Kasia gradually regained consciousness, her head throbbing as though it were split in two. Her eyelids fluttered open, and the dimly lit room came into focus. Her surroundings felt unfamiliar, and her memories seemed disjointed.

She attempted to piece together the fragments of her recent experiences. She had been on the hunt for Lana; she found her, and they were driving away. Then comes the lycan.

A low growl rumbled behind her, drawing Kasia’s attention away from her bewildered thoughts. She rolled onto her back and met the intense gaze of a massive, black wolf. Its eyes bore into her with an eerie intelligence, and as its paw reached for her, it transformed into a clawed human hand.

“Mine!”

Kasia’s heart raced, her disorientation deepening. The word “mine” reverberated in her mind, both eerie and perplexing. As the hand got closer, an invisible force pressed her back onto the cold, unforgiving surface of the bed.

Kasia’s eyes fluttered open, and her vision blurred as if she had just emerged from a deep, unsettling dream. The room around her was dimly lit, and she couldn’t immediately recall how she had ended up here. Her body felt heavy, and a deep nausea churned within her.

A sudden wave of nausea washed over her. “Took way too many this time,” Kasia muttered as she struggled to sit up, but something stopped her from doing so. Kasia couldn’t focus on it as the urge to vomit became unbearable, and she barely managed to turn her head before expelling the contents of her stomach onto the floor.

Kasia’s vision was still hazy, but she could see enough to make out the restraints that held her to the bed. Panic welled up as she strained against the handcuff that bound her. Where was Lana? She would tear them apart if she were hurt.

A mocking voice echoed in the room, close to her ear. “You’re quite the mess, aren’t you? A little too much to handle, I see.”

Kasia jerked away from the voice. Her eyes darted around the room, her voice trembling with fear as she tried to confront her unseen tormentor. “Who are you? Show yourself.”

“Well, that wouldn’t be fun,” the voice answered.

“What do you want? Are you the one who handcuffed me?” Kasia asked.

The voice laughed coldly. “Sadly, if it were me, you’d be dead right now. What I want, Kasia, is for you to stop being an idiot. Open your eyes to the truth. Maybe a little suffering for some of your mistakes.”

Kasia’s breathing quickened. “Mistakes? What are you talking about?”

“Don’t act confused, little hunter. You know very well what you have done.”

“I had to make a choice to survive. It was them or me, and I was always going to choose myself,” Kasia retorted.

The voice remained unsympathetic. “Even if an innocent gets sacrificed in the process?”

“None of them were innocent,” Kasia hissed through gritted teeth.

“Is that what you tell yourself so you can sleep at night? Excuses won’t save you now, Kasia. You’re trapped now. You’ll have to own up to what you did, and they won’t let you go until you do. Maybe it’ll be a pound of flesh, or perhaps they’ll brand you as the monster.”

Kasia’s frustration grew. “Why are you taunting me? If you want me to suffer so much, why aren’t you here? Why are you going to let them do your dirty work?”

The voice fell silent for a moment, as if considering Kasia’s words. “Not yet.”

Kasia clenched her teeth, her determination undeterred. “Whatever happens, I won’t break. So, f*** off.”

The voice chuckled before saying, “Physical violence isn’t the only way to break someone.”

Suddenly, Lana entered the room, and the voice fell silent. Lana’s face was tense with concern. She noticed Kasia’s condition and quickly set to work, cleaning up the mess on the floor.

“Kasia, are you all right? What’s going on? Who were you talking to?” Lana asked.

Kasia shifted her attention from her unseen tormentor to Lana. “That doesn’t matter right now. Uncuff me. We need to get out of here.”

Lana hesitated, studying Kasia’s condition. “Kasia, you need to rest. You overdid it by taking so many pills. You have to…”

“Stop, stop; I can’t rest here. We are among the enemy. We need to leave,” Kasia interrupted her and then paused when she saw Lana’s appearance. She was bandaged and, for the most part, looked fine. That didn’t make any sense. She looked awful when she found her in the dungeon.

Kasia’s patience wore thin, and she demanded answers. “How did you escape? You don’t look injured. What’s happening here? What aren’t you telling me?”

Lana hesitated once more. She turned from Kasia and poured her a glass of water for her to drink. Lana offered it to her as she spoke, “Kasia, I...”

Kasia slapped the glass out of her hand and said, “Stop hesitating and tell me what’s going on!”

“See, this is exactly why I told you to stop taking those pills. You’re so damn aggressive now. I am only trying to help you,” Lana snapped.

“No, you’re trying to avoid the question! Tell me what is going on!” Kasia demanded.

Finally, Lana confessed. “I was never captured in the first place, Kasia. I was undercover.”

Kasia’s eyes widened, a whirlwind of emotions crashing within her. She was shocked, mostly that her little sister had it in her to do such a thing that the hunters would have allowed her, as only the most experienced hunters went undercover.

“You were undercover? For how long?” Kasia asked.

“Two years later, we got involved with the Hunters,” Lana explained.

“Why did you never tell me?” Kasia’s voice wavered between anger and betrayal.

Lana bit her lip, her own eyes filled with regret. “I had to keep it a secret, Kasia. It was the only way I could get close to them.”

Kasia pulled at her restraints, frustration boiling over. “Now we’re both in danger because of your secret mission. We could die here if they find out that you’re really a hunter. Uncuff me, so we can get out of here.”

“You don’t understand, Kasia. I was undercover working against the Hunters.”