Chapter 92: You’re not Pandora

Alyssa watched the pine trees blur past the window as Pandora slammed her foot down on the accelerator, sending the SUV surging down the deserted highway.

They had been driving for nearly an hour, plunging deeper into the dense, lightless forest with no sign of stopping.

Pandora had been unnaturally silent the entire trip. Normally, she would chatter endlessly about pack politics, about Anthony, or make silly jokes.

But ever since they drove through the estate gates, she hadn’t uttered a single unprompted word.

Alyssa adjusted her seatbelt, her throat tight with a growing, cold discomfort. "How much further?"

​"You’ll see," Pandora muttered, her eyes locked dead ahead on the road. Those were the exact same words she had spoken the last three times Alyssa asked.

"I don’t understand," Alyssa pressed softly, trying to keep the anxiety out of her voice. "Where exactly are we going?"

"Just be patient," Pandora replied. Even the pitch of her voice sounded subtly off, stripped of its usual vibrant warmth. "We’re almost there."

"Can’t you just tell me where?"

"I said we’re almost there!" Pandora snapped, her voice cutting through the silence like a whip.

Alyssa flinched, total shock washing over her. Pandora had never spoken to her like that. Not once.

"Is everything alright?" she asked quietly, her heart beginning to hammer against her ribs. "You seem... angry."

Pandora slowly turned her head. A smile stretched across her lips, a wide, empty grin that didn’t reach her eyes. "Everything is fine. I’m just stressed about the ceremony."

"Oh," Alyssa murmured, lowering her head to hide the sudden panic flaring in her chest. She forced a breath, mentally fighting to keep her composure. She needed to be sure.

She turned back to Pandora, forcing a light, casual smile. "Do you remember that day Dorian brought me home? When Samantha tried to attack me in the bedroom?"

The eerie, empty smile returned to Pandora’s face as she kept her gaze on the dark road ahead. "I remember. What about it?"

"Nothing really," Alyssa shrugged, doing everything in her power to keep her voice from shaking. "I’m still just amazed by the way you took her down. You gave her a bloody nose and practically beat her unconscious before Anthony had to drag you off her."

"Samantha is a miserable bitch," Pandora replied without a trace of hesitation. "I would have broken her neck if Anthony hadn’t stepped in."

Alyssa nodded stiffly, slowly turning her gaze to the side window as tears pricked the corners of her eyes.

This wasn’t Pandora. Pandora hadn’t fought Samantha that day. It was a lie, a trap Alyssa had deliberately set. And she had walked straight into it.

Panic seized Alyssa’s chest, suffocating and real. Trying to remain calm, she reached into her pocket, pulled out her phone, and tried to text Dorian.

Suddenly, Pandora held her hand out, her palm open, her expression devoid of emotion.

"Hand me the phone for a moment, Alyssa."

Not wanting to provoke whoever was impersonating Pandora, Alyssa quickly deleted the text string and handed the device over.

Without a word, Pandora tossed the phone onto the dashboard and violently jerked the wheel, plunging the vehicle down an unpaved, busy trail.

Alyssa’s hands trembled against her lap. She had her proof. Now, she had to find a way to escape.

After another twenty minutes of jarring, silent driving, the SUV ground to a halt. On one side of the road stood an abandoned building; on the other was the endless wilderness.

Alyssa stepped out of the vehicle slowly, her eyes frantically scanning the treeline. They were miles outside the border of the North, completely isolated.

"Where are we?"

"Where else?" Pandora murmured, stepping around the hood. "The place of the ritual."

Before Alyssa could react, Pandora grabbed her arm in an iron grip, yanking her toward the building’s entrance. Horror clawed at Alyssa’s throat.

"Don’t be frightened," Pandora crooned eerily. "It’s just a little blood sacrifice. Once it’s done, your part is over."

Those words sounded like a death sentence to Alyssa. As they reached the threshold of the entrance, her gaze caught sight of a rusted, iron bat half-buried in the dirt near the doorframe.

This was her only chance to escape.

Summoning every ounce of strength in her body, she ripped her arm out of Pandora’s grip and lunged for the bat. She scooped it up, whirled around, and held it out with two shaking hands.

"Who are you?!" she screamed, her breath hitching. "What have you done with Pandora?!"

Pandora took a measured step forward, her expression unreadable. "What has gotten into you, Alyssa? It’s me."

"You’re not Pandora!" Alyssa snarled, her knuckles turning white around the bat. "The real Pandora didn’t fight Samantha. I made it up, and you walked right into it!"

Pandora paused. The warm, fake smile slowly melted off her face, replaced by a dark, murderous sneer.

When she spoke again, the feminine voice was gone, replaced by a deep, guttural, masculine growl that sent pure terror shooting down Alyssa’s spine.

"Fucking bitch! I knew you were going to be a problem.

Alyssa stumbled back, the iron bat trembling violently in her hands. Right before her terrified eyes, the woman’s body began to disintegrate.

Skin buckled and split open. Bones cracked loudly and snapped, expanding as muscles reformed into the towering frame of a massive man.

When the grotesque transformation finally settled, Alyssa’s breath hitched in horror.

She would recognize that face anywhere, even in her dreams. It was the same face of the Shadowshifter who kidnapped her weeks ago.

Pilate, now restored to his true form, rolled his broad shoulders, groaning as his spine cracked loudly into place.

​"Much better," he muttered, flexing his hands before locking his dark eyes onto her. "Taking the form of women disgusts me."

Alyssa backed away, her boots dragging through the dirt. "What do you want from me?"

​"Isn’t it obvious?" Pilate sneered, taking a slow, predatory step forward. "I am going to kill you. Then I’ll slaughter that arrogant Alpha for murdering my brother."

"I had nothing to do with that!" Alyssa yelled, her voice breaking. "I did nothing to you!"

"My brother died because of you!" Pilate roared savagely. "It is only right that I return the favour and leave your corpse for Dorian to find. He needs to learn that his actions carry a price!"

"He will find you," Alyssa whispered, tears blurring her vision. "He will hunt you down and kill you!"

"I am counting on it."

With one swift movement, Pilate withdrew a jagged, silver dagger from his belt, the curved blade gleaming viciously in the dying twilight.

"Don’t bother screaming, little wolf. No one is coming to save you."

Alyssa’s survival instincts kicked in instantly. She flung the bat with all the desperate strength in her body, striking Pilate across the chest. The blow barely staggered him, but it bought her a few seconds.

She turned around and bolted into the treeline, a raw, terrified scream tearing from her throat. "HELP!"

Pilate snarled, moving with terrifying, supernatural speed. Before she could breach the first row of trees, he seized her hair from behind, jerking her backward.

Alyssa spun out of his grip, raising her hands to protect herself. In a flash, the dagger lowered and sank straight into her stomach with sickening force.

She choked, blood sputtering from her lips as an white-hot agony tore through her core.

Pilate sneered down at her, twisting the curved blade brutally into her flesh, burying it to the hilt.

"I’ll make sure your Alpha joins you in hell," he growled into her ear.

He yanked the blade free and drove it back into her stomach a second time.