Chapter 5
508words
Against his raw, primal power—against invasion that used her own senses as chains—all her intelligence, rage, and bravery seemed pathetically small.
Her defiance just seasoned his game. Her fury was merely music that spurred him on.
A new fear crept through the cracks in her soul—not fear of death, but of erasure. He invaded her thoughts, overwrote her scent, crushed her will. She was vanishing, becoming nothing but an extension of him.
Ella buried her face in her arm, breathing in despair with every lungful of his scent.
After the bathroom incident, something in Ella shifted.
Not the surrender Carlos wanted—not true submission. Instead, something colder, deeper took root. Her hatred hadn't died; it had just frozen into something deadlier, buried beneath layers of fear and survival instinct.
She began to "comply."
When Carlos brought food, she took it without resistance. When his fingers brushed her cheek, she didn't flinch away but trembled slightly—just enough to suggest fear mixed with acceptance. Her eyes stayed lowered, lashes hiding the icy calculation beneath.
Her performance was flawless. She'd become the perfect image of a wild creature freshly tamed—claws clipped, fangs dulled, learning to please its new master.
Carlos clearly approved of her "progress." His fierce prey had finally learned submission. The thrill of victory made him careless, arrogant. His vigilance slipped. He began granting her small "freedoms."
Like daily visits to the vast courtyard garden.
Exactly the opening she'd been waiting for.
She found Lina again. Without Carlos watching, the guards grew lax. They sat by the lotus pond, looking like two friends sharing gossip.
"I have a plan," Ella breathed, her voice barely audible above the breeze. "We're getting out."
Lina's head snapped toward her, eyes wide with fear and doubt. Then she saw the fire burning behind Ella's carefully blank expression, and something long dead rekindled in her face.
"What…" Lina's voice shook. "What are you thinking?"
"Brute force would get us killed. We need to outsmart them." Ella described the bathroom incident in clipped, emotionless sentences. She spared the details, but Lina heard the mountain of pain beneath her flat words.
"God, Ella, I'm so sorry." Tears filled Lina's eyes. This was her fault. She'd dragged Ella into this hell.
"Save it," Ella cut her off. "Crying won't free us. I need your help."
"Anything," Lina wiped her tears, her jaw setting with determination. "Just tell me what."
"You're the scientist. You understand their tech, their biology. I need you to find weaknesses in their security systems."
Something sparked in Lina's eyes. "Xavier keeps blueprints in his study—structural plans, energy grids. He thinks I'm just his pet botanist, so he doesn't hide them. I've been studying them for months. I know their power systems, their defense networks—everything."
Ella's pulse quickened. Lina was stronger—smarter—than she'd dared hope.
That day, their resistance truly began. Two women against an empire of predators, plotting in whispers and glances.
