Chapter 6

I fought as hard as I could, but I was no match for the warriors.

They took me to a huge private estate. There was an underground arena down below, and the owner kept a massive serpent—he liked to gather rich, powerful wolves to watch it feed.

Aria was already there, decked out in a gorgeous gown.

"Wren. They're doing a feeding show. But honestly? It's so boring."

In the cage on the platform, a golden serpent, thirteen feet long, was tearing into a slab of bloody meat.

Her eyes were wide and innocent, but the smile on her was cruel. "You won the first ninety-nine Trials, so a snake's nothing to you, right? Cassian, I want to watch her tame it."

The second she said it, my whole body went cold.

The little life inside me seemed to feel it too. It trembled.

"Are you insane? This'll kill someone!"

Cassian looked at my white face, and something flickered—almost like he didn't want to.

He leaned close to my ear, his voice low and coaxing.

"Wren, you know what I hate most about you? You're too stubborn. Show me a little weakness, just once, and I'll let you win."

"Here's your chance. Beg me, and the last Trial—I'll make sure you win."

But I just looked at her, numb to the bone, and dragged out a hollow smile.

"Cassian, the thing I regret most is ever stepping into your Trials."

His face finally twisted.

Right on cue, Aria stoked it. "How can you not know what's good for you? Cassian's giving you a chance. If I were you, I'd be thanking him on my knees. You won't play—that proves you never loved him at all!"

Something murderous crossed Cassian's eyes. He shoved me hard and ground out three words.

"Throw her in."

The word dropped, and they shoved me into the giant cage.

The serpent saw me and went still, like it had spotted prey. Then it slid toward me, tongue flicking.

"Ah!"

I scrambled back, but it caught my leg and coiled around it.

"Cassian, please, let me out!" My scream came out raw. "I'm pregnant!"

The crowd was too loud. No one could make out a word I said.

Cassian frowned a little, like he was trying to read my lips.

But Aria hooked her arms around his neck and breathed in his ear, "Cassian, she's having so much fun. I want to play too. Why don't we go to the back?"

His throat moved. He scooped Aria up without another thought and carried her toward the back.

The serpent had bitten me a dozen times. It wound around my body and started to squeeze.

I couldn't break free. I couldn't breathe. My face was going purple.

"Ahh!"

It wasn't until I let out one last raw, ripping scream that the crowd finally caught on.

"God—the snake's actually gone wild!"

"There's blood everywhere under her—somebody call for help!"

When I came to again, I was in a bed at the healer's den.

A tearing pain ripped through my lower belly. I threw the blanket back, and my stomach had already gone flat.

The pup was gone.

Every drop of blood in me froze, and the grief slammed through me all at once.

I screamed until my voice broke.

I'd already lost my grandmother. That pup had been the only family I had left in the world.

Why? Why did Cassian have to kill my child, take the last thing I had to hold onto?

"No!"

The door opened, and Cassian walked in, his face still flushed from sex, the marks on his neck loud and ugly.

He gave me a flat look, a trace of mockery in it.

"Heard you got your monthly and that's why they hauled you in here?"

"This isn't like you, Wren. The hardest Trial, ninety-nine of them, and you never once got this dramatic."

I sucked in a breath, fought through the pain, and stood.

Then I put everything I had left into my arm and slapped him across the face.

"Cassian. I hope you rot."