pulling him down into a sloppy, wet kiss.
He didn't waste time being gentle.
His large hands ripped her skirt apart, exposing her pale thighs and he grabbed her ass, lifting her off the ground.
The woman wrapped her legs tightly around his waist, letting out a high, echoing moan that filled the room.
The brute shifted, his thick, rigid length straining against his pants before he unzipped himself and drove into her with a brutal, relentless thrust.
Squelch. Slap.
The raw, carnal sounds of their bodies colliding filled the room.
I closed my eyes, my jaw clenching so hard it ached, my stomach churning at the forced proximity to their carnal acts.
"I don't mind having that wolf for dinner.'' A feminine voice purred, thick with arousal.
I snapped my eyes open to see a second couple right at my feet.
A submissive male warrior was on his knees, his head buried between a dominant she-wolf's thighs as she leaned back against a wooden table, her fingers digging into his shoulders.
Her hips arched, a slick, wet purr vibrating in her throat as he ate her out with ferocious, sloppy hunger.
She looked directly up at me, at my wolf, her eyes glazed with lust, a mocking, wicked smile on her face as she reached down and guided another warrior's hand directly over her swollen clit.
The room descended into absolute, chaotic erotica. Moans and groans bringing the very room to the ground.
Just at the corner, the third couple had collapsed onto a stained mattress, the wolf pumping into the woman from behind on all fours, his heavy hands gripping her hips so tightly his claws left bloody, red crescent marks on her skin.
She was screaming, her back arching, her nipples hard and leaking as the raw, unbridled dominance of the room pushed her over the edge.
I bit back an urge to puke, my jaws clenching tightly.
In all the chaotic, sickening mess, Gideon walked right over to me.
His steps were slow, calculated as he took long strides before stopping dead in his tracks, his cold eyes widening slightly as his gaze landed on the massive, midnight-black wolf hanging from the ceiling, surrounded by the shredded remnants of my clothes.
A slow, booming laugh erupted from his chest, a sound filled with supreme mockery.
"Well, well, well," He chuckled, stepping closer without a single shred of fear. "Look what we have here. You let your wolf out, Roman? You actually thought your other half could overpower Silver wolf's chains?"
My wolf growled, his jaws ticking, fangs peaking.
Gideon laughed, unfazed.
He walked around us in circles, shaking his head with a condescending smirk. "You made a terrible choice doing that. All you've done is give the silver a larger surface area to burn. Pathetic!''
Hearing a tyrant look down on our wolf as if he were a common animal made my blood boil.
The humiliation of being displayed like a captured prize was far too much to bear.
'Move over.' I commanded my wolf, gritting my teeth in anger.
My wolf didn't argue this time.
The transformation reversed just as sharply, our bones cracking and snapping again as the midnight-black fur receded back into my skin, shrinking our mass until I was left suspended by my human wrists once more.
But the moment the fur vanished, the cool air hit me with a devastating realization.
Because my wolf had shredded my clothes during the expansion, there was absolutely nothing left.
I was completely, utterly naked.